EDUCATION, from the standpoint of the mind which is being educated, consists of a vast series of changes; from the standpoint of the teacher, of the influences brought to bear upon the mind to bring those changes about. But the intelligent use of means to this end presupposes not only an idea of the type of character for the sake of which the changes are desired, but also of the mind in which it is to be developed. For our opinion as to what the mind may become depends upon our opinion of its essential nature. If we believe that the thoughts, feelings, and volitions of a human being are the mechanical and, inevitable results of the influences brought to bear upon him, we are bound to think of him as one of the links in the vast enginery of nature, and education cannot consider him as having anything to do with his own development. If, on the other hand, we believe that the mind is essentially active, then education has an entirely different problem to solve, the problem of supplying the mind with occasions of its own activity.
The lines of our subject are, therefore, marked out for us by its character. We must first seek to determine the essential nature of the mind, whether it is active or passive, and then endeavor to ascertain the end of education. This accomplished, we must investigate the means by which the ideal of education may be approximately realized.
But it is already evident that the question of means must be considered from two points of view. For the