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pippil THE 
 
 3 1924 OQn qiq q^S 1 THE 
 
 SCHOOL REVIE 
 
 A Journal of Secondary Education 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 hfi**r&fic> 
 
 J. Q. SCHURMAN 
 
 PRESIDENT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 CONTENTS FOR JANUARY 
 
 /*/J 
 
 Editorial Note . The Editor i 
 
 The Teacher as a Professional Expert Professor A. B. Hart 4 
 
 First Year English in the High School Principal J. G. Wight 15 
 
 Regents' Diplomas in English ... Professor J. M. Hart ^24 4^ * 
 
 Book Department Conducted by Principal C. H. ThVrber 48 
 
 The Foundation of Rhetoric. O. F. Emerson. 
 
 The Story of the Iliad. J. E. Russell. 
 
 The Realm of Nature. R. S. Tarr. . 
 
 Whitney & Lockwood's English Grammar. O. F. Emerson. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Current Educational Literature . Conducted by Principal f. E. Russell 56 
 Books Received 63 
 
 Published by 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 
 Vol. I - - No 1 \ f $1.50 a year (10 numbers) 
 
 Whole No. I ) I 20 cents a number 
 
 ■January, 1893, 
 
 4* £. L. Williams \ *"*"T . / 
 
The School Review^A Journal of Secondary Education 
 
 J. Q. SCHURJTAN, Editor 
 
 The time seems to be ripe for the establishment of, a periodical of the 
 highest scientific and practical character in the field of secondary education 
 which field is at present, nearly or quite unoccupied. Though published in 
 connection with Cornell University The School Review is not, in any sense, 
 an organ of that institution. Unhampered by financial problems and unas- 
 sailed by the temptations to which they give rise it has absolutely no other 
 aim than to propagate sound educational thought and report wise educational 
 experiment in all matters pertaining to the work of the High School and the 
 Academy. As all gbod education ultimately rests on true psychological 
 and pedagogical ideas, the abstract and theoretical side will not be neglected ; 
 but at the same time special stress will be laid upon the results of practical 
 experience. To this end contributions from those actively engaged as super- 
 intendents, teachers or principals will be cordially welcomed. 
 
 The Review will include four more or less distinct features. In the first of 
 these, in what may be called the Outlook Article, will be discussed from 
 month to month the most suggestive developments in the field of secondary 
 education. There will be in addition a considerable number of Original 
 Articles of the highest character. In the department of Book Reviews, what 
 is believed to be a somewhat new departure will be made. The aim in this 
 department will be distinctively to add in the review something of value to 
 the book, either in the way of criticism, suggestion, correction or completion. 
 While this aim may not always be attained it will always be held in view. 
 The purpose is to make this department a thoroughly reliable guide for 
 teachers in the purchase of books for themselves and for school libraries. 
 The Summaries of Articles from other educational periodicals, especially 
 foreign, will be prepared with great care under the supervision of a specialist 
 with the purpose of presenting the quintessence of that educational literature 
 which would not otherwise be generally available. 
 
 A special feature, to be begun in an early number of the Review is a series 
 of articles by state superintendents and educational experts on the school 
 -systems of the various states of the United States and of the Provinces of 
 ■•Canada. The Editor has been greatly encouraged by the assurance of sym- 
 pathy and support that have been received from a large number of prominent 
 educators. Among those who have indicated their willingness to contribute 
 are Principal W. C. Collar, Roxbury Latin School ; The Hon. O. E. Wells, 
 State Superintendent of Education, Wisconsin ; The Hon. A. S. Draper, 
 Supt. of Schools, Cleveland, Ohio ; Aaron Gove, Supt. of Schools, Denver, 
 Col. ; Principal H. M. Lovell, Elmira, N. Y. ; Prof. S. G. Williams, Cor- 
 nell University ; Principal Thomas B. I/) veil, Suspension Bridge, N; Y. ; 
 Principal Roland S. Keyser, Middleburgh, N. Y. ; Principal E. J. Peck, 
 Owego, N. Y. ; Prof. Geo. P. Bristol, Cornell University ; Prof. Oliver 
 Farrar Emerson, Cornell University ; Prof. Ralph, S. Tarr, Cornell Univer- 
 sity ; Principal Ray Greene Huling, New Bedford, Mass. ; Principal J. E. 
 Russell, Cascadilla School, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Melvil Dewey, Esq.. Secretary 
 of the Board of Regents, Albany, N. Y. ; and Superintendent S. T. Dut- 
 ton, Brookline, Mass. The Hon. O. E. Wells will begin in an early number 
 the series of articles on Educational Systems in the various states by an ar- 
 ticle on the School System of Wisconsin. 
 
 The terms of the Review are $1.50 per year (ten numbers), in advance ; no 
 numbers being issued in the vacation months of July and August; single 
 copies $. 20. In order to introduce the Review to the school public the first 
 three numbers "will be sent to any address on the receipt of thirty-five cents. 
 
 Articles, subscriptions, books, etc., for The School Review should be ad- 
 dressed to DR. PRANK THIIJvY, 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
First Year English in the High School ij 
 
 should have English as a first year study, and that it have the 
 same amount of time and attention daily that is now given to al- 
 gebra or Latin. 
 
 A few years ago complaints began to be made generally that 
 the history of our own country was too much neglected in the 
 public schools. Previously the public conscience had tried to 
 quiet itself with the baseless theory, that the child obtains by 
 general reading all that is desirable in this direction. It was 
 found in fact that there is no such amount of general reading of 
 history as had been claimed ; that the young rarely read history 
 at all of their own accord. The usual period of preliminary agi- 
 tation was passed through ; the public was at length sufficiently 
 aroused in regard to the matter ; a permanent place for this im- 
 portant branch of study was found in the grammar school ; and, 
 in consequence, the graduates from our grammar schools are now 
 well informed about American History. Although a single year 
 of English can accomplish but little when compared with the re- 
 sults of a year's study of American History, it would be a most 
 significant little, to be felt appreciably ever after. 
 
 To make it worth the while, as has been said already, English 
 must be taught somewhere in the course with the same insistence 
 upon regular class room work as is the case with geometry. All 
 things considered, the earlier this teaching comes in the high 
 school the better. If placed in the first year, nearly three times 
 as many would receive its benefits as would be the case if de- 
 ferred until senior year, and it would make possible a greater 
 degree of success with the subsequent incidental rhetorical work 
 of the school. Moreover, the influence of this first year's disci- 
 pline in English would be felt to advantage everywhere in the 
 student's later career. Teachers of higher classes would then 
 oftener experience satisfaction in finding boys and girls some- 
 what trained to write and punctuate, to appreciate literary ex- 
 cellence, and to give pleasure instead of pain when called upon 
 to read or recite orally. 
 
 Fewer persons are fitted to teach English than almost any 
 other important branch of study. As a rule young teachers are 
 unwilling to take it, as they have not been sufficiently instructed 
 in it themselves. As soon, however, as English shall be taught 
 daily in the class room, and to all the pupils of a given year, just 
 as Latin or algebra is taught, there will be produced, by a natura 
 
1 8 The School Review 
 
 process, competent teachers of English, and it will become a 
 favorite subject with them, as by good right it ought to be. 
 Rousseau, whose financial distress compelled him on one oc- 
 casion to affect a calling for which he was not qualified, said : 
 "By continuing to teach music I insensibly gained some knowl- 
 edge of it. ' ' 
 
 There must be several teachers of first year English in a high 
 school, just as there must be several to teach algebra. It would 
 be well if all were to have the discipline that some teaching of 
 English would give them. Their good influence for English 
 would then be felt all along the course, as every subject affords 
 more or less opportunity for it. Teachers of other branches too 
 commonly decline to take notice of errors in English, such as 
 mistakes of orthoepy in translating, and errors of punctuation in 
 written exercises. 
 
 Fortunately we have quite lost confidence in the principle 
 once held to some extent, that for the writing of good English it 
 is only necessary to get something to say, and that then there 
 will be no difficulty in saying it properly. One needs to be 
 trained in literary composition just as he must be trained in any- 
 thing else. Only now and then a genius, like Hawthorne, can 
 dispense with passing through ' ' the green age of apprentice- 
 ship " as a writer. You may have heard of the Bachelor of 
 Arts who found it necessary to take a post-graduate course in 
 spelling. Almost any college graduate might consistently take 
 such a course in English. It is a common regret with educated 
 men that they had not been stimulated in early life to write perse- 
 veringly, until they had formed the taste for literary composition. 
 
 If emphasis is to be put upon either composition or the study 
 of literature in first year classes, it should be given to the former. 
 Brief compositions should be required daily, or nearly so, and at 
 first no subject is too simple to be successfully employed. It will 
 be remembered that Swift could write elegantly about a broom- 
 stick. Several of these brief compositions should be read aloud 
 and criticised by the teacher before the class each day, that all 
 the members of the class may be benefited by the originality of 
 each, as well as by the criticisms that accompany the reading. 
 The compositions the teacher lacks time to read may often be 
 assigned for correction to the most competent members of the 
 class. Nearly the whole question of teaching composition writ- 
 
First Year English in the High School 19 
 
 ing in the schools, especially in its early stages, is expressed in 
 this, — regular daily class exercise, a part of which is to be the dis- 
 cussion by the teacher in the presence of the class of the work done. 
 By such daily contact with the individual student the teacher 
 gets the surest revelation of the deficiencies of his class. 
 
 It is not to be expected that students so young as those enter- 
 ing the high school should pay much attention to style and in- 
 vention, but rather to accurate and grammatical expression of 
 common-place thought. 
 
 Literary composition is generally at the outset distasteful ; but 
 if persevered in, the student comes in time to have a liking for 
 it, and finds, as often happens, that an acquired taste is stronger 
 than a natural one. A good illustration of the utter helplessness 
 of a beginner when set unaided to the task of writing a composi- 
 tion, is the case of a bright girl of thirteen, who chose "Re- 
 ligion ' ' as her subject, and wrote as follows : ' ' There are a great 
 many kinds of religion. There is the Presbyterian religion, the 
 Episcopalian religion, the Baptist religion, the Roman Catholic 
 religion, the Unitarian religion, the Universalist religion, and the 
 Methodist religion. ' ' This list exhausted the church denomina- 
 tions in her own village ; but by enumerating others less familiar 
 to her, and not forgetting the Mormons, she succeeded in reach- 
 ing the required minimum limit of fifty words, and at length 
 breathed (freely in the consciousness of having achieved one of 
 those terrible things called compositions. 
 
 The art of literary composition requires long and patient prac- 
 tice, intelligence that comes only by study, and mature judgment 
 which nothing but time can fully develop. A French writer of 
 great distinction says : ' ' With whatever talent a man may be 
 born, the art of writing is not easily learned." An experienced 
 author was once asked if he would encourage young people in 
 writing poetry. ' ' By all means, ' ' he replied ; ' ' the poetry will, 
 of course, be good for nothing ; but the practice will be most 
 helpful to them in forming the habit of careful thinking, and 
 especially in giving them facility in diction, which will be of real 
 use in their less ambitious efforts at prose. ' ' 
 
 The advisability of using a text-book in teaching first year 
 composition is not quite established. This is a question to be de- 
 cided by the individual teacher. While a few work best without 
 one, probably the majority would prefer to use one ; and possibly 
 all would find it helpful, if it were not too much relied upon. 
 
20 The School Review 
 
 The amount of literature that can be studied in one year by 
 boys and girls who have just entered the high school, especially 
 when only a part of each daily recitation can be made available 
 for it, is not large, and there is abundant material that may be 
 profitably used for that purpose. Many American authors could 
 be readily suggested, any one of whom, whether poet or prose- 
 writer, would suffice. But the aim of the teacher, so far as this 
 feature of English is concerned, should be to direct the student 
 in such classic lines of reading as he is likely to follow persever- 
 ingly and voluntarily. Experience seems to show that the only 
 literature likely to meet these conditions is prose fiction. As the 
 study of literature in the class-room implies and necessitates 
 much independent and voluntary reading by the pupil out of 
 school, the teacher is at once called upon to find for his ambitious 
 youthful readers a sufficiency of real classic fiction, attractive and 
 pure, and consequently such as he may safely and confidently 
 recommend to them. Such prose fiction as this is not abundant. 
 Hardly any classic of this nature is wholly free from impurities, 
 the best and most attractive in other respects often being the most 
 vitiated. To become satisfied of this, let any one of you attempt 
 to recommend to a girl of ravenous literary appetite unobjection- 
 able classic fiction sufficient to supply her for a single year. Go 
 to your own libraries and select the novels by the English mas- 
 ters, which you can consistently recommend to her. When it is 
 stated that you are likely to begin by rejecting all of Thackeray, 
 Scott, and Fielding, the real difficulty of the case becomes plain. 
 
 It seems like sacrilege to expurgate the works of such authors 
 as Sterm, Victor Hugo, and Bulwer, to make them safe reading 
 for the young ; but much may be said in favor of so doing. A 
 teacher with the true literary spirit, in selecting reading for his 
 pupils, will naturally choose a classic if possible ; but as he must, 
 nine times out of ten, select a story, and finds nearly all the 
 stories written by classical authors containing what it would be 
 imprudent to place before the unsophisticated reader, the neces- 
 sity for some process of expurgation with the best novels becomes 
 apparent. Even "Gulliver " has been successfully cleansed and 
 made readable for the young. Great stress is laid upon fiction, 
 because naturally the youthful taste is for stories, and it is wise 
 to indulge this taste, if it can be done with what is strictly within 
 the domain of literary art. Probably twenty young people will- 
 
First Year English in the High School 2\ 
 
 ingly read fiction for every one who reads standard history or 
 poetry of his own accord. In a high school of five hundred it 
 would be surprising if more than one were found who had read 
 all of Wordsworth, or one even who had read all of Bancroft's 
 History of the United States. This taste for history and poetry 
 can be only moderately forced. Time alone develops it. I once 
 knew a lawyer of decided literary taste who neglected to read 
 Hudibras until he was quite advanced in years. He said he had 
 always known that it was a great poem, because his cultivated 
 father had early pointed it out to him as a book he would some 
 day delight in. 
 
 For the successful taking up of some authors it makes a great 
 difference at what, pi ace in his works one begins. As an intro- 
 duction to Carlyle, "On Heroes" might charm a reader who 
 would find his ' ' French Revolution ' ' hopelessly disgusting. A 
 young person might be pleased with the " Blithedale Romance," 
 who could see nothing of worth in the matchless introduction to 
 the "Scarlet Letter." 
 
 The teacher of wide reading should make a lasting impression 
 upon these boys and girls of fifteen, laying the foundation of 
 what will later be a genuine literary culture. The amount of 
 knowledge actually acquired may not be large ; it will be like 
 seed well sown, to come to an unfailing fruition later. 
 
 Oral reading is included among the essentials of first year En- 
 glish, because it is desirable that no educated person should be 
 without this accomplishment. The extent to which our high 
 schools neglect oral reading is deplorable. The observation once 
 made by a critical teacher after a week of visitation in city high 
 schools will not surprise any one, — that it was something of a 
 consolation to know that the school she herself was connected 
 with was not the only one that produced poor readers. It is of 
 quite common observation that the best read student is the worst 
 reader ; just as it is often noticed that the man who leads his class 
 writes a wretched hand. 
 
 Oral reading should form a part, perhaps a subordinate part, 
 of first year English ; if for nothing else, to form thoroughly the 
 habit of a critical pronunciation of English. Moreover, good 
 oral reading is an accomplishment to be coveted, even if our cus- 
 tomary manner of educating holds it of but little value. 
 
 The pupil should be stimulated to practice oral reading daily 
 
22 The School Review 
 
 at home, thus supplementing the too meagre exercises of the 
 school. 
 
 This plea for first year English in the high school is made upon 
 the presumption that for the three remaining years of the course 
 the usual attention to incidental rhetorical work will be fully sus- 
 tained, and to a much better purpose. It is also believed that 
 such an impulse will be given by this year of English in the 
 way of literary culture, as shall last to enrich a lifetime. 
 
