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heart. I set as a subject for a match the plurals of the substantives and the past participles of the verbs in the poem. Or the boys had to make up for themselves and number on paper a set of short sentences in which only words which occurred in the poem were used. In this last rase the questioner handed in to the master his paper with both the English and the German on it, and the master gave the other side the English, of which they had to write the German. The details of such matches may of course be varied to any extent so long as the subject set is quite definite. The scoring will be found best at the lower end, so that a match stimulates those who need stimulus. A. What did you call "scratch pairs ?" E. Oh, that was a device for getting up a little harmless excitement. Knowing the capacities of my boys, I arranged them in pairs, the best boy and the worst forming one pair, the next best and next worst the second pair, &c., &c. I then asked a series of questions to which all had to write short answers. I then looked over the answers and marked them. Finally the marks of each pair were added together, and I announced the order in which the pairs came in." It was really "anybody's race" for neither I nor anyone could predict the result. If the number of boys was an odd number the boy in the middle fought for his own hand and had his marks doubled. Perhaps on the whole he had the best chance.

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Competition.-A. There were then some forms of emulation which you did not set your face against? E. There were many, but I preferred emulation which stimulated the idle rather than the industrious. Most "prizes" act only on those who would be better without them. A. Do you see no danger in encouraging rivalry between different bodies? The strife between parties has often been more virulent than the strife between individuals. E. Yes, I know well that in exciting party-feeling one is playing with edged tools ; and besides this, a boy who for any cause is thought a disgrace to his side, is very likely to be bullied by it Let me tell you of one form of stimulus which seemed to work well and was free from most of the objections you are thinking of. When I had a small school of my ow. in which there were only young boys, I put up in the school-room a list of the boys' names in alphabetical order with blank spaces after the names. I looked over the boys' written work very carefully, and whenever I came across any written exercise evidently done with great painstaking and for that boy with more than ordinary success, I marked it with a G, and I put up the G in one of the spaces after that boy'ı Dame in the list hung up in the school-room. When the school

collectively had obtained a fixed number of G's we had an extra halfholiday. The announcement of a G was therefore always hailed with delight. A. I see one thing in favour of that device. You might by a G give encouragement to a boy when he has just begun to try. This is often a turning-point in a boy's life; and a master's early recognition of effort may do much to strengthen into a habit what might, without the recognition, have proved nothing but a passing whim. At the very least, all such devices have one good effect; they break the monotony of school-work; and monotony is much more wearing to the young than it is to their elders. Can you tell me of others who have used such plans? E. A friend of mine who has a genius for inventing school plans of all kinds and marvellous energy in working them, has a boarding-house in connexion with a large school. The marks of every boy in the school are given out for each week. My friend gives a supper at the end of the quarter if the average marks of his house come up to a certain standard. He puts up each week a list of "Furtherers," i.e., of the boys who have surpassed the average, and of "Hinderers,” i.e., of boys who have fallen below it. A. No doubt this is an effective spur, but I should.fear it would in practice deliver the hindermost to Satan. The boy whom nature has made a "hinderer " is likely to have by no means a good time in that house. Do you know if such devices as you have mentioned are common in schools? E. I really can't say. I have seen in American school papers accounts of class matches. In the New England Journal of Education (22nd November, 1888) Mr. A. E. Winship gave an account of some inter-class matches at Milwaukee. There is a match between three classes, say in penmanship. If there are seventy boys in the three classes together, each boy draws a number from one to seventy, and puts not his name but his number on his paper. The same lesson is set for all. The papers are collected, divided into three equal heaps, and looked over and marked by three masters. Finally the average of each class is taken. In mental arithmetic each class chooses its own champions. This would be fun, but would do nothing for the lower end of the class. The principal of McDonough School No. 12, New Orleans, Mr. H. E. Chambers, gives an account in the New York School Journal (8th December, 1888), how he organised sixteen boys into teams of four, putting the best and worst together as I did in making up scratch pairs. The match between these teams was to see which could get the best record for the month. As Mr. Chambers tells us the sharper boys managed with more success than the master to let

light into the dull intellects of boys in the same team with them. This union of interests between the "strong" and the "weak" as the French call them, is a very good feature in combats of sides.

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The Jesuits.-A. What is it that interests you so much in the Jesuits? E. Two things. First, the Jesuit shows the effects of a definitely planned and rigidly carried out system of education; ad next, in such a society you find a continuity of effort which is and must be wanting in the life of an individual. If ever we feel that we are greater than we know " it is when we can think of ourselves as parts of a society, a society which existed long before us, and will last after us. For instance, it is a great thing to be connected with an historical school such as Harrow. We then realise, as the school's poet, Mr. E. E. Bowen, has said, that we are no mere sons of yesterday," and thinking of the connection between the mighty dead and the old school we join heartily in the chorus of the school song :

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"Their glory thus shall circle us

"Till time be done."

