it. Such descriptions would always be read with interest by the young, and would excite them to habits of observation and reflection, besides affording them materials for conversation in their social walks and intercourses. Children are always extremely fond of having their ideas of sensible objects enlarged, and view, with a great degree of interest and pleasure, the representations of them in well-executed engravings. Yet, strange to tell, when I attended school, it would have been considered as a crime to have looked into a book which contained engravings. I recollect of a boy having brought to school a copy of "The Three Hundred Animals," but it was carefully concealed from the teacher, and from most of the scholars, through fear of punishment. We were so anxious, however, to see the novel figures it containedthe magnified picture of the louse and the flea, the bee-hive, the peacock, the elephant, and the whale-that we gave pins, marbles, cherry-stones, gooseberries, and even sometimes a whole halfpenny, to the proprietor, for half an hour's perusal of it.

Some persons will perhaps be disposed to object, that such lessons as I now allude to are either trifling, or, at least, not so important as the moral lessons generally introduced into our ini. tiatory books. In reply to such an insinuation, it may be suffi cient to say, that it can never be unimportant to convey a welldefined idea of any object worthy of being known, to the mind of a child, if it is admitted that the great object of education is to communicate the elements of thought. And as to producing moral impressions, every pious and intelligent teacher has an opportunity afforded of impressing the minds of his pupils with a sense of the Goodness, Omnipresence, and Agency of God, every time he is teaching a lesson which is descriptive of the works of nature. Morality can never be effectually taught to the young by vague exhortations, and general rules and maxims,—more especially when such instructions are not thoroughly understood. If we wish to impress the youthful mind with the odiousness of vice, and the excellence of virtue, we must fix upon particular actions, apply to them moral rules or precepts, and illustrate, by familiar examples, their nature and tendency. Every teacher has daily an opportunity of directing the attention of his pupils to certain actions, both good and bad, which appear in their general conduct; and the judicious remarks he makes on the temper and dispositions manifested by particular individuals, will make a more definite and lasting impression upon the minds of the young than can be produced by the mere reading or repetition of moral naxims or general rules. And every child who has been regularly taught to understand every sentence he reads, and to exer

cise his judgment upon it, will undoubtedly be better prepared than others for forming a judgment of the propriety or impropriety of certain moral actions, when they are explained to him with simplicity and clearness. In a more advanced stage of education, however, moral lessons, accompanied with examples of virtues and vices, may with great propriety be introduced.

Some may likewise be disposed to inquire whether I intend to set aside exercises on the powers of the letters and the elementary sounds. Although I do not attach so much importance to such exercises as has generally been done, yet I would not altogether set them aside. Lists of monosyllables, exemplifying the long and short sounds of the vowels, and the pronunciation peculiar to certain combinations of the consonants, might be pasted upon cards, and hung up in view of the different classes; on which they might be occasionally exercised, rather as a kind of interlude or amusement than as a serious task. But it appears quite preposterous to confine a child for four or five months to the pronunciation of mere sounds, to which no ideas are attached. And, from a good deal of experience, I am convinced that the true pronunciation of words is to be acquired more from reading interesting lessons, and from the occasional remarks of the teacher on particular sounds as they occur, than by long and tedious exer cises on the orthography of the language.

In a more advanced stage of education, after the pupil has read two or three small volumes consisting of such easy descriptive pieces as those alluded to above, a volume consisting of selections of a higher order may be put into his hands. So early as the year 1809, I had formed, and partly executed, the plan of a volume of this description, calculated to excite the attention of the young, to convey real knowledge to their minds, and to render the exercise of reading pleasant and profitable. In some papers connected with this projected work, I find the following" General outline of Contents:"

1. Short and familiar lessons. 2. Narratives of real occurrences and facts. 3. Juvenile Biography-comprising anecdotes and lives of young persons who had made early progress in knowledge: early life of Sir I. Newton, of Ferguson the astronomer, of Pascal, Gassendi, Grotius, Crichton, Horrox, Baratiere, &c. &c. 4. Selections from Sacred History: History of the creation and fall of man-of the deluge of the destruction of Sodom-of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Samuel of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and the leading events which befel them in the wilderness and in Canaan-of the life and translation of Elijah-of the deliverances of Jonah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego; Paul, Peter, &c.—of the circumstances which attended the birth, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the preaching of the Apostles-with illustrative remarks and observa