 The plan hastily outlined in this paper has been tried for nearly 
 two years in the Worcester High School, and through the zeal and 
 enlightened efforts of more than half a dozen teachers it has proved 
 its worth. It has been favored by intelligent enthusiasm, an enthu- 
 siasm, which has been fostered by the formation of a Fortnightly 
 English Club, in which there has been a free discussion of meth- 
 ods of procedure, by means of which the originality of the indi- 
 vidual teacher could be freely copied and made available by all. 
 A careful and frequent inspection of the peculiar excellence of 
 each teacher's work by the principal, has also made it possible for 
 him to present at these fortnightly meetings the good results ob- 
 served. Several of these teachers, at the request of the principal, 
 recently prepared statements of their impressions as to what is 
 most essential to be done in classes of first year English. The 
 substance of these impressions will now be presented as the con- 
 clusion of this paper. 
 
 I. — CONCERNING COMPOSITION WRITING. 
 
 Insist upon daily work in composition. This is the all-im- 
 portant feature. 
 
 Aim at developing the ability to think clearly, and a facility 
 in writing accurate — not necessarily elegant — English. 
 
 Insist upon correct paragraphing in all original work. 
 
 Let the pupils to some extent, correct one another's written 
 work, especially after the teacher has criticised as many papers 
 as practicable before the class. 
 
 Require all corrected compositions to be re-written in accord- 
 ance with suggestions of the teacher. 
 
 In marking them use a system of signs, and place the charac- 
 ters in the margin, leaving the pupil to find his errors for him- 
 self. 
 
 Teach clearness and unity, and the common figures of speech. 
 
First Year English in the High School 23 
 
 Correct in the class a great variety of faulty sentences. 
 
 Require the learning of essential rules for punctuation, and 
 illustrate each by examples. 
 
 At first have the pupil write short compositions, not continuous, 
 some of them on subjects that cannot be "looked up." Then 
 require longer ones, continuous from day to day, upon books read 
 outside the class. 
 
 II. — CONCERNING LITERATURE. 
 
 Require daily in the class a certain amount of study of some 
 American author. 
 
 Require much reading in the class and in private, what is read 
 being frequently reported orally to the class. 
 
 Require committing to memory of beautiful selections. 
 
 Cultivate in the pupil the habit of looking carefully to the au- 
 thority of a statement. 
 
 See that the pupil acquires the ability to locate quickly the 
 difficulty in the failure to understand any sentence. 
 
 Be sure to make a beginning in the cultivation of the literary 
 taste, and of a desire to read only the best. 
 
 Dictate, as a part of the advance lesson, questions which will 
 compel the pupil to think out the answers. 
 
 The looking up of allusions is valuable, but too much of such 
 work wearies young pupils. Make this subordinate to work 
 which will stimulate their imagination and arouse a liking for the 
 beautiful in literature and nature. 
 
 Give written lessons on the plot, characters, and figurative or 
 obscure expressions after study of a selection. 
 
 III. — CONCERNING ORAL READING. 
 
 Devote some small portion of each recitation to oral reading, 
 and, if possible, have each pupil read aloud daily at home. 
 
 Require reading and reciting from the platform. 
 
 Give some attention to suffixes and prefixes, and to the deriva- 
 tion of words. 
 
 Require the defining of new words, to enlarge the pupils vo- 
 cabulary ; old words, to make his knowledge accurate. 
 
 Have the pupil acquire the power to read at sight without 
 blundering, as well as secure a working knowledge of the strict 
 meaning of words. —J. G. Wright. 
 
 Classical High School, Worcester, Mass. 
 
24 The School Review 
 
 Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English. 
 
 That the work now accomplished by the English department of 
 Cornell is unsatisfactory is a proposition that needs no demonstra- 
 tion. Complaints are made on all sides, by professors in science 
 no less than by professors in history and literature, that their 
 students are unable to write tolerable examination-papers and 
 graduation-theses. The writers, they say, do not express them- 
 selves in a clear and orderly manner, they misuse words, they 
 seem to be ignorant of punctutation, they .even spell badly. 
 
 The evil is not confined to Cornell. Harvard is troubled in 
 like manner. The recent Harvard report is too familiar to us all 
 to need more than a passing mention. Whether Cornell is better 
 or worse than her sister institutions is a question which cannot 
 be settled and need not be raised. The comparison, even were it 
 possible, could not help us. Our sole duty is to diagnose the 
 ailment and apply the remedy. 
 
 I have been necessarily slow in arriving at my conclusions. 
 Two years ago I was a stranger to Cornell ways. I could pro- 
 ceed only cautiously, reconnoitring the ground in every direction. 
 During the past college year I satisfied myself that the root of 
 the trouble lay in our method of admission. Theoretically our en- 
 trance requirements in English are fairly sufficient. But practical- 
 ly they are not enforced for the great majority of candidates. 
 
 Three fourths of our annual matriculants are admitted upon 
 Regents' diploma or upon equivalent school certificate. This 
 practice is, I am satisfied, a grave mistake, for English certainly. 
 "Whether it works satisfactorily in other studies is a question that 
 I do not undertake to investigate. I have my doubts. 
 
 It is the object of the present paper, then, to set forth the 
 grounds upon which my conviction rests, to justify the demand 
 for abolishing entrance-certificates in English. Also, and chiefly, 
 to state — as fully as space will permit — the kind of instruction 
 that should be given in the schools. 
 
 Early in November, after the instructors had become fairly aq- 
 quainted with their several sections, I requested them to hand in 
 each a list of sixteen of their poorest students. Examining these 
 thirty-two names, I found that one was a student who had been 
 admitted under condition in September, the second had barely 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 25 
 
 passed the entrance-examination. The remaining thirty had 
 been admitted on certificate or diploma. 
 
 It having been thus made strikingly manifest that "certified" 
 students were out of all proportion inferior to ' ' examined ' ' stu- 
 dents, I determined to inquire into the school training itself. To 
 this end I prepared ten questions, to be answered in writing by 
 all Freshmen taking English. These questions touched upon their 
 preparation in grammar and spelling, in composition and rhetoric, 
 and in reading the prescribed English works. A copy of these 
 questions is printed at the end of this article. 
 
 They were answered by 179 students. The number would have 
 been larger, probably 200, but for numerous absences incident to 
 the presidential election. I have read these 179 papers entire and 
 have taken full notes of their contents. Fatiguing as the read- 
 ing might be, it was anything but time wasted. It gave me an 
 insight into school-methods that could not have been gained in 
 any other way. 
 
 One general conclusion can be safely drawn from the papers 
 before me. It is that the schools, taken collectively, do not 
 exhibit any uniformity in their English instruction. Putting 
 half a dozen of the best by themselves, it may be said of all the 
 others that they differ widely in quantity of work done, in quality, 
 and in their estimate of the ultimate object of the instruction. 
 
 The question which drew forth the greatest diversity of answer 
 was No. 4. The answers range from "all read" to "none." It 
 appears to be not merely a possibility but a regular practice in 
 many certified schools (and schools preparing for the Regents' 
 examination) to dispense altogether with English reading as a 
 required study. Thus one student states : ^/^ Jj.ur,fC /Jj^ay iXO&l 
 
 ' ' My Regents' diploma did not require me to read tlrese books, Z^t^tuJ/rf^^/ 
 but I have read Julius Caesar, Miles Standish, WeBster's First (7 [ 
 
 Bunker Hill, and part of House of Seven Gables." In reply to 
 No. 5 he continues: "I read the books mentioned above 
 merely for the substance and for the pleasure I could get 
 out of them, and did not make them a study so, of course, 
 they were not explained to me or discussed by me and I 
 never made them the subject of a written exercise." In 
 reply to No. 7 he writes: "During the three years of my ri ^~ 1 
 
 preparation at -\ — Academy all academic students were obliged {l^r*****™^ 
 to write three essays a year. They were at least 250 words in ir 
 
26 The School Review 
 
 length." To No. 9 he replies: "I studied no text-book of 
 
 Rhetoric except a few hours when I prepared for the examination 
 
 in English composition." To No. 10: "The -\— Academy 
 
 employs an excellent teacher of English. The morning hours 
 
 from 9 to 10 every morning are devoted to the study of English 
 
 composition, American Literature, and English reading, but this 
 
 work was not compulsary with me, and being hard pressed for 
 
 time I did not take it. ' ' 
 
 * ,U. Another student replies to No. 4 : "I read none of them in 
 
 I preperation but I have read the following : . . . The reading 
 
 was done by myself, and, consequently, there were no written 
 
 exercises nor discussions" . To No. 10: " In such a school as I 
 
 C nyJl 4r *\ have attended, the teachers change so often that the courses are 
 
 ' -t fixed." ^f 
 
 Ut^tiX4ttun^, 
 
 (ja.c%uj) 
 
 7£L*?1 
 
 /*£ 1 (j w Another one writes : " There was a course of English Read 
 *^~i_ ' r ing in the school which I was not able to attend on account of 
 
 / ^J, ot her necessary work. ' ' Still another (one of the best) says : " I , ^\ 
 R. ytadk£2£%p! had no c i ass wor k ; n t his [reading]— I had no regular instruction/ Ufar^**/ 
 /"l*X< in English Composition and what work I did, I did by myself — 1^- 
 
 never entered the class but did my work outside, as I could not 
 arrange my other studies so as to have the time for the class 
 . hours." 
 \\frwU$Li ' ' ' Still another : " As I was admitted on Regents Certificate, 
 
 I read none of the books in direct preparation for college, 
 no preparation of the kind suggested in the question." 
 h^iW^^t Another: " In the last two years, owing in great part to a !£fi/^cM 
 
 change of teachers, less stress was put upon the work. This ac- V. 
 counts for my having read but one of the works named. " / 'Aj*$\ 
 
 fcjlnv* •*-■ / Another : "I simply read these books by myself a very shorty- .jM<G 
 time before the examination and had no help of any kind. ' ' '■^p** 
 
 A A A^ u i~ Finally: " I read none of these as a direct preperation forM ^ji^A 
 *££-7r- %f college. This is due to the fact that my entrance requirements" ' 
 *■' *' were made up for by Regents Credentials." 
 
 Perhaps if the ideal of preparation had been lived up to, the 
 word might have been mangled less frequently. 
 . t u The answers to question No. 6 are usually in the afiirmative.f(W"u(P ,, '*>' a 
 
 J-0*cU}'** /But occasionally there is a negative. Thus, of two papers (from \fa <##&" ) 
 \/- 7h- y t h e same sc hool) one says simply, No ; the other, " It depended ' 
 upon the grammar grade the student was in." A third studenti 
 writes : "I never studied it but with knowledge of Rhetoric 1 1 
 
(j^i^ Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 27 
 
 sucsee 
 
 eded in passing the Regents Ex." To No. 7 he writes : 
 School it was thirteen weeks work an hour each day. At 
 
 1- 
 
 school it was not taken up in school." To No. 9 : "I 
 think — Rhetoric. Mostly oral work." 
 
 The answers to No. 7 exhibit great diversity and weakness. 
 See paper VI, quoted entire. Another student writes : "It was 
 every day (40 m. recitation) 2 terms one year except S. And 
 our essays were 600 — 700 words." 
 
 It would be impossible to tabulate the answers to No. 7. For 
 this the schools themselves are in great measure responsible. 
 They represent extremes. Some schools spread the instruction 
 in composition over the entire course, giving a moderate amount 
 each week. Others, again, seem to concentrate all the composi- 
 tion-work in one year. These latter, I fear, treat the subject as 
 one to be disposed of and laid aside. But of all the schools, ex- 
 cept a very few, it would be perfectly safe to say that the aggre- 
 gate amount of work is quite inadequate. 
 
 The answers to No. 9 are confusing. The question was in- 
 tended to be a supplement to questions 6, 7, 8. But very many 
 students write as if Rhetoric were an entirely distinct subject 
 from Composition, something to be studied on its own merits and 
 without regard to their writing. This conception is inevitable, one 
 may say, in a school that disposes of Rhetoric in a term or two, 
 by recitation only or mainly. I may add that the system of Re- 
 gents' examinations is also to blame. By its arrangement it 
 seems at least to draw a line of separation between Composition 
 and Rhetoric. 
 
 The answers to questions 2 and 3 are all affirmative. At least I 
 do not remember any paper, the writer of which fails to assert 
 that he was taught both spelling and grammar, either in the high / 
 
 school or before entering it. Unfortunately the answers them- (A/iX/xJJ-1 i-~ 
 selves do not corroborate the assertion, e. g. "Yes. Received * /7 </H/Vt ,UaJiJ 
 instruction in ethomology, syntax and general work in — grammar J< 
 
 for two terms." Another: " During the four years I had no in- yt^Zti^^Lf 
 struction in English grammer. I was instructed previous to this C^*-^-9^f 
 time in English grammer. ' ' Another in reply to No. 9 : " I , 
 
 studied a rhetoric text-book for Thirty Weeks, of which a good w^ < ^<tl i 
 share of the time was spent in studying poetry, also Metapors, 
 Anthitheses, Hyperobles, Similies, and other various kinds of 
 sentences. We spent some time in Purity — Force & Precision." 
 
2 lfl, The School Review { ^ i/y JU 
 
 ' Another : ' ' During my time at the high school (three years) I 
 
 studdied some grammer and also studdied— Rhetoric. I was 
 taught elementry grammer in all the elementry grades of the 
 schools which I attended." Fortified by this assurance we shall 
 find little difiiculty in believing that in this school he " wrote on 
 most all subjects practible to give to High School pupils." 
 
 In general I may say that careless spelling is found in more 
 than half the papers ; positively bad spelling in about one-third. 
 But perhaps I underestimate. 
 
 Mistakes of grammar are not often of the worse sort. Usually 
 they are blunders due to heedlessness, although occasionally they 
 must be due to ignorance. The following, which appears quite 
 out of keeping with an otherwise good paper, may serve for a 
 sample: "The students of the department were divided into 
 three sections, each of these sections were to write essays once in 
 
 ' three weeks." 
 
 Question 8 elicited the most remarkable replies. Thus one 
 
 1 writes : "Students usualy chose their own subjects, e. g. Bees ; 
 The last Time I Went Fishing, etc. " It is not surprising that 
 this writer, in reply to questions 4 and 5, should state : "Trans- 
 lation into English of four books of Caesar. No written exer- 
 cises." But he is not the only one of the present set that has 
 confounded Shakespeare and the Roman original. Another says 
 bluntly: "The subjects upon which we wrote also depended 
 upon the student. We could write about anything from ' How I 
 Spent My Vacation', to ' The Rings of Saturn.' " One man suc=> 
 
 "ceeded in putting together " The Rec of the Hesperous^^^Ali-^ 
 other says : "They were chiefly argumentative, or on some cur- 
 
 ' rent topic of interest. The U. S. Signal Service Bureau — Tem- 
 perance vs. Total Abstinence — Our I^ate Troubles with Chili — 
 Fairies — Rats — etc. " I do not believe that the answer was in- 
 tended for an anti -climax. 
 
 There is one general class of subjects to which I must call at- 
 tention ; they violate the spirit of our public school system. Our 
 schools at least should be exempt from the clash of party strife. 
 Yet my students tell me that at school they were asked to write 
 upon : ' ' W hy I Am a Republ ican ; " " The Bu llet and the Ba l- 
 lot ; " " Why I Am a Democ rat ; " " My Im pressions of Har ri- 
 son ; " " Grover Cleveland and Rep ublican Creed ; " " Pr otec- 
 tion or Free Trade ; " " Comparis on Betwe en the Republican and 
 Democratic Parties." 7 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 29 
 
 The answers to question 10 were in the main not clear. Evi- 
 dently many of the writers were not accustomed to summing up 
 the operations of a study running through more than one year, 
 and their memories failed them. This inability betrays, I think, 
 a defect in the training itself. The same writers would have 
 done better if asked to recapitulate their course in Latin or in 
 Mathematics. The answers to the second clause of the question; 
 " How much time and attention did English receive in compari- 
 son with other subjects?" were in three groups. One group 
 maintained that English got fully as much attention as any other 
 study, and justified the assertion by the superior quality of the 
 papers. Another group took the same ground, but belied the 
 assertion by writing extremely poor papers. The third group, 
 the great majority of tht class, was either non-committal or inclined 
 to the view that English did not get an equal share of attention. 
 
