NEW LIFE IN OLD SUBJECTS 



167 



in any way suggest bluff; and yet it must have carrying 

 power, — that is, every word must ring with sincerity, — and 

 the writer must bear the marks of being a young person whom 

 it will pay to bother about. The way to seem worth while is to 

 be worth while ; that means constantly doing things that are 

 worth while. Establishing such connections with older per- 

 sons on common ground has no equal for arousing ambition. 



Having once entered into 

 actual relationships with per- 

 sons at a distance and united 

 by a common interest, make- 

 believe letter writing seems 

 tame indeed. The teacher 

 usually does not half realize 

 how much of a farce such ex- 

 ercises seem to his students. 

 Not very long ago, in a cer- 

 tain preparatory school where 

 the value of practice in writ- 

 ing letters to real persons had 

 been duly recognized, it was 

 required during the spring 

 recess that each boy should 

 send a letter to the teacher 

 of English composition. This 

 task was described by one of the boys to his amused family 

 in these words : " No mistakes in spelling, no mistakes in 

 grammar, no mistakes in punctuation, no blots, no slang, — 

 no answer ! " Hardly an exercise, it will be agreed, to make 

 a boy love letter writing. 



Another method is to let the young people of a school ex- 

 change letters with those of a distant school. Letters upon 

 historical topics, for instance, fly to and fro between the 



WRITING TO COUSIN EMILY 

 ABOUT MY HERBS 



