2. To promote good citizenship.—(a) By increasing intelligence: To exercise the powers of government either as a voter or an officer demands ability to think. Intelligence is the protection of democracy against the demagog. While an elementary education may suffice for the mass of voters, a democracy always needs men of higher powers and greater ability. Many such men have been found in the past who could claim no college for their alma mater, but for the future we are looking more and more to the college-bred men for our leaders. While we are prone to say that we must do the greatest good to the greatest number, and while the pupils not going to college are numerically more important, yet we must remember that it is no less important that the high school should set before some now unpromising lad that task which shall challenge his powers, lead him to discover himself, and bring him out to be a benefactor to his race or the protector of his nation. Not knowing who he is or when or where he is to be found, it becomes necessary for all the high schools everywhere to teach all the pupils in them so that they are best fitted to go into life when need be, and so that, at the same time, they may, if they choose, go on with a college course. Nor is this impossible. We are now in a transition period. Some mechanical difficulties present themselves, but these are rapidly disappearing. The Declaration of Independence has been promulgated. We are now in the period of the Articles of Confederation, but the time of the constitution is not far distant.

(b) By character building: An educated rascal is a greater menace to the community than an ignorant one. Our education should do all that it can toward the building of character. This is done by the æsthetic and ethical sides of school subjects. Sometimes these may be affected almost directly, as in art and music, but for the most part they come about quite indirectly from the daily contact with various subjects and from the personal influence of the teaching force.

C. LIFE AIMS

After all, the first object is to live, and this includes much more than the earning of a living. Life is more than buying and selling and toiling and planning, and we hear much of the necessity of teaching our pupils to live the best life. It seems to me, however, that, when we have done all of the things here set forth, this is the result, and the high school has performed its full function.

ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES

THE ENGLISH CONFERENCE

LEADER - JAMES H. HARRIS, PRINCIPAL OF MILITARY ACADEMY,
ORCHARD LAKE, MICH.

[SYNOPSIS OF INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THe leader]

A retrospect of the course in English during the past ten or fifteen years reveals a progress that is as revolutionary as it is encouraging. 'Tis a far throw from the narrow, scanty, circumscribed character of the work in English as it existed ten years ago in our secondary schools, to the broad, rich, generous, and vitalizing curriculum which we see today. Its growth has been essentially organic, and has followed with striking and scrupulous fidelity the general laws of organic development. From a state of almost pure potentiality we have seen it emerge into a separate and distinctive entity, gradually but steadily dissociating itself from the other subjects, and slowly but irresistibly gaining recognition for itself and for its right to a place in the hierarchy of studies.

The evidences of an undeniable growth in both the social and educational interest in the subject of English are found: (1) in the enlarged amount of work required of

pupils; (2) in the improved and more scientific character of the teaching; (3) in the increased amount of time devoted to the subject; (4) in the evolution of a distinct class in the educational world whose work is the performance of this function; (5) in the large number of text-books constantly appearing; (6) in current literature on the subject.

The ground for this extraordinary interest and activity in this subject lies in two causes: first, a dynamic appreciation of the cultural and disciplinary possibilities of a study of the masterpieces of English literature; and, second, a lively sense of the value of our native tongue as an instrument of social communication. Cultivation of the art of expression as a social obligation and as a phase of the law of economy has but recently appealed to us, but in these, philosophically speaking, lies the impelling cause of the interest and progress in English.

The present status of the English problem is distinctly encouraging. On the main principles of our work—its character and aim - we are in substantial unanimity. Such differences as exist are exclusively upon matters of detail, and are the problems which logically grow out of progress. They will adjust themselves to social needs.

DISCUSSION

The discussion took the form almost exclusively of a consideration of the importance of reading in the cultivation of an appreciation of literature. It was opened by Miss Aldrich, of Cincinnati, who earnestly advocated increased attention to the art of reading, or elocution, in its best sense. The discussion was resumed by J. H. Thomas, of the University of Michigan; Reuben Post Halleck, of Louisville, Ky.; Miss Lucia Stickney, of Cleveland, and others, all of whom, while deprecating any efforts toward artificial elocutionary effect, were insistent that more attention should be given to the art of reading.

MR. P. M. BUCK, teacher of English, High School, St. Louis, Mo., presented a statement of the plan pursued in the St. Louis High School to give the pupils a first-hand acquaintance with English authors, American and British, whose place in literature is assured. In brief, the pupils of each half-year are expected to read at least one of a prescribed list of books of one of the great names in literature during a term of three or four weeks set apart for that particular author. In the course of four years, following this plan, the pupil reads, in the order of adaptation to his age and mental development, one or more of the best works of the thirty or forty greatest names in literature. The works thus read afford a theme for conversational exercises, class themes, and home essays by the pupils, and class-room lectures or talks by the teacher, who supplements the observations of pupils and assigns to the author his acknowledged place in literature. Thus the reading of pupils during the high-school course is directed, and a taste for the best writing is cultivated that will prevent the reading of inferior books; the material for thought and composition is furnished, and the power of oral and written expression is developed by acquaintance with the best models and by individual practice.

