The championship of the world passed from
France to England in 1843, when Howard Staun
ton defeated Saint-Arrant. Staunton was de
feated by Anderssen in 1851, and he in turn, in
1859, by I'aul Morphy. of Yew Orleans, who was
proLably the most brilliant player who ever lived.
W. Stein itz, of New York is now the acknowledged
champion, with E Lasker, of Vienna, coming in
to prominence as a player of the later school,
which depends on gaining a number of small ad
vantages rather than upon the brilliant combina
tions of thirty ycars ago. The extraordinary pow
er of playing blindfold, "salts voir," is mentioned
as one of the great features of modern chess, Ten
to fifteen blindfold games have been played at one
time by Blackburne, Zukertort, and others. The
members of the Sphinx Club may be interested to
know that it is cla med
. that any one of ordinary
ability can learn to play at least one blindfold
game,
Among sedentary games it can be safely said
that chess has no equal. It furnishes an ex
cellent means of recreation, not so much in the
form of amusement, perhaps, as by simply taking
possession of the mental faculties and .diverting
them from their accustomed grooves. Too many
in college seem to be possessed with the idea that
chess is "too deep" to make it worth their while
to learn. This is a mistake. The moves may be
learned in half an hour, and in a very. short time
one will acquire skill enough to playa game that
will afford much pleasure to himself, and to his in
structor as well. The beginner will soon be con•
vinced that an ignorant management of the pieces
will not lead to success, and he will be eager to
learn the different modes of opening the game,
and to study their variations. The debuts are easi
ly learned, and one can well afford the time neces
sary for acquiring them ; for he then has at hand a
profitable, as well as a pleasant means of employ •
ing leisure time that might otherwise be devoted
to light reading or games of chance.
The lessons of chess are in many cases the les
sons of life. Benjamin Franklin says "life is a
THE FREE LANCE.
kind of chess," and further: ''By playing at chess,
then, we may learn : (t) Foresight, which looks a
little into futurity, and considers the consequences
that may attend an action. (2) Circumspection,
which surveys the whole chess-board, or scene of
action. (3) Caution, not to make our moves to,
hastily." '93. JOHN GREER WALSH.
The College Association of the Middle States
and Maryland, at its fourth annual convention,
considered the subject of Best Methods of Deter
mining and Recording the Scholarship of Students.
From the paper on this subject prepared by Dean
Horace Jayne, of the University of Pennsylvania,
we quote the following statements: "Recitations
upon definite assigned work, with practical exer
cises to show that the sul:ject is understood and
not merely committed to memory, are beyond all
question, in my judgment, the best method of in
struction * * * The most unsatis •
factory method of instruction, when used alone,
is the lecture method." "I cannot but regard this
largely as a survival of medimval times, when
books were few. I know of nothing which can be
claimed for the lecture but the personal stimula
tion derived from the enthusiasm of' the instructor
—if he possess it. This quality, however, will
make itself just as manifest is the recitation."
Undoubtedly this estimate of recitations versus
lectures is accordant with the judgment of the ma
jority of experienced and thoughtful educators.
The suggestion, however, that the leCture meth •
od is a survival of mediaeval ages when books
were scarce, seems only to account for the origin,
scarcely to explain why it survives. The reason
of survival is double, a limited truth and a general
error. For the limited number who by thorough
study of specialties are prepared to profit by the
latest work of the masters in these subjects, the
lecture method has no rival, and survives by the
THE ARENA.
Two NOTES, PEDAGOGIC