ties, particularly the fatal mistake of confounding ideas with the words which express them, a mistake still common, in spite of all that parrots do to expose its absurdity.

Another important point is, that a teacher should be aware of the very complex nature of some of the processes to be passed through by a learner. 、 A A young child may be able to count ten marks or ten apples, and yet be far from understanding the principle which the teacher understands as involved in the operation. It appears to us perfectly obvious, and yet how difficult it is to explain to one who does not! An apple is called one, and the next, two. Why? Whence has the second this new name? For words, when applied to visible objects, are to be presumed to be names of them or of some of their apparent qualities, until the contrary is shown. If the child learns that the words one and two are numbers, he is usually left to do it by some indirect inference. A child may know all the letters of the alphabet, and be able to spell a word, and yet have no idea that the letters when written are to be confined to any particular order. A child of four years, who could form letters on a slate, and spell its own name, once showed very clearly that in respect to the fashions of writings, it had not yet discovered whether it had been born in China, where they write from top to bottom of the page; in Arabia, where they write from right to left; or in the early ages, when they wrote from right to left and left to right alternately, like oxen ploughing a field. In many steps, apparently as simple and truly as complicated as these, the child needs explanation, to withhold which, is to refuse straw while you require bricks; and blame, frowns, or blows, will not make him surmount the obstacle. teacher who faithfully studies the minds of his children and his own, will be able to open to them a pleasing and an improving passage through the path of learning, which, but for his care, will be beset with many discouragements.

The

And here how important appears the personal character of an instructor! How reasonably do the Prussians require their teachers to pursue self-improvement as a business for life! How happy will it be for America, when our teachers shall regard this duty in its full importance! Though we are not yet supplied with seminaries for their instruction, we have some advantages in the peculiar na

ture of society among us which Prussia does not offer, for their preparation, in life; and here also we find circumstances very favorable to their progressive improvement, among our domestic and social scenes. The daily cultivation of personal character, therefore, should always appear as an imperative duty to the school-master and mistress; and if unaffected piety lay the foundation, what results may not be anticipated?

Methods of instruction, which form so important a part of the management of a common school, we may properly regard with more particular attention after the remarks which have already been made. Much of the art of reading and spelling depend upon habits of sight and hearing formed by frequent repetitions of forms and sounds. During the time devoted to these branches, therefore, the organs appropriate should be actively exercised; for they have more to do with the pupil's progress than is generally supposed. Both the sight and sound of the letters composing a word need to be frequently repeated, to make the necessary impression on the mind of the learner; and hence has probably arisen the preference given in some of our western regions to what are called "Loud schools," in which the scholars study viva voce. The practice might be useful were it not attended with a confusion which more than counterbalances the benefit.

Spelling should sometimes be performed simultaneous, and sometimes somewhat rapidly; as a rapid utterance usually produces sounds more nearly resembling the words which they form.

Reading, it is now pretty extensively admitted, should be taught before spelling, or rather in company with it. That is, a child should be taught to read first a few simple sentences, composed of familiar words so arranged and repeated that he should find one or more known words in each successive sentence. The spelling of these words should then commence, and reading and spelling afterwards proceed together. It proves an experiment, that a child can discriminate between two words as easily as between two letters. Now the difficulty of exciting interest, and therefore attention also, is the great obstacle to improvement by the common method; but this obstacle is removed in a great degree, when intelligible words and sentences

are presented; for the child perceives his own progress, and the utility of his exertions. And why is it more unreasonable to teach a word before teaching the letters which compose it, any more than to name a tree before counting its leaves or branches? And this principle being once admitted, is capable of various applications, particularly in simultaneous instruction. Point out to a class of beginners, a word on a page or card, and call upon all to show where it is repeated. The proof of their accuracy is always to be found by comparing the orthography; and in this also all the class may be active. The forms and names of letters may at first be learnt out of order; a short time will then suffice to teach the alphabet. It should be a daily exercise for children at their seats, to write on slates, from memory or otherwise, the words or sentences they have last been taught. Another useful exercise for beginners, is, to find on a page or card given letters or words, so as to be able to point them all out at recitation. The close attention to their forms, the constant comparison of things which they are able to compare, are useful exercises for the mind, and occupations favorable to the order of the school.

