"Froebel proposed to devote the forenoon to the instruction in the current subjects of school study, and the afternoon to work in the field, garden, the forest, and in and around the house." His occupations comprised many of those now carried on in the manual training room and in the kindergarten.

Finland secured a prominent place in the manual training movement when, in 1866, she required that a simple course in manual training be made a part of the curricula of all the elementary schools. The course was outlined by Cygnaeus eight years before its final adoption. Following closely upon the action of Finland, Victor Della-Vos, Director of the Imperial Technical School of Moscow, introduced a method of toolinstruction, the exposition of which, by President J. D. Runkle, of the Mass. Institute of Technology, was largely responsible for the interest manifested by many of our own educators in the movement.

Such, in brief, is an outline of the development of the feeling which was aroused among educators in many countries, that the senses, the mind, and the hand should be trained simultaneously. Only those educational thinkers have been mentioned who were the most prominent advocates of the new scheme of education up to the time when our own country began to take an active interest in the movement.

In the mean time, the same question was being agitated in the United States, but not as extensively as in some of the foreign countries. One of the first, and perhaps the first, of our countrymen to give his views on this phase of education, was Benjamin Rush. In a letter to George Clymer, Esq., under the date August 20th, 1790, he expressed his thoughts upon the amusements and punishments which are proper for schools. In the course of the letter he writes as follows: "I would propose that the amusements of our youth, at school, should consist of such exercises as will be most subservient to their future employments in life. These are: (1) agriculture; (2) mechanical occupations; and (3) the business of the learned professions."10

Froebel, "The Education of Man," Tr. by W. N. Hailman, p. 38.

10 "Essays by Benjamin Rush, M. D.," published by Thomas and Samuel E. Bradford, Phila., 1798, p. 58.

Here we have expressed the demand for vocational education which has become so prevalent in recent years. Dr. David Snedden has recently stated that "the education whose controlling motive in the choice of means and methods is to prepare for productive efficiency is vocational" . . "and from the standpoint of social necessity, vocational education given by some agency is indispensable." He goes on to show that this agency should be the school. The wording of the two statements, separated by more than a hundred years, is different, but the meaning is the same; the school should furnish such instruction as will best prepare the youth for his future occupation. Under types of vocational education Dr. Snedden suggests: (a) The professional; (b) the commercial; (c) the agricultural; (d) the industrial, or those connected with manufacturing and the mechanic arts; (e) the household.12 Here again, it is seen that the divisions of vocational education, as suggested by the two men, are practically the same. In the time of Benjamin Rush, the commercial pursuits had not attained sufficient importance to warrant a separate heading and the household arts were still taken care of by the home.

In his admirable letter Dr. Rush continues: "There is a variety in the employments of agriculture which may readily be suited to the genius, taste, and strength of young people. An experiment has been made of the efficiency of these employments, as amusements, in the Methodist College at Abington, in Maryland, and, I have been informed, with the happiest effects. A large lot is divided between the scholars, and premiums are adjudged to those of them who produce the most vegetables from their grounds, or who keep them in the best order.

"As the employments of agriculture cannot afford amusement at all seasons of the year, or in cities, I would propose that children should be allured to seek amusements in such of the mechanical arts as are suited to their strength and capac

11 David Snedden, "The Problem of Vocational Education," Houghton, Mifflin Co., p. 13.

12 Ibid., p. 23.

ities. Where is the boy who does not delight in the use of a hammer-a chisel-or a saw? And who has not enjoyed a high degree of pleasure in his youth, in constructing a miniature house? How amusing are the machines which are employed in the manufacturing of clothing of all kinds! And how full of various entertainment are the mixtures which take place in the chemical arts! Each of these might be contrived upon such a scale, as not only to amuse young people, but to afford a profit to their parents or masters. The Moravians, at Bethlehem in our state (Pennsylvania), have proved that this proposition is not a chimerical one. All the amusements of their children are derived from their performing the subordinate parts of several of the mechanical arts.

