to set up interesting aims and desires at
every step, to lead the approach to different fields of knowledge in
the spirit of conquest.

In the business world and in professional life men and women work with
abundant energy and will because they have desirable ends in view. The
hireling knows no such generous stimulus. Business life is full of
irksome and difficult tasks but the aim in view carries people through
them. We shall not eliminate the disagreeable and irksome from school
tasks, but try to create in children such a spirit and ambition as will
lead to greater exertions. To implant vigorous aims and incentives in
children is the great privilege of the teacher. We shall some day
learn that when a boy cracks a nut he does so because there may be a
kernel in it, not because the shell is hard.

In concluding the discussion of relative values we will summarize the
results.

_History_, in the liberal sense, surveys the field of human life in its
typical forms and furnishes the best illustrative moral materials.
_Nature study_ opens the door to the real world in all its beauty,
variety, and law. The _formal studies_ constitute an indispensable
part of useful and disciplinary knowledge, but they should occupy a
secondary place in courses of study because they deal with the _form_
rather than with the _content_ of the sciences. It is a fundamental
error to place formal studies in the center of the school course and to
subordinate everything to their mastery. History and natural science,
on the contrary, having the richest knowledge content, constitute a
natural center for all educative efforts. They make possible a strong
development of will-energy because their interesting materials furnish
strong and legitimate incentives to mental activity and an enlarged
field and opportunity to voluntary effort in pursuit of clear and
attractive aims.

CHAPTER III.

NATURE OF INTEREST.

By interest we mean the natural bent or inclination of the mind to find
satisfaction in a subject when it is properly presented. It is the
natural attractiveness of the subject that draws and holds the
attention. Interest belongs to the feelings but differs from the other
feelings, such as desire or longing for an object, since it is
satisfied with the simple contemplation without asking for possession.
The degree of interest with which different kinds of knowledge are
received, varies greatly. Indeed, it is possible to acqui