202 Old Bays on the Farm 



Think of a *' Reader for Beginners" with such 

 themes as are contained in the following: A 

 Thought on Eternity — An Elegy on Evening — 

 Midnight Thought — Reflection on the Death of 

 a Profligate — Swearing — Temperance— Lying — A 

 Funeral Thought — Virtue under Affliction — 

 Gray's Elegy — ^An Essay on Sleep — Extracts 

 from the Works of Milton, Addison, Blair and 

 other serious writers of the past. 



Somehow or other the compiler missed Blair's 

 poem on "The Grave," and how he must have 

 grieved over it when he noticed the omission. 



Turning to the appendix on English Grammar, 

 I feel that we moderns have not improved on 

 the definition of ''What is English Grammar?" 

 It is defined in this old book as * ' the art of speak- 

 ing or writing the English language with pro- 

 priety." That's good, is it not, that ''with pro- 

 priety"! And that definition was the first line 

 in the grammar. To-day they lead the youngster 

 into the complexities, mysteries and sinuosities of 

 English as it is spoken or written in a simpler, if 

 more deceptive, manner. 



SOAKED UP INFORMATION AND WATEB 



I began my educational career in a stone school- 

 house built on a hillside overlooking the classic 

 stream, Avon. I mention the stream, for beside 

 allowing hard words and other information to 

 soak into my system in my school days, I recall 



