good work was shown from objects, and some interesting illustrative work in the teachers' class. The work as a whole was too much in one line, consequently the results were hardly commensurate with the importance given to the subject in the schools.

Portland, Oregon.-In this exhibit, the three subjects, Construction, Representation, and Decoration, were all represented, the instruction evidently having been given in the three lines of work. The quality of the line was very good, and showed ready and free movement. In the high school much attention was given to the work in representation. There was much work here in light and shade.

Hillside, Wisconsin.-In the drawing of the Hillside Home School, the outline work showed strength in handling, and the light and shade seemed well regulated.

Manual Training Schools. In the exhibits from these schools, the constructive work was of a very high order; but there was almost no attention paid to the work in representation and decoration, which should find a legitimate place in such schools.

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y.-The work in drawing from this institute was of the highest character. The outline-work from objects, from the children's class, was admirable for good seeing and freedom of drawing, while at the same time it had that slight crudeness which should appear in the work of children, thereby expressing youth and freshness. The drawing of the Normal Class was admirable, showing great freedom in illustration, and at the same time knowledge of the educational principles that underlie the work. The representative work in outline was of a very high order, while the work in construction and decoration was excellent. In the departments given to constructive work, representative work, and decorative work, most admirable results were shown. In the light and shade there was found to an unusual degree both strength and delicacy, together with good handling; and where the subject required it, expression of freedom and life. There was less drawing shown in the decorative work than in other subjects, as the decorative work shown was mostly in color. To this exhibit teachers turned, not only for the sake of the art lessons which it afforded, but also for the enjoyment of the beautiful which was there to be found, and which it seemed to be a main object of the instruction to develop.

In speaking of the exhibit as a whole, it must be stated that the circular calling for the exhibits specified particularly "drawings in light and shade, and work in clay and color." Hence the exhibits from many towns showed no work in drawing below the high school, and the work from other towns gave very little space to work below the high school. The general tendency of the work in drawing seemed rather toward representative work from objects. There was also a marked tendency toward work in light and shade below the high school. This is a strong evidence of the fact that people are

awakening to the fact that drawing is not for the few, but for all. The work in drawing that has proved most difficult to those who have undertaken it in the public schools has been the work in representation. The opponents of drawing as a regular part of school work, have thought it quite impossible that those not especially gifted could accomplish much in representative drawing. One important lesson of the exhibits is that it proves that this part of the work is not outside the range of public-school work.

Probably the unevenness of the development in many of the schools of the three subjects, Construction, Representation, and Decoration, which are of equal importance in education, is due to the fact that the teachers have just learned the possibilities of their pupils in representative work, and are carried away for a time with that work.

It is important that the instruction in drawing should be equally divided between these three subjects. Each of these subjects affords a line of development through drawing that is not touched by any of the others. It is well understood that the value of form study and drawing lies in two directions: as a means of educational development, and as a means of æsthetic culture. Neither of these directions should be lost sight of for a moment, and all the work given in the public schools should have both the educational and the æsthetic bearing. The work should be from objects in construction and representation; and in the subject of decoration, historie ornament should play an important part. Thus in all these subjects the observation of the pupil should be called into action first, and afterward the exercise of his creative ability. The subject of construction calls for the study of objects as to their facts, and also for the study of constructive design which leads to the study of beauty in the form of objects. The study of representation calls for the study of the appearance of objects, and also for exercises in pictorial composition, which demand in the first place beauty in the objects which are selected for the subject of study, and in the second place for the consideration of beautiful effects in grouping. The study of the subject of decoration calls for the study of historic ornament, and also for the study of the principles of decoration, and for exercises in original design for decoration, so as to secure the most beautiful decorative effect. So it will be seen that each subject covers a particular ground of its own, and that the development of one subject does not in any way provide for the development to be secured in the study of the other subjects.

It was pleasing to note in many of the exhibits a well-defined tendency toward what is understood as artistic rendering in the three subjects, although in many cases the aim seemed to be obstructed by the use of the hard, black, smooth line, which renders impossible any feeling in the drawings. All good work, in representation especially, requires a line which is susceptible of change, and which may be made expressive through its treatment. It is also necessary that the drawing should be free if the drawing in the public schools is to be of value. The constrained nature of much of the drawing which the

exhibit showed, will never serve the legitimate purpose of drawing, which is the free, ready, and beautiful expression of thought. The line in instrumental work should be clear, sharp, and well defined, and the line in the representative work should be open in texture, varying in lightness, and directness, in delicacy and strength as the subject demands. The line in decoration should be soft, but firm and even. The great lessons to be derived from this exhibit were these:

1. The necessity of form study from models and objects as the basis of drawing.

2. The need of making the pupil's drawing the result of his own observation. 3. The value of freedom and readiness in drawing.

4. The equal development of the three subjects, Construction, Representation, and Decoration.

5. The need of constant insistence in the instruction upon the element of beauty in all the work, from the beginning up, and its proper expression.

The exhibit from the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., in its arrangement of subjects, in the methods of instruction pursued, and the evident attention paid in this instruction to the development of the artistic feeling throughout, as well as in the adaptation of the work to practical industries, and its integration with general education, was an admirable object lesson as to what should be aimed for in the introduction of art education into public education. In this respect this exhibit deserved the careful study of all those intrusted with instruction in form and drawing in normal schools, and in manual-training schools, and in public day schools. In the opinion of your committee, the movement for art education, which for many years has been developing in public education, has never before had so complete an expression as in this exhibit from the Pratt Institute; and from the attention paid to this exhibit, it is believed that a marked influence for the broader development of the work in the public schools must be felt throughout the country. AMELIA C. FRUCHTE.

