8 BARKER : EDUCATIONAL FAILURE. 



"compendium of shop practice," a commercial arithmetic 

 and the files of the daily newspapers. How, then, are we to 

 make occasion for the informal and not too much systematized 

 use of the results of cultural study ? Again, I grant that we 

 must feel our way, but not blindly. Anyone who has 

 studied a Shakespearean play in order to pass an approaching 

 examination will remember how little he gained by his expe- 

 rience ; anyone who has had the good fortune to watch, and 

 in turn to take part in a series of well managed rehearsals — 

 even though without costumes or scenes — can tell how much 

 remains, especially if these rehearsals were held for study 

 and pleasure alone, and were not the feverish preparation for 

 a public presentation. Here the study of Julius Ccesar would 

 lead easily, almost necessarily, into discussions of Roman his- 

 tory, customs and costume, Plutarch's " Lives," and as much 

 farther as convenient. It would also open up the discussion 

 of English drama and literature, the Klizabethan epoch, 

 its vitality and force, the survival of that vitality and fresh- 

 ness in the exceptional conditions existing in the American 

 colonies, and so bring us home again in good time. 



This, as a suggestion merely — the one that occurs first. 

 Almost any starting point would do as a starting point and 

 would be justified by its results. 



