ing in primary and secondary schools had been
recognised, when the training of the infant mind was left to the least
skilled assistant on the staff of a school. With the late Mr. J. A.
Hartley, whose theory was that the earliest beginnings of education
needed even greater skill in the teacher than the higher branches, I
had long regarded the policy as mistaken; but modern educationists have
changed all that, and the training of tiny mites of two or three
summers and upwards is regarded as of equal importance with that of
children of a larger growth. South Australia owes its free kindergarten
to the personal initiative and private munificence of the Rev. Bertram
Hawker, youngest son of the late Hon. G. C. Hawker. I had already met,
and admired the kindergarten work of, Miss Newton when in Sydney, and
was delighted when she accepted Mr. Hawker's invitation to inaugurate
the system in Adelaide. Indeed, the time of her stay here during
September, 1905, might well have been regarded as a special visitation
of educational experts, for, in addition to Miss Newton, the directors
of education from New South Wales and Victoria (Messrs. G. H. Knibbs
and F. Tate) took part in the celebrations. Many interesting meetings
led up to the formation of the Kindergarten Union. My niece, Mrs. J. P.
Morice, was appointed hon. secretary, and I became one of the
Vice-Presidents. On joining the union I was proud of the fact that I
was the first member to pay a subscription. The free kindergarten has
come to South Australia to stay, and is fast growing into an integral
part of our system of education. I have rejoiced in the progress of the
movement, and feel that the future will witness the realization of my
ideal of a ladder that will reach from the kindergarten to the
University, as outlined in articles I wrote for The Register at that
time.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE EIGHTIETH MILESTONE AND THE END.

On October 31, 1905, I celebrated my eightieth birthday. Twelve months
earlier, writing to a friend, I said:--"I entered my eightieth year on
Monday, and I enjoy life as much as I did at 18; indeed, in many
respects I enjoy it more." The birthday gathering took place in the
schoolroom of the Unitarian Church, the church to which I had owed so
much happiness through the lifting of the dark shadows of my earlier
religious beliefs. Surrounded by friends who had taken their share in
the development of my beloved State, I realized one of the happi