general air of industry, prosperity, and happiness which characterizes us as a nation, than by the many undeniable evidences of culture and refinement, shown by our discriminating taste in the fine arts; for we are rapidly becoming lovers and patrons of the arts.

Our position among the commercial nations of the world is unassailable, and our contribution to the liberal arts, as well as our exploits in science and inventions, have proven no small factor in modern progress. However, in our zeal to grasp all to comprehend allwe have, I fear, either purposely or inadvertently, ignored possibly one of the most beautiful, certainly one of the most useful arts, the mastery of our mother tongue-English Expression.

While we may with a certain pardonable pride congratulate ourselves that we live in an age of constantly, if gradually, increasing culture; an age, too, remarkable for specialization along artistic and professional lines, yet one can scarcely conceive as broad and liberal, a culture that does not include both the science and art of expression.

Can superior attainments or specialization along anv line, preclude the necessity for or excuse the lack of a thorough mastery of the basic principle of intelligent speech?

I start then with the assertion that there is in America to-day a deplorable prevalence of bad English; a very palpable and culpabl

corruption of common conversational language. This general breach of diction on our part is in a measure due to the pernicious effects of yellow journalism, "street talk," and with the slip-shod habits of social intercourse, where solecisms and barbarisms are committed with the utmost impunity; where slang passes as wit, and vulgarisms are "winked at" or openly encouraged.

We affect to be amused at the dialectic idiosyncracies of our British cousins, forgetting the grosser blunders of our own vernacular.

The flagrant violations which convulse us are almost invariably nothing more or less than examples of "cockney" English, while our derelictions in this regard are confined to no particular place or class, but run riot, as it were, from basement to attic.

Why have we allowed our English to fall into disrepute?

Granting that the study of English has not the high disciplinary value accredited to the classic Greek and Latin; granting also that it is not susceptible of that delicacy of shading that varied expression characteristic of the French; that it does not lend itself so easily and naturally to a lyric style, as does the Italian, nor display the wholesome vigor of the German; yet it is our native medium of expression, embodying the current coin of commerce, the homely parlance of the mestic circle, the subtilties of the

social sphere, and the profundities of the modern philosopher.

That these deficiencies exist to the extent claimed, cannot be attributed to any indifference on the part of the schools and colleges of this country. Indeed, the efforts put forth by the educational institutions give us the sole ground for anything like an optimistic view of the English of the future.

For years past they have been carrying on this work, both formative and reformative. The colleges have evolved elaborate courses in English, and sought by vigorous, if misdirected measures, to raise the general standard of spoken English, by adding to the already heavy requirements for college entrance, thereby defeating the very purpose at which they aimed.

The secondary schools, taking their cue from these higher institutions, made heroic but ineffectual efforts to meet these requirements,

and the result was but the natural sequence.

The grammar school course was inflated; grammar and the science of composition were literally devoured, and the pupil passed into the High School with an opulence of technical grammar only exceeded by his utter poverty of expression. Nor did three years' study of rhetoric and its kindred branches any more nearly fit him for college or for intelligent expression.

It is said that in a recent exam

ination for entrance to an Eastern college, the word Cyrus was spelled. in twenty different ways.

One of the faculty of an Ohio college being called upon to revise the catalogue found the task doubly onerous on account of the numerous errors in diction.

The first set of manuscripts taken from a first-year class in the High School are invariably both a revela-tion and a disappointment to the conscientious teacher of English

a revelation inasmuch as they illustrate how much technical grammar may be acquired without a corresponding command of language; and a disappointment from the standpoint of what the teacher has a right to suppose to have been pre iously done.

To illustrate: In grading a paper on elementary science recently, of the thirty mistakes noted, twentytwo were in spelling and punctua-tion. Now while this did not di

rectly reflect upon the hard working and really efficient teachers of the grammar grades, yet it was a telling remark to a system that made the English of Grammar and High Schools purely preparatory to the college, instead of utilizing it as a means of improvement in the speech, the writing, and the taste of the pupil.

But the tide is turned, and, strangely enough, the colleges which were primarily responsible for poor results in English, have taken the initiative in this reform

Indeed, so radical has been the change in this regard, that their present requirements in English may be summed up in the words: "No applicant will be accepted in English whose work is seriously defective in point of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and paragraphing."

Thus it will be seen that English is slowly but surely coming again into her own. True the progress seems insignificant to the extremist who would change all in the "twinkling of an eye;" but it is gradual, as all real progress must be.

Who ever saw the hour hand of a clock move? Yet, move it does. At high noon.it points to twelve the afternoon passes away and it has left that mile-post far behind; and as surely as twilight falls, and the darkness gathers, and the midnight hour creeps stealthily on, just so surely, and as stealthily, has the hour hand passed the eleven mile-stones of its journey, and, 'ere the clock strikes, has reached the twelfth.