"To train the youth who are intended for the learned professions or for merchandise, to the duties of their future employment, by means of useful amusements, which are related to those employments, will be impracticable; but their amusements may be derived from cultivating a spot of ground; for where is the lawyer, the physician, the divine, or the merchant, who has not indulged or felt a passion, in some part of his life, for rural improvements? Indeed I conceive the seeds of knowledge in agriculture will be most productive when they are planted in the minds of this class of scholars."13

Further on he states: "To obviate these evils (obliging children to sit too long in one place, or crowding too many of them together in one room), children should be permitted, after they have said their lessons, to amuse themselves in the open air, in some of the useful and agreeable exercises which have been mentioned. Their minds will be strengthened, as well as their bodies relieved by them. To oblige a sprightly boy to sit seven hours in a day, with his little arms pinioned to his sides, and his neck unnaturally bent towards his book; and for no crime! What cruelty and folly are manifested by such an absurd mode of instructing or governing young people."'14

13 "Essays by Benjamin Rush, M. D.,” published by Thomas and Samuel E. Bradford, Phila., 1798, pp. 58, 59, 60.

14 Ibid., p. 63.

It is to be observed that this letter was written before Robespierre presented his bill to the National Assembly of France, before Pestalozzi started his school at Stanz, and when Froebel was but eight years old. It is to be further observed that two institutions in this country are mentioned as having already introduced some of the principles suggested, and it is fair to assume that there were others in existence. As has been pointed out, vocational training was suggested by Rush. He also recommended some of the principles that have recently been taken up and exploited by the advocates of manual training. He suggests that those who intend to enter the learned professions would derive much benefit from practicing agriculture,. and that, by taking part in cultivating a piece of ground and in mechanical work, after their lessons have been recited, the children would both strengthen their minds and relieve their bodies. Quite recently I asked a teacher of manual training what, in his opinion, was the greatest benefit derived from a manual training course. His reply was almost identical with the statement above.

During the early part of the nineteenth century, manual labor academies were organized in various parts of the United States. One illustration will be sufficient to give an idea of the method of procedure. The Oneida Institute, N. Y., was established in 1827. Business men of the town gave employment to students and paid the institution for their services.. The students made joiner's tools, some beating out mouths, others making handles, and others finishing tools. Others were employed in the wagon and sleigh shop, blacksmith shop, cabinet shop, in the making of bedstead material, in the making of brooms, etc. In 1833, the trustees had measures in progress to furnish a thorough and full course of classical instruction.

After the institute had been in operation fór six years, the conclusions of the superintendent were: that young men are willing to labor; that both mind and body are benefited; progress in study is not retarded in general, and in many cases accelerated, while the expenses of an education are diminished very considerably.

Such a program of work and study conforms more closely to the Industrial and half-time schools of the present day than

to the Manual Training school. It is important that this type of school be noted, however, in order that a proper perspective be obtained of the progress of the manual training movement in this country.

In 1832, the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania was directed to prepare a report on Manual Labor Academies. In the course of its report, the committee stated that "From a careful examination of the nature of these institutions (Manual Labor Academies), and the principles upon which they are based, and from information derived from gentlemen well versed in education, as well as from personal observation, the committee is fully convinced that whatever prejudices may heretofore have existed against the manual labor system of instruction, it is one peculiarly adapted to supply, in an economical and efficient manner, our present wants. It comprises manual with intellectual labor and recognizes as well, the development of the powers of the body, as increasing the strength and cultivating the various faculties of the mind." 15

The following propositions were submitted by the committee: First. "That the expense of education, when connected with manual labor, judiciously directed, may be reduced onehalf."

Second. "That the exercise of about three hours manual labor, daily, contributes to the health and cheerfulness of the pupil, by strengthening and improving his physical powers, and by engaging his mind in useful pursuits."

Third. "That so far from manual labor being an impediment in the progress of the pupil in intellectual studies, it has been found that in proportion as one pupil has excelled another in the amount of labor performed, the same pupil has excelled the other, in equal ratio, in his intellectual studies."

Fourth. "That manual labor institutions tend to break down the distinctions between rich and poor which exist in society, inasmuch as they give an almost equal opportunity of educa

15 Mr. Matthias, "Pamphlets on Education" in Report of the Committee on Manual Labor Academies, Feb. 21, 1833, Vol. 2, p. 4.