 To the last clause of No. 10 very few gave satisfactory answers. 
 Many gave no answer at all. Some stated that occasionally a 
 fault in spelling ( but not in expression) had been corrected in 
 written exercises in other subjects. Only a very few were able to 
 give the assurance that their general school work had been 
 thoroughly corrected for poor English. y ,, / m 
 
 From the more favorable answers I quote these : "All of our ^"rap*,^--^ . 
 examination papers were marked for spelling, punctuation, etc., l'2v«-i r #*?-»i^/£yy 
 and very strictly. Special emphasis being laid upon correctness 
 of statement according to rules of grammar. I did not prepare , 
 
 directly for college, only had a general education." Another: ffi^ / j'y// 
 " All written work of any kind was corrected for faults of l£** c f 
 
 spelling and expression. " A third : " Our written exercises i n *-- . 
 all studies were corrected for faults of spelling and expression. " ^S^' 1 *^' ■ 
 This third writer was doubtless much helped by the correction, C'*/*'-** 4 ^ ~ « 
 for his general course in composition and rhetoric was short in i~4#caAiM,44 
 
 time and quantity. 
 
 The general impression that these 179 papers must make upon 
 a thoughtful reader is one of discouragement. This discourage- 
 ment springs, not so much from the mistakes that offend the eye 
 on page after page, — one learns to be resigned to mistakes in the 
 young, — as from the startling uncouthness that besets the writers 
 at every turn. They, that is the great majority of them, seem to 
 be helpless. Pen, pencil, and paper seem to act upon them like 
 an evil spell, putting to flight their ideas and even their know- 
 
3<d The School Review 
 
 ledge. They comport themselves as raw recruits, unable to keep 
 head, chest, arms, and legs in harmony. This uncouthness 
 betrays itself at once in the penmanship. To one who is not 
 dealing with large masses of papers, penmanship may seem of 
 trifling importance. But the initiated know better. Crabbed, 
 illegible handwriting multiplied by the hundred becomes an 
 intolerable burden to the college examiner. It wastes his time 
 and distracts his mind from the real subject. One hears oc- 
 casionally the paradox that much training with the pen produces 
 mechanical uniformity and destroys individuality of writing. 
 Certainly these 179 papers are a protest against any such absurdity. 
 Among them are some extremely well penned. And these are 
 all decidedly individualized. Not one of them could possibly be 
 mistaken for any other. Whereas papers of the mediocre sort 
 display a strong family likeness. The worst papers arrange 
 themselves in three well defined groups. In one, the letters 
 are big, angular, and sprawling. They are the so-called school- 
 boy-hand, or the mechanic's hand, and look as if the writer were 
 more accustomed to handle the plough or saw than the pen. In 
 the second, the letters are small and pinched and huddled together, 
 there are few rounded strokes, and the whole page is blurred or 
 smutted. In the third, the writing is marred by a constant whirl 
 of the pen or pencil, that loops all the short letters together and 
 makes a and look alike, u and n, w and m. The effect upon 
 the eye is bewildering. In some papers the writing is atrocious. 
 To offer such papers as part of a college course is a libel upon 
 education. One of my instructors informs me that one of his 
 students ( admitted last September upon school-certificate ) was 
 so awkward with the pen that he apparently printed each letter 
 slowly aud laboriously, as the tyro writes his exercises in Greek. 
 Yet this student, I am satisfied, is naturally bright. Under careful 
 training he would take his place among the very good. But, 
 may I ask, why was not this training given him at school ? Is a 
 great University the place where one learns his alphabet ? 
 
 In estimating these papers as a whole, one circumstance is not 
 to be overlooked. They were written after the writers had had six 
 or seven weeks of the strictest University training in this par- 
 ticular discipline. Every writer had already handed in two 
 weekly papers and had been corrected for faults in them. He 
 had also been made to understand that First English at Cornell 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 31 
 
 meant hard work, and that his remaining in the class might de- 
 pend upon this term's performances. The instructors assure me 
 that these papers exhibit a decided improvement during the six 
 weeks. If that be so, the point of departure for the majority of the 
 class must indeed be down in the depths. 
 
 It is noteworthy that in many papers the writer tries to excuse 
 his deficiency in school training on the ground that his prepara- 
 tory course was less than four years and that therefore he had 
 other more important work to do. How an examination so-called * 
 may be passed, will appear from the following statement: "I ~ihjtx>rJjUL 1 Of.fi' 
 was preparing for the course in Mechanical Engineering and did £c4Uc<l(u> t~, // 
 not graduate from the Academy. — Composition was one of the f '* t **&j 
 
 things studied. I passed an examination in it by reading it a 
 couple of days before but did not know very much about the sub- 
 ject. English received very little attention compared with Latin, 
 Greek and Mathematics. The course was for three years and 
 consequently they occupied most of our time, Little attention 
 was paid to the spelling of English in our examination papers." 
 The writer is not from a New York school. But this one is : — <«^»c^£. C- 
 ' ' English was quite thoroughly taught, nearly as much as any /\]T " .J 
 other subjects The work was very difficult for me as compared l j^ % * /n f 
 
 with mathematics and received as little attention as would pass ' 
 regents examination." 
 
 The following statement I should hesitate to communicate, if it 
 proceeded from a poor student. But it comes from one of the *, / TJ /~ 
 best in the class and yet refers to an undoubtedly good school. " ty>&& L.{ K..\.< 
 It runs thus : "Asa whole English did not probably receive as ff^j 
 much attention as the other branches, for there was more chance 
 for shirking the work and although it was the aim of the school 
 to have this a strong department, it was not so thorough by quite 
 a good deal as the other branches of study. ' ' 
 
 One general conclusion may be drawn from these 179 papers. 
 Or rather, one general conviction forces itself upon the reader. 
 It is that our present system of admission on certificate or on 
 Regents' diploma should be abolished for English. The docu- 
 ment, as document, is no guarantee that the candidate has had 
 any definite or regular amount of training or that his training 
 has been of the right kind. As matters now stand, admission 011 
 certificate practically means receiving into our classes and courses 
 numbers of young persons who are unable to write a tolerable 
 paper on any subject. 
 
32 The School Review 
 
 The question naturally arises: How may the evil be rem- 
 edied ? Of course Cornell can and doubtless will protect herself. 
 But this is not enough. It leaves untouched the wider and in- 
 finitely graver problem of the relation of the high schools to the 
 public at large. Not more than ten per cent, of our high school 
 graduates pursue any more advanced course of study, any at least 
 in which English is required. What becomes of the nine-tenths, 
 the great mass of our so-called educated men and women ? Can 
 the English revealed in these papers be accepted as the writing 
 ability of the state at large ? The question that I would lay to 
 the very heart of every school, of every person connected with 
 the school, be he Regent, commissioner, teacher, or parent, is 
 this : Does the school that graduates its pupils without the abil- 
 ity to spell, punctuate, form grammatical sentences and cohereut 
 paragraphs, and use words correctly, does that school do its duty 
 by the State ? I say, No ! Whatever else the school may ac- 
 complish or neglect, its duty first, last, and every time, is to 
 make its pupils write. Writing is the badge of education. With- 
 out the gift of commnnicating one's knowledge and thoughts in 
 readable shape, one is little better than the skilled mechanic or 
 routined shopkeeper. Writing is an unavoidable part of life. 
 We all have to write letters of friendship or of business, we 
 have to make reports to our superiors, we are continually called 
 upon to state in public what we know or believe. An over- 
 whelming majority of our high-school graduates never become 
 mathematicians, classical students, historians, or scientists. Of 
 what use to them in after life is the I,atin, or history, or mathe- 
 matics, if they are unable to write a good letter or prepare a good 
 business report ? Certainly we can not look upon them as repre- 
 sentative men and women, when we see them toiling painfully 
 with pen and ink, tripping over spelling, blundering down the 
 page, unable to keep to the point and avoid wearisome repetition. 
 
 The schools have the remedy in their hands, but they fail to 
 see it. I,ike most genuine remedies it is quite simple. Perhaps 
 it has been overlooked or misapprehended precisely because it is 
 simple. Were it more complex or more mysterious, it might 
 succeed better in commanding regard. The remedy consists, to 
 put it in a short phrase, in changing school English from a study 
 into an art. Writing is an art, like drawing. It is not to be 
 learned from text-books, but it is to be mastered through inces- 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 33 
 
 sant and long continued practice. Any text-books we may use, 
 whether we call them grammars or rhetorics, can never be more 
 than secondary. The real work will always consist in writing 
 and getting correction in writing. The text-book should play the 
 same part in English composition that the manual of perspective 
 or of color plays in the artist's studio. Do we ever see the artist 
 painting from his manual ? He is familiar with its general prin- 
 ciples and occasionally consults it. But does he draw and paint, 
 manual in hand ? For one hour of book-work, study so-called, 
 the artist has a thousand of manipulation. 
 
 I do not hold, of course, that painting and writing are parallel 
 at all points. I merely contend that both are arts and therefore 
 in both practice is primary, theory only secondary. In the main 
 it is wise to give our High school pupils some formal instruction 
 in rhetoric. The technical terms are convenient and well worth 
 learning. Still more valuable is the insight that one gets there- 
 by into the systematic treatment of written expression as a whole. 
 The pupil should learn that there is a distinction between Style 
 and Invention, that there are Figures of Speech, that Style has 
 certain general properties, such as Clearness, Force, Purity. A 
 moderate amount of this kind of study will be helpful and is in 
 fact indispensable in a thorough English course. Only it should 
 be strictly subordinate to the chief end, and that chief end is to 
 have something to say and to say it. Whether the pupil says his 
 say well or ill, will depend upon the number of times he is called 
 upon to express himself and upon the correction he receives. 
 Writing is not essentially different from tennis-play, or from 
 violin-play. They are all arts of expression, and the artist's 
 certainty and ease of movement proceed from his practice. Our 
 great tennis-players begin as mere boys, barely able to wield the 
 racket. They play unflinchingly for hours every day from early 
 spring to late fall. No sooner does the tyro make a blunder than 
 he is corrected for it, that is, it is turned against him by a more 
 skillful adversary. So he progresses year by year until he ceases 
 to be a tyro and begins to win. Perhaps he heads the college- 
 tournament, perhaps even achieves distinction at the Newport 
 All-Comers'. Our great players are, almost to a man, collegians, 
 either under-graduates or very recent graduates. I bear no ill- 
 will to lawn-tennis. On the contrary I look upon it as the most 
 enjoyable and profitable game of our times. But, would it be 
 
34 The School Review 
 
 disrespectful of me to ask why English writing may not be 
 learned in the same way and with like success ? I fail to detect 
 anything that should prevent the boy from beginning to write as 
 soon as he can wield the pen, from writing every day, from get- 
 ting all the correction that he needs, thoroughly and on the spot, 
 from continuing to write until he is eighteen or nineteen, before 
 he presents himself to the college public as an aspirant for col- 
 lege distinction. 
 
 Let us keep our heads clear and our judgments firm. When 
 we pay money to see an athletic match, we expect something 
 good. If the advertised match turns out to be only an encounter 
 of boobies, we express freely our disgust and demand back our 
 money. In our sport, then, we are inexorable. It is only in the 
 serious arts of life that we are good-naturedly indifferent 
 
 A deduction from the principle that English is an art is that it 
 is indivisible. We can not break it up into spelling, grammar, 
 composition, and rhetoric, treating them as independent studies. 
 They are not, in strictness, studies at all ; they are merely differ- 
 ent phases of the general treatment of artistic expression, as lines, 
 shadows, and perspective make up drawing. To write well, one 
 must retain and increase his facility in every direction'. From the 
 tenth to the eighteenth year, at the earliest, the scholar should 
 be made to understand that every exercise in writing is a review 
 of first principles, that nothing is thoroughly mastered and ready 
 to be laid by on the shelf. Yet I fear that our system of school 
 and Regents' examinations has a tendency at least to encourage 
 just this error. 
 4.c*i^jU-, 'v- * ' Thus one Freshman writes : "I studied English grammar, and 
 ■/tt^j^UM*/ Rhetoric also passed Regents examination in English composi- 
 tion. — I passed the Regents examination in spelling — My instruc- 
 tion in Grammar and Rhetoric were a part of my course but I 
 took the exam, in English Composition without preperation. — I 
 took Rhetoric instead of English composition but as the first part 
 was used in Composition it amounted to the same thing. — My 
 text book in Rhetoric was a standard work it included Figures of 
 Speech, Clearness Force etc Composition and Scaning.— My 
 course in English I think covered a good deal of ground. My 
 Rhetoric took about an hour a day, a time equal to that of any 
 other study. — My Rhetoric extended over two terms.' ' Not many 
 papers are as miserably self-complacent as this. Nevertheless 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 35 
 
 one detects all along the line a lurking disposition to regard an 
 examination as ending one or another part of the subject. 
 
 A second and equally serious fault in the school system is the 
 drawing of a sharp dividing line between the course in Composi- 
 tion-Rhetoric and the course in literature, and treating the liter- 
 ature as non-essential for graduation. I have not kept the statis- 
 tics on this point, but I can safely guess that one-third of the 179 
 writers admit that they read none of the prescribed books, or at 
 most one or two, in fact that th'ey had no literary training in 
 school, for the all-sufficient reason that it was not required in their 
 course and they were admitted on school or Regents' certificate. 
 An apter exemplification could scarcely be offered of the old 
 adage : Penny wise a«d pound foolish. To save time, to get 
 through school, to get into college, at any cost, scholars are per- 
 mitted, even encouraged to disregard the surest means of general 
 training ! 
 
 On this point no Cornell professor, I believe, has any illusions. 
 The Freshmen instructors make one standing complaint : our 
 students have no vocabulary. If we give them a word outside of 
 newspaper English or ' ' shop, ' ' they are in a daze. They appear 
 unable to vary a thought or idea for lack of a word to express 
 the shade of meaning. They write the same phrases over and 
 over, until our patience is exhausted. 
 
 This is not surprising. How is the ordinary high school pupil 
 to acquire even an inkling of the richness of our English vocab- 
 ulary, to get any insight whatever into shades of meaning, ex- 
 cept through a course of school-reading ? We Americans are not 
 a reading folk, New York is not a reading state by eminence. 
 Comparatively few of our families outside the pale of the great 
 cities possess home libraries or inherit a taste for literature. We 
 devour enormous quantities of newspapers, magazines, and dime 
 novels. But in genuine reading of a higher order we lag behind 
 England, Germany, France, and even Italy. This is one of the 
 open secrets of the American book-trade. Our book publishers 
 tell us that it is impossible to "place " books of a certain kind. 
 Whoever wishes to test the point need only compare the Ameri- 
 can annual book-list with that of any great European nation. 
 Can we imagine America getting out such a catalogue as that of 
 Hinrichs ? 
 
 If we seek an explanation we need go no farther than our 
 
36 The School- Review 
 
 schools. Instead of trying to plant and foster in the minds of 
 the young a taste for good reading, we seem to do all we can to 
 divert them from it. We invent technical and classical courses 
 without English, thereby ignoring the fact that precisely these 
 students are most in need of it. Were our classical students 
 really students of Greek and Roman literature, able to appreciate 
 in a measure their Iliad and Aeneid as finished literary expres- 
 sions of the ripest thought, one might perhaps waive the claims 
 of such inferior mortals as Shakespeare and Milton. But every- 
 one knows that the school course in the so-called classics, begun 
 years too late, is nothing but a frantic effort to master paradigms 
 and rules of syntax. The scholar has no prospect of getting be- 
 yond grammar and dictionary. The chances are ten to one that 
 for the ordinary undergraduate at matriculation all printed matter 
 is mere grist for the grammar-mill. 
 
 As for the technical students, I prudently refrain from uttering 
 the whole truth. Suffer me to put merely this question : Have 
 my readers ever considered the great danger to all education in 
 letting thousands of young men grow up in the conceit that they 
 are educated if only they have some mathematics and a smatter- 
 ing of science and are able to run a steam-engine or a dynamo ? 
 Of the things of the spirit, those things that make man truly 
 man, our technical students, the great mass of them certainly, 
 are ignorant and reckless. They are crass materialists. 
 
