ject to which the parents object, but devote to them much or little time in proportion to the opinions which the most influential entertain of them. This also is an undue yielding to the interference of the people, and must be firmly opposed. The masters must weigh well the relative importance of each subject, being guided in this a good deal by the circumstances of the localities, and then devote to each the exact time they think correct.

Exceptional cases. There will, however, occasionally arise a few exceptional cases, no matter how well the general rule has been studied. It is in dealing with these that the teacher shows his tact and ability. It is by judiciously varying the general rules, when no principle is involved, to suit peculiarities daily arising, that schools are made popular.

16. Importance of the teacher's office. There is scarcely any office under the Government which tends more directly to produce the social well-being of the people than that of the teacher. A good school prevents crime, and thereby adds to the value and security of property, and forms beneficially the manners and character of the people. A teacher has it in his power to plant sedition and discord, to sow treason and corruption, irreligion and immorality, and, frequently, to unite the people together for evil; or he may cultivate allegiance to the sovereign, obedience to God, and respect for our fellow-man; and he who has so much in his power for good or evil, and chooses the right course, is deserving of the highest respect of his fellow-citizens-respect in proportion to the power he possesses without abusing it. 'But the amount of honour and emolument actually attached to their calling depends, as is the case with other callings, not upon its intrinsic importance, but upon the feelings with which it is regarded by society at large. If not taught to view the matter in this light, there will always be a considerable risk that the efforts of the Training College authorities to impress the students with a sense of their responsibility, and the fact that the course of instruction is carried on by the stimulus of literary examinations, may produce a combination of zeal-half professional, and half religious—with personal ambition which can lead only to disappointment and discontent. The occu

pation of an elementary schoolmaster is not well fitted for a young man of an adventurous, stirring, or ambitious character, and it is rather a misfortune than otherwise, when persons of that temper of mind are led into it by the prospect which its earlier stages appear to afford of rising in the world socially as well as intellectually. It is a life which requires a quiet even temper, patience, sympathy, fondness for children, and habitual cheerfulness. It wants rather good sense and quiet intelligence than a very inquisitive mind or very brilliant talents, and the prospects which it affords appear

IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHER'S OFFICE. 317

well calculated to attract the class of persons best fitted for it. A schoolmaster is sure of a good income (in England), a great deal of leisure, and moderate labour as long as his health lasts. If his prospects are not so extensive as in some other walks of life, they He is never out of work. He is affected only casually and indirectly by the vicissitudes of trade, and he fills a position which, if not socially all that he could wish, is universally recognised as respectable and useful.' 1

are more sure.

A great deal of the respect given to his office depends upon the teacher himself. All persons acquainted with the habits of the poor, know that they respect persons rather than systems. They value the teacher and not his teaching, or rather they confer upon his office the respect they have for the man. Teachers, therefore, should live uprightly and honourably, so as to deserve and gain the good-will of those amongst whom they are placed.

1 Report of Education Commissioners, 1861-2, vol. i. p. 162.

APPENDIX.

ON MUSIC.

THE PRACTICE of Vocal Music, so humanising in its effect, is, I am sorry to say, very much neglected in the majority of National Schools. It must be allowed, however, that it is not always possible to have music properly taught, or indeed taught at all, in such schools. A man may be an excellent teacher of every other subject of the school course, and yet not have the slightest ear for music; and in this case it would be useless for him to attempt to teach what he could not have possibly learnt himself; but where there is ordinary musical ability sufficient to enable a teacher to learn Wilhem's system' as adapted by Hullah for the use of schools, he should be encouraged to study it earnestly, in order that he may be able to give his children a good theoretical and practical knowledge of Vocal Music.

If closely followed out, there is no system of teaching singing more easily progressive or more successful than that explained in Hullah's Manual,' and I would advise a teacher to confine himself strictly to the lessons contained in it until the children are able to sol-fa with ease and quickness, read any simple piece in time without singing, and sing the common scale in different keys, both in sol-faing and vocalising, to the sound of A, which latter practice teaches the children to open their mouths sufficiently, a thing they seem very unwilling to do, in country schools especially.

The common scale. 'It is important that the teacher should render the study of the theory of music applicable alike to vocal and instrumental. He should begin by explaining the alphabet of music; making the children familiar with the Italian syllables, representing the names of the notes of the scale, as well as with the corresponding letters C, D, E, F, &c., which are generally used for these in the practice of instrumental music in Great Britain.

'Let the terms scale (from scalum), which is used in vocal music, and gamut (from gamma), which is used in instrumental music, be then explained, and shown to be equivalent in meaning. Repeated

exercises on ascending and descending the ordinary scale should next be practised, until the pupils can run up and down by the syllabic and alphabetical names, and also by vocalising the open vowel sound of A.

'At this stage of instruction I would not advise any reference to the distinctions of tones and semitones, as I deem the introduction of these terms more correct when the pupils are far enough advanced to understand what is meant by sharps and flats.

Musical notation. 'Take a well-known melody-say the second part of "God save the Queen." Sing it over for the pupils, and enquire if they distinguish anything remarkable in its composition besides the difference in the sounds of the notes. You will get the answer, that in 'Long to reign over us,” the notes are sung quicker than in the previous part of the melody. Explain then that while difference of sound or pitch in musical notes is denoted by the position of the note on the stave, difference in duration is represented by the shape of the musical character.

Begin to teach the table of time, by drawing, at the left-hand corner of a black-board, a round open note which you term a breve, and explain that the breve is seldom used in modern notation, being confined to such as chant-music, where a number of syllables are consecutively sung to the same note. The longest note in ordinary use is the semibreve, to which the nominal value of four seconds may be given. Each gradual alteration in shape of this note diminishes the length of the note one-half; thus, adding a stem to it forms the minim, valued for two beats; filling up the head of the minim forms the crotchet; adding a hook to the crotchet gives the quaver; and a second hook to the latter forms the semiquaver, &c. &c. The duration of the notes is thus in the order of 4, 2, 1, 1⁄2, &c., and intermediate lengths are designated by means of the dot, which has the power of prolonging the length of the note to which it is affixed, by one-half to its previous length. The tie or bind is used instead of the dot when the last note of a bar is to be united to the first, if of the same name, in the following bar. It is also used in cases where the dot would be inapplicable, as in prolonging a minim by a quaver, &c. When the tie unites notes occupying different positions on the stave, it is then called a slur. The rests corresponding in name and duration to the different lengths of notes should be next drawn on the right side of the board, and exercises, in which they occur, should be frequently practised by the children. The pupils should now be made familiar with the application of the relative lengths of notes and rests by a systematic repetition of the exercises on common time, as given in Hullah's sheets.

The different musical times. Different kinds of musical time are expressed by figures arranged in the form of a fraction; and in explaining these to the class, care should be taken to suit the instruction to the capacities of the different pupils. The figure below the line in the fractional index representing the time, always shows the value of a semibreve expressed in a lower denomination; while the figure above the line shows the number of such divisions to be found in each bar. For instance, in time represented by the fraction, the figure 8 shows