"I do not count the hours I spend In wandering by the sea; The forest is my loyal friend, Like God it useth me." Again, in the "Apology," he says:-- "Think me not unkind and rude That I walk alone in grove and glen; I go to the god of the wood To fetch his word to men." And Lowell, in "The Bobolink":-- "As long, long years ago I wandered, I seem to wander even yet. The hours the idle schoolboy squandered, The man would die ere he'd forget. O hours that frosty eld deemed wasted, Nodding his gray head toward my books, I dearer prize the lore I tasted With you, among the trees and brooks, Than all that I have gained since then From learned books or study-withered men." And Whittier says:-- "Our uncle, innocent of books, Was rich in lore of fields and brooks, The ancient teachers never dumb Of Nature's unhoused lyceum." It would not be difficult to recall other passages from Bryant, Shakespeare, Byron, and many others, expressing this love of solitude in woods or on the seashore, and the wisdom to be gained from such communion with nature. This active retrospect to gather up kindred thoughts out of previous studies and mingle them with the newer influx of radiant ideas from master minds is a fruitful mode of assimilating and compounding knowledge. It may be advisable at times for the teacher to bring together a few additional passages from still wider sources, expressive of a thought kindred to that worked out in the class. Such study leads to a self-reliant, enthusiastic companionship with the thoughts of great men, and is most profitable. 4. There is a pronounced value in dramatic representation of literary selections. The impersonating of characters gives an intensity and realism to the thought that cannot be effected in any other way. In some cases it is possible to provide a stage and some degree of costuming, to lend more complete realization of the scenes. In favor of such dramatic efforts it may be said that children, even in the earlier grades, are naturally dramatic, and enjoy greatly both seeing and participating in them. It gives scope to their natural tendency toward action, rather than repose, and proper verbal expression is more easily secured in conjunction with action than without it. In this connection it may be said that acting lends greater freedom and spontaneity to the reading. Schlegel, in his description of dramatic art, says:--