NEW LIFE IN OLD SUBJECTS l6/ 
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 
