A boy's nature prompts him to make a noise, and when Wwe aceidentally order him to be silent and then Provide only mediocre entertainment ju the class-room we do little but set the greater part of his brain free to devise mischief for his four limbs, How much better was the Chinese method with its frank acceptance the boy's instinct! The schoo! work was organized on the basis of competitive clamour; and as the whole muscular ard nervous being of the scholar was summed up in the production of voice, it is plain that he had no brain nor muscle available for other purposes. "The tea: her remained. at peace. Iis function resembled that of a conductor before a choir singing the "Hallelujah Chorus"—wherever "possible he would have to localise and. correct 2 false word or tone. At least he was always sensible of any unwonted local silence, and the man in the street first became aware of some boy's inattention to duty by hearing and a sudden soaring treble which gained a momentary mastery over the tive babel of the school.
The theme of this untiring!
ration was 20 years ago the 'Three Letter Classic—a moral poem lines of three monosyllables each. From this the; pupil learned his vocabulary and literary style, his Jetters and penmanship, ani' his ethical code; indeed it was the source of all his education, apart from the ty to manage an abacus whi took the place of our mattfématical sciences. The method of instruction in the Three Letter Classic was the reverse of ours.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.