"The reading lesson should deal with literature. No more serious mistake can be made than to allow this most important lesson to degenerate into mere "reading for information." This does not mean that informational reading has no proper place in the school, but it does mean that it should not be allowed to usurp the place of the regular daily reading period. This exercise should be reserved for giving to the children literary possessions suited to their age and grade, and for filling their minds with beautiful im aginative pictures, which Wordsworth tells us are "the bliss of solitude." These beautiful inner pictures are vastly more important to children than are those with which we decorate our school houses, helpful as these are.

Informational reading, like other fact-giving lessons, should be charged on the time-schedule to the study with which the information deals, geography, history, or what not. In no sense can it be regarded as a sub

stitute for the reading of imaginative literature.

It is in this respect that reading differs from other school studies. When reading deals with literature, it has for its aim aesthetic beauty,-beauty of thought, beauty of imagery, and beauty of language. Other school studies deal primarily with information, are fact-giving, and seek utilitarian ends. Moreover, they are wanting in imaginative qualities. Except music and art, reading is the one study which by its appeal to the sense of beauty, to the imagination, and to the emotional life of children, refines and spiritualizes their natures. It is an influence that tends strongly to counteract the hardening effect of fact-giving, drill studies. To throw away this finest of opportunities to realize these ends is to rob children of their heritage and to consign the school to the one end of gaining facts

information. Make it certain that in your school the regular reading lesson is devoted to the study of literature."

What is it to be a gentleman? Is it to have lofty aims, to lead a pure life, to keep your honor virgin; to have the esteem of your fellow-citizens, and the love of your fireside; to bear good for tune meekly; to suffer evil with constancy; and through evil or good to maintain truth always? Show me the

happy man whose life exhibits these qualities, and him we will salute as gentleman, whatever his rank may be; show me the prince who possesses them, and he may be sure of our love and loyalty.-Thackeray, "The Four Georges."

F

In the study of a reading circle book the attitude of the teacher is all-important. Naturally, with a new book in hand, a number of questions will arise in the mind of the teacher. Who is the author and with what authority does he speak? What purpose has he in view? Has his subject special interest and importance at this time? What benefit may one as a teacher reasonably expect to derive from a study of the book? The answer to these questions will largely determine whether the teacher approaches the book in a more or less perfunctory, even though conscientious, manner as "all in the day's work," or whether he welcomes it as the doorway to a larger and truer vision.

The author, Roland Green Usher, is Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis. After graduating from Harvard in 1901, he studied history one year there and two years abroad and received his doctor's degree from Harvard in 1905. He then taught history in Harvard until 1912 when he took his present position. He is the author of two recent widelyread books, "Pan-Germanism" and

"Pan-Americanism," as well as of numerous articles relating to the European war.

* *

In the preface to "The Rise of the American People" the author states it as his "aim to give the reader a lucid account of results and not of processes; to explain briefly the meaning of the facts of national development, rather than to chronicle the mere sequence of events *." Virtually the same purpose is expressed in the secondary title of the book as "A Philosophical Interpretation of American History." Evidently the author is in complete accord with the marked tendency of historians at present to stress the meaning of facts, rather than the facts themselves. "The barren learning of names and dates has long since been supplanted by a study of sequences among events. The technical details of wars and political administrations have given way to a study of wide economic and social movements in which battles and laws are merely overt results reinforcing the current of change." Facts have little intrinsic value; it is only when they are set in relation, when one sees in what direction they point, that they are important.

1 Henry Suzzalo, Introduction to Hartwell's The Teaching of History.

In view of the undoubted consequences which the present European struggle will have for America the timeliness of the subject is apparent. The opening sentence of the author's "Pan-Americanism" makes clear his thought in this connection. "The United States is facing a cricis without parallel in its history since the signature of the Declaration of Independence." Every great war leaves in its train problems to perplex later generations. We can not expect this greatest of all wars to leave us undisturbed.

The question of most vital import to the teacher remains to be considered. Its answer is implied in the foregoing paragraph. Dewey defines education as "the reconstruction of experience." The function of education generally and of history specifically is to throw light upon and to aid in the solution of present problems. Certainly the times demand a reconstruction of historical knowledge. Moreover, such reconstruction is essential for teachers if they are to preserve freshness and vitality in their teaching. The thinking of yesterday will not suffice for today. No matter how thorough our preparation may be, we can not master our subjects once for all. If our teaching is to be effective, it must not be parrot-like; it must be brimful of present thought and feeling. The surest way to acquire a new interest in histroy, or to restore a fading one, is to enter upon the study of this book with wholehearted zeal, keeping in mind that what one gets out of any subject depends primarily upon what he puts into it. The book is a door of opportunity; let us open it and go in.