REPORT ON KINDERGARTEN.

Miss Nicholson, Chairman Committee on Educational Exhibits — DEAR MADAM: The following places were represented by distinctively kindergarten exhibits at the St. Paul meeting, in July last:

Louisville, Ky.: Free Kindergartens-Children's work only.

Milwaukee, Wis.: Training Class Work-Representative modeling in sand.
Indianapolis, Ind.: Free Kindergartens-Children's and Teachers' work.
St. Paul, Minn.: Free Kindergartens-Teachers' and Children's work.
La Porte, Ind.: Public School Kindergartens- Children's work.

Des Moines, Iowa: Public School Kindergartens — Children's work. Chicago, Ill.: Free Kindergartens-Children's work. Chicago Kindergarten Training School-Teachers' work.

Making a total of eight exhibits purporting to be directly the work of kindergarten teachers or pupils.

General education is to be congratulated that the principles of Froebel are steadily demonstrating their right to be. At first received coldly and barely tolerated, the St. Paul exhibition is only one more noble witness to the universality, the all-comprehensiveness, hence, elasticity and adaptability, of Fræbel's thought. Not by the number of schools, nor by the constantly increasing enrollment of teachers and pupils, nor by the amount and extent of the instruction, nor by the quantity of material used, nor by the eloquent explanations and tireless persistency of its exponents-important and necessary as these are—yet not by any or all of them, should we estimate the educational value of the kindergarten.

Back of people and their workmanship stands eternal truth, forever seeking to express itself and work through them. It does not limit itself to this shibboleth or that, or to a choice few, and to certain conditions. No! To the wise and the foolish, to child and man, to prince and peasant, to the many it beckons, saying, "Prove me now, and use me." And those who obey, suddenly spring to freedom and intelligence.

Did the kindergarten not embrace the whole man as well as the whole child; did it not include the individual, the family and the state, in an absolute unity; did it not reach out above and beyond its most devoted disciples, the lines might be drawn and the boundaries of its habitation established. Then indeed between thumb and forefinger, subject to Arabic notation, one might per cent. its value, and by rule and plumb-line determine its height and depth. But the kindergarten is more than a fact-it is a heavenly influence; it is the embodiment of an eternal principle which is bound to work whether man will or not, and which will choose its own sweet way as to how it shall work. Herein lies its divineness: it defies limitation; it spurns tradition. No ipse dirit shall bind it, no Vaticanism monopolize it.

Who but Froebel has boiled down as into a nutshell the condensed philosophy of all the ages, and made it possible for even children to grasp? As is the inner, so is the outer; as is the small, so is the great. There is one law, and He that worketh is One-nothing wasted in the Divine economy. "Who readeth one of my meanings is master of all I am." To break the yoke of necessity, to leave the child free to be his highest and best, to declare there is no heredity in spirit, and to proclaim the eternal unity of God and man- -are these truths to be limited to the experience of any half-dozen of individuals or to the span of any number of years?

Cradled, as one might say, in a ten-acre lot, transplanted to American soil, it has swung itself with the royal gait of a Yankee, in the short space of thirtyfive years, from seaboard to seaboard. In its seven-leagued boots, not only

has it traversed the width of the continent, but it has sounded the depths of the hearts and pockets of the people, and to-day-I say it with all calmness -it measures the possibilities of the Republic! Point me out any school leader, school measure, or school theory, any act of the legislature or the supreme court, any missionary or philanthropic effort, that has preached more effectually the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. Show me any influence that touches more nearly the right adjustment of labor and capital. Is there any course of study anywhere, Sunday-school or otherwise, that has demonstrated more fully the Christ doctrine concerning man and his infinite perfectibility? What scheme of liberty formulated by patriot compares with Froebel's? Talk of mental discipline and freedom of will-must not right choice dominate both? And only Fræbel rings the sweet clear note of “never to present the negative"; only Froebel declares "the child need not know evil"; only Froebel echoes the Christ-message, "The kingdom of God or good is within you," therefore, man's education is a growth into God's likeness, and schools are not shops to manufacture merchandise, but gardens to grow souls in.

Great are Bacon and Montaigne, Rousseau and Comenius, but Fræbel is greater than all because he nearest obeyed the Christ, he lived the life. With the instinct of seership, he estimated second only to Jesus, the true relationship of child and woman to human liberty and human happiness. Measure the educational value of the kindergarten? Yes! this century will when it has measured the moral value of Christianity, for it and the genius of the kindergarten are one.

But the criticism is made that the representatives of the kindergarten are not what they should be-not experienced enough, or educated enough, or liberal-minded enough; and a half smile flits over the face of the wise at the -“untrained enthusiasm" of so many young women. To which I reply, with people we have nothing to do, with principle everything; eyes off from the people, eyes on to the principle. If the principle is right, is one with absolute truth, it will transform the people. If one set of people will not be transformed, others will be found. If the principles represented by the kindergarten are true, it is bound to survive and override the infirmities of its exponents. Both history and race experience show conclusively an ounce of enthusiasm. has again and again carried the day against pounds of discipline and schoollearning. Joan of Arc never mastered reading and writing, yet she led the armies of France to victory. Jean Francois Millet could not have passed a third-grade examination in arithmetic in any of our large cities, but L'Angelus commands the markets of the civilized world. Jesus had no school-learning. "Is not this the carpenter?" was said in derision. His followers were unlearned, ignorant men, yet have they altered by their teachings the entire current of the stream of history. So it is no new thing for enthusiasm, born of conviction and love of truth, to succeed, where scientific research and intellectual acumen have failed.