The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction
• Textual Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• Essays On Equality, Law and Education
• Law of Libel and Liberty of the Press 1825
• On Marriage 1832–33?
• Austin’s Lectures On Jurisprudence 1832
• Reform In Education 1834
• On Punishment 1834
• Smith On Law Reform 1841
• The Negro Question 1850
• Statement On Marriage 1851
• Remarks On Mr. Fitzroy’s Bill For the More Effectual Prevention of Assaults On Women and Children 1853
• A Few Words On Non-intervention 1859
• The Contest In America 1862
• The Slave Power 1862
• Austin On Jurisprudence 1863
• Educational Endowments 1866
• Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St. Andrews 1867
• The Subjection of Women 1869
• Editor’s Note
• Chapter I
• Chapter Ii
• Chapter Iii
• Chapter Iv
• Treaty Obligations 1870
• The Contagious Diseases Acts 1871
• Appendices
• Appendix A: Harriet Taylor, On Marriage (1832-1833?)
• Appendix B: Harriet Taylor Mill, Papers On Women’s Rights (1847-1850?)
• 1.: Rights of Women—and Especially With Regard to the Elective Franchise—by a Woman—dedicated to Queen Victoria
• 2.: Women—(rights Of)
• 3.: The Rights of Women to the Elective Franchise and Its Advantages
• 4.: Why Women Are Entitled to the Suffrage
• 5.: [reform: Ends and Means]
• Appendix C: Harriet Taylor Mill, Enfranchisement of Women (1851)
• Appendix D: Draft of a Portion of the Inaugural Address (1866)
• Appendix E: Jamaica Committee: Public Documents (1866, 1868)
• Appendix F: Textual Emendations
• Appendix G: Bibliographical Index of Persons and Works Cited, With Variants and Notes

Appendix D

DRAFT OF A PORTION OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS (1866)

acquired with tenfold greater facility when the ^aexamples of their application^a are already ^bpresent in^b the ^cmind—if this were but done,^c an average schoolboy long before the age at which schooling ^dgenerally^d terminates, ^emight easily^e be able to read ^fwith ease, fluency, and^f intelligent interest any ordinary Latin or Greek author, in prose or verse, ^gmight^g have a competent knowledge of the grammatical structure of both languages, and have had time besides for an ample amount of scientific instruction.^h I am as unwilling to ⁱmentionⁱ all that I think practicable in this matter, as George Stephenson was ^jin the matter of locomotion^j , when he calculated the average speed of a ^krailway^k train at ten miles an hour because if he had estimated it ^lat more^l the practical men ^mwhose cooperation he needed^m would have ⁿdistrustedⁿ him as that most unsafe character in their estimation an enthusiast and a visionary. The results have shewn, in ^othis^o case, who was the real practical man. What the results would shew in the other case I will not^p anticipate. ^qIt is enough to be able to say with confidence^q , that if the two classical languages were properly taught, there would be no need whatever for ^rturning them out of^r the school course in order to have sufficient ^sroom^s for everything else that ^tneeds^t be included therein.

^uThis wonderfully^u limited estimate of what it is possible for human beings to learn, resting upon a tacit assumption that they are already as efficiently taught as they ever can ^vbe,^v not only vitiates ^wthe general conception^w of education, but actually, if we receive it, darkens our anticipations as to the future progress of mankind. For if the inexorable conditions of human life make it useless for one man to attempt to know more than one thing, what is to become of the human intellect as facts accumulate? In every generation, and ^xmore rapidly now^x than ever ^ybefore, the number of things increases,^y which it is necessary that somebody should ^zlearn^z . Every department of ^aour knowledge of the universe^a becomes so loaded with details that ^bif a person^b endeavours to know ^call that is known of it, he^c must confine himself to a smaller and smaller portion of the whole ^dfield,^d every science and art must be ^edivided and subdivided^e , until each man’s ^fspeciality, the region^f which he thoroughly knows, bears about the same ^gproportion^g to the whole ^hfield^h of useful knowledge that the art of putting on a pin’s head does to the field of human industry. Now, ⁱwhen we take this along with the fact certified by experience,ⁱ that there is no one study or pursuit which, practised to the exclusion of all others, does not narrow and pervert the mind^j, breed^j in it a class of prejudices special to that ^kparticular pursuit, and^k a general prejudice common to all narrow specialities against ^lgeneral ideas of all sorts, grounded on^l an incapacity to take ^mthem in or to judge^m of them. ⁿWhat prospect have we before us but that of a human intellectⁿ more and more dwarfed and unfitted for ^oall^o great things, ^pactually by its progress^p in small ones^q? But things^q are not so bad with us: ^rthis is not the fate we need look forward to^r . It is not the utmost limit of human acquirement to know only one thing, but to combine a minute knowledge of one or a few things with a general knowledge of many things. By a general knowledge I do not mean a ^smere vague impression^s . An eminent man one of whose writings is part of the course of this University, Abp. Whately, has well ^tpointed out, that^t a general knowledge ^uis a totally different thing from^u a superficial knowledge. To have a general knowledge of a subject is to know ^vits leading truths, but to^wlearn them with understanding,^w not superficially but thoroughly, so as to have a true conception of the subject ^xas a whole,^x leaving the minor details to those who require ^ythe knowledge of^y them ^zbecause it is their business to follow them out and to apply them. This kind of knowledge does not tend to narrow but to enlarge the mind; it forms^z a body of cultivated intellects, ^acapable of illuminating each his own special studies by the lights derived from the other branches of human knowledge, and constituting a public able to understand and appreciate the processes of thought in other people’s special departments and intelligently follow the lead of those specialists who by their general powers and cultivation of their minds are most capable of leading rightly. Above all, it is this alone which can form minds^a capable of ^bdirecting^b and improving public opinion in the greater concerns of ^chuman^c life. Government and civil society are the most complicated of all subjects accessible to the human mind, and ^dto be competent to deal with them there is great need not only of^d a general knowledge of the leading facts of ^ethe universe in almost all its departments, but of^e an understanding exercised and disciplined in the principles and rules of sound thinking up to a point which ^fno^f one science or branch of knowledge affords^g, and to obtain which it is necessary to be more or less conversant with many^g . Let us understand then, that it ^hought to be our object^h in learning, not merely to know ⁱsome one thing, the thingⁱ which is to be our principal occupation, as well as it can be known but to do this and also to know something of all the great ^jdepartments^j of human ^kknowledge;^k taking care to know that something ^laccurately, or at all events^l marking well the dividing line between what we know accurately and what we do not; and remembering that our object should be to obtain a true view of nature and ^mthe world in its^m broad outline, ⁿbutⁿ that it is ^ouseless^o to throw away time upon the ^pminute^p details of anything which is ^qnot to be^q part of the occupation of our practical energies.

