The
other half of their brain is off wool-gathering somewhere, so
naturally they forget everything they read, and the little they do
remember with half their brain is usually incorrect. It seems to
me that this sort of mental limitation is far more marked in the
young generation, probably because foolish parents seem to think
it rather an amusing trait in their offspring. Now, the boy at
Chittenden's who allowed his mind to wander, and did not
concentrate, promptly made the acquaintance of the "spatter," a
broad leathern strap; and the spatter hurt exceedingly, as I can
testify from many personal experiences of it. On the whole, then,
even the most careless boy found it to his advantage to
concentrate. This clever teacher knew how quickly young brains
tire, so he never devoted more than a quarter of an hour to each
subject, but during that quarter of an hour he demanded, and got,
the full attention of his pupils. The result was that everything
absorbed remained permanently. If I enlarge at some length on Mr.
Chittenden's methods, it is because the subject of education is of
such vital importance, and the mere fact that the much-advertised
system to which I have alluded has attained such success, would
seem to indicate that many people are aware that they share that
curious disability in the intellectual equipment of the average
Englishman to which I have referred; for unless they had
habitually only half-listened, half-read, half-understood, there
could be no need for their undergoing a course of instruction late
in life.
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