 For all these evils I see only one remedy. That is, to require 
 a full course of English reading in every high school and academy, 
 a course generous in amount and high in quality. This course 
 should be combined with the course in composition and rhetoric 
 and under the direction of the same teacher. Whether the 
 teacher of composition be head and the teacher of reading be as- 
 sistant, or vice versa, is immaterial, if only the two lines of work 
 are in perfect accord and mutually helpful. The present dissocia- 
 tion of writing and reading is, in my judgment, unwise and 
 wholly unjustifiable. How is the scholar to learn to write, unless 
 he is taught to recognize and appreciate the thought and diction 
 of the great men before him. On the other hand, mere reading 
 without writing is, I might say, a study without an aim. To 
 make reading truly practical, the scholar should learn to test his 
 strength by that of his models, should learn to paraphrase and 
 re-state them, should learn to use their words and phrases, in 
 
Regents* Diplomas and School Certificates in English 37 
 
 short should do everything but servilely imitate their sentence- 
 structure. Even downright imitation would not be very harmful. 
 In the light of these 179 papers, I could gladly welcome even 
 the worst mannerisms of Macaulay and Carlyle. Anything 
 would be a relief from our present chaos. 
 
 An English course in the high school, to satisfy the needs of 
 the situation, should consist of at least three hours a week 
 throughout the four years. It should include the careful reading 
 of all the works on the prescribed list and as many more. Every 
 work should be studied at home and explained in class and made 
 the subject of at least a dozen written exercises. The meaning 
 and the spelling of words, even of proper names, should be 
 rigidly enforced. The spelling to be constantly tested in writing ; 
 oral spelling is not enough, the mind must form an image of the 
 word in its written shape. Parallel with this reading should run 
 the mere formal instruction in rhetoric, much smaller in amount 
 but rigorous in method. Let rules and definitions be few in num- 
 ber, but let them be mastered as accurately as the Latin declen- 
 sions. And let them all be illustrated copiously and enforced in 
 practice. Lastly, whatever text-book of rhetoric be used, let it 
 be in constant use throughout the four years. Let it be used in 
 every reading lesson as a commentary on the text. It has always 
 seemed to me a self-evident truth that the chief utility of rhetori- 
 cal study lies in its application to the style of the authors one 
 reads, rather than to one's own style. By applying our text-book 
 of rhetoric to a few well chosen authors, we may perhaps learn 
 that its principles are after all only deductions from them, or 
 their like, and not mere a priori formulas. 
 
 To show how reading and writing can be made and are made 
 to go hand in hand, I quote from one of these papers the answer m _j-~ 
 to question 8 : " One essay was written on the whole work, then ^ yyfa y /. C- 
 minor subjects throughout the whole book were selected by the /C4A>c*d.v0h) 
 teacher to write upon. (The writer had previously stated that all / 
 
 nine works were read and that for each work there were not less 
 than six essays). Evangeline — The Evening at the Farmhouse 
 — The Landing of the English — Embarkment and Landing of 
 the Fugitives — The Trip Down the River — Life in the Mission- 
 ary Camp — The Ruined Hut — Sisters of Charity and Meeting 
 of the Lovers. — Silas Marner — His Life at Lantern yard — His 
 Life (at Raveloe ? ) and How the People Regarded Him — The 
 
38 The School Review 
 
 Lost Gold— Coming of Eppie— Godfrey Cass and his Wife— The 
 Horse Race— Eppie in Love— Finding of the Gold.— I name these 
 subjects of the two books to illustrate the way we studied every" 
 book piece by piece." 
 
 The writer is not in a literary course, perhaps he has taken his 
 last look at literary study. But in after life he ought to be grate- 
 ful to his school for having made him read at least nine good 
 English books ' ' piece by piece. ' ' Assuredly our English depart- 
 ment appreciates the service rendered. One advantage, not the 
 least, of such a conjunction of reading and writing is that it 
 yields an unfailing supply of subjects. Here can be no lack of 
 things to write about, no need of narrating a ' ' Voyage to the 
 Sun " or "The Whisperings of an Old Shoe," no room for those 
 absurd appeals to the undeveloped imagination that turn compo- 
 sition-hour into a nightmare. The young scholar learns in a 
 practical way the practical secret that to write well one need only 
 pay attention, remember accurately, and state one's impressions 
 and recollections in an orderly manner. All this is far from mak- 
 ing an author. But is it the function of the school to evolve au- 
 thors ? Why then torture youth into futile efforts at romancing ? 
 
 Before passing to the final point in these remarks, let me urge 
 upon English teachers the necessity of correcting their essays and 
 compositions more thoroughly. The 179 papers before me betray 
 carelessness, even where there is nothing positively wrong. 
 Commas and even periods are omitted, also the possessive sign. 
 Words are improperly broken at the line-end. The writers be- 
 gin a new line or sentence at random. These things are minu- 
 tiae, it is true, straws ; but they are straws that show which way 
 the wind blows. They are the conventionalisms of writing, and 
 — like other conventionalisms — have their indefeasible value. To 
 ignore them is to proclaim oneself deficient in good breeding. 
 Like shoe-strings untied, collars unbuttoned, they offend the eye. 
 I see no reason why every school composition should not be read 
 as if for ' ' proof. ' ' Were I a teacher in school I should not hesi- 
 tate to print occasionally a very careless paper verbatim et litera- 
 tim and thus show the writer and his classmates what is involved 
 in the neglect of conventional signs. Thorough correction is the 
 only means of training the eye and hand and brain to work to- 
 gether. There are students in this university who are unable to 
 copy correctly what is set before them ! In proof of this I need 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 39 
 
 only ask the reader to note the number of times the spelling 
 "preparation" occurs in these quotations ; also "preparatory." 
 Yet preparatory ' ' was spelled correctly once for the writers in the 
 paper of questions, and " preparation " twice ; the mimeograph 
 impression was perfectly clear. 
 
 Blundering of this sort is heinous. But is it surprising? 
 Have the writers ever been trained to look at a word ? If so, how 
 does it happen that they write of Heart's Rhetoric, or Quacken- 
 bush's. To the indifferent everything is possible. But schools 
 are not for the encouragement of indifference ; rather for its 
 eradication. Shall we never live up to the truth that the eye is 
 to be trained to see the signs of speech no less than the figures of 
 geometry ? 
 
 The last suggestiof? that I would make is that every scholar be 
 required to write at least every fortnight a short paper in every 
 study pursued by him in the school. The advantages on all 
 sides of such exercises are so obvious that I can only wonder at 
 their not having been introduced long ago. To begin with, they 
 would constitute a most effective method of instruction. In 
 what other way is it possible, for instance, to acquire ease and 
 precision in translating from a foreign language, ancient or 
 modern ? The translation papers of our college students every- 
 where exhibit the most deplorable inability to render a foreign 
 speech into the mother idiom. Why should not the practice of 
 written translation be begun in school? As much gain, or 
 almost as much, may be claimed for written papers in geography, 
 history, and science. Oral recitations do not test the scholar's 
 knowledge as thoroughly, nor do they give any training for term 
 and final examination. Moreover, a fortnightly review in writ- 
 ing would help, more than anything else perhaps, to break up 
 the practice of "cramming " for examination. 
 
 But over and above the gain in the studies proper, the gain in 
 English would be immense. Were all the teachers of a school 
 to co-operate in some such way, they would force every scholar 
 to write upon some subject every day. At the end of four years 
 the scholar would inevitably look upon writing as a matter of 
 course, as part of his daily routine. That is precisely the end 
 that I have in view. I shall consider the great question as set- 
 tled when our high school pupils take to their paper and pen as 
 the natural and obvious means of stating what they know and 
 
40 The School Review 
 
 believe. For that is the utmost that we can require of any one. 
 But so long as writing and correction are left to one department, 
 as now, just so long will the scholar be confirmed in his present 
 delusion that good and ready writing is the concern of the 
 English department alone and has no practical value for any 
 other subject. 
 
 To sum up these remarks in a single phrase : It is the duty of 
 the High School to meet this great question virions unitis. The 
 obligation rests upon every teacher. None are exempt. 
 
 A few words in explanation of the following papers. They 
 are reproduced as exactly as type can make them. But no type 
 could give an idea of the bad penmanship, especially of papers 
 I, VII, IX. Papers II and X, on the other hand, are very neat 
 and clear. 
 
 The letters C and R = admitted on Certificate of school, or on 
 Regents' diploma. 
 
 Papers I and II come from the same Western school. The 
 writer of II is, to my personal knowledge, member of an edu- 
 cated family ; the writer of I is probably not. I have contrasted 
 the two in order to show how little the school! has accomplished 
 in the matter. 
 
 Paper III reveals what is not done in a "finishing " year at a 
 great Eastern training school. Paper X speaks decisively of 
 what can be accomplished at school. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 i. What school or schools did you attend during the four years 
 immediately preceding your admission to Cornell ? If you did 
 not attend any school, name the person or persons that prepared 
 you. 
 
 2. Did you receive during those four years any instruction in 
 English grammar? If so, what was its nature? Were you 
 taught English grammar at any previous time ? 
 
 3. Was your ability to spell correctly tested by means of writ- 
 ten exercises ? 
 
 4. Which of the following books were read by you in direct 
 preparation for college : Julius Caesar ; As You Like It ; Mar- 
 mion ; Courtship of Miles Standish ; Sir Roger de Coverley Pa- 
 pers ; Macaulay's Essay on Chatham ; Webster's First Bunker 
 Hill Oration ; Alhambra ; Talisman ; Scenes from Clerical Life ; 
 House of Seven Gables ? 
 
 5. Explain the nature of your preparation in the above works, 
 or in similar works read by you for the same purpose. Especially 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 41 
 
 state whether each work was read entire, was explained or dis- 
 cussed in class, was made the subject of written exercises. Were 
 such exercises returned by the teacher with corrections ? 
 
 6. Was your instruction in Engligh composition a regular part 
 of the school curriculum, enforced and graded like other studies ; 
 like, e. g. I,atin, or Mathematics? 
 
 7. How much time was spent in your school (or by your in- 
 structor) in English composition ? State the number of years, 
 and of hours per week. Also the length in words, approximately, 
 of each written exercise. 
 
 8. State, as well as you can remember, the kinds of subject on 
 which you wrote. Give two or three titles. 
 
 9. Did you study any text-book of Rhetoric ? What was the 
 nature of the instruction ? 
 
 10. State any other facts that may aid this department in form- 
 ing an estimate of the jvork actually done in preparatory schools 
 in English. How much time and attention did English receive 
 in comparison with other subjects? Were your written exercises 
 or examination papers in Mathematics, Latin, History, etc., cor- 
 rected for faults of spelling and expression ? 
 
 1 . I took a tly£e 
 
 fee years course in the ^s*~ Manual Training 
 School, previous to entering Cornell, before taking my course in 
 
 the M. T. S. I graduated from one of the grammar schools 
 
 of that city. 
 
 2. I studied english grammar for almost a year, in, my first 
 year at the training school, I also studied it at the grammar 
 school. 
 
 The first half of the year we studied the grammar principally, 
 and the last half we read a novel and explained the reasons for 
 the different constructions. 
 
 We also wrote one essay every month during the first two years. 
 
 3. As am a fair speller judging from my written exercises and 
 when I studied spelling in the grammar schools, it used to be one 
 of my best studies. 
 
 4. I read no book in direct preparation for college, but in the 
 grammar schools we read Courtship of Miles Standish, Snow 
 Bound, and Evangeline. 
 
 5. We read the books just mentioned in class, We finished 
 each of them and had an examination in each subject. 
 
 In studying these subjects we use to see if any mistakes were 
 made in the grammatical construction, also if the sentence could 
 not be worded better. 
 
 We also picked out different figures of speech, and then we 
 would give original examples of them. 
 
 About twice a week we had written exercises of this kind 
 which we handed in, and which were returned by the teacher 
 marked and corrected. 
 
U%1 
 
 u+y 
 
 42 The School Review 
 
 6. In the training school our essays counted a tenth of our 
 
 scholarship mark, and was considered as important as any other 
 study. 
 
 if the essays were not handed in at a certain time we were not 
 allowed to come to recitation till we had handed it in. 
 
 7. In the training school we spent about five or six hours on 
 each essay, and we had in class work a half hour recitation each 
 day the first year, and we were supposed to spend an hour and a 
 half in preparation on each lesson. 
 
 Each written exercise we handed in was usually the answers 
 to ten short questions, or else some short essay, on some subject, 
 which was sometimes given by the instructor, and sometimes we 
 had our own choice of subjects. 
 
 8. I don't remember any subjects we wrote on in class, but the 
 subjects of some of our essays were, The Dictionary, Clouds, and 
 How I spent my vacation. 
 
 9. I never studied any text-book of Rhetoric, in fact in the 
 training school we had no regular text-book in English, but the 
 rules we were to follow were given us by the instructor, and those 
 that we obtained from books in the library. 
 
 II.-C. tddjJrrl, t.th 
 
 1. Before coming to Cornell I took a course'of three years at 
 the— V— Manual Training School, the year preceeding I spent at a 
 small private school in , the teacher was from Boston and a 
 
 I graudate of the Normal School at that place. 
 
 2. I did not study English grammar at that time or previously 
 but I have studied Latin grammar. 
 
 3. In the private school mentioned above we had written ex- 
 ercises in spelling two or three times each week. A lady in — 
 invited a number of boys to her house every Saturday evening for 
 one whole winter to had a spelling-match, the evenings were very 
 enjoyable and I think the boys gained by them. 
 
 4. I did not read any of the books mentioned as direct prepara- 
 tion for Cornell as I entered on certificate, but I have read at other 
 times Julius Caesar ; As You I^ike It ; Courtship of Miles Stan- 
 dish and Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration. 
 
 5. The above works were read out of school. I have not had 
 written exercises on any literary work. 
 
 6. At the Manual Training School regular essays were 
 
 required and marked. 
 
 7. An essay was required each month to be at least three pages 
 of fool's-cap paper in length. 
 
 8. The subjects of essays were largely technical in their nature 
 as ' ' The Oak " ; " Cast Iron " ; " Description of a Dynamo. ' ' 
 
 9. I have never studied Rhetoric until this year. 
 
 10. My examination papers have always been corrected in 
 spelling but not in form of expression. During my whole time 
 of preparation I have written essays more or less frequently. At 
 
Regeyits' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 43 
 
 graduation from the Manual Training School I wrote an essay of 
 some length upon Aluminum telling of its uses, manufacture and 
 properties chemical and physical. In traveling I have usually 
 kept a diary describing scenes and localities visited. It has 
 always been difficult for me to express myself clearly and concisely 
 in writing.., . * 
 
 fiL/J I - I attend€cfthe'-^7- High School three years, and one year alh*J Ci+Asfc 
 lfcM.Jfa at -f — Academy. 
 
 i^if^ 2. No, we had no English grammar during these four years. 
 I was taught English grammar before this time. 
 
 3. It was tested by means of written exercises. 
 
 4. Marmion. The Talisman. 
 
 5. Read both books through. They were discussed in class. 
 Wrote an exercise on The Talisman, it was returned with correc- 
 tions. » 
 
 6. He was at [ Academy ], but not at [ High School ]. 
 
 7. One year, two hours a week. We had no written exercises 
 to speak of. 
 
 8. Had no written exercises to speak of. 
 
 9. Studied a text-book of Rhetoric at High School, no written 
 exercises. 
 
 10. The work spent in English did not receive as much atten- 
 tion as other subjects. Our examination papers in other subjects 
 were not corrected for the faults named. 
 
 . :ars previous to entrance I attended 
 the -f — School in+ff^'The year before that the — Vr- Militay Acad- 
 
 mi 
 
 . l/aJC i. During the lastWcwo years previous to entrance I attended /? , /J if, 
 
 ■<W the -I School inibn'TTiP vear hffnr* that the. K MiUto,, A ™A. tlUJKt/K^'W 
 
 emy Did not attend school the year before going to M. A 
 
 2. I have not received any instruction in English grammar 
 during the past four years I studdied English grammar in the 
 public schools Six or Seven years ago. 
 
 3. My ability to spell was tested by written exercises in the 
 public schools — not since then — 
 
 4. I read all of these books except, the House of Seven 
 Gables— 
 
 5. Each book was read entire and was made the subject of 
 written exercises, one — two and sometimes three compositions 
 being required on the same book or on different parts of it. The 
 exercises were corrected by the teacher and handed back to us, 
 we were marked for the exercises the same as for any other study. 
 