The discussion was closed by Superintendent F. Treudley, of Youngstown, O., who, in a happy five-minute talk, brought out the close relationship between personality and the art of expression, and the dependence of the latter upon the former.

LATIN CONFERENCE

LEADER-F. P. MOULTON, TEACHER OF LATIN, HIGH SCHOOL, HARTFORD, CONN. [SYNOPSIS OF LEADER'S REMARKS]

Free schools, from their very nature, are the barometer of the nation's intellectual life. They are not alone the depositories and conservators of knowledge, but they are the levers of progress and the brakes on wild excess.

In this age of progress and expansion there is developed a yearning for the new and the temporary, resulting in fads, which in the schools conducted by men and women of experience are entirely inexcusable. Change in methods for the mere sake of change is just as reprehensible as stubborn unwillingness to change the old for a new and better way.

Ever since Charles Francis Adams delivered that famous speech at Harvard, attacking the results and aims of classical study, opinions in regard to the aims and methods of studying Latin have been divided. Many, catching the new idea, were ready to cast aside everything that was old. As usual, the new converts were ready to magnify all the sins of the past in order to show an entire change of heart. It became the fashion to scoff at grammar and the old-fashioned drill. These ideas are all too prevalent. They strike at the very foundation of all higher education. No wonder at the cry of distress by teachers of Latin and higher English all over the land.

Grammar is the interpretation of language, the symbols by which the power of language is revealed. And it is this power of language that we should strive to attain. Do not, then, teach grammar less than formerly, but better. To classify thoughts and group clauses, as cause," "condition," "result," etc., is just as much science as to classify the phenomena of nature. There is a science of chemistry only as we make it science by the way we learn it. There is more science in Latin taught scientifically than in physics taught unscientifically.

The great advantage in translating Latin is that it compels one to observe the force of grammatical and logical structure, the effect of position and arrangement of words and clauses. Our object is not to speak Latin, nor primarily to read Latin literature. A person born in ancient Rome, speaking the Latin language from a child, was no wiser than a person born in America, speaking English. The mere substitution of one language for another is not an object of importance educationally. The guides of Europe, speaking several languages, may conduct travelers to the tomb of Virgil or Dante or Shakespeare, but how marvelously different is their power of thought and expression from that of Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare themselves! It is toward, if not to, the higher education of the forum, of eloquence, of literature, that we try to educate our pupils by the study of Latin.

Concentration and

Thoroness, drill, education, are the aims of classical instruction. development are prime factors in the consideration of methods. The first-year work, the authors to be read, the order in which they should be taken, what part Latin composition should have in classical training, and how it may be combined with the regular work of translation, are questions for discussion.

COMMERCIAL STUDIES Conference

LEADER THOMAS H. H. KNIGHT, OF THE GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL, BOSTON, MASS. [SYNOPSIS OF INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY The leader]

There is one thing which I should like to have clearly stated and defined, and that is the status of the commercial work in the high school. If one thinks the question an easy one, let him look about him and see how diverse are the opinions of educators. Chicago proposes to have a commercial high school, and her superintendent visits other cities to study their methods; and the next thing we hear is that the commercial-school idea is abandoned and a commercial course in the regular high schools is to be substituted.

Definite commercial instruction in the American public school has only very lately attracted attention, and no strong, vigorous policy has yet appeared. Should it supplant the business college and nothing more, or should it be educative simply, without any attempt to compete with technical business schools? Between these two extremes lies the

question. Of course, a perfectly safe and conservative answer would be the golden mean; but that is dodging the question. Either the practical or the educative, either the art or the science, will be uppermost, and the other will be subsidiary. To whom shall we go for an answer? The business-college man is not an educator; he does not pretend to be; he often ignores utterly the pedagogical value of the subject he teaches.

The professional educator will not consider the subject. Shall we go to the businessman? Some business-men say that a special training for commercial work is not necessary; that business is a thing which can be learned only in a store or office, all previous training being practically thrown away. Such men would prefer that the youth would come to them with a broad general education, such as would make him intelligent and receptive, rather than expert and perhaps narrow. Others require that the young ma or woman who comes to them shall be immediately useful; they have no time or inclination to instruct clerks and assistants in their duties. Perhaps a common ground for these two classes might be found in a properly constructed high-school course. I think I may with propriety quote from a very able article which appeared in the North American Review, from the pen of Hon. James Brice: "The function of a proper course of preparation deals with both aptitude and knowledge. It ought to aim at forming and training the mental faculties most needed in business, and it ought to impart the kinds of knowledge most serviceable in business."

