"Brook," and he will find a soul in it which geography never revealed.

After he has been studying trades and occupations of men preparatory to geography or history, let him read "The Village Blacksmith," and he will feel that the man is greater than his trade, and that the chief end of a blacksmith is not to hammer iron.

The very first requisite in teaching literature to children is to lead them to enjoy it. If the teacher fails in this, all else is worth little. It is essential that the teacher have a soul, that he himself have a spiritual nature which can come in touch with the soul of the poem and the poet; otherwise he cannot bring the poem and the poet in touch with his pupils.

The teacher must not be too exacting in the way of requiring pupils to study the meaning of words, to look up historic allusions, and to fill their minds with the rubbish of pedantic foot notes. Only so much must be demanded in these respects as will aid them in getting at the soul of the poem or story.

This radical departure from methods in teaching reading is watched very carefully by superintendents and teachers. A more complete revolution in education has never been attempted. It is evident that the pendulum is swinging to the opposite extreme, since the days when pupils imitated their teacher in tone, accent and emphasis, and termed the recitation reading. There has been a marked change for the better, occasioned largely by requiring the pupil to devote his attention to obtaining the thought of the author, by silent as well as by oral reading. The school-book publishers have followed the trend of educational advancement closely, by furnishing supplementary reading matter as well as by modifying the character of the regular school Readers.

The struggle now comes between those who advocate reading selections from the wide field of standard literature, and those who favor reading a similar number of articles, and only complete works. Whether the reading book of the future will be an improved edition of the best school books now in use, or whether it will consist entirely of eminent authors, is to be determined.

The critical test of experience alone can determine how far the school books in ordinary use can be discarded and supplied by works radically different.

Superintendents and school officers will watch results in reading more closely than ever before, and the merits and demerits of various systems of instruction will be under the closest scrutiny. The outcome will doubtless be better books and instruction in reading, the subject which is the fountain of all branches of learning, the key to the treasures of the past and to the wonders of the present.

A COLLEGE EDUCATION.

THE

The

HE Forum for June made an educational "hit" in securing from President C. F. Thwing of Western Reserve University the article upon the relation of a college education to success in life, It is a bit of expert work that is as creditable to the editor as to the author. study is exhaustive and thoughtful as well as on new lines. Presumably 100,000,000 persons have already finished the greater part of their life-work in America, and the publishers of Appleton's Encyclopedia of Biography have had a large force of experts looking for those who have done anything worthy the attention of their fellowmen. The search has been thorough not only through history, but among those now on the stage of action, and they have found 15,142 persons whose inheritance, personality, or deeds entitle them to a place in their gallery of Americans. Of these, 5,326, or more than one-third, are college men. conclusion which President Thwing draws is that one in forty of the college men of the country attain fame, while about one in ten thousand not thus favored fail to attain it, i. e., the college man starts with 250 times as good a chance as the man without it.

The

President Thwing goes farther in his researches. Of the scientists whom the Encyclopedia adjudges famous, 63 per cent. are college graduates, of "educators" 61, clergymen 58, lawyers 50, physicians 46, authors 37, statesmen 33, public men 18, business men 17, philanthropists 16, inventors II, artists 10, actors 7. President Thwing goes still farther in his deductions. Only five per cent. of the physicians of the country are college men, and yet of the physicians who are famous, 46 per cent. are college A very small percentage of the lawyers are graduates, and yet one-half of those who have any "recognition" are

men.

college men. Only a fractional part of one per cent. of the business men are graduates, and yet one-sixth of all the business men who have attained fame are college bred.

Again, of Harvard's 11,932 graduates, 883 are in the Encyclopedia of Biography; and of Yale's 10,586, 713 are there, practically the same proportion, so that of the leading educational institutions it is safe to say that about one graduate in every fifteen will be sufficiently famous to be recognized. The most satisfactory phase of Pres. Thwing's researches and conclusions is that he does not try to prove that the college man alone has a chance, or that no one will succeed without a college education, or that every college man is to win fame; but that any person, in any line of life, heightens all the chances of success when he prepares himself for the race by a college training. He admits that the man who wins without it has just as substantial fame, but that he has had to make a race with all the odds against him, a needless weight to be imposed in this day. The parent who does not insist upon and secure a college education for each of his children who has any inclination or taste therefor, sends them out into life's contest with a heavy track, wrong-shaped, and mischievously "vehicled." What the kite-shaped track and pneumatic tire have done for the race records, the best university training does for man or woman. It reduces the record for the same effort.-N. E. Journal of Education.

