masses of richly clustered vocabulary. But the benefits of this habit of closely watching the formation of words are not restricted to the study of the English itself. So soon as the boy begins the study of Greek, for example, or of any foreign language, and has to deal with the overwhelming riches of the foreign word-supply, his knowledge of the laws of wordformation, his experience of the power of suffixes and prefixes in varying, without effacing the significance of the stem, come in to aid his memory in its toil of acquisition. In Greek, especially, I have noticed that the vocabulary is so enormous and so difficult that the memory if not reinforced by the laws of etymology and word-formation is almost sure in the great majority of cases to break down. In consequence of this the power of reading freely and enjoying the literature, which is of course the only rational aim of Greek study, is attained [probably, by not one man in a thousand of those that study the language. Hence, if we can help our boys to understand how words are formed, if we can train their minds by etymology to analyze and classify and remember the significance of words, we are helping them to overcome the most serious difficulty upon their path. As in the old romances, the Greek lexicon is the hideous and dangerous dragon that guards the treasures of Greek literature. Before we send our boys out to seize the golden fleece of Hellenic thought, we should teach them how to vanquish those monsters of Greek Lexicography that bar their access to the treasure.

But when I insist upon the study of English as the only adequate preparation for the study of Greek and Latin, I mean by English study something far other, something far higher, and more generous than the ordinary cram of so-called English school grammars. Our studies in philology will never bear their full fruit, our schools and colleges and universities will never do for our people what they ought, till the study of English is carried far beyond its ordinary bounds, and made to yield, not only a scientific knowledge of the English language but also a practical familiarity with the use of it. I wish therefore to give in outline that course of English study which should be insisted on as an introduction to the study of Greek and Latin.

1st. The parts of speech should be made thoroughly familiar, not by cramming definitions, but by practice in reading. The child should be trained to recognize the function of each word in the sentence, and to identify the parts of speech with rapid and infallible precision. Here especially the distinction between the adverb and the conjunction, so enormously important in the construction of sentences, should be thoroughly taught.

2d. The inflection of the English language should be made entirely familiar. Especially the true inflections of the English verb, with entire rejection of all compound tenses. Potential moods, &c., should be thoroughly taught.

3d. A select course of great English writings should be carefully read so as to widen and deepen the child's store of good English vocabulary. This is by far the most important part of the English education. The teacher should work with the class, guiding their pronunciation, stimulating their intelligence, and explaining the significance of unfamiliar words, and the bearing of illustrations and allusions.

4th. The principles of word-formation should be carefully taught, and then copiously illustrated in reading. The force of the suffixes and prefixes and the meaning and origin of the roots should be made familiar to the mind. The mental habit of arriving at the significance of words by the analysis of their form should be elaborately cultivated.

5th. The logical analysis of sentences should be made clear and easy to the mind. This is a discipline of far-reaching value, not only for the English language itself, but especially for the easy acquisition of the classical languages. The child who is to study language at all, must be trained to understand the relations of words in the simple sentence, and the relations of clauses in complex sentences.

6th. Our pupils' knowledge of the English language, their mastery over both the vocabulary and the constructions of the mother-tongue ought to be tested and confirmed by constant practice in writing English.

In these ways the method of philological training, as marked out for us by the experience of the world and by the principles of mental science, may be seen to lie before us clear and straight. So soon as the child can read, let his philological education begin by copious reading from the great authors of his own language. As he reads on, let the elements of all grammatical knowledge, his practical familiarity with the parts of speech and with the inflections of the English language, be worked into his mind. As he reads on, let the wealth of the English vocabulary, as used both in prose and in poetry, be infused into him, and let his ability to deal with language be strengthened by frequent compositions on subjects that he understands. As he reads on let the structure of English words, the simple elements of etymology, be made clear to him by direct teaching and by examples. As he reads on, let the great science of the logical analysis be unfolded before him; let him see how word combines with word to form the simple predication, how clause modifies clause to build up the complex unity of thought. Then when he has become familiar with these things, when he can use words with understanding of their force, and find his way securely through all the tangled meshes of construction, then, if you choose, let him that, in good King ALFRED's words, wishes to know more, begin the study of the Latin or the Greek. For the mind thus prepared, each step in the new language will be easy and familiar. The rich inflections of the Latin or the Greek will still be, indeed, a severe strain upon the memory; but each inflection, either by its agreements or by its differences, will remind the learner of some fact that he knows already in his English. When, however, he begins to read the Greek or Latin authors, each rule of the foreign syntax will come before his mind as an easy and transparent application of one of those laws of thought that he knows already by the logical analysis of the English sentence. Even the strange word-masses of the foreign vocabulary will rapidly break into their elements before his trained power of observation; they will reveal their meaning to his mind, and record themselves as living facts in his disciplined memory.

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

PREAMBLE.

To elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching, and to promote the cause of popular education in the United States, we whose names are subjoined, agree to adopt the following

CONSTITUTION:

[As Amended July 11, 1876.]

ARTICLE I.-NAME.

This Association shall be styled the National Educational Association.

ARTICLE II.-DEPARTMENTS.

