Conventionally correct speech and conventionally correct manners, while not so important as unmistakable clearness of expression and genuine kindliness of spirit, are still the proper media for these higher qualities. More than any other superficial arts they smooth the way through the world. The excellent Maine sea captain who wrote of himself and his companion, Me and William's gittin' along fine," expressed himself with perfect clearness and adequacy, yet his form of expression left something to be desired as a qualification for admission to a salon.

Letter Writing.-Second. This phase of the subject has a very "practical" aspect. Letter writing, one of the most important branches of literary art, is very dependent upon conventional forms and the use of words with exact nicety. Modern business communications are, more often than not, in the form of letters. The ability to write letters in correct form, in "good English,' saying exactly what one wants to say, is an absolutely indispensable part of the modern business man's equipment.

Necessary to High Thinking. -Third. The higher thoughts and the finer phases of thought cannot be expressed at all through the crude homespun language of the unlettered. Paucity of language prevents the thinking of high thoughts or of making those delicate analyses of thought that add incalculably to the joy and the fullness of life.

Aids the Comprehension of Literature.-Fourth. Language training not only makes possible the expression, and hence the thinking, of high thoughts, it also makes possible the comprehension and appreciation of the best in literature, which is unseen by the untrained eye.

argument for instruction in the art of language is the early acquisition of habit and its fixity when once acquired. The correct use of language is the result, not of knowledge, but of habit. A teacher who was overheard saying to her class, "Ain't that all the further we took?" when called to account, said, amid her tears, “Why, I knew better." I replied, "Yes, doubtless you could have parsed your own blunder." And she could. It was the result, not of ignorance, but of habit, sheer habit, acquired in the uncultivated home. The greater number of homes are uncultivated. If the schools are to remedy the defects of the home, and equip the children with correct habits of speech, they cannot catch them too early. Instruction must be definite and thorough and of the right sort, from the earliest primary grades.

Objects of Instruction. Let us consider now the aims of the language lesson. The first great aim of language instruction in the earlier years of school is to train the children to facility, accuracy, forcefulness, and elegance in their habitual use of English, both when speaking and when writing.

Doubtless most teachers will accept this statement, at least in theory. But, unfortunately, when they come to actual teaching, too often the chief effort is bent upon another aim altogether, namely, the teaching of the facts and principles of grammar. The homeopathic dose of calomel is a dose of calomel still, though disguised and diluted. The grammar notion is so firmly fixed in the minds of teachers, that it is well-nigh impossible to eradicate it, even from teaching that is ostensibly for a wholly different purpose. And the authorities

giving tests, no matter how earnestly they may have urged upon the teachers practical work in language, are almost sure to put the brunt of the examination upon grammar.

Moreover, the authors of "language books," while in their prefaces insisting upon the paramountcy of practical language lessons, in the books themselves too frequently place the emphasis upon grammar, and to such an extent that the teachers are sure to feel the necessity of doing likewise. For example, several of these books define the sentence respectively on pages 7, 3, 2, 3, 5. This is done manifestly under the notion that before using an instrument of communication, or calling its name, it is necessary to be able to define it in words; which is as sensible as not to allow a child to name or play with a doll until he can define it in "good set terms," or to ride on or mention a horse until, like Bitzer, he can give a definition of it. Some authors, in a vain endeavor to temper the wind to the shorn lamb," resort to simplified definitions which are inaccurate and misleading - Bowdlerized grammar. Witness, from one modern book: "A group of words which (sic) tells one's thoughts is called a sentence.'

Essential Evils of Grammar Dominance.

These are

but illustrations of the foes that lie in wait to deceive and mislead the teachers who would teach language really and vitally. They are to be criticized, not chiefly because of the futility or even the misleading nature of the instruction resulting, but because of the influence of this early technical teaching on the spirit and method of all the work. "The trail of the serpent is over it all." The efforts of teacher and class alike are inevitably

diverted from the real object of the instruction to a secondary function. Like the rudimentary tail, the notion persists that to be able to recite the rules and definitions of grammar is a prerequisite to the utterance of correct speech. The battle of psychology against logic in the teaching of children is a long and hard one, and the favorite battle ground is the field of language.

Place of Grammar. - The time comes, of course, when the teaching of grammar is a legitimate aim. Even in the elementary grades, when the function of a word as such is spoken of, the correct name of the word is better than a nickname. A name is a handle, and when it can be used with reasonable accuracy, it is preferable to a substitute. It is well enough for a child to call a dog bowwow until the function has become associated in the infant mind with its source. Then the bowwow should become the dog. So "name-word " very early gives place to "noun." But this is at most incidental. Grammar is properly a high school study, though, as many never reach the high school, it may without injury, in a simple form, enter into the higher grades of the elementary school. Yet even then it must not be allowed to interfere with the constructive work of the language lesson.

Necessity of Vital Interest. The fundamental general aim of all class exercises is to arouse and maintain a vital interest in the subject pursued. Such interest on the part of young children demands the free, glad exercise of natural powers, aching for exercise. Free and joyful expression of himself is the manifest first necessary aim in a child's education, an aim that precedes and makes possible higher disciplinary aims. For young children

in a language class, formal grammar, even in the shape of mere definitions before they can possibly be developed intelligently out of experience, dams the stream of interest and perverts the aim of instruction.

Training to Think. A second aim of the language lesson is to train children to think. Thinking is organizing ideas into definite comprehensible wholes, technically known as sentences. The relations of thinking and expressing thoughts are reciprocal. No clear expression is possible unless the thought to be expressed is clear. On the other hand, the effort to organize ideas for expression clarifies them in the mind. Hence a good language lesson is training in thinking.

Appreciation of Literature. A third specific aim of the language lesson is the appreciation of literary art. This aim is not chiefly critical, in the offensive sense. Indeed, with young children such critical study should be wholly obscured. But, through the language lesson, as well as through the reading lesson, children should learn to see the beauties of good literature. In the lowest grades, this can be little more than "I like " or " I don't like," but gradually the reasons may be brought out. And in the grammar grades a considerable degree of wellfounded taste may be developed.

It must be remembered that the vast majority of pupils never go beyond the grammar school; and whatever of taste they acquire must be developed early. Especially by correlating language study with the reading lesson, enough may be accomplished to direct in great measure the reading of children after leaving school.

Enriching Vocabulary. — A fourth aim of the language lesson, which is really a corollary of the other two, is to