ABSTRACT
A VERY wide-ranging answer to the question, “How can you best fit boys and girls for the life of men and women?” one does not remember to have often seen; and that is, “By getting them as soon as possible, and as thoroughly as possible, out of the ruts of custom—by confronting them with things unfamiliar, things rather troublesome, things that require mental and, for the matter of that, in some cases bodily exertion.” No doubt this is a dreadfully unorthodox answer at the present day, and it may make havoc with a great many cherished ideas, maxims, schemes on the subject. It may even, if entertained, suggest unpleasant doubts whether English as a study ought to be the standard, the basis, of education; whether very new literature is good teaching matter; and it will certainly exercise very considerable influence on the problem what kind of annotation, if any, is desirable. Nay, it will further influence, and that vitally, the objects proposed and the methods pursued in the teaching of English itself.