It by no means follows, however, that ^reverything which deserves to be known, and which is capable of being known by everybody who has received a liberal education^r , should be included in the ^scourse^s of school or university studies. ^tSome things, very desirable to be learnt, are learnt better^t out of school or ^uafter^u school years^v are over ^wFor this reason^w I do not agree with those reformers who would ^xassign a place, and an important place,^x in the school^y course, to modern languages. This is not because I attach small importance to ^zthem^* ; no^z one can^a be ^bconsidered well-instructed or cultivated^b who is not familiar with at least the French language ^cand able^c to read French books with ease; and there is great ^dadvantage^d in cultivating a familiarity with German. But living languages are so much more easily acquired ^elater in life,^e by intercourse with those who use them in daily ^flife,^f that it is really waste of time^g to labour at ^htheir acquisition without any^h help but that of books and mastersⁱ . Again, it has always seemed to me a great absurdity that ^jsuch things as^j history and geography should be taught in schools, except ^ka few of the leading facts of both^k in elementary schools for the ^lmass of the people^l . Who ever really learnt history and geography except by private reading? and what an utter failure ^myour^m education must be if it has not given ⁿyourⁿ pupil a sufficient taste for reading to ^omake him seek by that easy process the most interesting^o of all kinds of knowledge? Besides such history and geography as can be taught in schools exercise none of the faculties of the ^pintellect except that of mere^p memory. ^qAt an University indeed it is very important that the pupil^q should be introduced to the Philosophy of History^r—that a Professor^r who not merely ^sknows^s the facts but ^thas^t exercised ^uhis mind^u on them, should initiate ^vthe pupils^v into the causes and explanation, ^was^w far as ^xan explanation is possible^x of the past life of mankind in its ^ymore important features and vicissitudes^y . But of the mere facts of history as commonly ^zbelieved and understood^z , what educated ^aperson^a of any mental activity does not learn ^ball that is of primary importance^b if he is ^conly^c turned loose in an historical library? What ^dis wanted on this subject^d is not that he should be taught it in boyhood, but that^e books should be accessible to him.

The only languages ^ftherefore^f and the only ^gliteratures^g to which I would allow a place in the ordinary ^hcourse of a liberal education^h are those of the Greeks and Romans; to these I would preserve the position ⁱ they at present occupy ^jin it. The importance of these languages in education is twofold: first, the value of languages in general, of studying and knowing^j some other cultivated language and ^ksome other^k literature than one’s own^l: secondly,^l the peculiar value of those particular languages^m .

ⁿThe value, to the human mind, of knowing, and knowing well, more than one language; or I should rather say, the extreme disadvantage of knowing no language but one’s own, is scarcely, I think, generally felt and recognized in all its force. Every thinker or writer who hasⁿ reflected on the causes of human error ^ohas^o been deeply impressed with the ^pnatural^p tendency of mankind to mistake.