A. I verily believe you expect your share in this "glory" for having invented the Harrow "Blue Book," which is likely to outlive Educational Reformers; but if the boys ever thought of the inventor (which they don't) they would naturally suppose that he was some contemporary of Cadmus or Deucalion. Sic transit! But what has this to do with the Jesuits? E. Only this, that by corporate life you secure a continuity of effort. There is to me something very attractive in the idea of a teaching society. How such a society might capitalise its discoveries! The Roman Church has shown a genius for such societies, witness the Jesuits and the Christian Brothers. The experience of centuries must have taught them much that we could learn of them. A. The Jesuits seem to me to be without the spirit of investigators and discoverers. The rules of their Society do not permit of their learning anything or forgetting anything. Ignatius Loyola was a wonderful man, but he must have been superhuman if he could legislate for all time. By the way, I see you say the first edition of the Ratio was published in 1585. What is your authority? E. I took the date from the copy in the British Museum. According to a voluine published by Rivingtons in 1838 (Constitutiones Societatis Jesu) the Constitutions were first printed in 1558, but were not divulged till "the celebrated suit of the MM. Lionci and Father La Valette" in 1761.

Alexander's Doctrinale (p. 80).-A. I thought you made it a rule to give only what was useful. What can be the use of the quotations

which your old Appendix contained "from a celebrated grammar written by a Franciscan of Brittany about the middle of the 13th century "? E. Perhaps I had an attack of antiquarianism; but I rather think the quotations were given in order to shew our progress since those days. The Teachers' art of making easy things difficult is well exemplified in Alexander's rules for the first declension. But life is short, and folly is best forgotten.

Lily's Grammar (p. 80). A. Would not your last remark rule out what you told us about Lily's Grammar? E. As regards Lily's assertion, "Genders of nouns be 7," it certainly would. Surely nobody

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but a writer of school-books would ever have thought of making a "gender" out of "hic, hæc, hoc, felix"! But the absurdity did not originate with Lily. He was all for simplification, and though there were some changes in the Eton Latin Grammar which succeeded the "Short introduction of Grammar " known as Lily's Grammar, these changes were, some of them at least, by no means improvements. The old book put a before all ablatives and taught that "by a kingdom was a regno. If this was not any better than teaching that domino by itself was "by a Lord," it was at least no worse. The optative of the old book ("Utinam sim I pray God I be; Utinam Essem would God I were, &c.") and the subjunctive (" Cum Sim When I am, &c.,") were better than the oracular statement which perplexed my youth, "The subjunctive mood is declined like the potential." How often I said those words, and being of an inquiring mind wondered what on earth "the subjunctive mood" was !

Colet. E. The passage I refer to on page 80 from Colet is in a little book in the B. M. It is "Joannis Coleti theologi, olim Decani Divi Pauli, editio, una cum quibusdam G. Lilii Grammatices Rudimentis, &c. Antuerpiæ 1535. After the accidence of the eight parts of speech, he says:-“Of these eight parts of speech in order well construed, be made reasons and sentences, and long orations. But how and in what manner, and with what constructions of words, and all the varieties, and diversities, and changes in Latin speech (which be innumerable), if any man will know, and by that knowledge attain to understand Latin books, and to speak and to write clean Latin, let him, above all, busily learn and read good Latin authors of chosen poets and orators, and note wisely how they wrote and spake; and study always to follow them, desiring none other rules but their examples. For in the beginning men spake not Latin because such rules were made, but, contrariwise, because men spake such Latin, upon that followed the rules, and were made.

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That is to say, Latin speech was before the rules, and not the rules before the Latin speech. Wherefore, well-beloved masters and teachers of grammar, after the parts of speech sufficiently known in our schools, read and expound plainly unto your scholars good authors, and show to :hem [in] every word, and in every sentence, what they shall note and observe, warning them busily to follow and do like both in writing and in speaking; and be to them your own self also speaking with them the pure Latin very present, and leave the rules; for reading of good books, diligent information of learned masters, studious advertence and taking heed of learners, hearing eloquent men speak, and finally, busy imitation with tongue and pen, more availeth shortly to get the true eloquent speech, than all the traditions, rules, and precepts of masters." This passage is, I find, well known. It is given in Knights' Life of Colet and is referred to by Mr. Seebohm. Mr. J. H. Lupton, Colet's latest biographer, has kindly corrected the date for me : it is indistinct in the Museum copy.

Mulcaster for English (p. 97). A. Except in Clarke's edition, your extracts from Mulcaster's Elementarie have been omitted by your American reprinters. E. So I see. I should have thought the Americans would have been much interested by this early praise of our common language. The passage is certainly a very remarkable one. and Professor Masson has thought it worth quoting in his Life of Milton. The Elementarie is a scarce book; so I will not follow my reprinters in leaving out this passage :-" Is it not a marvellous bondage to become servants to one tongue, for learning's sake, the most part of our time, with loss of most time, whereas we may have the very same treasure in our own tongue with the gain of most time? our own bearing the joyful title of our liberty and freedom, the Latin tongue remembering us of our thraldom and bondage? I love Rome, but London better; I favour Italy, but England more: I honour the Latin, but I worship the English. I honour foreign tongues, but wish my own to be partaker of their honour. Knowing them, I wish my own tongue to resemble their grace. I confess their furniture, and wish it were The diligent labour of learned countrymen did so enrich those tongues, and not the tongues themselves; though they proved very pliable, as our tongue will prove, I dare assure it, of knowledge, if our learned countrymen will put to their labour. And why not, I pray you, as well in English as either Latin or any tongue else? Will ye say it is needless? sure that will not hold. If loss of time, while ye be pilgrims to learning, by lingering about tongues be no argument of need; if lack of sound skill while the tongue distracteth sense more than half to itself

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