he furniture, move their chairs without noise, and place things upon
the table with great care. The result of this is seen in the grace of
carriage and of movement, which is especially delightful on account of
the way in which it has been brought about. It is not a grace taught
externally for the sake of beauty or regard for the world, but one
which is born of the pleasure felt by the spirit in immobility and
silence. The soul of the child wishes to free itself from the
irksomeness of sounds that are too loud, from obstacles to its peace
during work. These children, with the grace of pages to a noble lord,
are serving their spirits.

This exercise develops very definitely the social spirit. No other
lesson, no other "situation," could do the same. A profound silence
can be obtained even when more than fifty children are crowded
together in a small space, provided that _all_ the children know how
to keep still and want to do it; but one disturber is enough to take
away the charm.

Here is demonstration of the cooperation of all the members of a
community to achieve a common end. The children gradually show
increased power of _inhibition_; many of them, rather than disturb the
silence, refrain from brushing a fly off the nose, or suppress a cough
or sneeze. The same exhibition of collective action is seen in the
care with which the children move to avoid making a noise during their
work. The lightness with which they run on tiptoe, the grace with
which they shut a cupboard, or lay an object on the table, these are
qualities that must be _acquired by all_, if the environment is to
become tranquil and free from disturbance. One rebel is sufficient to
mar this achievement; one noisy child, walking on his heels or banging
the door, can disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the small community.

LANGUAGE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD

The special importance of the sense of hearing comes from the fact
that it is the sense organ connected with speech. Therefore, to train
the child's attention to follow sounds and noises which are produced
in the environment, to recognize them and to discriminate between
them, is to prepare his attention to follow more accurately the sounds
of articulate language. The teacher must be careful to pronounce
clearly and completely the sounds of the word when she speaks to a
child, even though she may be speaking in a low voice, almost as if
telling him a secret. The children's songs are also a