It will be readily admitted by everyone that almost the strongest impulse of the untutored infant mind is to create the semblance of something of which it already has some knowledge.

The innate constructive idea takes many familiar forms, which are regarded in an amused and half-interested manner by the child's elders, but in only very rare cases does the creative faculty receive any real encouragement, and then usually it is only because of the exhibition of exceptional artistic instincts.

It is evident that this inclination is thus, by its recognition, sometimes made one of the most powerful levers of education, and, as a means of widening the child's understanding of his surroundings, probably nothing better could be done than to rationally encourage the latent power of drawing.

The educational bearing of drawing has long been recognised, and provision for its inclusion is made in the ordinary curriculum of every school. It is only in the last decade, however, that any attention has been paid in this country to the development of the constructive aptitude of children, which is so very apparent, and on which so many vital social questions affecting the welfare of the whole community depend. All authorities agree that education is not, or should not be, the mere accumulation of a knowledge of facts, but, primarily, a development of the natural mental powers, in connection with which the teaching of facts is only a very valuable concomitant.

This view, although perhaps as old as education itself, has not, unfortunately, been generally accepted as the standpoint from which the school course has been framed, and, as one of the results, the most powerful and necessary inclination of children, to construct, has been left to develop as well as may be, without help or interference from the schoolmaster.

Moreover, besides neglecting the constructive ability of children, the ordinary school course, in its attention to the development of the purely mental faculties, must have absolutely harmful effects on the social life of the people.

The lighter occupations, calling for purely mental powers, are naturally overcrowded by the larger number of youths who are fitted for them than formerly, and the industrial occupations are filled on all sides with incompetent workmen, who might have early discovered their unfitness for occupations involving manual skill if opportunity had been presented to them. The breaking down of the apprenticeship system, the advent of universal education, and the high pressure in every occupation, resulting from competition, have caused this problem to assume an acute form in recent years.

The school course of mental education is, by this result, brought into somewhat unmerited disfavour among the artisan classes, who frequently complain that many things are taught them at school which appear useless in after life, while other very useful subjects are omitted, and this want of continuity between the school and after life detracts to a very considerable extent in many men's estimation from the value of the ordinary school instruction. To meet the difficulty, technical and technological schools have been established in most large towns, and admirable institutions now exist, and are doing an immense amount of good work.

As the distinct object of technical education is to make good workmen who understand the scientific principles as well as the practical work involved in their trade, its course is therefore clear; but it is still felt, and especially by technical teachers, that, as a balance to the mental work done in the school, something is wanted for quite young children, to stimulate and foster their natural creative powers, and make the wished-for bridge between the school and working life of the people. This necessity has called 'manual training' into existence.

Technical education, in the true sense, is trade teaching, but the great point of difference between technical education and manual training is, that in the latter no trade is taught, and this must be thoroughly understood and borne in mind in framing a course of instruction. Mere manual dexterity and the widening of the child's intelligence by every possible collateral means are all that are aimed at.

The degree of skill which enables a workman to unconsciously perform an operation in his trade is never reached in manual training. Each exercise is well considered and intelligently drawn before its execution, and the close attention on a novel subject is of great service in the devlopment of the boy's. mental faculties.

For the first time, probably, a boy is confronted with the importance of accuracy of measurement, and has to put into practical use the tables of measurement he has learnt at school. He finds that his drawing is to be no objectless copy, but a correct representation of an actual model, and from this drawing the exercise or model is to be executed. His knowledge of elementary geometry and mechanics is tested and made of real use, and life and vividness are imparted to these subjects which they entirely lack when taught in the abstract. Teaching of this kind, as might be expected, has a reflective effect for good on the boy's ordinary school work. The freehand and model drawing, geometry, and other subjects which may be included in the ordinary school work are much more intelligently learnt by boys who are being taught manual training, and it is usually found that the time deducted from the ordinary school hours of boys who are undergoing courses of manual training in no way causes a decreased efficiency in the ordinary subjects. Boys are also found to be more careful and observant, more self-reliant, and certainly are more likely to grow up with a real respect for the dignity of labour.