METHOD IN READING.

BY T. J. CHAPMAN, A. M.

N a recent lecture at Chautauqua Dr. Buckley remarked that it was possible to learn to read by the page instead of by the word or line, just as an experienced accountant can foot up long columns of figures at sight. He gave several instances of persons who had this skill in reading by the page, among them Dr. McClintock, and mentioned that he himself had acquired the power of reading in this manner. There can be no doubt of the fact. An illustrious instance of this kind is that of Lord Macaulay. "The secret of his immense acquirements," says his biographer, "lay in two invaluable gifts of nature-an unerring memory, and the

capacity for taking in at a glance the contents of a printed page. He read books faster than other people skimmed them, and skimmed them as fast as any one else would turn the leaves. And this speed was not in his case obtained at the expense of accuracy. Anything which had once appeared in type had in his eyes an authority which led him to look upon misquotation as a species of minor sacrilege."

This manner of reading would do very well in some cases. The daily newspaper might generally be read in this manner, or the average modern novel, most historical works, or where one reads a book only to acquaint himself with the views of a writer. But where one reads for the sake of the literature, this way of reading would not do. One could not so read Shakespeare, or Milton, or Hawthorne. Such works should be read slowly and deliberately, so as to let the beauty of the expression, the sweetness of the diction, fully pervade the mind; to allow the thought to linger over every line as a butterfly hovers over the flowers of the parterre.

Locke has finely illustrated this idea of rapid reading. "He that rides post through a country may be able, from the transient view, to tell in general how the parts lie, and may be able to give some loose description of here a mountain and there a plain, here a morass and there a river; woodland in one part and savannas in another. Such superficial ideas and observations as these he may collect in galloping over it; but the more useful observations of the soils, plants, animals, and inhabitants, with their several sorts and properties, must necessarily escape him; and it is seldom that men ever discover the rich mines without some digging."

Many persons think they are of necessity usefully employed if they are reading; whereas more precious time is squandered and lost in this way than in any other. It depends altogether upon the character of the reading matter, and the object one has in view in reading. The reading of a low grade of literature can be only harmful, in the same way as inferior company is harmful. thought of the reader is not likely to rise above the level of the book he is reading; and if there is nothing informing, nothing refining, nothing inspiring in the author, the reader will obtain but little advan

The

tage from his book. "The habit of reading wisely," says Frederick Harrison, "is one of the most difficult habits to acquire, needing strong resolution and infinite pains; and I hold the habit of reading for mere reading's sake, instead of for the sake of what we gain from reading, to be one of the worst, and commonest, and most unwholesome habits we have." The difference between rapid reading, "reading by the page," and deliberate and thoughtful reading, is all the difference between riding post-haste on a definite errand and going forth with the mere purpose of viewing the country, and taking in the beauties of hill and dale, and meadow and woodland. In reading one should propose to himself a distinct object, the acquirement of knowledge, simple pastime, or a purpose of true culture.

I

RAPID RECKONING.

BY BESSIE L. PUTNAM.

N practical work, either in school or in actual business life, there is probably no exercise in arithmetic more frequently performed than that of addition. To be able to add rapidly and at the same time accurately is of prime importance. While some are naturally endowed with ability in that direction, there are few things in which practice shows more marked results of improvement than daily exercises in "rapid reckoning."

When all are ready with slate and pencil, the teacher writes the sum upon the blackboard, naming each figure as she writes it. The children follow her work with their pencils. If any one fails to catch a certain figure as it is given, he asks for its repetition at the time, that he may be ready to add when the word is given and thus stand an equal chance with the rest. An example six or seven figures square will be large enough to begin with, and the size increased as they gain speed by the exercise. When the last figure is named the teacher gives the word "add" and all begin at the same

moment.

