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SHOULD LATIN OR SOME MODERN LANGUAGE COME FIRST? 237 
After two years of this, and in what is usually the first year of the 
secondary school, the English class, while still reading under criticism as 
:0 matters elocutionary, makes this advance, that there is less of com- 
ment upon the contents of their book than upon its language, attention 
being given mainly to rhetorical qualities. Of course this is rhetoric for 
:he boy ; elementary, practical, found in what he reads and writes. 
Technical terms are introduced when their use is convenient, but no 
wtempt whatever is made to present all the chapters of a treatise on 
rhetoric, or observe their due proportions. Boys of thirteen naturally 
like poetry better than prose, impassioned oratory better than speech less 
rich in rhetorical features, and with a little encouragement and teaching 
they become bold and original and thoughtful critics. They have an ear 
tor the melody of a line or the correctness of a rhyme, as they have an ear 
for music. They can appreciate the force and beauty of a simile or meta- 
ohor, are responsive to pathos and humor, are sensitive to differences of 
style, as a child is sensitive to the parent’s tone and manner. They learn 
50 pronounce upon questions of propriety, of clearness and force, of order 
‘n narration and argumentation. They will grasp the idea of paragraph- 
ing, of periodic and of loose sentence construction. Boys are, indeed, 
excessively fond of brilliant rhetoric, and are liable to be misled by florid 
writing ; and yet they learn to detect a line masquerading as poetry, which, 
stripped of its rhyme and restored to its natural order, is found to be 
sheer commonplace. The language of poetry and passion is simple. The 
Bible, Shakespeare, Longfellow, and Charles Dudley Warner will furnish 
the right sort of material. There is no other part of the school course 
which affords such opportunity for use of the Socratic method. The 
snthusiasm that can be aroused, and the high order of critical work that 
san be done, would astonish one who has not seen rhetoric taught at this 
stage and in this way. The work satisfies the teacher that he is calling 
into healthy and effective activity powers just ready for use, and that he 
is establishing friendship between his pupils and the masters of English 
literature. 
in the next year the pupils pass from the dynamics to the statics of 
ianguage ; to formal grammar, with a text-book. They have learned 
fo enjoy language in action, bringing them knowledge and entertain- 
ment, glowing with warmth and power of life. Now they are to take 
portions of its anatomy for dissection ; are to classify and describe the 
arts and their relations. 
But as part of their preparation for study of English grammar, the 
slags for a year or more studied Latin. 
Now, the introduction of Latin a year or more before English grammar 
is regularly studied, or any other modern language attempted, is our 
answer to the question proposed to us, and calls for explanation and 
defense.