and gain power in getting the thought more difficult and more extended selections should be used. In time, of course, the silent reading methods should be applied to the geography, history, civics and even the arithmetic.

In the oral reproduction in any grade the aim first is to develop the power of the pupil to present the main line of thought, not to bring out details. He should be expected, therefore, to tell his story without reference to the text and without help from the teacher. Every question asked during the pupil's recitation and every word supplied by any one else takes away from the value of the exercise. Instruction in selecting the salient points and the discussion of details should be reserved for another lesson. At this time the pupil should be made to assume full responsibility for the interpretation.

Teachers should aim to secure ready response from the class in the oral reproduction. While pupils should not be hurried in their recitations there should be no dawdling. The one who is interpreting should have sufficient opportunity for quiet thought while he is reciting but he should be required to sit down as soon as he has said all that comes readily to mind. About a minute is enough to allow for the oral reproduction of two pages of ordinary narration and a proportionately longer time for more difficult selections.

The reproduction of what has been read is, by the way, a valuable kind of training in itself. It can, in fact, be made a first rate exercise in oral composition. In the first place, the pupils should not be allowed to ramble on in incomplete or involved sentences. The sentence idea in oral English is just as important as it is in written English and can be developed to a surprising de gree with a little care. To do this the teacher should require the pupil to make his sentences one at a time and to put in a mental period before he starts on a new thought. As the pupils gain power in grasping thought the teacher may begin to help them build their sentences more perfectly. The exercise in reproduction then becomes not only an interpretation of what is read but an opportunity to improve the oral style of the pupils.

When the substance of an assignment has been developed in

terms of sentences the meaning of any words and idioms that seem to require it should be made perfectly clear. Pupils do not always know the significance of expressions they use glibly. Teachers must, therefore, be alert to discover such improprieties. Questions involving the explanation of possible new ideas to the pupil may reveal these deficiencies. Simply defining the terms, however, does not always help. Rather should the pupils through discussion of the situation involved be enabled to get the meanings from the context. The words of the book if used in this discussion come to have added significance and a familiar sound. They may thus, in a perfectly natural way, become a part of the pupil's vocabulary.

The details of the silent reading method will, of course, be determined by the specific aim of the lesson. If a story is assigned, instead of proceeding page by page, the pupils may be asked to name all the persons involved, to tell what kind of people they are and to describe critical or otherwise important situations in which they appear. This will require a quick scanning of the story as a whole for the purpose of getting the main thought and a more careful reading here and there for some of the illuminating details. If the teacher desires to develop the ability to pick out specific facts she may require a certain number of pages to be read quickly to find the answer to a given question. Then there are times when close attention to details may be necessary in order to get at subtle meanings or to develop the power of analysis and reorganization of the subject matter. All this means that there must be careful thought and detailed preparation on the part of the teacher for the questions asked and the directions given must lead most economically and surely to the end desired.

The results of silent reading may, at first, seem slight. The pupil is likely to try to remember the words of the book. The length of the assignment must be great enough, therefore, to make verbatim memorizing in any degree impossible. As soon as the pupil begins to realize, however, that it is understanding and not repetition which is demanded of him he begins to search for meanings. Those who develop real power in silent reading do so by getting a clear vision of the thought-pictures presented in the text. When this can be done the pupil possesses a rapid and sure mastery of the printed page and study is no longer a mechanical, tedious labor.

A New Treatment of American History

BY LEWIS R. HARLEY, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY IN THE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA.

B

JUN¤UNNI÷ Y a new treatment of American history, I do not mean to suggest that the modern school of writers have discovered some heretofore unknown method of approaching the past. Did not Polybius more than two thousand years ago give this wholesome advice: "Surely an historian's object should be not to amaze his readers by a series of thrilling anecdotes, nor should he aim to produce speeches which might have been delivered, nor to study dramatic propriety in detail, like a writer of tragedy. On the contrary, his function is, above all, to record with fidelity what was actually said and done, no matter how commonplace it may be." Neglecting the warnings of Polybius, the historian has too often strayed into the field of pure literature, and forgetting that it is his sole duty to give a faithful account of events, he has frequently allowed personal or political bias to control his judgment. We should accept the old but safe precept: "See that your words correspond with your judgment, that is to say, speak the truth: see that your judgment corresponds with the truth; that is to say, make no mistakes." Those who have to do with American history, authors and teachers alike, are now generally agreed as to the prime necessity of an accurate and impartial treatment of the subject. But the influence of the old-style textbooks still permeates the public at large, and for this reason I wish to make a plea for a consideration of our eventful past along the lines marked out by our most diligent scholars, so that we may know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Our quest for the truth in American history must lead us to reject the myths that still creep into its pages; to avoid a provincial or one-sided treatment of the subject; to combat the influence of certain dangerous alien propaganda, and to recognize the power

