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from the Latin tapes, a carpet through the French tapisserie.

-ENGLISH is the commercial language. More letters are written in English than in all other languages put together. The fact that three-fourths of all the letters that go through the mails of the world are in English, seems more wonderful when it is stated that only about one-fourth of the world speaks our language.

The march of intelligence headed by the English-speaking races, the wonderful decrease of illiteracy among them, and the demands of commerce, with these same races in its van, have brought this result.

Commerce has extended the post-office system to all parts of the globe, into every nook and corner of the civilized world, and its language has been evolved from the English tongue. All races that enter into commerce of necessity learn more or less of the English language, and to some considerable extent carry on their business correspondence in English.” Our Times. The teachers are determining the character of the English that plays, and will more and more play an important part in the civilized world.

REMINDERS.

—WHEN standing in their lines or at their rings children ought to stand on both feet.

The height of the seat and of the desk should be in proportion to the height of the child.

A seemingly stupid child is sometimes wakened up as if by magic by being brought to the front row of a class room. He was either short-sighted or deaf.

Wanting a drink of water during school hours is sometimes a bad habit.

A tall girl should not be seated between two short girls. The contrast makes her feel awkward.

-THE education of the child is not complete until he can recognize a book worth reading and has formed the habit of reading good books. Indeed, no child should leave school until he has mastered these two most important points.

-THERE has been much speculation as to the basis of selection of the digits, one to nine, which the Arabs have passed on to us and other modern races, along with many

other mathematical favors. "The latest theory," says the Leisure Hour, "about the origin of the form of Arabic numerals is that propounded by a learned Italian, in the pages of the Cattolico Militante.' This gentleman, whose name is Di Cornegliano, states that as the Arabs were splendid mathematicians, it is probable that their numerals assumed their well-known shape and order out of consideration of the number of angles in each." The angles to which reference has been made may be more or less easily reckoned by drawing the numerals with straight lines instead of with curved lines.

-WHAT men want is not talent, it is purpose; in other words, not the power to achieve, but the will to labour. -Bulwer-Lytton.

-LET not the teacher feel restive because of the many restraints thrown around him in the form of text-book committees, boards of examiners, the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction, etc., etc. In his little realm the school-room (often but a very narrow, dingy kingdom it is) he reigns supreme. It is necessary that his power be limited by outside restraints, or he would in a great majority of cases become a veritable tyrant. Colton says Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough or good enough to be trusted with unlimited power; for whatever qualifications he may have evinced to entitle him to the possession of so dangerous a privilege, yet, when possessed, others can no longer answer for him, because he can no longer answer for himself." The government under which we live, though a monarchy, is a limited monarchy, and to all intents and purposes of government is a democracy-a democracy of the best kind. So should it be in the school-room. The teacher is the monarch. He should be restricted as to power.

-DEAN Alford, in concluding his little book "The Queen's English," gives in a nutshell some valuable suggestions with regard to the use of English: "Be simple, be unaffected, be honest in your speaking and writing. Never use a long word when a short one will do. Call a spade a spade, not a well-known instrument of manual husbandry; let home be home, not a residence; a place a place, not a locality; and so of the rest. Where a short one will do, you

will always lose by using a long one. You lose in clearness; you lose in honest expression of your meaning; and in estimation of all men who are qualified to judge; you lose in reputation for ability. The only true way to shine. is to be modest and unassuming. Falsehood may be a very thick crust, but, in the course of time, truth will find a place to break through. Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of us; but simplicity and straightforwardness Write much as you would speak; speak as you think. If with your inferiors, speak no coarser than usual; if with your superiors, no finer. Be what you say; and, within the rules of prudence, say what you are."

are.

Our attention is drawn by the Christian Guardian to an editorial in "The Saturday Evening Post," from which we gather that kindergarten methods are being applied to the solution of the much vexed question, of what is to be done for the uplifting of the poor youths of the slums of New York. A farm has been purchased in Ulster County to which some of the worst young boys of the slums have been transferred. Here they are to work out their salvation, by development through their own activity, under the kindly influences of fresh air, sunshine, wholesome food and moral examples. Though these boys are some of the most incorrigible of the city waifs, they are not going as' culprits or semi-prisoners, but as independent colonists who are "to make their own laws and execute them, to earn their own livings-to run, in brief, a miniature gov. ernment of their own." "It was a happy thought," says the Post, that led to the experiment of the industrial colony. It took a few worst of these waifs and planted them where some of the benignities of God's universe could flow into them, not only through their senses but through their pores. It was not supposed for a moment that these elemental conditions would supersede the necessity for moral tuition. It was only assuined that they would make such moral tuition easier and more comprehensible."

