The sun., 1919-03-02

In patience anybody who will speak. II
matters not how trite and meagre Is his
message.
Throughout the last five years each
day has seemed too short to accomplish
its allotted task and much too long for
us 20 understand all that came TO pass.
Life has been real ami earnest as II
never had been before in our experience.
We are curious about this life of peoples
and look about for explanations life Is
process, movement, growth. We cannot
understand the present without knowing
how 1t came about. Searching the memo
ries OF yesterday we learn the meaning
of to-day. There Is therefore among the
learners a sharp set zeal for history.
The teacher OF history does not need to
seek an audience: 1t crowds upon him
This Is opportunity and this IS danger
For to the uninstructed the history book
Is a book OF truth-"pure fact" as Droy-
sen used to say-and the history teacher
Is the impartial voice of all experience ;
whereas we know that any casuist can
prove from history that white Is black
by carefully massng specks.
There are some who feel that contem-
plation OF the past will make US too
conservative. Henry Ford. who is
as great as one can well be without the
aid OF information, three years ago de-
clared that he and the other good men
could never renovate the world until We
left off studying history. But. rather. is
1t true that such study. showing how
growth has been the law of life and how
any given new idea was once despised,
then adopted and then defended as sa-
cred against more new ideas-such a
study makes experiment seem more re-
spectacle.
Presumably It is not possible to tell all
NhoN ha1
confronted with the problem of what
parts to teach. We are somewhat
guided by the students' own demands
They want to learn what caused the
war and want the emphasis.cn modeEr
history with unmstakable crescendo as
one nears the present. Frederick Will
lam l. Of Prussia laid down most exact
Ing rules for the education OF his son
Frederick. who was TO he called THE
Great" Among other things he speci-
fed Arithmetic. mathematics artillery
and agriculture he must be taught
thoroughly ancient history only super
ficially. but that of our own times and
Of the last $50 years as accurately as
possible" While the Hohenzollens
! may not be the best authorities on edu-
cation. old Fritz" think showed sound
instinct in providing for his son ar
historical knowledge which would be
most useful to him as a sovereign. And
so here. where all are sovereign, It
seems no more than prudent that the
high school boy or girl should know
something of the German Empire. the
Italian Kingdom and the prisoned Pope,
Africa. the new world of our time,
church and state In France and Russian
Gears and Nihilists.
The last report of the college entrance
! examination board records 2,063 as can
didates in ancient history. or about as
many as applied In all other fields of
the subject combined, while ITS at
tempted an examination in the recent
history OF Europe. and OF this small
number hree-fourths had given half the
year to the study Of the Middle Ages
1t may be said perhaps that careful
Judgment had been shown. since all
these students in their preparation
merely laid the groundwork. for more
preparation in the colleges. where mod
ern history can best be taught Bu,
reference to the public high schools re-
veals a disparity for which no such de-
fence can be accepted. OF the girls
in high schol a very small proportion
go to college, and OF the boys less than
one-fourth. For the great majority tor-
nal education hero becomes complete
Yet last -yeaS " this State nearly l7.ooC