 6. I am not sure as to this, it may have been a part of the 
 school curriculum, but, having so much other work I never 
 studdied it in the school — 
 
 7. I cannot answer this question as I do not know. I believe 
 there were classes in English gramar and composition but I 
 never attended any of them — 
 
44 The School Review 
 
 8. Same as question seven — 
 
 9. I never studdied any Text book of rhetoric — 
 
 10. It appears to me that little or no attention was paid to 
 English composition in any of the schools I ever attended — at 
 least as compared with other studdies. 
 
 I never remember of having examination papers corrected for 
 spelling — certainly miss-pelled [thus broken in original'] words 
 did not count against the examination mark — 
 
 About all the work I ever had in English composition was up- 
 on the books required to be read for entrance — This preparation 
 was very thorough but did not go very far and only took about 
 three months — /? , (> / .1 
 
 
 PI4* 
 
 2. My course in English grammar was completed to first two 
 years or better in the 1st & 2d year classes leaving the other 4 
 open to higher grates of inglish. From Easter 92 up to the Cor- 
 nell U examinations studied English Grammar one hour each 
 day. 
 
 3. Yes. 
 
 4. I Julius Caesar and As you like it. 
 
 5. The books named above with several of G Eliots & part of 
 Vanity Fair was carefully lead by me during the summer. 
 
 6. English composition was a regular part of the school cur- 
 riculum, but hardly thought of as much & Math, or Latin during 
 the last 4 years of instruction. 
 
 7. Eight compositions of between 800 & 1000 words were pre- 
 pared during the year, these were corrected in presence of the 
 student. 
 
 8. The Camp on Lake Champlain. Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 9. No. 
 
 10. English received the same amount of time as other subjects. 
 The papers were corrected in regards spelling, but never re- 
 member having an exspression corrected. 
 
 VI— je. ftu^<Lfu ( <£** -^ 
 
 1. -A — Union and Classical School under Che supervision of 
 the Regents. 
 
 2. I finished my english grammar about six years ago ; but 
 have since studdied Eng. composition and some Rhetoric. 
 
 3. It was about seven or eight years ago, at which time I 
 passed the regents examination. 
 
 4. Julius Caesar. Websters First Bunker Hill Oration. 
 
 5. We simply read them, made an synopsis of the principle 
 points, and committed them to memory. 
 
 6. It was, until after you passed the Regents. 
 
 7. One half hour per day except Saturday. Only had it one 
 term, because I passed the exam. No written exercises. 
 
 8. None. 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 45 
 Rhetoric. Did not have time for exercises, going 
 
 through the book in about 10 weeks. 
 
 10. It received just as much attention as any study. I do not 
 they were or many would not have passed. 
 
 VII.— R. C^a^, ~>> 
 
 1. Of the four years immediately preceding my admiss to Cor- /i/j^44~ /" 
 . , nell I attended a country school at -f-f- one year and the remain- CUrfrtrn? isrhu*) 
 
 Iwv*LJ n S three y ears at -1— Academy. 
 
 p 2. I received two years instruction in Englis grammar. 
 / The kind of work consisted of writing and correcting sentences, 
 diagram and analize sententences and write short compositions. 
 I have not been English grammar at any previous time. 
 
 3. My ability to spell was tested by means of written extracts 
 
 4. I have not read any of the books named directly for my 
 preparation for college.however I have read Macaulay's Essay 
 on Chatham and Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration 
 
 5. I have not read any books for direct preparations in English 
 composition 
 
 6. My instruction in English composition was a regular part of 
 the school curriculum, enforced and graded like other studies. 
 
 7. Three hours a week was spent in my school in English com- 
 position. I had English composition one 3 r ear. The number of 
 words in a composition was from three hundred to five hundred 
 words. 
 
 8. Some of my subjects in composition are life of Caesar 
 
 VIII.— R. /-/e^d f 0L .J. / . 
 
 1. I attended the -4 — Union School during the thi«e years ^4^***,*^^^^. 
 immediately preceding my entrance to Cornell and did the four 
 
 years preparitory work in three years at that school. 
 
 2. I received instruction in english grammar during one year 
 and a half of my preparitory study. The amount and nature of 
 the instruction in english grammar which I have received was an 
 amount neccessary to pass the Regents examination of the State 
 of New York in both elementrary and advanced english gram- 
 mar. I was instructed in English grammar for three years pre- 
 vious to my entrance to a preparitory school 
 
 3. My ability to spell was tested by means of written exercises. 
 
 4. I have read none of the books given in question (4) in di- 
 rect preparation for Cornell University but I have read all of 
 these books in connection with a course in English reading which 
 I took at a High School — 
 
 5. Each of these works was read entire and explained and dis- 
 cussed and exercises were held in the class in all of the books 
 and the exercises were corrected and returned by the teacher. 
 
 6. My instruction in English Composition was a regular part 
 of the school curriculum, graded and inforced like other studies, 
 like e. g. Latin, or Mathematics. 
 
46 The School Review 
 
 7. I spent one half year on English composition having five 
 hours per week, the length of the compositions were about 150 
 words as an approximate number. 
 
 8. In our composition we usualy wrote on some period of the 
 life of some statesman, or on objects of nature as The early life 
 of Geore Washington, George Washingtons service in the 
 French and Indian war, The Mammoth Trees of California — 
 
 9. In our instruction in Rhetoric we used — Rhetoric and took 
 up thoroughly all those parts of the book except, those relating 
 to versification and all that part of style except clearness and 
 force. 
 
 10. Composition received the same amount of time as other 
 subjects in my preparitory work. a i f 
 
 $ Jr- /^" A ' 1. Classical & Scientific School.— (-Academy. C <*s*-o»^IaX fyw 
 
 /] ' tiM^ 2 - I received instruction in English Grammar during my four / 
 
 l*^ ' yrs. preparatory to entering I was taught Grammar before the 
 
 last four years. 
 
 3. I had written spelling every day of my last year. Every 
 one in school was obliged to take it. 
 
 4. I read all the books mentioned, except that we read 
 Webster's 2ed Bunker Hill Oration instead of first. 
 
 5. We read all the books and were examined once a week in 
 one of the books. The examination was oral, every man (there 
 being only 13 ) was called upon. & had to tell some part of the 
 book. & give a quotation of at least 25 words. At the end of 
 term took Regents examination. 
 
 6. Answered in ( 9 ) & ( 7 ). 
 
 7. The last year I had Rhetoric 12 wks, % hour a day & have 
 studdied it three different terms of different years. In grammar 
 class one hundred words were required each day & in Rhetoric 
 200 every other day. 
 
 8. In grammar such titles as trees noted places in town, etc. 
 In Rhetoric such subjects as, 
 
 9. I used Rhetoric also Rhetoric. It was required in 
 
 my course We had to write esseys every other day outside of 
 class & they were corrected & handed back by instructor to next 
 day. We also had to learn certain parts of the Rhetoric & cor- 
 rect certain sentences. This latter part was oral. 
 
 10. We took the Regents examinations I do not know how 
 they mark. 
 
 To encourage students in Rhetoric and English composition a 
 prize contest was held every commencement ( any one could take 
 part I never tried for the prize 
 
 %-fcd^ ^.-Exam. %<uJ®^ A C/£ 
 
 jJiM l 1 attended the— {—High School for about two years, and the 
 -Boys' High School for the next two years. 
 
 t»rffr) 
 
 W, 
 
Regents' Diplomas and School Certificates in English 47 
 
 2. I was taught grammar in the [first] H. S. in connection 
 with composition for about six months. I have been taught 
 grammar nearly as far back as I remember, receiving instruction 
 in that subject for four years before I entered the High School. 
 
 3. Decidedly, yes. 
 
 4. As You Like It, Sir Roger de Coverly Papers, Macaulay's 
 Essay on Chatham, Alhambra. 
 
 5. In the [first ] High School we read a great many of the 
 stories of Shakespeare as given by Lamb ; we read Irving' s Life of 
 Washington ; a book called ' ' The Seven American Classics ' ' ; 
 we read Burns's poems ; etc. making abstracts and compositions 
 in connection with the reading. In the[second] H. S. we read 
 and studied Longfellow's poems, Whittier's poems, Holmes's 
 poems, "Vicar of Wakefield, " "The Merchant of Venice, " 
 and a few other works. We wrote abstracts and compositions 
 which were rigorously marked. For instance, one was "The 
 Development of Reuben's Character," as portrayed in "The 
 Great Carbuncle, ' ' another ' ' The Ten Most Important Scenes 
 in the Merchant of Venice. " 
 
 6. It was. 
 
 7. Five hours a week in English work in the [second] High 
 School. I have forgotten the time in the [first] High School. 
 I think it was five hours. In each school I had to write three 
 compositions a term ( six months ). The exercises were graded 
 in the [second] High School. First, was a descriptive composi- 
 tion of 100 to 150 words; next, narration, 150 to 200; next, 
 formal argument, 200 to 250 ; next, narrative or descriptive poem; 
 next, practical argument ; then a book review and some others I 
 have forgotten ; and lastly a lyric poem of 500 words. In [first ] 
 H. S. we wrote compositions of from three hundred to five hun- 
 dred words. These had to be learned and delivered in the as- 
 sembly room. 
 
 8. Included in (7) "Death", "The Fall of Rome Was Inevit- 
 able' ' , " Canada Should Be Annexed to the United States' ' , 
 " Harkness's Grammar", The Development of the Sin Caused 
 by the Hoggarty Diamond and the Rajah's Diamond, as portrayed 
 in Thackeray's "The Great Hogarty Diamond", and Stevenson's 
 "The Rajah's Diamond." 
 
 9. I studied Rhetoric. Wehad,Ibelieve,twolessonsaweek. 
 
 We took the exercises after the rules, studying how to correct 
 mistakes in figures, force, clearness, etc. Qk_ . 
 
 10. Our English teacher, Prof. -\— , also taught us History, l}(iu.al/t&A 
 and he marked the History papers for form as well as for sub- f 
 stance. Three per cent were deducted for every error in spelling. 
 
 If you spelled the same word wrong 7 times, it counted off 21 
 per cent. I understood that one fellow was marked negative ten 
 per cent. Form included punctuation, spelling, paragraphing, 
 etc. , and all our compositions in [second] H. S. , were marked on 
 
48 The School Review 
 
 a basis of five for form and five for substance. English received 
 comparatively as much attention as the other subjects. Those 
 poems were the rankest work I ever had. 
 
 [Fate is sometimes ironical. The above paper, undoubtedly the 
 best in technique, was selected on the assumption that the writer 
 was admitted on certificate. But inspection of the record shows 
 that he took the examinations.] 
 
 — J. M. Hart. 
 Cornell University. 
 
 Book Department. 
 
 The Foundation of Rhetoric. By Adams Sherman Hill. New York : 
 Harper & Bros. 1892. 
 
 Professor A. S. Hill of Harvard is the author of one of the 
 best Rhetorics published in this country, and it is therefore es- 
 pecially interesting to examine this new book from his pen. The 
 Foundation of Rhetoric is intended as a more elementary work 
 than the Principles by the same author, and it therefore deals 
 with the simplest points of good usage in writing and speaking. 
 In accordance with this plan about two-thirds of the book is de- 
 voted to the use of words, the remaining third being divided be- 
 tween sentences and paragraphs, the latter receiving but slight 
 attention. Throughout are copious examples both of correct and 
 incorrect forms, with concise discussions of the points involved. 
 As an example of the minute points discussed, Professor Hill 
 treats under nouns the possessive case, plurals that may be mis- 
 used, and words in ess and ist. He apologizes for the past on 
 possessives by saying, that "the faulty sentences come from 
 compositions written by candidates for admission to Harvard Col- 
 lege. " But certainly all teachers of rhetoric will justify this 
 careful discussion of minute points, since these are the ones in 
 which mistakes are most frequently made. In fact the best thing 
 about Professor Hill's book is its practical rather than its theoret- 
 ical character. The book thus reaches down into the realm of 
 grammar, instead of carrying us into the regions of philosophy. 
 
 One thing we should have been glad to see emphasized more 
 than has been done. Rhetorics usually fail to take into account 
 the difference between spoken and written English, between the 
 colloquial and literary dialects so to speak. That there is such a 
 difference, both in choice of words and to some extent in con- 
 structions, it seems to me useless to deny. For example take 
 the use of who for whom in ' ' who did you see ? " Is it not best to 
 recognize in this a correct colloqual use of who, since it is so 
 thoroughly established, than to try the impossible in rooting out 
 the usage ? Even Professor Hill, according to his own theory, 
 should have recognized this use, since he recommends the adop- 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 THE general courses of instruction lead to degrees in Arts, in Philosophy, 
 in Science, and in Letters. In all these courses the work is prescribed 
 during the freshman year, and for the most part during the sophomore 
 year ; in the junior and senior years the work is elective. The technical courses 
 lead to degrees in Agriculture, Architecture, and in the various branches of En- 
 gineering. 
 
 The Law School occupies a separate building, commodious and well-equipped. 
 The law library, comprising 25,000 volumes, is conceded to be unexcelled in com- 
 pleteness. The entrance requirements for the Law School include a knowledge 
 of arithmetic, English, geography', English and United States history, Latin, 
 plane geometry, and civil government. One year of French or German would 
 be received as an equivalent for the Latin. Letters of inquiry regarding admis- 
 sion by certificate and requests for any special information should be addressed 
 to the School of Law, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 
 
 No general system of dormitories is provided. An exception to the rule is 
 made in the case of the Sage College for women, which furnishes accommoda- 
 tions for 100 students. 
 
 The gymnasium and armory contains two halls 150x60 feet and 40x65 feet in 
 dimensions, and connected therewith are the requisite bathrooms, lockers, and 
 other appliances. Prescribed exercise under the direction of the professor of 
 physical culture is for the most part compulsory during the freshman and sopho- 
 more years. The gymnasium for women is in Sage College. 
 
 For purposes of instruction the university makes use of 16 buildings, 18 lab- 
 oratories, and 6 seminary rooms. The general library now consists of about 
 110,000 volumes, and the list of scientific and literary periodicals and transactions 
 numbers about 500. Special facilities for advanced work are afforded to under- 
 graduates and graduates. 
 
 The corps of instruction in the several colleges and schools consists of 150 
 professors and instructors, besides about 30 special non-resident lecturers. 
 
 One hundred and twenty-eight State Scholarships are awarded annually, en- 
 titling the holders to free tuition for four years. For information regarding these 
 scholarships application should be made to the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
 tion, Albany, N. Y. In the various departments 42 university scholarships at 
 $200 each and 18 fellowships at $400 and $500 each are given. Tuition is free to 
 students in Agriculture and to all graduate students who have been accepted by 
 the Faculty as candidates for an advanced degree. The tuition fee for those pay- 
 ing for tuition is $100 per annum in the general courses, and $125 in the technical 
 courses and for special and optional students. 
 
 ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS. 
 
 Admission on Examination. 
 
 , The primary entrance examinations are required for all courses but are not 
 sufficient for admission to the University without the advanced examination here- 
 inafter indicated. 
 
 The primary entrance examinations include the subjects of English, geogra- 
 phy, physiology and hygiene, arithmetic, plane geometry, algebra, and American 
 history. For admission to the various courses of study examinations in. addition 
 to the primary entrance examinations are required as follows : 
 
 To the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
 
 In addition to the primary entrance examinations previously- mentioned : In 
 Greek, Latin, and in Grecian and Roman history. 
 
To the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. 
 
 In addition to the primary entrance examinations : In Latin, in Grecian and 
 Roman history ; and in French, German, or mathematics. 
 
 ' • To the courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of letters and Bachelor of 
 Science, including the course in Agriculture. 
 
 In addition to the primary entrance examinations, in 2 of the 4 subjects : 
 French, German, mathematics, I^atin. 
 
 * ; Optional Students. — Students who have passed the examinations required for 
 admission to any one of the general courses, namely, in Arts, Philosophy, 
 -fetters, or Science, ,may register as optional students, and elect such work as 
 may be open to them. 
 
 To the courses in Engineering and Architecture : 
 
 In addition to the primary entrance examinations : In solid geometry ; and in 
 French or German. For the course in Architecture, I^atin may be substituted 
 for the French or German required. 
 
