Seed and Soil

At many meetings of teachers called for the purpose of considering the teaching of English, much attention is given to the subject of literature. The interest of speakers and of those who take part in the discussions centers in the question: "What literary work shall we select for this or that age or grade?" One tells us that we should devote a large measure of time, even in the elementary schools, to the study of Shakespeare, of Hamlet and Macbeth, and to the study of the Greek classics; another, that we would better set aside Shakespeare in favor of Longfellow, Bryant, and Whittier; again, one advises us to discard Longfellow, Bryant, and Whittier, assuring us that there is little in those authors of value or interest to the child; that the time devoted to their works would be used more advantageously in the reading and study of stories depicting noble deeds and inculcating the belief that, in the long or the short, virtue is rewarded. Is the teacher who presents Sir Launfal to his eighth-grade class making an unwise selection? Or is his a most happy choice? Shall we eliminate the Sir Roger de Coverley Papers and Burke on Conciliation from the high-school curriculum, or shall we continue the teaching of them, content in the feeling of fruitful effort? The dictum of this speaker contrasts sharply with the dictums heard at other conferences. The enthusiastic teacher, passing through his Tennyson, or Dickens, or Bret Harte age, and seeing freedom for himself in the dignified, never-ending " Battle of the Literates " renewed, fought out along different lines, and quite settled at every meeting may elect to present to his class his beloved author who may not have appeared on the battlefields. A fortunate class! A teacher so inspired furnishes an open sesame to the heart, to the spirit of the master the