LITERARY NOTICES. 



127 



were not all made essentially on the 

 same pattern. What the times seem to 

 call for is some association of men and 

 women bent on nothing else than the 

 introduction, primarily into our educa- 

 tional systems, but as much as possible 

 into social life generally, of a supreme 

 regard for that which is real. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Practical Hints for the Teachers op Pub- 

 lic Schools. By George Howland. In- 

 ternational Education Series, Vol. XIII. 

 New York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 198. 

 Price, $1.50. 



This volume deals with the practice 

 rather than with the theory of education. It 

 tells what to do, and does not concern itself 

 with any comprehensive scheme of educa- 

 tional philosophy. The author is superin- 

 tendent of the public schools of Chicago, 

 and the several chapters of this volume are 

 based upon papers read before the teachers 

 of that city and vicinity. The author has 

 not aimed to produce an exhaustive and 

 systematic treatise, but has confined his at- 

 tention to the following ten topics : Moral 

 training in city schools, the character of 

 the teacher, the place of memory in school 

 instruction, elements of growth in school- 

 life, the scholarship aimed at in the school, 

 the teacher in the school-room, how the 

 school develops character, the class recita- 

 tion, the school principal, and the work of 

 the superintendent. The pages of the book 

 are dominated by the personality of the au- 

 thor, and the things and practices recom- 

 mended are such as his experience tells him 

 are good. In regard to moral training, the 

 subject that he treats first, he has no faith 

 in text-books or special instruction ; he would 

 trust entirely to " the quiet suggestion, the 

 fitly chosen word, the interested inquiry, the 

 look, the unfeigned sympathy, the favored 

 opportunity, the firm but calm decision of 

 the loved and loving teacher." In other 

 subjects, however, he would depend al- 

 together upon books. The sesame to all 

 progress, he says, is found inscribed on the 

 printed page. In the six years before the 

 child comes to school he has had a training 

 without books which, as Mr. Howland affirms, 

 has been very effective. " He has early 



learned that fire will burn, that cold will 

 freeze, and knows, beyond the power of 

 Webster or Worcester to tell him, the mean- 

 ing of burn and freeze ; and by many a 

 bump has the force of attraction been im- 

 pressed upon him." He has learned a lan- 

 guage, and has acquired much other knowl- 

 edge. By similar means the Indian acquires 

 a wonderful training of his senses, his hands, 

 and his mental powers. " He learns to do," 

 says Mr. Howland, " in the only true way, 

 by the doing." In acquiring a knowledge 

 of language the author recommends this 

 same process. Correct use of words and 

 a nice appreciation of their meanings and 

 force are to be secured, he says, " not from 

 dictionary, but from use alone." That the 

 teacher should learn by this method, how- 

 ever, he deems inadmissible. In his chap- 

 ter on " The School Principal " he says : 

 " We learn to do by doing, is one of those 

 aphoristic half-truths well suited to catch 

 the ear and delude the mind of the un- 

 thinking. We may acquire a mechanical 

 facility by repeated doings of what we al- 

 ready know how to do, but we learn to do 

 by learning how other people do, and by the 

 aid of this knowledge striving to do some- 

 thing better." The volume is especially 

 marked by an energetic character and a 

 confident tone which assure the reader of 

 the real interest of the author in the work 

 of the teacher. 



First Lessons in Political Economy. By 

 Francis A. Walker. New York : Henry 

 Holt & Co. Pp. 323. Price, $1.25. 



The special purpose of this book is to 

 bring political economy within the grasp of 

 youth from fifteen to seventeen years of age. 

 The author has not made it childish by re- 

 stricting himself to " words of two sylla- 

 bles," or by any similar device. The char- 

 acter which he has aimed to give the volume 

 in order to adapt it to young pupils consists 

 in " a clear arrangement of topics ; a simple, 

 direct, and forcible presentation of the ques- 

 tions successively raised ; the avoidance, as 

 far as possible, of certain metaphysical dis- 

 tinctions which the author has found very 

 perplexing to students of even a greater age ; 

 a frequent repetition of cardinal doctrines ; 

 and, especially, a liberal use of concrete 

 illustrations, drawn from facts of common 