 [In and after 1894, for the courses in Mechanical Engineering and Architecture 
 the subjects of higher algebra and plane and spherical trigonometry will be added 
 to the above requirements for entrance.] 
 
 To the two-year course Preparatory to the Study of Medicine : 
 
 In addition 'to the primary entrance examinations .• In I^atin, Greek, plane 
 trigonometry, and in French or German. 
 
 Admission Partially or Entirely Without Examination. 
 
 Admission wholly or partly without examination may be secured under cer- 
 tain conditions to be determined at the time of the application on presentation of 
 a Regents' diploma or of a certificate from an acceptable school. Detailed in- 
 formation may be obtained from the Registrar. 
 
 Applicants for admission to advanced standing or to candidacy for advanced 
 degrees should address correspondence to the Dean of the General Faculty. 
 
 Persons at least 21 years of age may be admitted as special students under 
 certain conditions specified in the Register. Special students in Agriculture are 
 admitted at the age of 18 years. 
 
 Examinations for admission will begin June 9, and September 20, 1893. 
 Registration days are September 25, 26, and 27, 1893. Instruction begins Sep- 
 tember 27, 1893. For the University Register, for specimen copies of examina- 
 tion papers, and for blank forms of admission by certificate, address the Registrar, 
 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 
 
 SUMMER SCHOOL — July 6— August 16, 1893. 
 
 Courses of instruction are offered for the coming summer by professors and instructors of Cornell University ' 
 in the the following subjects : *! ~, 
 
 Botany, Elocution Latin, Political and 
 
 Chemistry, and Oratory, Philosophy, Social Science 
 
 Mathematics, French,, Physiological Drawing and Art 
 
 Physics, German, Psychology, Physical 
 
 English, Greek, Pedagogy, Training 
 
 Without excluding others qualified to take up the work, these courses are offered for the special benefit of 
 teachers. The libraries, laboratories, and museums are open and the same facilities are extended to these stu- 
 dents as to the regular students of the University. In particular, every opportunity is given for original research 
 under the guidance, and with the assistance, of the corps of instruction. ■««;="." 
 
 For circulars giving full information, write to the Secretary, Prof. O. F. Emerson, Ithaca N. Y. 
 
 SCHOOL OF LAW.— Summer Term. 
 
 *u Th * Sun " ner *?™ °f *i e Sch ° 01 °C Law > ™ hich ™ n be offered for the first time this year, will begin Tulv 
 6th and continue for eight weeks Instruction will be given by the entire resident Law Faculty anTaU the 
 feciU ies of the School will be open to those in attendance. The regular class work will be fifteen "ours a week 
 with such additional hours as may be necessarv for tmrnoses of drill and TO iH .„,»„*,.,. j„.*-.._»f""-_^. ,!;?__• 
 
 who desire a review before applying for admission to the bar, 2 for those who cannot enjbythT advantages of a 
 
 C °^ e } e i. a 7 Sch °? 1 C -°" rSe ' (3) &r th ? se wh0 wis A t0 S ai " s«= knowledge of legal principles and of lal school 
 methods, before entering upon a regular course of legal study, and (4) forTmsiness men ples ana ot law SCB001 
 Tuition for the term, $35.00. A circular giving detailed information will be sent on application to 
 
 „ The School of Law, Cornell University, Ithaca, N, Y. 
 
SCHOOL REVIEW 
 
 A Journal of Secondary Education 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J. G. SCHURMAN 
 
 PRESIDENT OP CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 CONTENTS FOR APRIL I " > *««= l »*a»ni E 
 
 The OuTmok for Engush in Nbw York StaTB . . . Professor J. M. Hart 
 .The Study OK SwStlSSWSHSTtiSue SChoolI .'SuperMttfmimhAvP. Marble 
 
 TtoSCTEACHiNG of Mathematics Professor L. L. Conant 
 
 Sc^oo^StatisTics and MoraIvS Commissioner W. T. Harris 
 
 Xhe^Rbq."^TS' Work in English J. R. Parsons, Jr. 
 
 The Boston Meeting Superintendent UK A. Baldwin 
 
 Book Department Conducted by Principal C. H Thurber 
 
 Reviews : — A. FouilUe, Education from a National Standpoint : by Pres- 
 ident J. G. Schurman. — S. G. Williams, The History of Modern Education : 
 by Professor Margaret K. Smith. — A. B. Hart, Formation of the Union, 
 1750-1869 : by M. A. Johnson. — D. Fall, An Introduction to Qualitative 
 Chemical Analysis by the Inductive Method : by Professor L. M. Dennis. 
 — M. MacVicpr, Principles of Education : by Professor Margaret K. Smith. 
 — H. if?. Johnson, Selected Orations and letters of Cicero : by Professor C. 
 E. Bennett— E. E. Seelye, The Story of Columbus : by Ulysses G. Weatherly. 
 Current .Educational Literature . . . Conducted by Principal J. E. Russell 
 Books Received • • • • • • • ■ • • ■ 
 
 Published by 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 
 253 
 261 
 
 Copyright, A/ril, 1803, by the Treasurer of Cornell University 
 
 Vol.1, No. 4 $1.50 a year (10 numbers) 
 
 Whole No. 4 20 cents a number 
 
 Bntered at the Post-Office at Ithaca as second-class mail matter 
 
The School Review— A Journal of Secondary Education 
 
 J. Q. SCHURMAN, Editor 
 
 The sole aim of The School Review is to propagate sound educational thought and 
 report wise educational experiment in all matters pertaining to the work ot tne ±iign 
 School and the Academy. Though the theoretical side of education will not toe neglected, 
 special stress will be laid upon the results of practical experience. An examination ot 
 the contents of the numbers published thus far can hardly fail to convince the reader 
 that the Review will be of real service to the teacher in his work. The interests ot 
 secondary education need to be represented by a national organ in which the best 
 thoughts of the age on the perplexing problems of education may be faithfully reflected 
 and thoroughly discussed. That the need of such an organ has been keenly felt is 
 abundantly shown by the cordial reception which the new periodical has met with on all 
 sides, at the hands of practical teachers. 
 
 The School Review is especially fitted to represent the interests of secondary educa- 
 tion fearlessly and without partiality. Supported by the publication fund of the Sage 
 School of Philosophy in Cornell University, it is unhampered by financial problems and 
 unassailed by the temptations to which they give rise. 
 
 But the character and scope of the Review will be best indicated by the tables of 
 contents of the first three numbers, which we herewith quote : 
 
 CONTENTS FOR JANUARY : 
 
 Editorial Note The Editor 
 
 The Teacher as a Professional Expert Professor A. B. Hart 
 
 First Year English in the High School Principal J. G. Wight 
 
 Regents' Diplomas in English Professor J. M. Hart 
 
 Book Department Conducted by Principal C. H. Thurber 
 
 Reviews :— A. S. Hill, The Foundations of Rhetoric : by Professor O. F. Emer- 
 son.— A. J. Church, The Story of the Iliad : by Principal J. E. Russell.—.//. R. 
 Mill, The Realm of Nature : by Professor R. S. Tarr — W. D. Whitney and 5. E. 
 Lockwood, English Grammar : by Professor O. F. Emerson. 
 Current Educational Literature Conducted by Principal J. E. Russell 
 
 CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY : . ^ 
 
 The Outlook for the Curriculum The Editc / 
 
 College Requirements in Greek Professor B. I. Whu-elet 
 
 The High School and Its Enemies Superintendent Thomas '/ickers 
 
 On Teaching English Professor P . Kellogg 
 
 Teaching Shakespeare Principal C L. Maxcy 
 
 Book Department Conducted by Principal r. H. Thurber 
 
 Reviews :— S. S. Laurie, Institutes of Education : by J. G. SchuraAan.— Thos. D. 
 Goodell, Greek Lessons : by Principal E. J. Peck.— Sirfohn Lubbocft, The Beauties 
 of Nature : by Professor G. F. Atkinson.— George P. Fisher, The Colonial Era : by 
 Professor W. H. Mace.— W. F. Gordy and W. I. Twitchell, A Pathfinder in Ameri- 
 can History: by A. A. Bird.— D. H. Montgomery, The Beginner's \ American His- 
 tory : by A. A. Bird.— Chas. F.Johnson, English Words : by Professor O. F. Emer- 
 son. — English Classics for Schools : by Professor O. F. Emerson. \ 
 Current Educational Literature ..... Conducted by Principal J. E. Russell 
 
 CONTENTS FOR MARCH : 
 
 The Readjustment of the School Curriculum Prtnciptsl R. S. Keyser 
 
 Biology in Secondary Schools President^/. M. Coulter 
 
 On Teaching English Professor B. Kellogg 
 
 The Natural Sciences in Elementary Education . . Professor S. G. Williams 
 
 Book Department Conducted by Principal C. H. Thurber 
 
 Reviews: — W. H. Herndon and/. W. Weik, Abraham Lincoln : by- President J. 
 G. Schurman.-^/. W. White, The Beginner's Greek Book : by Professor G. P. Bris- 
 tol. — W. S. Jackman, Nature Study : by Principal E. F^ Brown. — W. H. Vtnable, Let 
 Him First be a Man : by Professor J. R. Bishop.—/. A~. Thomson, The St.idy of An- 
 imal Life : by Professor J. H. Comstock.— -J. Hawthorne and L. Lemmon, American 
 Literature : by Dr. W. H. Venable. — H. S. White, Deutsche Volkslieder : Dr. C. von 
 Klenze. 
 
 Current Educational Literature Conducted by Principal J. E. Russell 
 
 The first of a series of articles by Dr. S. S. Laurie, Professor of the Institutes and 
 History of Education in the University of Edinburgh, on the "History of Early Edu- 
 cation " will appear in our next number. 
 
 The terms of the Review are {1.50 per year (ten numbers), in advance ; no numbers 
 being issued in the vacation months of July and August ; single copies twenty cents. 
 
 Articles, subscriptions, books, etc. for The School Review should be addressed to 
 the Managing Editor, 
 
 DR. FRANK THILLY, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
Volume I. April, 1893. Whole 
 
 Number 4. Number 4. 
 
 THE SCHOOL REVIEW 
 
 A JOURNAL OF SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 THE OUTLOOK FOR ENGLISH IN NEW YORK STATE. 
 
 Since the date of my last writing decided progress has been 
 made in the direction of securing better school instruction in 
 English. 
 
 I. The Cornell Faculty, at their meeting of February 3d, adopt- 
 ed the following measure : 
 
 In view of the imperfect preparation of many students in English, Re- 
 solved, that in and after June," 1894, and until further notice, certificates 
 from schools be not accepted in lieu of the entrance examination in that 
 subject. Special notice to be sent to all preparatory schools. 
 
 II. A few days later, February 9th, the Board of Regents 
 adopted a series of resolutions : 
 
 1. That the Regents require satisfactory teaching of the English lan- 
 guage, especially in composition, for at least three hours each week during 
 the academic course, as a condition of admission to the University or of 
 retention on the list of institutions in good standing and entitled to receive 
 apportionments from the academic fund.* 
 
 The significance of this joint action is evident at a glance. On 
 the one hand Cornell University decrees that all schools not 
 under the Regents shall be subject to entrance tests in Eng- 
 lish. On the other, the Regents make generous provision for 
 the teaching of English in all their schools. The appointment of 
 a special examiner in English will give to the new curriculum 
 additional value. It will be observed that the precise mode of 
 treating papers correct in subject matter but faulty in English 
 form, is at present a matter for discussion. But, in any event, 
 one thing is clear : faulty papers will not go through. 
 
 * For further information concerning the action of the Regents, see the 
 article, in this number of The School Review, on The Regents' Work in 
 English. 
 
1 96 The School Review 
 
 How long will it be before the good results of the change show 
 themselves unmistakably ? I am disposed to fix the date for pri- 
 vate schools at June, 1894; certainly by that time our entrance 
 examination will be as searching as we can make it. All per- 
 sons interested in the matter, whether teachers or candidates, 
 may, upon application to the Registrar, obtain a copy of the new 
 regulations governing the examination. From schools under the 
 Regents we shall expect a decided change by June, 1895 ; the full 
 effect of the new curriculum perhaps by June, 1896. 
 
 During the intervening three years, 1893 to 1896, we must be 
 prepared for some inequality and irregularity. It will be the 
 duty of the English department to reduce the amount to a mini- 
 mum, by imposing extra work perhaps, and certainly by reject- 
 ing at the term-examinations all students whose writing is evi- 
 dently unsatisfactory. A step in this direction has already been 
 taken ; the present Freshman class has been treated much more 
 rigorously than its predecessors, and many will be required to 
 take the work over again. 
 
 In general I cherish the hope that the mere announcement of 
 the resolve to demand thorough reform will accomplish much. 
 Candidates are apt to respect the wishes of an institution that is 
 in earnest. To those candidates who expect to present them- 
 selves this year under the old system of Regents' diploma and 
 school certificate let me give a friendly warning : Make sure of 
 your ability to express yourselves clearly and correctly. Your 
 certificate or your diploma may be no guarantee of the ability ; 
 in that case you will only incur trouble and perhaps even morti- 
 fication after admission. Henceforth Cornell will not tolerate, 
 poor English. 
 
 In strictness the following remarks upon the English course in 
 Cornell, as it is to be, are out of place in a school journal which 
 deals professedly with secondary education only. But in view of 
 the prominence, not altogether enviable, acquired by Cornell in 
 this discussion, the friends of education in general will doubtless 
 waive technical objections for the sake of hearing what improve- 
 ments we purpose making at home. 
 
 Junior and Senior Rhetoric are elective. I shall not speak of 
 them further than to remark that I shall henceforth be relieved of 
 Junior Rhetoric. Thanks to the intervention of President Schur- 
 man and the liberality of the Trustees, an assistant will be ap- 
 
The Outlook for English in New York State 197 
 
 pointed to divide with Professor Emerson the burden of Sopho- 
 more Rhetoric. The time thus gained by Professor Emerson 
 will enable him to conduct the Junior Rhetoric in my place. I 
 expect to take charge of the Freshman class, not giving the in- 
 struction directly but guiding and controlling it at every step, 
 preparing the reading and text-book work week by week with 
 the instructors, and assigning the subjects for writing. These 
 subjects will always be in direct connection with the reading. The 
 reading will be in De Quincey, Macaulay, and Carlyle, authors 
 offering the widest range of vocabulary. I may state here that 
 the chief object of the Freshman year will be to acquire freedom 
 and discrimination in the use of words, and a perception of shades 
 of meaning. All doubtful work in this year will be examined 
 and judged by me personally. The prescribed two hours will be 
 two hours of actual attendance. 
 
 In like manner Sophomore English, in charge of Professor 
 Emerson and his assistant, will require two hours of actual at- 
 tendance. The reading will be in authors of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury : Johnson, Goldsmith, Gibbon, Burke, and one or two others 
 not yet determined upon. Minto's Prose will be used through- 
 out the year. All writing will be upon the authors read, or upon 
 collateral reading directly connected with the text. Special atten- 
 tion will be given to sentence-structure and paragraphing, and to 
 Precision and Force. 
 
 Am I over sanguine in expecting the best results from such a 
 plan strictly enforced at all points ? The fundamental principle 
 is obvious: No writing without incessant reading, no reading 
 without incessant writing. The texts read will supply food for 
 thought ; the student is to be trained to express that thought in 
 workmanlike manner. 
 
 /. M. HarL 
 
THE STUDY OF ENGLISH IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 A report has recently been made to the Overseers of Harvard 
 College by the Committee on Composition and Rhetoric. This 
 report shows the very faulty use of the English language by 
 a class of students in that ancient and honorable university. 
 
 In the report a large number of the productions of those stu- 
 dents are printed in facsimile, reduced to one-half their original 
 size. Beyond a doubt those students had no command of the 
 English language, though they had passed the Harvard exami- 
 nations and entered the institution. This is conclusive proof 
 that the standard of admission to Harvard was low. The report 
 deplores the fact that the professors are obliged to supplement the 
 defective preparation of students in English, before going on to 
 the more advanced work appropriate to them ; and it seems to laj' 
 the fault at the door of the preparatory schools. 
 