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May success attend these noble efforts on behalf of the moral kindergartners. Heredity is a strong factor in the life of the child. May environment and education together prove stronger still!

MILTON, when discussing the pronunciation of the classics by Englishmen, said, "We, Englishmen, being far northerly, do not open our mouths wide enough in the cold

air to grace a southern town. So that to smatter Latin with an English mouth is as ill a hearing as low French. Perhaps it is on the same principle that Canadians find it difficult to pronounce the sound of a intermediate between the Italian, a in father and the short a in fat. The sound is found in such words as after, ant, mass, class, fast, last, pass. In general terms it is the a before f, s and n. Ayres, in his Orthoëpist, says: "The sound of a, called the intermediate, is found chiefly in monosyllables and dissyllables. At the beginning of this century these words were generally pronounced with the full Italian a, which, by the exquisites, was not infrequently exaggerated. This Walker undertook to change, and to that end marked the a of words of this class like the a in mân, fât, ât, etc. The innovation, however, met with only partial success. Webster and Worcester both opposed it. Now there is a general disposition to unite in some intermediate sound between the broad a in father, which is rarely, and the short a in at, which is frequently heard in this country. Some of the words in which a now receives this intermediate sonnd are: "advantage, after, aghast, alas, amass, alabaster, Alexander, answer, ant, asp, ass, bask, basket, blanch, blast, branch, brass, cask, casket, cast, castle, chaff, chance, chant, clasp, class, contrast, craft, dance, draft, draught, enchant, enhance, example, fast, flask, gasp, gantlet, ghastly, glance, glass, graft, grant, grasp, grass, hasp, lance, lass, last, mask, mass, mast, mastiff, nasty, pant, pass, past, pastor, pasture, plaster, prance, quaff, raft, rafter, rasp, sample, shaft, slander, slant, staff, task, trance, vast, waft." Reading these words aloud would be an excellent exercise in pronunciation.

EMPIRE DAY.

ON the twenty-third of next May, "Empire Day" is to be celebrated by a large number of the children of the Dominion. It is hoped that this day will be generally observed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From the Atlantic, through the "Journal of Education," the official organ of the Council of Public Instruction for Novacotia, we learn: "The twenty-third of May has been set apart as "Empire Day' in the schools. It is to be specially devoted to the cultivation of feelings of loyalty and attachment to our country and to the institutions under which we live. It is

expected that a British flag shall float over every schoolhouse in the land, that British or Canadian history lessons in the forenoon, and an interesting programme of patriotic songs, recitations and speeches from local celebrities in the afternoon shall inspire the pupils with deeper love for home and country and humanity."

Montreal is to have a public celebration in the Arena rink on the evening of May the twenty-second; (the rink is not available on the twenty-third). This is to take the form of

a concert, given by a choir of one thousand school children. It is hoped that the Governor-General will be present. An interesting item of the programme is to be a patriotic address by the Honourable George E. Foster. The programme, subject to change, is given below. Many helpful suggestions may be obtained from this and the foregoing.

PROGRAMME.

Old English Air..." Here's a health unto Her Majesty."
School Song........" Let but the rash intruder dare."
Canadian Song..

School Song

Duet....

....

"Acres of your own.'

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Stand Canadians" (with Flag Salute.) "All's Well."

English Air..... "Thou art gone from my gaze.'

Patriotic Chorus..." The Crosses Three."

(The Story of the Union Jack.)

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Patriotic Address by the Hon. G. E. Foster, M.P.

National Air........" Rule Britannia."

Nautical Song......" The Bay of Biscay."

Echo Chorus. "Forest Echos.'

Canadian Song....." The Land of the Maple."

Action Song..... "The Chinaman."

God Save the Queen.

In the course of the next few weeks we shall probably hear of many ways of giving expression to our loyalty towards our country.

The morning exercises might be the ordinary subjects of the school course, but being specially designed to develop the spirit of true patriotism. For instance, the geography lesson might be a run around the empire on Mercator's projection, or, better still, on maps of the two hemispheres, hung side by side, with special reference to the Dominion of Canada, her forests, lakes, rivers, minerals, wheat fields, industries, etc. The time for history could be very well

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