learner into direct contact with life and often illuminates
the past.

Current events as presented in the daily papers should often be the
subject of comment, but the daily newspaper is not suitable for class
use. Even the weekly is, for several reasons, less desirable than the
monthly. It must not be forgotten that the basal, fundamental work of
the class is, not to keep posted on current affairs, but to study the
elements under the guidance of a textbook and an inspiring teacher to
interpret it. The weekly is less accurate than the monthly and less
literary in form, and, moreover, it comes too often. It is apt to take
too much time from the study of the fundamentals. The use of the
periodical in the history class has probably come to stay and it
should stay, but it should be only incidental and supplementary.

_Course II_ should be given in the junior or senior year. It should be
elective, should cover at least two year-hours, and should be wholly
devoted to the national period of American history. Only those having
taken Course I should be eligible to this class.

Every student who expects to read law, to enter journalism or
politics, or to teach history or political science should take this
course. The class will be smaller than in Course I. Uniform textbooks
need not be required, or the class may be conducted without a text.
Most of the work must be done from the library.

It is assumed that the members of this class have a good knowledge of
the narrative, and it is needless to follow it closely again. A better
plan is to choose an important phase of the history here and there and
study intensively. Much use should be made of original sources such as
Presidents' messages, _Congressional Record_, speeches and writings of
the times, but the class must not ignore the fact that a vast amount
of good material may be had from the historians. It must also be
remembered that original research is for the graduate student and the
specialist rather than for the undergraduate.

=Testing the results of instruction=

In conclusion, I shall explain a method of examination that I have
frequently employed with apparently excellent results. Two or three
weeks before the time of the examination I give the class a series of
topics, perhaps fifty or more, carefully chosen from the entire
subject that has been studied during the semester. Instead of having
the usual review of the text, we talk over these subjects in class
during