s necessary for text-book work. This should be
done before pupils read the "Conciliation." In the reading constantly
keep before the pupils the methods of the author.

Every teacher should be able to do what she asks of the pupils. No
person would dare to offer herself as a teacher of Latin or algebra
until she could write all the translations of the one and solve all
the problems of the other. Yet there are persons who have the audacity
to offer their services as teachers of English, when they cannot write
a letter correctly, to say nothing of a more formal piece of
composition. If an instructor in physics, who had asked his pupils to
solve a problem in electricity, should say to each unfortunate person
as he handed in his solution, "No, that isn't right; you'll have to
try again," without offering any help or suggestion, and should
continue this discouraging process until some bright pupil worked it
out, or perhaps some one guessed it, we should say that such a person
was no instructor at all. We might go so far as to question his
intellectual competency. We certainly should think him quite deserving
of dismissal. Still many teachers of English do nothing more than say,
"It isn't right. Make it so." If the teacher does not know how to do
the thing she asks the pupils to do, she should not be teaching. And
even when she can do it, she will often benefit herself and the pupils
by actually writing the composition. In this way not only does she
gain command of her own powers of expression, but she finds out the
difficulties with which the pupils have to contend. Every teacher of
English composition should be able to do some creditable work in
English; and every teacher of English should put this talent into
actual use.

Numerous examples of correct paragraphs, well-made sentences, and apt
words have not been included in the text. They have been omitted
because they can be found in the literature study. It is better for
pupils to find these for themselves. It will put them in the way of
reading with the senses always alert for something good; and all good
paragraphs and sentences lose something of their beautiful adaptation
when torn from the place of their birth and growth.

So, too, there are no long lists of errors. One hundred pupils in a
term make enough to fill a volume. When a teacher knows that Sentences
is to be her next subject she should begin three months in advance to
get a good collection of specimens. The