46 HISTORY AND LITERATURE. 



and make good use of it in the building up of character. It is often 

 neglected or even suppressed, greatly to the disadvantage of the future 

 man or woman. The person whose imagination has been ground out of 

 him, and who lives in a purely matter-of-fact world, loses much of the 

 enjoyment of life, to say nothing of his loss of power to give it to others. 

 It becomes us, then, as teachers to cultivate this element of human char- 

 acter, to give it proper nourishment and growth, that it may serve its pur- 

 pose and do its work in the drama of life. These stories and legends are 

 the fitting introduction to history and literature. They may, in fact, be 

 properly considered a part of it — the elementary stages. 



Care should be taken in the selection of this material. Only those 

 stories should be selected that have a direct bearing on the effort to build 

 up a strong, well-rounded character — that have good ethical point and 

 influence. The child must be left to draw his own inferences. He should 

 not be required to express the significance of the story by any formal 

 interpretation, but the spiritual essence, the moral lesson, must be left to 

 work its silent, ever-pervasive infiuence, as a spiritual atmosphere. The 

 inner life and experience must be touched and revealed in sympathetic 

 emotion. In this way spiritual growth is induced. As a result of this 

 spiritual awakening, reflections follow, and these result in generalizations. 



The interest of the child is important and must be secured, and this 

 is a strong argument in favor of the use of this kind of literature for chil- 

 dren. But mere diversion or interest is not sufficient; there must be in it 

 a spiritual element that takes hold of the life of the child, touching a sym- 

 pathetic chord that gives ready response and adds a valuable increment to 

 character. This is our plea for legends and fairy stories as the elementary 

 steps in a well-arranged course in history and literature. 



But this is not all. They are not only well calculated to awaken 

 thought, arouse interest, quicken inner perce^ition and reflection, and so 

 bring the mind into a receptive condition, ready to assimilate, and induce 

 growth and strength, but they give the most fitting opportunities for the 

 cultivation of expression in its best forms and in variety. This part of the 

 work should by no means be neglected. It should be emphasized as an 

 essential thing in the training of the child. Every thought and every 

 emotion should have its fitting expression. Abundant opportunities are 

 here afforded for the exercise of expression in all its varied forms — by 

 pantomime, by drawing and painting, by moulding and building, as well 

 as by oral and written expression. It must ever be borne in mind that the 

 expression of an idea is quite as important in the education of the child as 

 its inception. Expression always tends to quicken thought and perfect it, 

 and without expression it renders no service. The giving of suitable ex- 