1. The Meaning of American History. True to his purpose to "give perspective as well as information," the author launches his narrative by identifying the history of the United States as "the story of the last and geographically longest stage in this westward progress of the Aryan race." For Western Europe American has been the fabled El Dorado, embodying "the racial vision of an abode of the Blessed in the West."

The author sees in the achievement of nationality the central meaning of American history. "The history of the United States is in the truest sense the story of the assemblage of the crude materials for a great people and of the development in them of a national consciousness. * A na

been ignorant of actual conditions, had they "known precisely what they would find here," had they "dreamt of what they would suffer here," they would not have come at all.

In the chief educational value of history is the practical one of helping in the solution of present problems, the author would seem justified in dismissing the topic with but brief mention. It is not a fair inference to suggest that the teacher might wisely exercise a similar discrimination? Time might thus be gained for much-needed instruction and training in citizenship. It is a well-known pedagogic law that there can be no proper impression without provision for expression. To a large extent the right kind of work in civics is the natural expressional side of that part of history which really functions in the life of the pupil.

3. The English Genesis of the United States.

"Of the many events that happened on this continent only those are a part of the history of the United States which vitally influenced the fortunes of the people ***. The genesis of the United States consists, then, of those things which made it possible for Englishmen to come to America; of those things which made them willing or anxious to come; and of those things which made it possible for them to stay." The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which gave England control of the sea, made it possible for English settlers to come. Economic conditions which created both wealthy and unemployed men, together with the effects of the Renaissance and Reformation, made them want to come. Maize as food and the presence of certain exchangeable commodities made. it possible for them to stay.

4. The Economic Growth of the

Colonies.

Of the three causes which brought about the independence of the colonies, the author asserts that this was the fundamental one. "The most important fact about the growth of the thirteen colonies is its extent. Here, in fact, lies the fundamental cause of the Revolution: a century of growth had made the colonies strong enough and wealthy enough to stand alone." Second in importance only to the extent of this growth was its nature as a vital transformation. The more venturesome came to the colonies, leaving the more conservative at home. Thus, by a century and a half of emigration was created in Americans "a spirit, a temper of different metal." Then, too, with the accumulation of wealth great creditor and debtor classes arose whose "existence is one of the cardinal facts needed for a comprehension of the Revolution; for that war was fought quite as much between two parties in America as bethe tween England and colonies

5. The Origin of American Democracy.

This chapter deals with the second main cause which brought about the independence of the colonies. American democracy gradually grew out of the exigencies of the situation. "The conditions were right for democracy * ," compelling them "to act on their own initiative. The conditions of the new world fairly thrust the scepter into their hands." From adaptation to climatic conditions, danger from the Indians, and infertile soil arose our present town or township type of government; from similar adaptation to plantation life arose the

county type.

The one tended ultimately to the belief in the efficacy of a strongly centralized government; the other pointed no less definitely toward individual initiative.

Two facts chiefly characterize the democracy which grew up. First, "the uniformly primitive conditions had everywhere developed institutions in an essentially similar manner." In the second place, the political development of the colonies "had steadfastly car

ried them in another direction from that which English constitutional development had taken. * Between such divergent ideas a breach was inevitable * * * The constitutional development, which gave the colonists the political experience indispensable for independence, also resulted in the divergent constitutional ideas which caused the breach with the mother-country. In a double sense, American democracy made the Revolution possible."

At the close of the introduction of this book, in the striking comment of the president of the Iowa State Teachers' College, we read the following: "To the young teacher this message will be the way of life; to the worried, tired teacher these sentiments will point a way of obtaining rest and relief; while to the enthusiastic, experienced teacher these words will be a constant reminder to keep near to the children and depend more upon the daily practice than upon sublime theory."

Let all teachers in the State of Indiana be thankful for an opportunity to read and study this book, which, in the opinion of President Seerley, promises the help, sympathy and encouragement that all teachers must have sooner or later if they hope to succeed in giving to the child what rightfully belongs to him.

Surely, an author who realizes that

the teacher is "the life of the school" and that the teacher "must perform the functions of organized, instructor, trainer, ruler and manager"-will not misdirect us nor will he encourage us to attempt to experiment on children. to their own detriment.

Recently a noted lecturer was heard to say, "If I could go back twenty years to my own school days and exchange a good teacher for a poor one I would gladly give one thousand dollars in cold cash." As we endeavor to be the good teachers let us lay aside our prejudices, our whims and fancies, and make an honest effort to get some genuine help from the study of this book.

Scholarship as a Factor in Success.

The teacher who realizes the responsibility of his work can not overlook the importance of scholarship. The teacher who makes thorough preparation will not attempt to teach what he does not know nor will he be embarrassed by constantly making mistakes in the subjects he teaches. The successful teacher realizes that he