If we are to consider that it is not merely clerks and stenographers that we are training, but men and women; not machines, but intelligent beings, then the course must be so planned that along with a general development there shall be given, not a mere smattering of practical subjects, but a solid foundation for the work of life. The subjects must be taught with the same aims and with the same regard for educational principles that are recognized in other subjects.

DISCUSSION

I. O. CRISSY, state inspector of commercial work for New York, expressed the opinion that business education is a proper function of the high school, and that this is becoming more generally recognized. He did not think that the course in the high school would ever wholly supplant the work of the good commercial college. He thought the poor commercial colleges would be likely to suffer from the introdution of the commercial course in the high school, but that the community could very well spare them.

ALLAN DAVIS, of the Washington Commercial High School, said that the amount and character of the work in the commercial department in Washington is equal to that of any school. He said that the subjects desired in a good commercial school are already very largely in the high-school curriculum; they simply need adaptation to the needs of the commercial department. The study of language should lead up to the correct and vigorous use of English in business correspondence. History is often very poorly taught, but if the spirit of history can be brought out, if it can be shown that the great facts like the fall of Carthage and the Hanseatic League were commercial, an interest is aroused and stimulated which makes the subject vital. All of the work of the school should be related and it should be developmental.

TEMPLETON P. TWIGGS, of the Detroit Central High School, stated that the public sentiment, which had originally been against the commercial department, has changed in its favor. He gave a synopsis of the course in the Detroit High School, and explained that pupils entering the school had an opportunity to understand very clearly what the different courses were before making a choice.

SUPERINTENDENT CHARLES E. CHADSEY, of Denver, said: There are many cities not large enough, or in which public sentiment has not been sufficiently well crystallized, to permit separate commercial high schools, where successful commercial courses

can be established. The tendencies of educational thought are strongly favorable to such courses. In preparing commercial courses the greatest care must be taken not to permit them to be less educational than the parallel courses of the high school. There is no reason why the commercial course should, in any respect, fall below other courses in the development of power. A four-years' course can well afford to have the first two years devoted to studies which are found in other courses, concentrating those studies peculiar to a commercial course in the last two years.

DR. H. M. Rowe, of Baltimore, said that both the cultural and the practical side of the commercial department ought to receive attention. He thought no subject could be properly taught without resulting in a gain in both directions.

There was a unanimity of opinion that the commercial work ought to be of the same value educationally, and receive the same consideration, as the ordinary high-school work.

BOTANY CONFERENCE

LEADER LEWIS MURBACH, CENTRAL HIGH SCOOL, DETROIT, MICH.

[SYNOPSIS OF Opening remarKS BY THE LEADER]

The three factors in the consideration of any school study are the pupil, the teacher, and the subject. If time permitted, it might be profitable to discuss the pupil and the teacher, but of most practical value to the gathered teachers will be the consideration of the subject taught.

While every high-school teacher of botany should be interested in the advances of the science of botany, and should perhaps even add his mite, from time to time, in the way of some contribution, it is not these that will occupy our attention so much as the practical side what kind of teaching as to subjects and methods will afford the best results to learners, who may wish culture, an introduction to science, some practical knowledge of plants, or even the ability to teach the rudiments.

We may pass by the question of the place of botany in the high-school curriculum, on the assumption that everyone understanding its educational value gives it a place in the early part of the high-school course, either as a culture and training study or as an introduction to science. As these have to do only with the rudiments of education, which should be acquired by the same sound methods, we may begin with the importance of teaching botany by the laboratory and field method now commonly employed.

It is not so long ago that the older didactic informational method was in vogue, and some of us had our first botany lessons under its rule. Newer workers combine its good features with the laboratory method. Since the laboratory method has been introduced into high-school science teaching, there have been written a number of elementary text-books, treating plants from different standpoints and using about as many different methods as there are authors. Yet these books are the expressions of the ideal ways of teaching suggested by some of our best university and high-school teachers. Much time could be saved by combining the best points of all these books. All agree on the laboratory and field method as the best.

Another subject of interest is the relative amount of time to be given to observation work (in field and laboratory), written work (including drawing), and recitation. In the old way, book learning was the chief thing, but the newest tendency is to an abundance of field work. This is very profitable when well done, but the many questions and the exuberant remarks of pupils on an outing are too frequently mistaken for interest and enthusisam. Laboratory and field work without notes and drawings showing definite attainments lack a large part of the training that this method can give. The recitation is needed to bring order into the confused or scattered facts learned, and to build up a