ortraits of children express, that would be
exactly what we want for the model of their English. They can write and
they can speak in a beautiful way of their own if they are allowed a
little liberty to grow wild, and trained a little to climb. Their charm
is candour, as it is the charm of Sir Joshua's portraits, with a quiet
confidence that all is well in the world they know, and that everyone is
kind; this gives the look of trustful innocence and unconcern. Their
writing and talking have this charm, as long as nothing has happened to
make them conscious of themselves. But these first blossoms drop off,
and there is generally an intermediate stage in which they can neither
speak nor write, but keep their thoughts close, and will not give
themselves away. Only when that stage is past do they really and with
full consciousness seek to express themselves, and pay some attention to
the self-expression of others. This third stage has its May-day, when
the things which have become hackneyed to our minds from long use come
to them with the full force of revelations, and they astonish us by
their exuberant delight. But they have a right to their May-day and it
ought not to be cut short; the sun will go down of itself, and then June
will come in its own time and ripen the green wood, and after that will
come pruning time, in another season, and then the phase of severity and
fastidiousness, and after that--if they continue to write--they will be
truly themselves.

In every stage we have our duty to do, encouraging and pruning by turns,
and, as in everything else, we must begin with ourselves and go on with
ourselves that there may be always something living to give, and some
growth; for in this we need never cease to grow, in knowledge, in taste,
and in critical power. The means are not far to seek; if we really care
about these things, the means are everywhere, in reading the best
things, in taking notes, in criticising independently and comparing with
the best criticism, in forming our own views and yet keeping a
willingness to modify them, in an attitude of mind that is always
learning, always striving, always raising its standard, never impatient
but permanently dissatisfied.

We have three spheres of action in the use of the language--there is
English to speak, English to write, And the wide field of English to
read, and there are vital interests bound up in each for the after life
of children. As they speak, so will be t