21. It shall consist of five Departments: the first, of School Superintendence; the second, of Normal Schools; the third of Elementary Schools; and the fourth, of Higher Instruction, and the fifth of Industrial Education.

22. Other Departments may be organized in the manner prescribed in this Constitution.

ARTICLE III.-MEMBERSHIP.

21. Any person in any way connected with the work of education shall be eligible to membership. Such person may become a member of this Association by paying two dollars and signing this Constitution; and he may continue a member by the payment of an annual fee of two dollars. On his neglect to pay such fee, his membership shall cease.

? 2. Each department may prescribe its own conditions of membership, provided that no person be admitted to such membership who is not a member of the general Association.

23. Any person eligible to membership may become a life-member by paying at once, twenty dollars.

ARTICLE IV.-OFFICERS.

1. The officers of this Association shall be a President, twelve VicePresidents, a Secretary, a Treasurer, one Counsellor for each State, District, or Territory represented in the Association, and the officers charged with the administration of their respective departments. Any friend of

education may become a life-director by the donation of one hundred dollars to the Association at one time, either by himself or in his behalf. ? 2. The President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Counsellors, Life-Directors, and presiding officers of their respective departments, shall constitute the Board of Directors, and, as such, shall have power to appoint such committees from their own number as they shall deem expedient.

23. The elective officers of the Association shall be chosen by ballot, unless otherwise ordered, on the second day of each annual session, a majority of the votes cast being necessary for a choice. They shall continue in office until the close of the annual session subsequent to their election, and until their successors are chosen.

4. Each department shall be administered by a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and such other officers as it shall deem necessary to conduct its affairs.

? 5. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Directors, and shall perform the duties usually devolving upon a presiding officer. In his absence, the First Vice-President in order who is present shall preside; and in the absence of all the VicePresidents, a pro tempore Chairman shall be appointed on nomination, the Secretary putting the question.

26. The Secretary shall keep a full and accurate report of the proceedings of the general meetings of the Association and all meetings of the Board of Directors; and shall conduct such correspondence as the Directors may assign; and shall have his records present at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Directors. The Secretary of each department shall, in addition to performing the duties usually pertaining to his office, keep a list of the members of his deparment.

? 7. The Treasurer shall receive and hold in safe keeping all moneys paid to the Association, shall expend the same only upon the order of the Committee of Finance; shall keep an exact account of his receipts and expenditures, with vouchers for the latter, which accounts he shall render to the Board of Directors prior to each regular meeting of the Association, and shall also present an abstract thereof to the Association. He shall give bonds for the faithful discharge of his duties as may be required by the Board of Directors.

28. The Board of Directors shall have power to fill all vacancies in their own body; shall have in charge the general interests of the Associa tion; shall make all necessary arrangements for its meetings; and shall do all in their power to make it a useful and honorable institution. Upon the written application of twenty members of the Association for permission to establish a new department, they may grant such permission. Such new department shall in all respects be entitled to the same rights and privileges as the others. The formation of such department shall in effect be a sufficient amendment to this Constitution for the insertion of its name in Article II., and the Secretary shall make the necessary alterations.

29. The Board of Directors shall appoint three trustees into whose hands shall be placed for safe keeping and investment, all funds which

the Association may receive from the creation of life-directorships, or from donations, unless the donors shall specify other purposes for which they may be used. The income of such funds so invested shall be used exclusively in defraying the expense of publishing the annual volume of the Association, unless the donors shall specify otherwise. The Board of Directors shall require such trustees to give to the Association their joint bond in a sum equal to twice the amount of such trust fund as may be in their hands.

ARTICLE V.-MEETINGS.

1. The annual meeting of the Association shall be held at such time and place as shall be determined by the Board of Directors.

22. Special meetings may be called by the President at the request of five Directors.

23. Any department of the Association may hold a special meeting at such time and place as by its own regulations it shall appoint.

24. The Board of Directors shall hold their regular meetings at the place, and not less than two hours before the assembling of the Association.

5. Special meetings may be held at such other times and places as the Board or the President shall determine.

26. Each new Board shall organize on the day of its election. At its first meeting a Committee on Publication shall be appointed, which shall consist of the Secretary of the Association for the previous year, and one member from each department.

ARTICLE VI.-BY-LAWS.

By-Laws not inconsistent with this Constitution may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Association.

ARTICLE VII.-AMENDMENTS.

This Constitution may by altered or amended at a regular meeting by the unanimous vote of the members present or by a two-thirds vote of the members present, provided that the alteration or amendment has been substantially proposed in writing at a previous regular meeting.

BY-LAWS.

1. At each regular meeting of the Association there shall be appointed a Committee on Nominations; one on Honorary Members; and one on Resolutions.

2. The President, First Vice-President, and Secretary, shall constitute a Committee on Finance.

3. Each paying member of the Association shall be entitled to a copy of its proceedings.

4. No paper, lecture, or address, shall be read before the Association or any of its departments, in the absence of its author, nor shall any such paper, lecture, or address, be published in the volume of proceedings. without the consent of the Association in each case.