Interest and enthusiasm are increased if the teacher has a watch in hand ready to record the time taken by each one for the addition. The names may be permanently written at one end of the board; then as each finishes he raises his hand or speaks his name, and the teacher indicates the

number of seconds opposite, Each pupil should turn his slate over as soon as he gets a result, that no temptation be of fered the quicker ones to revise their work while the others are finishing. When all are through, each in turn reads his result, the teacher placing it upon the blackboard opposite his name. The problem is then added by all the pupils together, the teacher pointing to and naming the figures as they stand upon the blackboard. The result is compared with those given by the pupils individually, and the time noted of the first cor

rect answer.

It will not be long before there will be an appreciable diminution in the time; then a longer example may be given. The whole can be managed, and should be, in such a way that all will regard it a pastime; when it becomes laborious the best results are lost. With a little care not to overdo the matter, pupils will be as eager for it as for a game of ball, while the friendly rivalry will quicken their thoughts and devise numerous methods of abbreviating. Almost unconsciously they will fall into the habit of combining into some groups certain of the figures at the same time that they are adding others; or some of the older ones may be able to add two columns at the same time. various combinations will be thoroughly learned and used promptly by the pupils; and best of all, the practice is one which gives benefits that are life-long.-American Teacher.

HOW TO READ A BOOK.

"BY

The

OY whom is that book?" one friend asked another, referring to a volume which the first had laid down.

"I do not know. I never thought to look," was the reply.

The very first step in the proper perusal of a book is to ascertain what this negligent reader omitted to discover-the name of the author. Perusal, by-the-by, is a term appropriate only to certain kinds of reading. It carries in it a suggestion of haste, of rapid glancing at and skipping over pages which exact no studious attention. A book worth reading is usually worth more than this catch-and-go style of treatment.

If you would get from a book the best it has to give, you must be properly presented to it, or it to you. Its publisher's

A book is so entirely a personal production, so much a part of the man or woman who wrote it, that it at once enters into your confidence, and asks

admission to your friendship. The day when you made acquaintance with certain books was an event in your history. The buying of every good book ought to be an event in your family. You have brought into the household with the book a well-defined influence-vital, creative, formative, lasting.

Therefore, be sure you learn the author's name. To read a book with no thought of the author is akin to attending a reception and taking no notice of your hostess.

Ask yourself, again, "Why do I read this book?" If the answer be, for pleasure, then may you take your pleasure easefully, under the trees, on the veranda, with head on the pillow, in the arc of the swinging hammock. If for information, then you must address yourself, as with pick and spade, to serious business, and here a note-book and pencil, or a commonplace book for extracts will aid you in securing the book's contents in mind and memory.

If the chosen volume be biographical, it will be well to make a note of the period under review. Every strong human life embraces in its progress a multitude of other lives, so that the story of Lord Lawrence, of Sidney Smith, of Macaulay, of Motley, or of any great man, becomes a crowded picture gallery, where many figures appear and reappear. The fascination which the memoir possesses for all thoughtful minds inheres in this fact of its strong, ever-widening human interest.

Be respectful to the outside of the book you read. Don't leave it face downward on the grass, or open it so carelessly that you rack the binding and loosen the leaves. It is a piece of portable property, your own or that of your neighbor, and to wantonly injure or mar it, is to show yourself lacking in care of a possession intrusted to your handling.

In days to come, if you have read with careful thought and loving touches and genuine attention, you will find yourself remembering precisely how a certain book

HOW THE YOUNG ARE DECOYED.

HE

BY JOSEPH H. JAMES.

he wonder that some children from

good families turn out badly might become wonder that so many do well, did we but know the tempters which beset the pathway from youth to adult age. With the hope of helping some readers of the Sunday-School Times to shield their wards against destructive influences far more subtle and potent than they may suspect, attention is called especially to some of the tempters to indulgence in intoxicants.