of ideals or spiritual forces, which too often are neglected in this age, when it is our common fault to give a quantitative estimate to human values. In Europe the historical atmosphere is filled with myth and romance, with venerable ruins and dramatic themes, while in our own country we are more concerned with movements and conditions than with human motives, more with the plain facts of a nation's growth than with the consideration of legendary lore. The soldiers of General Pershing must have realized this contrast as they first beheld on every side the ancient landmarks of France, and as our army of occupation moved down the winding Moselle through Treves, where the legions of Caesar once encamped, to Coblenz on the Rhine, the front line of democracy was placed amidst scenes beloved by the poets and surrounded by all the charm that history and romance can give. On the other hand, no mediaeval glory encircles our more recent past; no veil of mystery now hides its secrets from our gaze, for critical scholarship holds the keys to its garnered wealth. Therefore, every misstatement of fact is likely to be challenged, every myth to be removed from the book of truth. But there is an irresistible tendency among us to indulge in hero worship, and we have invested such characters as Washington, Franklin and Lincoln with qualities far beyond the range of human experience.

A single example shows the persistence of myths in American history. One of Abraham Lincoln's most cherished books was the Life of George Washington by Mason L. Weems who, by the way, made no attempt to write a true biography; in fact, he confessed that his Life of General Francis Marion was nothing but an historical romance. With what feelings of pride the boy of today still reads this skillful romancer's account of Washington's physical strength which at the age of eleven was almost equal to his moral virtues! "His delight was in that of the manliest sport which, by stringing the limbs and swelling the muscles, promotes the kindliest flow of blood and spirits. At jumping with a long pole, or heaving heavy weights, for his years, he hardly had an equal, and as to running, the swift-footed Achilles could scarcely have matched his speed." We also learn from this same mythical source

of information that Washington's father was a man of extraordinary strength. His gun was of such enormous weight that no one man in fifty could fire it without a rest. And yet, throughout that country, it is said that he made nothing of holding it off at arm's length, and blazing away at the swans on the Potomac, of which he was known to have killed, rank and file, seven or eight at a shot. Weems was equally clever at writing popular character sketches, and the anger of the British King at the beginning of the French Wars, as he described it, reminds one of the wrath of the Olympian Zeus, or the German Kaiser in one of his strafing fits: "The news was brought to Britain's King just as he had dispatched his pudding, and sat right royally amusing himself with a slice of Gloucester and a nip of ale. From the lips of the King down fell the luckless cheese, alas, not graced to comfort the stomach of the Lord's anointed; while crowned with snowy foam, his nut-brown ale stood untasted beside his plate. Suddenly as he heard the news, the monarch darkened in his place, and answering darkness shrouded all his court. In silence, he rolled his eyes of fire on the floor, and twirled his terrible thumbs. His pages shrank from his presence, for who could stand before the king of thundering ships when wrath, in gleams of lightning, flashed from his dark red eyes. Starting at length, as from a trance, he swallowed his ale, then clenching his fist, he gave the table a tremendous knock, and cursed the woodenshoed nation by his God. Swift as he cursed, the dogs of war bounded from their kennels, keen for the chase, and snuffing the blood of Frenchmen on every gale, they raised a howl of death. which reached these peaceful shores." This remarkable book from which I quote has had more to do than any other work in giving to the world its popular notion of the father of His Country; hence when Paul Leicester Ford, nearly one hundred years later, permitting his subject as far as possible to speak for himself, wrote the "True George Washington," many felt that an injustice had been done to the memory of the first great American. But the serious student must agree with Mr. Ford, that the result of his researches has only served to make Washington greater to him, because more human. When writers like Parson Weems are able