Since the indifferent diction can be attributed to no single cause, the remedy can be found only along varied lines. If in addition to the present practical work being done by the colleges and secondary schools, our current newspapers and magazines were subjected to a closer literary censorship and edited with greater care; if teachers of

broad culture, which unfortunately, is not always the case; if the language of the home circle were more formally correct; then the problem. of clear and forcible expression would be vastly simplified, and good strong English for every day use the rule instead of the noticeable exception.

A strong force in the right direction is the work of the Ohio Board of Control of the O. P. R. C. made up of the leading educators of this state, who have compiled a graded list of English and American classics calculated to give a healthy stimulus to the pupil's imagination, present to his mind model expressions, and train him in the study of character, the result of which will be later reflected in his own life.

As the air grows clearer and the view broadens as we scale the heights, so the outlook in English justifies a more sanguine prospect when we consider the growing number and higher tendencies of the literary clubs, whose influence, it is no reflection to say, is second only in power to that of the modern lyceum.

But what words of mine can pay anything like an adequate tribute to the too limited number who seek conscientiously to perpetuate in the hearts and minds of those whose lives they touch, a science worthy of the highest mental acumen and an art doubly grand, being God-given,

and yet with all within the plane and power of human kind.

That elocution in its vital phases has taken a place in the curricula of schools and colleges side by side with the other language arts; that those who give themselves so devotedly to its cause are no longer regarded as belonging to a mere craft, but members of a recognized profession, is due to those who in their own lives have embodied those high traits and beautiful qualities for which the art in its truest sense stands.

Who shall say that the language of Shakespeare and Milton, of DeQuincey and Addison, of Carlyle and Emerson, Goldsmith and Burns, is unworthy our most strenuous efforts toward proficiency? Who shall

say that a language which has voiced the whole gamut of human emotion cannot meet our present need, whether pretentious or common-place?

Not alone, however, for the sake of the past and present, but for the possibilities of the future, should we strive for preservation of English of the highest quality of diction; for it is not too much to predict that, coincident with the gatherings of the various branches of the Anglo-Saxon race for a united and triumphant march of conquest for civilization, not only I will the dialectic differences have disappeared, but the English language will be no longer plebeian in character, but patrician; no longer provincial, but cosmopolitan.

So many inquiries have been made as to the sources of Ohio history and Geography that it seems pertinent, at this time, to give, at least, a partial answer. The inquiries themselves indicate an increasing interest in the subject and this increased interest promises much in the way of investigation and future records. Already Supt. Simkins of St. Marys has written a history of Auglaize County, and Supt. Martzolff is performing a like

service for Perry County. Once let teachers and pupils become thoroughly interested in the matter and every library, every "oldest citizen," and every other source of information will be laid under tribute. Not only so, but prying eyes, and active minds will go searching everywhere for information, nor will they return unrewarded. There are histories of Ohio, to be sure, many of them, and much has been written. on the geography of the state but

that which has not been written should be the goal of our ambitious efforts. We must not neglect what is already in print, but it should become an incentive to further and more systematic efforts, if possible, that the schools may have the pleasure of adding to what is already known and published.

There are many sources of information upon which we can draw but the newspaper contains the largest possibilities for us in our work. But interest in the subject must precede the scanning of our papers else the most precious bits of information will escape our notice. On the other hand when we become interested in the subject. there is no article so brief and no type so small but our sharp eyes will detect it. We seem, then, to become the favored guests at the head of the table enjoying a never-ending feast that willing hands are spreading for our pleasure. Every paper brings its choice viands and dainty tidbits to delight our cultivated palates, and to contribute to a craving that becomes more and more insatiable. Then if clippings are made carefully and properly classified and preserved we shall see developing by daily increments historical and geographical records that will prove to be invaluable.

Let us take just a glance at this collection of clippings here merely to ascertain their subjects. Here's one whose caption is 'Chillicothe's Old Land Office." This land office,

we learn, was opened in July, 1829, by Allen Latham who had been appointed surveyor-general two years before. This Mr. Latham was a son-in-law of Richard Clough Anderson who opened a land-office near Louisville July 20, 1784, holding the position till the time of his death in 1826. Now all that seems tame enough, doesn't it? But wait. Let us quote one sentence from this clipping relative to Richard Clough Anderson. "He was the father of General Robert Anderson who commanded Fort Sumter when fired upon by the Confederates in 1861, and father of Charles Anderson who succeeded John Brough as governor of Ohio on the latter's death in 1865." Now one sentence concerning Allen Latham: "He was born July 1, 1793, in Lyme, N. H.; graudated at Dartmouth College, admitted to the bar at New Philadelphia, O., and came to Chillicothe in 1813. He served one term in the Ohio Senate. He removed to Cincinnati in 1854 and died there March 28, 1871." This is history of the best sort, but this old land-office suggests a deal of geography also, for it had to do with the distribution of the Virginia Military tract and one only needs to consult the plats of the land in that section of the state and see the zigzag boundaries to receive a lesson in geography that is well worth learning. But that must wait.

Here's another clipping concerning Ross County and describes the