Of course young associates are prominent among these. It would be harder than most people suppose to find a school in which there is not at least one whose home influences or acquired habits are bad, and who on this account is a dangerous companion for other youth. One such fellow, with a little of the smartness, self-assertion, and dash which boys so much admire, may easily make himself the leader of a set, initiating one after another into the mysteries of smoking, drinking, and other evil courses. Nor are such leaders in mischief found only in common schools," or among the classes of people supposed to be particularly depraved. The academy, the seminary of highest tone, and the first-class boarding-school, even that for young ladies, may have among its pupils those whose wrong training, or lack of training, has left them the slaves of habit, and made them fit representatives of Satan as decoys in paths of evil.

66

'Eleanor Kirk," some time since, gave to the Christian Union an account of the home of a cultured lady, moving in the highest social circles, and eminent as a speaker in behalf of temperance, whose son took the opportunity while his mother was thrilling an audience of ladies in her own parlors, to entertain some young associates in another part of the house. The reporter, by accident, entered the room where these young revelers were enjoying themselves with cards, tobacco, and wine. This lad has since become "a common drunkard." His mother could arouse others to hate intemperance, but

had failed to keep her own boy from falling into the snare, and he had not only fallen, but was a tempter. In too many instances wealth, social standing, and talent combine to give such neglected boys a cruel power to lead others astray; and no confidence in the manager of school can make us sure that there are not among its attendants such emissaries of mischief, doing their work successfully even although it is done without the knowledge of the school authorities.

The strange fact in regard to these cliques of young people is the abject slavery in which they hold those connected with them. A recent writer says of this condition of things: "There is a sort of inquisition in which a young man is punished by the intolerant spirit of his daily companions. And this intolerant spirit is crushing the life and spirit out of thousands of young men and boys." To forfeit the approval of Christian friends, teachers, or parents is nothing compared with meeting the ridicule of these associates. To lose caste among them would be to forfeit all that he really cares for, and few indeed are the boys or girls once in intimate relations with unworthy people of their own age who have moral courage to stand for the right in opposition to them.

We expect the men who devote themselves to the sale of intoxicants to be adepts in tempting people to drink, but feel secure against them so far as the better class of young people, and especially children, is concerned. Yet a man of this trade was seen to give to a tiny boy a glass of carefully prepared appetizing drink, containing just the flavor of something alcoholic. He explained his act by saying that the child was the son of a rich man living near by, and such a drink would lead to subsequent visits to his establishment.

The principal of a school in a Western city noticed, as he approached a group of his pupils, that they concealed something which they had been examining. He insisted on seeing the secreted articles, and found them to be cards arranged to record, by means of punching out figures, the number of drinks bought at a certain saloon, so that its proprietor could decide to which of these boy patrons belonged the premiums offered to buyers of drinks. The prize for the largest number was a pistol. The second prize, the "Life" of the notorious villain "Jesse James."

With access to schools and to groups of boys, either directly or through decoys, these men constantly seek to get hold of those who will be future patrons. The higher the social position of the youth, the greater the efforts to lure him into the path of the destroyer.

A class of tempters less likely to be suspected than either of these are recognized leaders in social life, and even in church life, who yet are willing to lend themselves to this ruinous work. The principal of a school in New England, noticing something strange in the conduct of boys whom he had regarded as among his best pupils, found that they were slightly intoxicated. Upon careful investigation it appeared that the training of these boys and others, for a public exhibition, had been committed to prominent man, supposed to be in every way qualified, but who, after they had rehearsed, had taken them to his store, and supplied them with wine. Pleased with its taste and effects, they had obtained more, and were fast forming the drink habit. To their parents, among the best citizens in the place, the teacher's report was the first intimation that these boys were not all that could be desired.

Such influences are at work in every community. Of course, their power for mischief will depend very largely upon those to whom they appeal. It is natural for us to conclude that the children we love will not be affected by them. it wise?-Sunday-School Times.

But is

PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS.

THE

HE Parliament of Religions, now in progress, could not have been held until now. Many have been the seasons of religious awakening that the world has felt, but all of them-until this-have been of denominational religion, Mohammedan, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, or what not. It is during this century, during the last half of it, almost during the last decade of it, that it has become possible to hold a conference and parliament of all religions. The world was not ripe for it so recently as the time of the Centennial Exposition. The place of holding it is pre-eminently well chosen; always a cosmopolitan city, always a municipality in which Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Armenian, Greek and Hindoo held equal rights before the law,