now using, then, by all means, let us give them a hearty welcome.

Above all, we should be careful not to retain a subject unless it has a
more valid passport than old age to justify its retention. If Chinese will
help us win the goal of appreciation more effectively than Latin, then, by
all means, we should make the substitution. But, in doing so, we must
exercise care not to be carried away by a yearning for novelty. Least of
all should any subject be admitted to the course of study that does not
have behind it something more substantial and enduring than whim or
caprice.

The subjects that avail in generating and stimulating the growth of
appreciation are many and of great variety. Nor are they all found in the
proverbial course of study of the schools. When the boy first really sees
an ear of corn from another viewpoint than the economic, he finds it
eloquent of the marvelous adaptations of nature. From being a mere ear of
corn it becomes a revelation of design and beauty. No change has taken
place in the ear of corn, but a most important change has been wrought in
the boy. Such a change is so subtle, so delicate, and so intangible that
it cannot be measured in terms of per cents; but it is no less real for
all that. It is a spiritual process and, therefore, aptly illustrates the
accepted definition of education. Though it defies analysis and the rule
of thumb, the boy is conscious of it and can say with the man who was born
blind, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see," and no
cabalistic marks in a grade-book can express the value of the change
indicated by that statement.

The sluggard deems the sunrise an impertinence because it disturbs his
morning slumber; but such a change may be wrought in him as to cause him
to stand in reverence before the very thing he once condemned. The