 But the preparatory schools had met the requirements. Their 
 students had passed the entrance examinations. These schools 
 might with equal propriety complain that the pupils who come to 
 them are not well fitted for the work appropriate to these fitting 
 schools ; and the lower schools may likewise insist upon a better 
 training in English in the primary schools ; and so on to the kin- 
 dergarten, the home, and even to " hereditary tendency and en- 
 vironment. ' ' 
 
 Again, even the graduates of Harvard and other colleges and 
 universities, do not all write good English. To quote from one 
 of them : ' ' Professor Pickering of Harvard University makes a 
 strong point in his endeavor to secure funds to properly equip the 
 Harvard observatory in Peru by the statement that owing to the 
 unsteady character of the atmosphere in the United States and in 
 Europe telescopes of high magnifying power can not be used, so 
 that even the great Lick telescope of 36 inches aperture is able to 
 do no better work than Professor Pickering has been able to do 
 in Peru with a little 13-iuch instrument, a statement that would 
 be readily accepted by those who have watched in vain for the 
 announcement of astronomical discoveries from the Lick observa- 
 tory. ' ' Another : "It is certainly most unfortunate, looked at from 
 a standpoint entirely outside of republican partisanship, that, if 
 Mr. Cleveland was to be elected, it could not have happened that 
 
The Study of English in the Public Schools 199 
 
 there should have been such a result of the voting as would have 
 thrown the election into congress, in which case, though the ex- 
 president would have been again placed in the presidential chair, 
 the country would have been spared the placing of such a man 
 as Mr. Adlai E. Stevenson in direct line of succession to the pres- 
 idency of the United States. ' ' 
 
 No one would for one moment suppose that these overloaded 
 sentences are the result of the superior instruction at Harvard ; 
 neither is the defect in the training of students who enter that in- 
 stitution necessarily, or probably, due to poor teaching in the 
 preparatory schools. These defects may be attributable to a 
 variety of causes ; and among these causes, is one which is sug- 
 gested at the close ®f the following quotation from a college grad- 
 uate : "Education does not appear to be a panacea for temporal 
 distress in that land of the highly educated, Germany, for one of 
 the German officials declares that there are ' lawyers, physicians 
 and doctors of philosophy among those who are regularly re- 
 lieved by the poor board,' but it is manifestly unfair to lay this 
 condition of things in Germany to the discredit of education, 
 which can not ba expected to make successful lawyers, ministers 
 or doctors out of dolts." 
 
 L,et it be noted that the imperfect product of the schools and 
 colleges is not always due to faults in the schools. But without 
 bandying thi blame from the editor to the college, when he finds 
 that the studsnt fresh from college can not write good English ; 
 from the college to the fitting school ; from the fitting school to 
 the grammar school ; and so on, to the primary school, and the 
 kindergarten, let us admit that the study of English has been de- 
 fective ; and let us seek a remedy. 
 
 In the public schools of France, the study of the French lan- 
 guage and literature occupies one-fifth of the time. If the En- 
 glish language and literature were to occupy as large a propor- 
 tion of the time in our school curriculum, the education of our 
 children would be greatly improved. For there is no study in 
 the whole course which may be made a better instrument of 
 culture, than the study of English. It concerns itself with close 
 and accurate thinking ; and this kind of thinking is the very end 
 and aim of education. 
 
 I. The study of English includes oral speech and written or 
 printed language. The first of these is as important with young 
 
zoo The School Review 
 
 pupils as is the last ; and with advanced students the careful 
 study of their oral speech is of great value, though it has gen- 
 erally received but little attention. In society, conversation is 
 frequently carried on in a careless, thoughtless way ; words are 
 often used with very little regard to their meaning ; expressions 
 are employed because they are novel or striking, rather than be- 
 cause they are appropriate and fitting. And quite generally a 
 word does duty, in oral speech, in a sense very remote from its 
 real meaning. "Awful" "almighty," " splendid," are words 
 commonly used to express a mere superlative. The same bad 
 habit of oral speaking is not unfrequently allowed in the class- 
 room. The pupil recites in slovenly language ; he translates a 
 foreign language into English which is inappropriate, unidiomatic, 
 and incorrect ; he demonstrates a problem in geometry in lan- 
 guage both inelegant and fragmentary ; in his recitation in his- 
 tory or geography, the statements are broken and disjointed ; in 
 his attempt to narrate a circumstance or to express an opinion, he 
 is careless about the language employed ; and in all these cases 
 the teacher is watching so closely for the glimmer of the thought 
 that he fails to notice the language in which the thought is ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 The study of English, then, should begin with oral speech ; 
 and especially it should so begin the first day of school in the 
 lowest grade. This careful attention to oral language must not 
 be omitted at any stage of school life. Oral speech precedes 
 written language ; and if the written language of pupils in school, 
 at first and all along, were made the basis of the written work — 
 the themes and compositions — these exercises would be robbed of 
 all their terror. 
 
 The child begins to talk at a very early age ; and he knows the 
 meaning of many words long before he can pronounce them. On 
 coming to school his vocabulary is much larger than we have 
 credited him with, and his power of expression is greater than 
 most teachers suppose. It has been assumed that the vocabulary 
 of a child four or five years old contains three or four hundred 
 words. Few people would place the number as high as five or 
 six hundred. From a series of experiments covering a large 
 field, and made with the purpose of ascertaining certain other facts 
 as well as the extent of the child's vocabulary, it has been shown 
 that the ordinary child at the age of four or five years has the 
 
The Study of English in the Public Schools 201 
 
 command of twelve hundred words ; and many children at the age 
 of five know the meaning and the use of fifteen hundred words. 
 
 Now the first and the chief duty of the teacher is, to induce 
 the child just entering school to talk — to express himself. He 
 knows a great deal more than he gets credit for ; there is a pre- 
 sumption of brains, of thought, and of ability to speak. Of 
 course the little child is timid ; and amidst the unusual sur- 
 roundings—the "environment," to use an educational term — he 
 retires within himself. It is the duty of the teacher to secure his 
 confidence, and to induce him to reveal his inner self, his thought, 
 and to delight in this revelation. 
 
 I have called this the chief duty because the expression of 
 thought begets thought in the child. The thought may be stim- 
 ulated by objects, toys, the kindergarten gifts and occupations, 
 objects of nature of every variety, stories, plays, — anything 
 whatever that interests him. The oral language— the child's own 
 — may next be written upon the blackboard for him to read ; 
 and the written characters should be to him the representatives, 
 of the sounds he has made in speaking. "I see a cat," written 
 upon the blackboard , means to the child, "I s-ee a c-a-t. ' ' When 
 the expression is changed to " I see a hat," — " a mat," he will 
 at once notice that the c, the h, and the m, each modifies the 
 meaning in accordance with his own thought. Not to explain at 
 length this elementary process of teaching reading : The impor- 
 tant fact in this connection is that the child connects his oral 
 speech with the written language. He is led to see that written 
 language is the expression of thought, his own thought ; and 
 thus the reading is vitalized, so to speak ; made a living thing. 
 From this stage it is only a step for him to perceive that written 
 language may also be the expression of another person's thought. 
 It is important that he so look upon it later, when he sees the 
 written or printed language in a book. Simultaneously with 
 learning to read from the blackboard the visible representation of 
 his oral spsech, and to translate that and other writing into oral 
 language, the child may be occupied with writing his speech upon 
 the slate or on paper, without the preliminary step of uttering it 
 with his mouth and seeing it written by the teacher. The child 
 is taught to think, to express himself in words, to recognize the 
 written language as another form of his own thought, and to re- 
 produce his thought in visible form ; and incidentally he learns 
 
202 The School Review 
 
 that all written or printed language is the expression of thought. 
 He thus learns, at the very outset of his school education, to look 
 behind the language, whether oral or written, for the thought 
 that lies within. 
 
 The above is not intended merely to be an essay on the first 
 steps in teaching reading. Its significance, in my view, consists 
 in this : That the process here outlined — the thought, its oral and 
 visible expression, and the perception of the thought in printed 
 or written language — that this process is the same in every stage 
 of the study of English. The process begins in the primary 
 school ; and it never ends. 
 
 Language is the expression of thought ; it is this only ; it should 
 always suggest to the student the thought which it embodies ; 
 and the student should look beyond the mere form, and perceive 
 the immaterial essence. 
 
 II. The oral expression whose value I have attempted to em- 
 phasize at the very start, in school life, ought, in my judgment, 
 to receive equal attention at every stage of the public schools. 
 The pupil ought to be accustomed to express in clear, concise, 
 and appropriate language, whatever he has seen or thought, or 
 been concerned about. This oral expression should be a daily 
 practice. Every recitation ought to be made a study of English. 
 The form and the fitness of the expression should be looked upon 
 as of equal importance with the matter to be expressed ; for there 
 is no definite thought without definite expression. Vague lan- 
 guage involves vague thought ; and this careful attention to the 
 language, constant and unremitting, is a great part, if not the 
 best, the most important part, of school education. Of two part- 
 ners in a business firm, the older had been seriously ill for many 
 years ; at length the younger failed in health, and finally died. 
 Some one remarked that it was "funny" that the younger 
 man had died first. It was not funny at all ; it may have been 
 remarkable or strange. But in criticising language in this way, 
 it is quite possible to fall into a habit of being finical and over- 
 nice, language, also, which may be appropriate in oral speech, 
 may not be as appropriate when written. It requires much ob- 
 servation and practice, and a delicate sense of fitness, to discrim- 
 inate with certainty and precision between words and expressions 
 that are colloquial and forcible, and those which are coarse or 
 bordering on the vulgar. A taste too fastidious in the use of 
 language, makes the style stiff and stilted. 
 
The Study of English in the Public Schools 203 
 
 In the School Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, Mr. Brainerd Kellogg of 
 the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, gives us certain words and 
 phrases which the usage of the best writers says we may 
 employ ; but which ' ' purists tell us we may not, must not use. ' ' 
 
 We may use each other, of more than two things, and one 
 another, of only two ; a word or two, as well as one or two words ; 
 had rather ox had better with the present infinitive, etc." The 
 importance of close attention to the speech consists less in the 
 words and expressions whose proper use is learned, than in the 
 habit of attending to the expression. It is the study of both 
 pupil and teacher which produces the good habit of thought ; 
 and this habit leads not only to correct expression, but to correct 
 and orderly thinking"; and this is vastly more important. From 
 this habit of much talking by the pupil, under the guidance of 
 the teacher, the habit of writing grows naturally. He has ex- 
 pressed his thought in speech ; let him take his seat and, in the 
 presence of his teacher and his schoolmates, let him write, simply 
 and straight on, the same which he has spoken, with no partic- 
 ular attention to the writing or the form of expression ; — that is, 
 with no more attention than he gave to his language while speak- 
 ing. In both cases, equally, his attention is upon the thought ; 
 and he notices the language only as it expresses his thought. At 
 the end of the period — fifteen or twenty minutes — the paper may 
 be folded and laid upon the teacher's desk. At the next exercise, 
 this paper may be examined carefully by the pupil ; and he will 
 then see how nearly he has said what he intended to say, and he 
 may correct the writing in any way he chooses. Subsequently, 
 the teacher may examine and correct the paper, or the pupil may 
 rewrite it. 
 
 It is my firm belief that children brought up in this way, would 
 find no more difficulty in writing what they have to say than they 
 would have in speaking it orally ; it would in fact be about the 
 same thing. We are assuming, of course, that this habit of ex- 
 pression, both oral and written, has been continuous throughout 
 the schools ; and that the time for each exercise, and the matter 
 talked and written about, have been adapted to the age and 
 capacity of the pupil. 
 
 III. Thus far in this discussion not much has been said about 
 a most important feature in exercises of this kind : — that is, the 
 source from which the ideas to be expressed, are to be derived. 
 
204 The School Review 
 
 In the primary school these ideas come from objects, plays, 
 stories, etc. ; and in the more advanced grades, many of the ideas 
 come naturally from the other studies of the school — the geogra- 
 phy, the history, the natural science, etc., and from the places of 
 interest, the factories, the shops, and the various processes of 
 manufacture which the pupil may be interested in visiting and 
 describing. But the main reliance for the ideas to be thought 
 about and written about, must be books adapted to the age of the 
 pupil : — books of natural history, fairy tales, books of travel, bi- 
 ography and history ; and the reading and the study of well se- 
 lected books all along in the course is another means for the study 
 of English. The careful reading of books, in connection with the 
 speaking and the writing outlined above, serves a two-fold end: — 
 In the first place the reading — always with the attention chiefly 
 upon the thought, as said above — fills the mind with something 
 to think about and to talk and write about ; and in the second 
 place, the language, the form of expression, the style of the writ- 
 ing, imperceptibly and unconsciously mould the form of speech 
 of the pupil ; and this without his knowing it. He should not 
 attempt, of course, to repeat orally or to write, immediately after 
 he has finished the reading. Some time should elapse between 
 the reading and the writing, in order that the new ideas may, as 
 it were, digest in the mind, and be assimilated with his thought, 
 so as to become his own. The exact language will not be remem- 
 bered. And yet the new idea suggested by the reading will re- 
 tain something of the form of expression in which it was clothed, 
 the thought and the expression are so nearly allied ; and this 
 form will affect the written language of the pupil. Thus the 
 reading both expands the thought of the pupil and enlarges the 
 power of expressing that thought. 
 
 This habit of reading, and of repeating orally and in writing 
 the substance of what he has read, introduces the pupil to the 
 best literature gradually, and in step with his growing apprecia- 
 tion, and his increasing power of expression ; and there is no limit 
 to this power of expression so long as the mind may expand, and 
 there is thought to be expressed. 
 
 M. Francois Gouin, in his admirable book, The Art of 
 Teaching and Studying Languages, says that language is of 
 two kinds : — objective and subjective ; the objective language be- 
 ing that which expresses the thought suggested by some external 
 
The Study of English in the Public Schools 205 
 
 object, and the subjective language being that which expresses 
 what originates in the mind itself — its own emotion or reflection, 
 as it were. " The wheel turns around," for example, expresses 
 a fact perceived through the senses, a fact in the external world ; 
 "That is right," on the other hand, is the expression of a reflec- 
 tion in the mind itself. 
 
 This objective language expresses a kind of thought which, it 
 appears to me, a dumb creature, an irrational animal, as we 
 say, might have. The child says, "The wheel turns round;" 
 the trained animal notices the motion of his master's hand, com- 
 pares it with former experiences, and forms a judgment ; and he 
 acts accordingly. Why does not this mental process in the intelli- 
 gent animal correspond with the human thought expressed in 
 what Mr. Gouin calls objective language ? The thought ex- 
 pressed by the subjective language is of a more exalted kind ; it 
 is the rational thought of a higher order of intellect ; it is a kind 
 of thought above and beyond that which is produced by material 
 objects or sense perceptions, and manual occupations ; it is a kind 
 of thought to which all right education leads up. This higher 
 kind of thought is expressed in our literature. In this literature 
 are expressed the feelings, the emotions, passions, poetry, and 
 the sense of beauty, the hopes and aspirations, the fears and the 
 despairs of human hearts. English is to be studied in its liter- 
 ature ; and the study of this literature is the study of the race, 
 and of humanity. 
 
 Now, language cannot express to any one very much beyond 
 that which he has lived and experienced. In order to find a 
 response in the mind, the language must appeal to something al- 
 ready in the mind ; there must be in the mind of the reader, a 
 correspondence, some resemblance, something with which to 
 compare. Hence a young child could have no conception of Par- 
 adise Lost, for example. 
 
 Now, as the power of expression should grow by use both in 
 oral speech and in written language, as I have endeavored to point 
 out ; as the thought should grow correspondingly, and be nour- 
 ished by observation and reading, and by expression all along 
 through the elementary stages ; — so it appears tome the student's 
 own language should form the basis of his study of literature. 
 That is to say, his knowledge of the structure, the force, and the 
 beauty of the language, should be developed from within ; should 
 be a growth and not a mere accretion. 
 
