ay be worthy of
attention from educators. In a general way it may be said that our
Bachelor's degree does not correspond to any well-defined stage of
education, implying, as it does, something more than that foundation
of a general liberal education which the degree implies in Europe, and
not quite so much as the Doctor's degree. I found it very difficult,
if not impossible, to make our French friends understand that our
American Bachelor's degree was something materially higher than the
Baccalaureate of the French Lycee, which is conferred at the end of
a course midway between our high school and our college.

From education at the Sorbonne I pass to the other extreme.
During a stay in Harper's Ferry in the autumn of 1887, I had an
object lesson in the state of primary education in the mountain
regions of the South. Accompanied by a lady friend, who, like
myself, was fond of climbing the hills, I walked over the Loudon
heights into a sequestered valley, out of direct communication with
the great world. After visiting one or two of the farmhouses, we
came across a school by the roadside. It was the hour of recess,
and the teacher was taking an active part in promoting the games
in which the children were engaged. It was suggested by one of us
that it would be of interest to see the methods of this school; so
we approached the teacher on the subject, who very kindly offered
to call his pupils together and show us his teaching.

First, however, we began to question him as to the subjects of
instruction. The curriculum seemed rather meagre, as he went over it.
I do not think it went beyond the three R's.

"But do you not teach grammar as well as reading?" I asked.

"No, I am sorry to say, I do not. I did want to teach grammar,
but the people all said that they had not been taught grammar, and
had got along very well without it, and did not see why the time of
the children should be taken up by it."

"If you do not teach grammar from the book, you could at least teach
it by practice in composition. Do you not exercise them in writing
compositions?"

"I did try that once, and let me tell you how it turned out. They got
up a story that I was teaching the children to write love letters,
and made such a clamor about it that I had to stop."

He then kindly offered to show us what he did teach. The school was
called together and words to spell were given out from a dictionary.
They had got as far as "patrimo