Letter.

Sir: The following paper, hereby recommended for publication, is a most valuable contribution to the literature of technical instruction in Europe, by the late Charles O. Thompson, a. m., ph. d., the accomplished president of Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Ind. The interest in the paper will be increased when it is known that it is the last con attribution by this pioneer in technical instruction towards the solution of the educational problems in which he had become an acknowledged authority.

The paper takes the form of a review of the reports of the British Royal Commissioners on Technical Education. Dr. Thompson, on his second visit to Europe, made careful studies in many places where the Commission prosecuted their investigations most in detail. All information that he desired, whether from persons or institutions, was fully and freely furnished, a courtesy that he attributed in large measure to letters of introduction from this Office. On his return, he expressed a desire to place at the disposal of the Office such portion of the material he had gathered as might be suitable for its use. Being anxious to secure to American educators as far as possible the benefits of the investigations made by the British Commission, before mentioned, and having found its report too lengthy for republication, I suggested to Dr. Thompson that he should prepare a review of that report, with the addition of his own notes upon the leading points brought into view, respecting technical education in the several countries included in the work of the Commission.

Dr. Thompson's method and character as an educator are especially worthy of study. He was born at East Windsor, Conn., reared in a cultured and devout family, prepared for college by Paul H. Chadbourne, and graduated at Dartmouth, after four years of study, in 1856. Upon leaving college he became principal of the academy in Peacham, Vt., a position that he held until 1864, saving a short time when he was engaged as an engineer in the State of New York. Subsequently, he accepted the position of principal of the Arlington High School, Massachusetts.

During these years of active work as a teacher, he was ever on the alert to find the best in principles and methods; he studied their relation to administration, and he went beyond this in his comforts to comprehend the relation of the administration of education in states, cities, and institutions to the entire drift of human affairs. The Baconian methods had produced their effect in multiplying inventions. The trades and commerce were fairly under the influence of the new applications of steam and electricity. Society was going through a transition well-high approaching a revolution. Apprenticeship was rapidly disappearing, and home manufactures were giving place to large mills and manufactories, and yet the schools in which the young were to be specially fitted for their career in the new order of industries were in a large measure limited to the old in methods and principles. Here and there attention was given to the physical sciences, but their application to the arts and industries and the manual skill which these required were ignored in our systems of education. At this juncture the school at Worcester was founded by the benefactions of Boynton, Washburn, Salisbury, and others. These gentlemen, in council with Messrs. Hoar, Sweetser, and their associates, developed a carefully considered plan in which, without dependence for organization or direction upon the common school or university, young men were to be furnished an education in a separate school in which shop practice was to be an essential part. For the conduct of the new institution there was needed a man of well balanced mind, equally versed in the classics and the sciences, and prepared to accord to each its proper part in the training of the young. The choice fell upon Dr. Thompson. After eight months' study in Europe, he entered upon his duties as principal of the Worcester Free Institute. Under his direction the school became a marked success, and his views and counsel were widely sought. He participated prominently in the movement to introduce drawing into the public schools of Massachusetts, and so into the schools throughout the country.

After fourteen years of labor, marked with special success, in Worcester, He took his second trip to Europe, and immediately upon his return engaged himself in his new field of activity as president of the Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute. He died March 17, 1885, deeply mourned by a wide circle of family and educational associates, and worthily lamented wherever known.