tions, a map of the land of Judea, plans of the tabernacle and temple, and figures of the sacred utensils and vestments used in the Jewish worship. 5. Descriptions of objects connected with Natural History and Natural Philosophy: Forms, habits, and instincts of animals, with anecdotes; Natural curiosities-such as basaltic columns, boiling springs, icebergs, glaciers, volcanoes, whirlpools, natural bridges, subterraneous caverns, Banian tree, &c.; Brief description of the parts and functions of the human bodythe organs of sense, and the different kinds of knowledge they communicate. Phenomena of Nature in the atmosphere and the heavens: Properties of air-weight and pressure of the atmosphere, with descriptions of a few simple illustrative experiments; Descriptions of thunder-storms, luminous and fiery meteors, the aurora-borealis, the clouds the rainbow, the ignis-fatuus, rain, hail, dew, waterspouts, hurricanes, sounds, and echoes; Descriptions of the mechanical powers-of electrical, magnetical, and optical instruments -of the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies-of the more interesting phenomena connected with the earth, and the other bodies which compose the solar system, &c. 6. Illustrations and descriptions of certain arts and trades: Pin-making, weaving, printing, paper-making, glass-blowing, &c. 7. Useful hints on various subjects: On taking care of books-cautions respecting the preservation of health-the dangers arising from fire, confined air, noxious gases-the prevention of accidents and infectious diseases-rules for the promotion of order, cleanliness, and activity; for cooking victuals, eradicating stains, nursing children, washing, dressing, laying out garden plots, and for promoting domestic economy-characteristics of poisonous plants, cautions in relation to unripe fruits, &c. &c. 8. Short moral maxims, pithy sayings, and rules for the general regulation of conduct. 9. Dialogues: "The little Philosopher," "The King and the Miller," &c. 10. Customs and manners of nations. Sketch of Geography, -descriptions of cities, towns, and remarkable places. 11. Entertaining experiments magnetical, electrical, pneumatical, galvanic, mechanical, chemical, &c. 12. Juvenile amusements: flying the kite, fives, peg-top, swinging, bathing, &c. with cautionary maxims. 13. Select Poetry, consisting only of pieces interesting to the young, and level to their capacity. 14. Lessons in written characters, for habituating children to read manuscripts and epistolary correspondence. 15. List of names and qualities of natural and artificial objects, as exercises in spelling; during which, short descriptions might be given of the nature and properties of the dif ferent objects whose names are proposed as spelling-exercises. 16. List of Greek and Latin primitives and prepositions, with examples of their meaning, and the effect of their composition in English words. 17. Definitions of scientific terms, and of the more difficult words which occur in the lessons. 18. Tables of money, weights, and measures, with illustrations of the value of coins, the capacity of measures, linear dimensions, &c. 19. A general set of queries, referring to some of the principal subjects described in the lessons.

Such was the outline of a class-book which was intended to be published six-and-twenty years ago. One peculiarity by which it was intended to be distinguished, was-that a set of questions without answers, bearing on every particular object and circumstance detailed, was to be appended to each lesson, for exercis

ing the attention and judgment of the pupil, previous to his being examined on the subject. The various subjects introduced were intended to be partly original composition, partly compilations, and partly selections, abridged, modified, or altered, to suit the object in view. Fables and fictitious stories were to be entirely discarded, and the leading facts to be illustrated by engravings. After composing a preface or introduction, showing the utility of such a work, and obviating objections that might be made to its plan, and having proceeded a certain length in its compilation, I was induced to lay aside the design, in consequence of the apathy and indifference of most of the teachers I conversed with on the subject. Some of them who stood high on the ranks of city and parochial schoolmasters told me plainly, that they considered it as no part of their duty to teach their pupils any thing but reading or pronunciation, and that if their parents wished them to understand what they read, they might teach them at home.

Such a school-book is still a desideratum, notwithstanding some improvements which have lately been made in school-collections. Whether it would be expedient to publish such a work at the present time, the public must determine. If properly executed, it would require a considerable degree of labour and research, a discriminating judgment, a familiar acquaintance with the tastes and dispositions of the young, and a talent for simplifying descriptions, and rendering them perspicuous to a youthful understanding. Such a book could not be constructed either by the scissors, or by merely copying or abridging pieces from various authors; but by entering thoroughly into the spirit of every subject, and modifying it in such a manner as to interest the affections, and to convey well-defined ideas to the minds of those for whose improvement it is intended. The formation of the questions on each lesson would require a considerable share of judg ment and discrimination, so as to render them perspicuous and specific. Most of the questions of this kind which have been attempted in certain school-books, are so general and vague, that they serve no useful purpose either to teacher or scholar, and are frequently so worded and arranged, that a pupil might find out. the answers without understanding them or exercising his own judgment. It is, unquestionably, an eligible plan, in every department of learning, to have sets of questions without answers, bearing on every branch of study. Such questions tend to excite the curiosity of the pupil, to exercise his judgment, and to arrest his attention to the subject; and the finding out of the proper answers affords him a certain degree of pleasure. They are also

of utility to the teacher, and may suggest to him numerous other subordinate questions connected with the subject. The old plan of constructing books by way of "Question and Answer,” and causing the vocables of the different answers to be committed to memory without being understood, is too absurd to require a moment's consideration.

It will be admitted, I presume, by every intelligent person, that a class-book, judiciously arranged and executed, and comprising such subjects as above stated, would be far more interesting to the young, and calculated to convey to their minds a much greater portion of useful information, than all the "Beauties of eminent Writers," "Speeches in the Roman Senate," "English Readers," "Tyro's Guides," and "Oratorical Class-books," which have been so long in use in our English schools. Such a book should contain hints and sketches of every thing that has a tendency to expand the intellectual views, and which may be applied to use. ful practical purposes in the several departments of human life, and be completely purified from every thing that might produce national prejudice and partiality, the spirit of contention and warfare, and the indulgence of selfish and malignant affections-in short, a book which might be read with pleasure by the young who understood its language, in every nation of the world. In the hands of a judicious teacher, every idea it contained might be communicated to the understandings of the pupils; and, as early impressions are the most lasting, the sentiments conveyed, and the impressions thus made upon the mind, could not fail to be of incalculable service to them throughout the whole course of their lives. The foundation of useful knowledge would be laid, and a taste for intellectual pleasures induced, which would stimulate them to still higher pursuits and investigations as they advanced in life.-Nor need we have the least fear that children, at an early age, would be incapable of acquiring such knowledge as that to which I allude. If they have not hitherto acquired it, it is because such knowledge as they were capable of acquiring has seldom been judiciously presented before them. We have compelled them to "feed upon ashes"-we have offered them "scorpions" instead of "eggs," and "stones" instead of "bread;" and because they vere unable to masticate and digest such substances, we have deprived them of wholesome and nutritious food, and wondered why they have not been strengthened and invigorated. When truth is simplified by familiar illustrations taken from objects with which they are acquainted, and confirmed by appeals to their senses, they imbibe it with avidity, and frequently retain the im pressions thus made to the latest period of their existence. The