Shakespeare. For the sake of pronunciation I consulted Webster's Dictionary many thousand times. In 1887 I commenced to publish compositions in the English language, of course, after they had been reviewed by competent American scholars.

MUSICAL BUNGLING.

Translated from the "Milwaukee Freidenker." Against musical bungling, the "Milwaukee Freidenker" imparts these remarks:" While the parents induce, without hesitation, the family-doctor to intercede, by reason of health, for dispensation of their daughters from some branch of school-instruction, they let them, carelessly, continue their lessons of music, and the hours of practising it. But it must be noticed as an abuse of the juvenile strength, if as much, or even more time, daily, is claimed for an object of luxury, like pianoplaying, as for school-work. No practise lays a higher claim to the system of nerves, than piano-playing. Many a mother sacrifices the health of her daughter to the idol of music, to the foolish prejudice of fashion that piano-playing is part of mental culture.

It may safely be maintained that the musical exercises at home are more in fault of the frailty and nervous condition of many girls, than the school, which is often blamed for that defect. The instruction on the piano should not commence before the twelfth year. Only entirely healthy girls, endowed with musical talent ought to cultivate music-girlswho can expected to afford, some day, joy to their fellowcreatures by theirplay. But only ninety out of a hundred girls who play piano, attain, after many years of pains, an agility which which is only mechanical, and far from having an affinity with

be

to

the practice of art, is directly pernicious to the capacity for plain, pure, musical feeling. It is neither necessary nor desirable that we have many piano-players of middle or bad quality, but it is necessary that our girls conserve their physical and mental health.

ON THE STUDY OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE. TIME WHEN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE WAS NEGLECTED.

There was a time (which has passed not long ago) when in America, the German was, generally, little respected, even frequently with the nickname "Dutchman" stigmatized' and, as a matter of course, also his mothertongue was ridiculed and despised. But, since the Gallo-German war, the American changed his opinion concerning the Germans and their language; for they won his respect by the splendid victories of their countrymen in France. Since that memorable war is finished, we see the German language not only received among the branches of instruction in higher institutes, of the United States, but even introduced into many common schools.

REASONS WHY GERMAN IS WORTHY TO BE STUDIED.

It deserves this acknowledgment from the part of Americans, and should nowhere be missed in the series of foreign languages, which in the higher schools of the United States are studied, and even not in the common schools of cities, as well as in such parts of the country in which the Germans form a considerable factor of the population, which, perhaps, so much as outweighs that of the natives. The reasons on which this opinion rests, are so manifest and palpable that they cannot escape a somewhat attentive observer, and to be sure,

it is not national self-conceit which-opposite to the American-stimulates me to speak it.

The German element of the population amounts in the United States, probably, to eight million men, therefore about to the seventh part of the total number of inhabitants. Why, such an important quantity of them must not be permitted in a country which likes to be called the freest and most civilized on earth, to conserve, to cultivate and bequeath their mother-tongue to their decendents? The immigration from Germany increases in colossal dimensions. German parents expect by right that their children, besides the language of the country, learn also their own. Or can the hatred of our Anglo-American citizens towards the Germans be so intense that their politics will aim to extirpate their native language, as the Romans tried to do in ancient Germany? Such a trial would certainly miscarry, like that of Varus in the forests of Germania. In the larger towns in the country, the knowledge, of both languages, the English and German, is indispensable for the trading classes of the people. For that reason, the American, whose attention is principally directed to practical purposes, frequently learns our language, and permits his children to participate of the instruction in this language which in our public schools is imparted. The German language is spoken by a civilized nation, and, therefore occupies as high an order as the English, French and Italian; nay, it deserves more attention than Latin and Greek, for it is not dead like them;-it is spoken by sixty-millions: or more men; it possesses a rich store of vocables; it is an original language, not derived, like the romancelanguages, Italian French and Spanish, from an extinct one, nor composed like the English, from several other

ones.

It excells all modern languages by the precision and perfection of its grammatical forms, and if it is not as soft and sonorous as the Italian and Spanish, it compensates this defect by vigor and energy of expression. It possesses, in all departments of science, ingenious works which boldly may be placed at the side of the most successful and accomplished ones in the literature of any nation on earth. Especially, it can compete with the works of the modern English literature.

WHICH PARTS OF THE GERMAN SHOULD BE TAUGHT.

Parts of the German which ought to be taught are: reading, writing, orthography, grammar, composition, translation from English into German and inversely in higher institutes besides, history of German literature. Under these circumstances, every German child should learn to read fluently and correctly. In order to obtain this design, more variety in the text-books is necessary. The English readers direct us, in that, to the right path. In most of the common schools there are, besides the Primer, five or six Readers, while only three, at the most four German Readers are used. They are also not equal to the English ones, in regard to the quantity of their contents. What follows from this defect? The scholars who must use the same book two years or longer, finally take no more interest in reading it, and get tired of the study of their native language.

SOME GERMANS ARE ASHAMED OF THEIR MOTHER-TONGUE

In conclusion, I wish to remark one thing more. It happens not seldom among us that young Germans are ashamed of their native language, and deny its knowledge when they converse with Americans. If this ex

ample is generally imitated by the growing German youth, soon no more Germans will be found in America. But that must not happen. May the example of the ancient Greeks shine before the German Americans! When many Greeks were necessitated to leave their country, they shipped to Asia-Minor, where they transplanted arts, sciences and their native language. Among the celebrated written works which they created there, I mention only the Ilias and the Odyessa, these two great epic poems of Homer, the most eminent poet of antiquity. Even so it can be hoped that the transplanted stem of the German language will, in the new country, produce vigorous branches and fine blossoms, and that still a great time to come is reserved to it.

SECTARIAN

DOCTRINES IN THE READERS OF OUR
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Sectarian doctrines ought to be excluded from our public schools; but it is not so: even there where the school law forbids them, they are introduced in the Readers. Most of the Readers are tainted with the peculiar hue of Christian superstition.

MCGUFFEY'S READERS.

Take, for instance, McGuffey's readers, which probaably are more frequently used than any others. They represent the biblical view of the universe, and the Christian dogmas most decidedly. In order not to claim too much the patience of my kind readers, I will review only the fourth and fifth books of the whole series.

Fourth Reader.-The fourth reader of McGuffey contains eighty numbers, of which thirteen-therefore sixteen per cent— are dyed with sectarian colors. In the fifth piece the Sabbath bell calls the child to church,