The Educational Writings of Richard Mulcaster — Inside the Classic

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THE EDUCATIONAL WRITINGS OF RICHARD MULCASTER

PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, Publishers to the University.

MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.

_New York_, _The Macmillan Co._ _London_, _Simpkin, Hamilton and Co._ _Cambridge_, _Macmillan and Bowes_. _Edinburgh_, _Douglas and Foulis_.

_ABRIDGED AND ARRANGED, WITH A CRITICAL ESTIMATE_

JAMES OLIPHANT, M.A., F.R.S.E.

AUTHOR OF “VICTORIAN NOVELISTS,” ETC.

GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS Publishers to the University 1903

GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO.

Some apology is needed for the presentation of an Elizabethan writer to English readers in any form but that of the original text. The justification of the present volume must lie in the fact that in the three centuries and more that have elapsed since the educational writings of Richard Mulcaster were given to the world, they have entirely failed to gain acceptance as literature. This neglect of one of our most interesting and important educationists is no doubt chiefly to be regarded as part of the general indifference which until recently the British public has consistently shown to all discussion of educational problems, but when we consider the reputation of Mulcaster’s contemporary, Roger Ascham, who had far less to say, but knew how to say it with lucidity and grace, we are constrained to admit that Mulcaster has lost his opportunity of catching the world’s ear, and that if his writings are to be known and appreciated as they deserve by this generation, it must be rather for their substance than for their literary style. It is true that the serious student may now be trusted to investigate for himself the thoughts of earlier authors in spite of difficulties of form and expression, but the general reader will expect more help than, in the case of Mulcaster at least, is at present available. The earlier of his two chief works, the _Positions_, published in 1581, was out of print for 300 years, until the issue in 1888 of an almost facsimile edition by the late Mr. Quick, to whom the credit of discovering this author is mainly due, while the second work, the _Elementarie_, has never been reprinted at all. It is safe to assume that not many readers will care to possess themselves of the somewhat expensive reprint of the former work, or to institute a search for one of the rare copies of the original and only edition of the latter. And if these books were to be made more accessible, it seemed worth while at the same time to present them in such a form that they should be readily intelligible to the ordinary reader. In the case of an acknowledged literary classic it may be inadmissible to tamper even with the type and spelling, far more with the phraseology and arrangement of sentences, but such scruples would be out of place with the author now in question. An attempt has been made to remove all gratuitous hindrances to a full understanding of the author’s meaning, while omitting nothing that is at once characteristic and significant. It is hoped that in the process of adaptation as little as possible has been lost of the quaint flavour of the original, and of the gifts of expression that Mulcaster undoubtedly possessed, however much these were obscured by the euphuistic tendency and the somewhat laboured construction that marked the prose of his time.

THE METHOD OF TREATMENT, 1

THE PURPOSE OF WRITING, 2

REASONS FOR WRITING IN ENGLISH, 4

THE USE OF AUTHORITY, 7

THE IDEAL AND THE POSSIBLE, 11

WHEN SCHOOL EDUCATION SHOULD BEGIN, 12

RISK OF OVERPRESSURE, 13

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO, 14

PHYSICAL EXERCISE NEEDS REGULATION, 15

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TRAINING SHOULD GO TOGETHER, 15

EXERCISE SPECIALLY NECESSARY FOR STUDENTS, 16

THE BEST KINDS OF EXERCISE, 17

FOOTBALL AS A FORM OF EXERCISE, 17

IS EDUCATION TO BE OFFERED TO BOTH SEXES? 18

ALL CANNOT RECEIVE A LEARNED EDUCATION, 19

CHOICE OF SCHOLARS BOTH FROM RICH AND POOR, 20

THE NUMBER OF SCHOLARS LIMITED BY CIRCUMSTANCES, 21

THE NUMBER OF SCHOLARS KEPT DOWN BY LAW, 22

TALENT NOT PECULIAR EITHER TO RICH OR POOR, 22

CHOICE OF THOSE FIT FOR LEARNING, 23

HOW THE CHOICE OF SCHOLARS, SHOULD BE DETERMINED, 24

GROUNDS FOR PROMOTION, 25

CO-OPERATION OF PARENTS, 27

ADMISSION INTO COLLEGES, 28

PREFERMENT TO DEGREES, 29

NATURAL CAPACITY IN CHILDREN, 30

ENCOURAGEMENT BETTER THAN SEVERITY, 32

MORAL TRAINING FALLS CHIEFLY ON PARENTS, 32

ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION--READING, 33

THE VERNACULAR FIRST, 34

MATERIAL OF READING, 35

ELEMENTARY PERIOD A TIME OF PROBATION, 37

FOUR ELEMENTARY SUBJECTS, 42

STUDY OF LANGUAGES, 44

EDUCATION OF GIRLS, 50

AIM OF EDUCATION FOR GIRLS, 53

WHEN THEIR EDUCATION SHOULD BEGIN, 54

ALL SHOULD HAVE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, 55

HIGHER STUDIES FOR SOME, 57

WHAT HIGHER STUDIES ARE SUITABLE, 58