Writing has proved, in many instances, a powerful aid to learning letters, figures, spelling, reading, defining and composition, as well as arithmetic, geography, grammar, &c. In some schools it is the first branch to which the child is introduced. Children of five, and even three years of age, or less, will often hold a pencil well, and take pleasure in its use. They may be easily kept employed with slates or black boards, a considerable part of the day; an important desideratum with district teachers, who are liable to be entrusted with such children as are in the way at home. Large letters printed on cards, or painted upon the walls, afford convenient copies for them; and the art of writing has often been thus silently acquired; for the case offers no obstacle to an unassisted learner; and children will do anything that is possible when properly encouraged.

Pens should not be placed in the hands of children at first, but pencils, crayons or chalk. These last will neither blot nor spread, nor hold ink, nor spatter, nor draw hairs after them to mar the writer's work, nor vary in stiffness, nor split crooked, nor from end to end. Besides, they will

make no indelible record of defects and failures. They will not, in short, expose the inexperienced writer to a complication of unnecessary discouragements. An experienced instructor has advised school-masters to attend writing schools themselves, that they might learn how to make allowances for the unintentional errors of their own pupils.

In writing, uniformity embraces many excellencies, and the want of it is ruinous. Too little stress is laid on this quality. Heights, distances, sizes, slopes, curves, body strokes and hair strokes, in similar letters must be alike. Now, although certain defects in single strokes may be best cured by writing slowly, uniformity is sometimes best attained by rather quickened motion. There appears to be something like a pendulum motion in the fingers, hand, or arm, when the execution is best; and to write very slowly seems sometimes to embarrass the muscles, and incapacitate them for their perfect operation. A young child, or an untaught adult will sometimes make straight and curved lines with great uniformity and even beauty, if allowed to move the hand freely and rapidly, as with chalk upon a smooth surface; when, if he should attempt to do the same very slowly, his lines would be stiff and awkward. If children write on slates daily, and only occasionally upon paper, they keep their books in much better condition. Economy also recommends this practice.

In the study of English Grammar, the practice of applying the rules to familiar spoken language is of much greater practical use, than that of parsing in books, though the latter should by no means be omitted. The rules should never be forgotten, but used as the guides of speech and writing through life. This, however, they never will be, unless the habit is formed at school. Let children, therefore, be required daily to point out the different parts of speech in sentences of their own conversation the more familiar they are the better for beginners- and to apply syntax to their own words, and they will become practical grammarians. In recitations from the grammar, they should be often required to depart from the set forms of the book; as, instead of conjugating a verb through all its variations, sometimes by naming the first persons singular of all moods and tenses, or the second or third

persons plural; sometimes by giving the present or imperfect tenses of all the moods; sometimes by going over some of these in a reversed order; sometimes by crossing the beaten track of the grammar in respect to pronouns, and other parts of speech. In short, the teacher should always have before his eyes the dangers of falling into a

mere routine.

The teacher should never be content to be regarded as indifferent to the wonders of nature and art, by which he will find himself and his pupils in some degree surrounded, even in the most remote and solitary districts in our land. The nature and powers of the human frame, the productions of nature, the various instincts and uses of domestic animals, the curious instruments and valuable results of the arts of life, the operations of government, the nature, source and obligations of law, both human and divine, are subjects, concerning which, the minds of his pupils will be exercised, and of which they will necessarily gather enough knowledge by observation, to be prepared to receive more by instruction. And it is, chiefly, because the branches of school learning have intimate relations with all these, and the pupils are to be in some measure dependant upon them all throughout life for their comfort, and even their existence, that the school is worth attending, and that his office is truly dignified and interesting beyond those of most other men. Concerning all these things he must, in a sense, inevitably teach something. If he checks his pupils in the inquiries on any of them, he virtually teaches that these are not worthy of their attention, or that they are entirely beyond their comprehension; either of which would be untrue. He must too highly appreciate them all, and know too much of them, to be willing to be totally silent concerning any. Five minutes in a day, or even in a week, devoted to familiarly questioning a class or the whole school on such topics, will materially promote general interest and order, and prove useful to every mind.

One of the most effectual means for the useful occupation of that time now wasted in school, is an occasional resort to new forms and topics of instruction. The measure of a lecture to almost any audience, is about an hour; and, in arranging the exercises of a grave assemblage of men or women, it is thought indispensable, frequently, to change