[a-a]67 cases to which they apply

[b-b]67 familiar to

[c-c]67 mind;

[d-d]-67

[e-e]67 would

[f-f]67 fluently and with

[g-g]67 would

[h]67 I might go much further, but

[i-i]67 speak out

[j-j]67 about railways

[k-k]-67

[l-l]67 higher,

[m-m]-67

[n-n]67 turned a deaf ear to

[o-o]67 that

[p]67 attempt to

[q-q]67 But I will say confidently

[r-r]67 ejecting them from

[s-s]67 time

[t-t]67 need

[u-u]67 Let me say a few words more on this strangely

[v-v]67 be. So narrow a conception

[w-w]67 our idea

[x-x]67 now more rapidly

[y-y]67 , the things

[z-z]67 know are more and more multiplied

[a-a]67 knowledge

[b-b]67 one who

[c-c]67 it with minute accuracy,

[d-d]67 extent

[e-e]67 cut up into subdivisions

[f-f]67 portion, the district

[g-g]67 ratio

[h-h]67 range

[i-i]67 if in order to know that little completely, it is necessary to remain wholly ignorant of all the rest, what will soon be the worth of a man, for any human purpose except his own infinitesimal fraction of human wants and requirements? His state will be even worse than that of simple ignorance. Experience proves

[j-j]67 , breeding

[k-k]67 pursuit, besides

[l-l]67 large views, from

[m-m]67 in and appreciate the grounds

[n-n]67 We should have to expect that human nature would be

[o-o]-67

[p-p]67 by its very proficiency

[q-q]67 But matters

[r-r]67 there is no ground for so dreary an anticipation

[s-s]67 few vague impressions

[t-t]67 discriminated between

[u-u]67 and

[v]67 only

[w-w]67 know these

[x-x]67 in its great features

[y-y]-67

[z-z]67 for the purposes of their special pursuit. There is no incompatibility between knowing a wide range of subjects up to this point, and some one subject with the completeness required by those who make it their principal occupation. It is this combination which gives an enlightened public

[a-a]67 each taught by its attainments in its own province what real knowledge is, and knowing enough of other subjects to be able to discern who are those that know them better. The amount of knowledge is not to be lightly estimated, which qualifies us for judging to whom we may have recourse for more. The elements of the more important studies being widely diffused, those who have reached the higher summits find a public capable of appreciating their superiority, and prepared to follow their lead. It is thus too that minds are formed

[b-b]67 guiding

[c-c]67 practical

[d-d]67 he who would deal competently with them as a thinker, and not as a blind follower of a party, requires not only

[e-e]67 life, both moral and material, but

[f-f]67 neither the experience of life, nor any

[g-g]-67

[h-h]67 should be our aim

[i-i]67 the one thing

[j-j]67 subjects

[k-k]67 interest

[l-l]67 accurately,

[m-m]67 life in their

[n-n]67 and

[o-o]67 idle

[p-p]-67

[q-q]67 to form no

[r-r]67 every useful branch of general, as distinct from professional, knowledge

[s-s]67 curriculum

[t-t]67 There are things which are better learnt

[u-u]67 when the

[v]67 , and even those usually passed in a Scottish university,

[w-w]-67

[x-x]67 give a regular and prominent place

[y]67 or university

[z-z]67 the knowledge of them No

[* ][-67]Acquaintance with the literature and forms of thought of other nations is the most effectual of all preservatives against a narrow nationality, against mistaking one local type of human nature for the universal laws of it, and against the habit of accepting custom both in opinion and practice, as a test of right, for want of knowing that perfectly opposite customs prevail elsewhere.

[a]67 in our age

[b-b]67 esteemed a well-instructed person

[c-c]67 , so as

[d-d]67 use

[e-e]-67

[f-f]67 life, a few months in the country itself, if properly employed, go so much farther than as many years of school lessons,

[g]67 for those to whom that easier mode is attainable,

[h-h]67 them with no

[i]67 and it will in time be made attainable, through international schools and colleges, to many more than at present. Universities do enough to facilitate the study of modern languages, if they give a mastery over that ancient language which is the foundation of most of them, and the possession of which makes it easier to learn four or five of the continental languages than it is to learn one of them without it

[j-j]-67

[k-k]-67

[l-l]67 children of the labouring classes, whose subsequent access to books is limited

[m-m]67 a system of

[n-n]67 the

[o-o]67 seek for himself those most attractive and easily intelligible

[p-p]67 intelligence except the

[q-q]67 An University is indeed the place where the student

[r-r]67 , where Professors

[s-s]67 know

[t-t]67 have

[u-u]67 their minds

[v-v]67 him

[w-w]67 so

[x-x]67 within our reach,

[y-y]67 principal features. Historical criticism also—the tests of historical truth—are a subject to which his attention may well be drawn in this stage of his education

[z-z]67 accepted

[a-a]67 youth

[b-b]67 as much as is necessary,

[c-c]67 simply

[d-d]67 he needs on this, and on most other matters of common information,

[e]67 abundance of

[f-f]67 , then,

[g-g]67 literature,

[h-h]67 curriculum,

[i]67 in it which

[j-j]67 That position is justified, by the great value, in education, of knowing well

[k-k]-67

[l-l]67 , and by

[m]67 and literatures

[n-n]67 There is one purely intellectual benefit from a knowledge of languages, which I am specially desirous to dwell on. Those who have seriously

[o-o]67 have

[p-p]-67