consult an encyclopedia about this word, or its English equivalent, he would probably realise the necessity of getting acquainted with the character of the Gauls and of revising in the same book an account of the battle of Pharsalia. The importance of this part of the work, from the standpoint of general knowledge, will be realised at once, as well as the necessity of having a good reference library in every school.

Chapter III.-Disposition

Étudier tout le monde et n'imiter personne.-FAGUET.

Selection. When we have accumulated ideas on a subject, it is necessary, before placing them in their final order, to make a selection, some being retained and others rejected without mercy. This selection is not an easy matter; we are not generally inclined to part with what we have collected,—maybe a large number of details gathered only after considerable exertion, and to which the association of ideas may already have allotted places in the essay. Yet there should be no hesitation whatever anything that weakens the attention due to the main fact in each paragraph should be discarded. The reader's mind has to be concentrated upon the principal idea underlying the whole essay or the whole paragraph. Any superfluous display of details that might counteract this, is harmful, and must therefore disappear.

Arrangement.-Outline.-How are we to erect our structure with what remains after this selection? First of all a plan or outline is required, whether we are treating a narration or a développement de pensée. In framing this outline the following principles should be observed.

Unity. The leading character or fact around which everything else must be grouped, a most important feature of an essay, has to be first discovered. This requires some practice, aided by the study of the best French authors in whose writings

various ways of grouping subordinate facts around a central idea can be observed. Among these authors, La Fontaine stands foremost for our purpose; his Fables provide an inexhaustible mine of varied examples.

"How must

Movement. The questions that arise next are : we begin and conclude? How must we sustain the interest throughout?" We may adopt an exorde which throws us in medias res or, on the contrary, a fairly detailed introduction. Everything depends upon the circumstances, but a golden rule is that everything necessary to make the reader understand what follows must be contained in the introduction. The sequence of arguments or ideas must be logical. The ending must supply a fitting conclusion and round off the essay so that it forms a harmonious whole.

“Il faut que la cause ou l'effet principal des événements soit visible dans chacun d'eux, qu'à chaque pas l'esprit sente l'action croissante de la cause qu'il a quittée, et la proximité plus grande de l'effet qu'il va toucher; que dans une guerre, à chaque mouvement, à chaque bataille, on découvre la force et la faiblesse des deux partis, les progrès de l'un, les pertes de l'autre, et qu'au moment où arrive l'événement suprême et l'explication dernière, le lecteur prévoie l'issue préparée et devance la conclusion annoncée. Ainsi disposée, la narration est un tissu continu, où les premiers faits attirent et nécessitent les derniers, où la logique, non le hasard, gouverne les choses, où la raison retrouve une image de son ordre et de sa beauté."

TAINE, Essai sur Tite-Live.

Proportion. The artistic impression produced by any work of art, be it a statue or a drawing, depends to a great extent upon the sense of proportion observed throughout. The same impression is left when we read an essay which satisfies our sense of proportion; consequently the length of each paragraph must depend on its importance.

Order of arguments.-As a rule, arguments must be given in the order of their importance, the most striking being reserved for the end. We must never have an anti-climax. Yet there are exceptions, as we may gather from the story of that army officer who had not fired upon a scouting party of the enemy's cavalry, and who on being asked the reason, began his defence by offering half-a-dozen more or less valuable arguments, keeping for the end the fact that all his ammunition had been exhausted some time before. Here, as everywhere else, common sense must decide.

There are cases when two solutions of the question under consideration might be given. In such cases this is the best order to adopt :

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(a) a refutation of the solution that we do not favour :

(b) a refutation of the objections that might be raised against the one we favour;

(c) a demonstration of the latter.

Transitions.-When everything else is settled, attention must be paid to the connecting links which facilitate a smooth transition from one idea to the next. Here again the study of French authors will be found a necessary preliminary in classroom practice.

II.-FORM

Chapter I.-Vocabulary

The need for a sufficient vocabulary, covering wide ground and arranged in methodical order,1 has been previously emphasised. It is required in every branch of language study, but especially in the case of essay-writing. Here, words must not only be known, they should also have been learnt from & special point of view, great attention being given to: (1) Definitions, (2) Word-groups, (3) Meanings, (4) Synonyms.

(1) Definitions.-Exercises in definitions consist in giving, in French, the concise, accurate, clear and correct meaning of each word under consideration. This is one of the most difficult exercises, but it will also confer the greatest benefits, because it aims at fostering the very qualities that accrue from a sound educational training: the power of thinking, and the aptitude for research.

(a) Nouns.-Previous to giving definitions of nouns, there should be an attempt at classifying them, distinguishing in each case to which of the following three subdivisions they belong :(1) Le genre. (2) L'espèce. (3) La subdivision.

The following table will make this preliminary selection

1 Such as in the author's Vocabulaire Français (Bell), or Rippmann's French Picture Vocabulary (Dent).

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The following list of words will provide material for similar classification.

Classify as above :

(a) Easy.

(1) L'habitation, l'hôtel, la maison, la chambre, l'appartement, le mobilier, le matelas, le fauteuil, le manche, le balai, les meubles, la soupe, le jus, la nourriture.

(2) La ferme, le fouet, la crèche, le hangar, la ville, la rue, la place, le pavé, le traîneau, le grain de plomb, le sport.

(3) L'eau, la rivière, la terre, la montagne, le pic, la vague, l'embrun, la mer, le soleil, l'astre, le ciel, une étoile, l'horizon. (4) Le pigeon, l'oiseau, la plume, le lapin, le poil, l'animal, le granit, le minéral.

(b) Difficult.

(1) La construction, le bâtiment, un édifice, le magasin, une usine, un atelier, un instrument, un outil, une arme, le fusil, le canon (barrel), un échantillon, la soie, une étoffe, la trame.

(2) La matière, le liquide, le minéral, la substance, la pierre, le marbre, le fluide, le gaz, l'oxygène, la houille, le charbon, un élément, la goutte, la pluie, le flocon, la neige.

(3) La division, la classe, une école, la sanction, la réprimande, la punition, le chapitre, la ligne, le livre, le problème, une addition, le devoir (homework), la figure, la courbe, la ligne, le point.

In each of the above exercises give the meaning in French of: (1) one noun belonging to a genre; (2) that of one noun belonging to an espèce; (3) that of one noun belonging to a subdivision.

The latter exercise should be attempted without the help of a dictionary, but the results may be checked afterwards.1

1 Using uni-lingual Dictionaries such as Dictionnaire Gazier (Colin), 2 f. 60: Larousse, Dictionnaire complet illustré (Dent), 2s. 6d.