476 



scimYCu. 



[Vol. IX., No. 223 



ion to students, and often an absolute hindrance 

 to the acquisition of a good English style. 



3. Throughout tlie entire course of a pupil's 

 studies, from the time he can construct a simple 

 sentence to the time he leaves the highest grade, 

 there should be constant and rigorous drill in 

 the writing of English. This part of the in- 

 struction is by far the most important, and is, 

 at the same time, the part most frequently 

 neglected. The writer has already published his 

 views regarding the proper methods to be pursued 

 in the teaching of English composition, and will 

 not, therefore, go into that subject in this paper.^ 

 It is sufficient to say, in general terms, that all in- 

 struction in English composition should have con- 

 stantly in view the immediate capabilities and 

 needs of the students. It is no uncommon occui'- 

 rence to have students in the lower classes of a col- 

 lege complain that they are asked to write upon 

 subjects much simpler than those given in the 

 high schools Students who have been stringing to- 

 gether a lot of senseless verbiage on ' Sunshine and 

 shadow,' ' True greatness,' 'Heroism,' 'Honesty,' 

 and the like, cannot see why they should be asked 

 to descend to the trivial matters of every -day life, 

 and to a discussion of subjects about which they 

 know something. Yet one composition written on 

 a familiar subject, composed with reasonable care, 

 and then carefully and sympathetically criticised 

 by the teacher, is worth a dozen perfunctory af- 

 fairs, hurriedly written, upon subjects entirely 

 beyond the experience or knowledge of the pupil. 

 Careful and conscientious work in English com- 

 posilion would afford the best possible basis for 

 future studies in all fields. With this should go, 

 if possible, a reasonable familiarity with good 

 writers, in order that the vocabulary of the pupil 

 might be enlarged, and models of good and whole- 

 some English be constantly presented. 



In conclusion, it is only just to say that the 

 charge of neglecting the proper study of English 

 does not lie at the door of the preparatory schools 

 alone. It is only within very recent years that 

 English has begun to receive a fair share of at- 

 tention in the colleges and universities. The 

 tendency of modern education is toward the prac- 

 tical. It is beginning to be seen that the most 

 useful weapon in the hands of any scholar is a 

 thorough and practical knowledge of his own 

 language. This conviction is arousing our col- 

 leges to better methods of work in this depart- 

 ment, and is, in consequence, making necessary 

 better preparation in the secondary schools. This 

 preparation they can and should provide. 



Ernest W. Huffcut. 



1 See the New England journal of education for Decem- 

 ber and January. 



SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



Complaint has been made by many scholars that 

 the study of the Scandinavian languages is almost 

 entirely neglected in our colleges and universities, 

 and that the general public is not alive to the im- 

 portance of this study. Of the justice of the 

 complaint there can be no doubt ; but that the 

 neglect is continually becoming less and less, it is 

 my object to prove in this short paper. As no 

 complete account of the Scandinavian movement 

 in our colleges has ever been written, and as it is 

 necessary, in order to arrive at a logical conclu- 

 sion, that there should be a clear understanding 

 of this movement, it may not be amiss if I preface 

 my remarks with a brief sketch of the origin and 

 development of Scandinavian studies in the United 

 States. Though I have taken great pains to make 

 the account complete, it is possible that some col- 

 leges may not receive the notice due them. Only 

 college instruction will be discussed, the considera- 

 tion of the purely literary side of the question 

 being necessarily omitted. 



To the University of the city of New York is 

 due the credit of founding the first chair of the 

 Scandinavian languages and literature. In 1858, 

 Rev. Paul C. Sinding of Copenhagen was ap- 

 pointed the first professor in this department, and 

 occupied the position, with honor to himself and 

 the university, till his resignation in 1861. Pro- 

 fessor Sinding's work had to do chiefly with Dan- 

 ish history and literature ; and of the interest his 

 work awakened in New York, we may judge 

 from the fact that his ' History of Scandinavia ' 

 ran through seven editions in a few years. Since 

 Professor Sinding's resignation, the chair has re- 

 mained unoccupied. 



In the same year that the study of the Scan- 

 dinavian languages was abandoned in the Uni- 

 versity of the city of New York, the Norwegian 

 Luther college was founded at Halfway Creek, 

 Wis., and in 1862 was removed to Decorah, lo., 

 where it is still located. It "owes its origin to 

 the growing demand for educated men who could 

 preach the Word of life to the rapidly increasing 

 Norwegian population of this country." Luther 

 college is, then, the first purely Scandinavian col- 

 lege in America. The instruction has always had 

 a distinctively Norwegian tendency, and many of 

 the text-books are printed in that language. The 

 faculty and the students are almost entirely of 

 Norwegian birth or parentage, and the Norwegian 

 language and literature are studied through the 

 whole college course. 



On the opening of Cornell university in 1868, 

 Willard Fiske was appointed professor of the 

 North European languages, and instruction was 



