of the nation depend directly upon the moral worth of each individual in its midst. Before the close of the Civil War, there were in the field, fighting against the cruel wrong of slavery, one million men; but they were doing no more important work than the much larger and greater army of men and women, boys and girls, who gather from day to day in the public schools of this land. They are developing the moral strength of those soon to guide the ship of state, and preparing to aid in the defence and protection of their country's honor and fair

name.

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

From the beginning of the fourth year every event should be located on the map. As the growth of history is largely the result of geographical conditions, it is important that children shall early begin to cultivate the habit of associating every fact of history with its peculiar physical environment. Constant reference should therefore be made to the map until the pupils never think of reading history without having before them a map. This habit will be of invaluable service to them, as it will help to make their knowledge definite and vivid. At the outset, of course, the teacher will have to point out all the places on a large map hanging before the pupils, but later the pupils will use their own maps,

aided, if necessary, by the large map. Suppose the children are talking with their teacher about Columbus. Let us see how much geography may serve them. Genoa, his birthplace; the Mediterranean on which he sailed when a boy; Portugal, which he reached by vessel (trace probable course of vessel); Africa, along the coast of which he sailed after leaving Portugal; England, to the north of which he then sailed; Spain he afterward visited. The Canary Islands, the Atlantic Ocean, San Salvador, Cuba, and the West Indies serve to outline his first voyage of discovery. So we might go on sailing in imagination with the daring, heroic discoverer until cruel injustice stopped him in his remarkable career.

If the children are reading about Henry Hudson in Eggleston's First Book in American History, they will find mention in order of the following places: England, the West Indies, America, Portugal, Africa, India, Eastern Continent, Europe, Asia, London, China, Russia. These appear in the introductory paragraphs and are not so important as those found in connection with the voyages and discoveries of Hudson. But if these paragraphs are read it will be just as well to point out on the map everything referred to in the reading. Starting out with Hudson, the children should sail in imagination with him as they did with Columbus. The idea will please them, especially when they see a picture of the famous vessel, The Half Moon, in which Hudson made a part of his voyage. Trying to reach China, he sailed in

1607, in the little ship Hopewell, among the icebergs of the Arctic seas. In this voyage he touched upon Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. In later voyages the children's minds should be called to Amsterdam, Newfoundland, James River, Delaware Bay, New York Bay, Hudson River, Catskill Mountains, Albany, England, Holland, Hudon's Bay.

If the pupils will join the brave, blunt Captain Miles Standish on the historic Mayflower, share his sufferings on the voyage, endure the bitterness and privation of that trying winter spent on the bleak New England shores, they will have living pictures of those austere men and those rigorous times. To aid in closely associating geography and history, the children may read and talk about the Pilgrims when they are studying about Massachusetts; William Penn may be associated with the geography of Pennsylvania; John Smith, Washington, and Jefferson with Virginia; Hudson with New York; Champlain with the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain; De Soto, La Salle, and Father Marquette with the Mississippi River; De Leon and Narvaez with Florida; Pizarro with Peru; Cortez with Mexico; the discovery of gold with California; and so on. When the pupils are studying the geography of their native State, a great deal of local history should be interwoven. In all these cases the history and geography will equally assist and supplement each other. The man will lend a living interest to the place. The place with its associations will locate the man, so that he

will be a real person, with living interests, not easily forgotten. Most facts in geography not so associated are of little worth, since they cannot enlarge the pupil's intellectual and spiritual horizon and bring him into closer sympathy with the world of men and women about him. We believe the purpose of geography should be to furnish a stage for the great drama of human history. If we are correct, the only part of geography worthy of a place in our schools is that which will help the learner to interpret the meaning of history and find out the secrets which the -logic of events has to unfold.

LANGUAGE AND HISTORY

One great reason why children do not talk or write better in an average language lesson is that they have but little to say. Here the teacher is probably at fault. Her duty is unfulfilled if the boy is not full of his subject before attempting to express his thoughts. Given a subject in which he has a genuine interest it will be easy enough so to stimulate ideas that he will be willing, not to say eager, to express them. The work in history here outlined will easily give the desired stimulus.

Suppose the children are doing fourth year work and are reading and talking about Putnam. The reading lessons should be talked over until the children are sure of

a number of interesting facts. Let them ask ten questions or make ten statements about Putnam. If the special object is to lead them to write short sentences without the use of superfluous "ands," they may be directed to ask ten questions and write the answers to them. Then they may be required to read the answers in such order Very soon the written

as to make a connected narrative.

questions may be omitted and in their place mental questions questions the children think out before they write the answers in consecutive statements may be substituted. This kind of lesson, if thoroughly taught for a few times, will yield large returns. It requires considerable mental effort on the part of a child to write short sentences rather than to move glibly on with many "ands," "buts," and other connectives without periods. He needs special help here. At first his sentences will not be well connected, but that is not a serious matter. The facility and fluency naturally arising from constant practice will furnish the needed correction.

This and every other written exercise, however, especially with children in intermediate and lower grammar grades, will be far more successful if preceded by much oral work. The facts should all be brought out in conversation lessons and made perfectly clear to the pupil before he is expected to write about them. This has been said substantially in the preceding paragraph, but is purposely repeated, in order to lay special stress upon the importance of more oral language than is usually found