206 The School Review 
 
 To begin again at the bottom. Is spelling to be learned ? The 
 words one uses are of most interest. Is the grammatical structure 
 of the sentence to be studied ? For this study the pupil's own 
 language should be examined. It is his own. He knows what 
 it means ; and he can therefore more easily appreciate the force 
 which he has put into every part of it, and can understand the 
 effect upon the sense which any modification of its form and 
 structure may produce. Is rhetoric to be learned ? How can the 
 nature of a figure of speech be better understood by the student 
 than by recognizing the one which he himself has used ? The 
 same is true of the orderly and effective arrangement of words, and 
 of every other principle of rhetoric. The student may study 
 grammar indefinitely, but he will never really know grammar till 
 he has used the language ; and it is better for him to study the 
 grammar in his language than to attempt to learn the grammar 
 and then to conform his language to it. He may study rhetoric for 
 years without appreciating fully what it is, unless he has put its 
 principles in practice in actual writing ; — not merely in inventing 
 examples, and dissecting the examples of other people, which is 
 generally worse than a waste of time. Does any body suppose 
 that any one of our great writers, Macaulay for example, while 
 writing, ever stopped to say to himself, ' ' Now I will introduce a 
 striking metaphor ; " " Now I will set forth this incident in a 
 brilliant period ? " He could not have made those glowing sen- 
 tences of his in such a way if he had tried. He was full of his 
 subject ; and the writing and the illustrations were perfectly spon- 
 taneous. Much less can any young student write well, when he is 
 thinking of writing well instead of thinking of his subject, and 
 what he has to say about it. 
 
 In the study of grammar, which is the study of English, I 
 would have every principle pointed out in the language which the 
 pupil has used. Those grand divisions, the subject and the predi- 
 cate, that which is spoken of and that which is said, may be 
 pointed out very early. The uses of words in the sentence, as 
 nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., may be made very clear by refer- 
 ence to the child's own writing or speaking. All the rest may be 
 found in some one of the brief manuals, such as the first chapters 
 of Foundations of Rhetoric, lately issued by Professor Hill of 
 Harvard, and the Manual of English Composition, by Nichols, 
 published by Macmillan & Co. 
 
The Study of English in the Public Schools 207 
 
 In the report of the Committee, already referred to, it is noted 
 that skill in athletic sports cannot be acquired from books ; it 
 must be attained by practice, if at all, and the value of the scientific 
 instruction in the books consists in directing merely, and correct- 
 ing, the practice. The same is true in learning the English 
 language ; and the inference from the report is that students come 
 to Harvard well fitted in athletics, and poorly prepared in En- 
 glish. This inference, undoubtedly, corresponds to the facts ; 
 and my aim is to introduce into the learning of English the prin- 
 ciple of practice now used in learning the athletics. 
 
 But the study of English does not consist merely in learning 
 how to use the language. The main purpose of the study is, to 
 mine from the literature the treasures embedded there. 
 
 IV. For the thorottgh, or even a partial discussion of this im- 
 portant part of the study of English there is not now time ; nor 
 is there very much necessity, because the ground has been care- 
 fully covered in the various works in the teaching of literature. 
 The latest to come under my observation, and one of the best is, 
 a little work entitled Longer English Poems, edited by J. W. 
 Hales, M.A., and published by Macmillan & Co., I/mdou and 
 New York. 
 
 To show what may be done in the study of any selection of 
 prose or poetry, in an introductory essay, Suggestions on the Teach- 
 ing 0/ English, the author has taken up Scott's Rosabelle : The 
 piece is first learned by heart ; its meaning is next considered ; mi- 
 nor, subsidiary matters, allusions to manners and customs, etc., are 
 then taken up; hereupon the question of prosody or of rhythm re- 
 ceives consideration ; something about the author comes next, and 
 matters of grammar follow ; the words of Rosabelle are studied 
 with reference to derivation and origin ; and finally, the subject- 
 matter of the poem having been considered in its various aspects, 
 an attempt at criticism may be encouraged, and a recapitula- 
 tion of the whole is advisable. ' ' After some such lesson as 
 that just attempted," the author goes on to say, "proper 
 curtailments and expansions having been made, will not the 
 intelligence of the pupil have been thoroughly exercised ? — 
 will not his previously acquired knowledge have been called into 
 use and arranged better? — will he not have added something to that 
 better ordered store ? — will he not, while awaking to a pleasant 
 consciousness of what the power of his mind is, and what appar- 
 
2o8 The School Review 
 
 ent entanglements it can unravel if properly trained and directed, 
 learn also how much there is that is beyond his reach, and how, of 
 what lies within his reach, the better part may not be won 'without 
 dust and heat : ' — learn the great lesson which concerns not only 
 his schoolboy days, but all the days of his life, that there is 
 nothing worthy to be achieved without sincere, undaunted, never- 
 wearying industry ? ' ' 
 
 For this kind of study I commend the little poem on Columbia's 
 Emblem, the Golden Corn, to be recognized, I trust, as the typi- 
 cal plant of America, as the thistle is of Scotland, and the lily of 
 France. 
 
 Columbia's emblem. 
 
 Blazon Columbia's emblem 
 
 The bounteous, golden Corn ! 
 Eons ago, of the great sun's glow 
 
 And the joy of the earth, 'twas born. 
 From Superior's shore to Chili, 
 
 From the ocean of dawn to the West, 
 With its banners of green and tasseled sheen, 
 
 It sprang at the sun's behest ; 
 And by dew and shower, from its natal hour, 
 
 With honey and wine 'twas fed, 
 Till the gods were fain to share with men 
 
 The perfect feast outspread. 
 For the rarest boon to the land they loved 
 
 Was the Corn so rich and fair, 
 Nor star nor breeze o'er the farthest seas 
 
 Could find its like elsewhere. 
 
 In their holiest temples the Incas 
 
 Offered the heaven-sent maize — 
 Grains wrought of gold, in a silver fold, 
 
 For the sun's enraptured gaze ; 
 And its harvest came to the wandering tribes 
 
 As the gods' own gift and seal ; 
 And Montezuma's festal bread 
 
 Was made of its sacred meal. 
 Narrow their cherished fields ; but ours 
 
 Are broad as the continent's breast, 
 And lavish as leaves, the rustling sheaves 
 
 Bring plenty and joy and rest. 
 For they strew the plains and crowd the wains 
 
 When the reapers meet at morn, 
 Till blithe cheers ring and west winds sing 
 
 A song for the garnered Corn. 
 
The Study of English in the Public Schools 209 
 
 The rose may bloom for England, 
 
 The lily for France unfold ; 
 Ireland may honor the shamrock, 
 
 Scotland her thistle bold ; 
 But the shield of the great Republic, 
 
 The glory of the West, 
 Shall bear a stalk of the tasseled Corn, 
 
 Of all our wealth the best. 
 The arbutus and the golden rod 
 
 The heart of the North may cheer, 
 And the mountain laurel for Maryland 
 
 Its royal clusters rear ; 
 And jasmine and magnolia 
 
 The crest of the South adorn ; 
 But the wjde Republic's emblem 
 
 Is the bounteous, golden Corn ! 
 
 In all that precedes, no allusion has been made to that broad 
 and fertile field for cultivation — the imagination, a world in itself 
 for the child. What an imaginative child lives, has recently 
 been portrayed by Frances Hodgson Burnett in her description 
 of the One I Knew Best of All, begun in the February, 1893, 
 Scribner ; and J. G. Holland some years ago in a story called 
 Arthur Bonnicastle, published in the early Scribner' s Magazine, 
 shows most admirably how character and power may be devel- 
 oped by proper culture of the imagination. But for all this there 
 is here no time. My simple purpose is to show that the basis of 
 all study of English should be the child's, or the student's, own 
 language by which he has expressed thought : — to show that the 
 growth should be from within. 
 
 A. P. Marble. 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 
THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS. 
 
 In the teaching of natural science, the past quarter of a centu- 
 ry has brought about a reform of the most sweeping nature. 
 Methods of instruction have been radically changed, and the 
 whole point of view from which the study of the sciences is ap- 
 proached has shifted. In its work in connection with chemistry, 
 physics, natural history, botany, etc., secondary instruction has 
 abandoned the abstract for the concrete. The student has now 
 to deal, not so much with formula and law as with actual experi- 
 ment — or as some enthusiasts would put it, with cause and effect. 
 Of the good which has resulted from this change we need not 
 speak. Of the danger which attends this method of instruction, 
 of the points wherein it is inferior to the method it has sup- 
 planted, we have here no room for discussion. All that concerns 
 us at the present moment is the fact that this change has taken 
 place. Empiricism is the watchword of to-day. " Read nature 
 in the language of experiment," cries the reformer. The cry has 
 been heard and heeded ; and the high school or academy, to say 
 nothing of the college and scientific school, which is not well 
 equipped with laboratory and apparatus, is not looked upon as 
 "progressive," is not " up with the times." 
 
 In another department of instruction we see to-day the begin- 
 nings of a reform no less important, and certainly no less needed 
 than was reform in the teaching of natural science. Ten years 
 ago the teaching of English in our secondary schools was the 
 merest farce. I,atin and Greek, and in many cases French and 
 German, received most liberal allowances of time and most pains- 
 taking care on the part of the teacher. But of systematic work 
 in English there was none. Of comprehension on the part of the 
 teacher that such work was needed there was almost none. The 
 public apathy, yes, the apathy among educational leaders even, 
 on the subject of instruction in the mother tongue was most dis- 
 heartening. But the reform so sorely needed has at last begun. 
 The tangible results that have as yet been produced are insignifi- 
 cant. The actual instruction given in English is meagre and 
 often very poor. The public is still apathetic, and the great army 
 of primary teachers is worse than apathetic. But the college and 
 the secondary school have fairly begun the work of placing on a 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 THE general courses of instruction lead to degrees in Arts, in Philosophy, 
 m Science, and in Letters. In all these courses the work is prescribed 
 during the freshman year, and for the most part during the sophomore year : 
 m the junior and senior years the work is elective. The technical courses lead to 
 degrees in Agriculture, Architecture, and in the various branches of Engineering 
 
 The Law School occupies a separate building, commodious and well-equipped. 
 The law library, comprising 25,000 volumes, is conceded to be unexcelled in com- 
 pleteness. The entrance requirements for the Law School include a knowledge 
 of arithmetic, English, geography, English and United States history, Latin, 
 plane geometry, and civil government. One year of French or German would 
 be received as an equivalent for the Latin. Letters of inquiry regarding admis- 
 sion by certificate and requests for any special information should be addressed 
 to the School of Law, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 
 
 No general system of dormitories is provided. An exception to the rule is 
 made in the case of the Sage College for women, which furnishes accommoda- 
 tions for 100 students. 
 
 The gymnasium and armory contains two halls 150x60 feet and 40x65 feet in 
 dimensions, and connected therewith are the requisite bathrooms, lockers, and 
 other appliances. Presftibed exercise under the direction of the professor of 
 physical culture is for the most part compulsory during the freshman and sopho- 
 more years. The gymnasium for women is in Sage College. 
 
 For purposes of instruction the University makes use of 16 buildings, 18 lab- 
 oratories, and 6 seminary rooms. The general library now consists of about 
 110,000 volumes, and the list of scientific and literary periodicals and transactions 
 numbers about 500. Special facilities for advanced work are afforded to under- 
 graduates and graduates. 
 
 The corps of instruction in the several colleges and schools consists of 150 
 professors and instructors, besides about 30 special non-resident lecturers. 
 
 One hundred and twenty-eight State Scholarships are awarded annually, en- 
 titling the holders to free tuition for four years. For information regarding these 
 scholarships application should be made to the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
 tion, Albany, N. Y. In the various departments 42 university scholarships at 
 $200 each and 18 fellowships at $400 and $500 each are given. Tuition is free to 
 students in Agriculture and to all graduate students who have been accepted by 
 the Faculty as candidates for an advanced degree. The tuition fee for those pay- 
 ing for tuition is $100 per annum iu the general courses, and $125 in the technical 
 courses and for special and optional students'. 
 
 ENTRANCE REQUIREHENTS.— Admission on Examination. 
 
 The primary entrance examinations are required for all courses but are not 
 sufficient for admission to the University without the advanced examination here- 
 inafter indicated. The primary entrance examinations include the subjects of Eng- 
 lish, geography, physiology and hygiene, arithmetic, plane geometry, algebra, and 
 American history. For admission to the various courses of study examinations 
 in addition to the primary entrance examinations are required as follows : 
 
 To the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts : In addition to the 
 'primary entrance examinations previously mentioned : In Greek, Latin, and in 
 Grecian and Roman history. 
 
 To the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy : In addition 
 to the primary entrance examinations : In Latin, in Grecian and Roman history ; 
 and in French, German, or mathematics. 
 
 To the courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Letters and Bachelor of 
 Science, including the course in Agriculture : In addition to the primary entrance 
 examinations, in 2 of the 4 subjects : French, German, mathematics, Latin. 
 
 Optional Students, — Students who have passed the examinations required for 
 
admission to any one of the general courses, namely, in Arts, Philosophy, 
 letters, or Science, may register as optional students, and elect such work as 
 may be open to them. 
 
 To the courses in Engineering and Architecture : In addition to the primary 
 entrance examinations : In solid geometry ; and in French or German. For the 
 course in Architecture, Latin may be substituted for the Frencb or German required. 
 
 [In and after 1894, for the courses in Mechanical Engineering and Architecture 
 the subjects of higher algebra and plane and spherical trigonometry will be added 
 to the above requirements for entrance.] 
 
 To the two-year course Preparatory to the Study of Medicine : In addition to 
 the primary entrance examinations : In Latin, Greek, plane trigonometry, and 
 in French or German. 
 
 Admission Partially or Entirely Without Examination. 
 
 Admission wholly or partly without examination may be secured under cer- 
 tain conditions to be determined at the time of the application on presentation of 
 a Regents' diploma or of a certificate from an acceptable school. Detailed in- 
 formation may be obtained from the Registrar. 
 
 Applicants for admission to advanced standing or to candidacy for advanced 
 degrees should address correspondence to the Dean of the General Faculty. 
 
 Persons at least 21 years of age may be admitted as special students under 
 certain conditions specified in the Register. Special students in Agriculture are 
 admitted at the age of 18 years. 
 
 Examinations for admission will begin June 9, and September 20, 1893. 
 Registration days are September 25, 26, and 27, 1893. Instruction begins Sep- 
 tember 27, 1893. For the University Register, for specimen copies of examina- 
 tion papers, and for blank forms of admission by certificate, address the Registrar, 
 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 
 
 SUMMER COURSES— July 6-August 16, 1893. 
 
 Courses of instruction are offered for the coming summer by professors and in- 
 structors of Cornell University in the following subjects : 
 
 Botany, 
 
 English, 
 
 Latin, 
 
 History, 
 
 Chemistry, 
 
 Elocution and Oratory, 
 
 Philosophy, 
 
 Political and Social Science, 
 
 Mathematics, 
 
 French and German, 
 
 Physiological Psychology, 
 
 Drawing and Art, 
 
 Physics, 
 
 Greek, 
 
 , Pedagogy, 
 
 Physical Training. 
 
 Without excluding others qualified to takeup the work, these courses are offered 
 for the special benefit of teachers. The libraries, laboratories, and museums are. 
 open and the same facilities are extended to these students as to the regular students 
 of the University. In particular, every opportunity is given for original research 
 under the guidance, and with the assistance, of the corps of instruction. . 
 
 For circulars giving full information, write to the Secretary, 
 
 Prof. O. F. Emerson*, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 SCHOOL OF LAW Summer Term. 
 
 The summer term of the School of Law, which will be offered for the first time this year, will begin July 
 6th and continue for eight weeks. Instruction will be given by the entire resident Law Faculty, and all the 
 facilities of the School will be open to those in attendance. The regular class work will be fifteen hoars a week, 
 with such additional hours as may be necessary for purposes of drill, and will embrace instruction in the follow- 
 ing subjects : Equity, Real Property, Crimes, Torts, Codes, Corporations, Contracts, Mercantile Law, including 
 Bills, Partnership, Sales, Suretyship, etc., Evidence, Domestic Relations, Wills and Administration. 
 
 The course will be open to all who may wish to take advantage of it, but is designed primarily (i) for those 
 who desire a review before applying for admission to the bar, (2) for those who cannot enjoy the advantages of a 
 complete law school course, (3) for those who wish to gain some knowledge of legal principles and of law school 
 methods before entering upon a regular course of legal study, and (4) for business men. 
 
 Tuition for the term, $35.00. A circular giving detailed information will be sent on application to 
 
 The School of Law, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 ANDRUS » CHURCH, PR8., ITHACA, N. Y.