signification and use can be made on the juvenile mind. A boy may be taught to distinguish the character 9 from the rest of the digits, and yet may remain devoid of a distinct conception of the idea for which it stands; and, in the same manner, he may be taught by rote, that 9+8=17; that 16-9=7; that 7 times 8 are 56; and that the quotient of 84, divided by 14, is equal to 6, without attaching any definite conception to such arithmetical processes. By neglecting to illustrate the fundamental rules of arithmetical computation, in a familiar and amusing manner, by presenting to the eye the precise objects or ideas which numbers represent, we leave the young arithmetician to grope in the dark, and to a vagueness and confusion of conception in all the subse quent operations of this useful study. In most of our elementary arithmetical works, the questions for exersise in the different rules are not so simple and interesting to young minds as they might be rendered. The practical use of the various operations the commercial transactions to which they refer, and the extent and capacity of the weights and mea. sures about which their calculations are employed, are seldom appreciated with any degree of precision, for want of the original ideas denoted by the terms employed, and for want of those models and representations of money, weights, and measures, by which they might be illustrated. In many instances, too, there is a studied brevity and obscurity, and a tendency to puzzle and perplex, instead of rendering the operations of arithmetic simple and perspicuous. While a young person may easily be made to perceive the object and meaning of such questions as the following "What is the price of 30 lemons at twopence a-piece?" or, "If one pair of shoes cost 5s. 6d., what will 7 pair of shoes cost?"—he is quite puzzled to conceive what is the precise meaning of scores of questions arranged in columns in the following manner-497865 a ‡d.—7643984 a 33d.-46794 a 4s. 74d.— 444766 a 158. 114d., &c. &c. Even although he may happen to perform mechanically the operations intended, he frequently knows nothing at all of the principle and object of his calculations. It is true, indeed, the teacher is expected to explain the nature and design of such questions; but in a crowded promiscuous school he cannot afford time to give the necessary explanations to every individual. And why should it be requisite? Why should not every book on arithmetic be so perspicuous and explicit as to render the meaning and object of every question clear and well defined even to the youthful understanding? And why should not questions, circumstances, and objects, be selected as arithmetical exercises, which are familiar to the young, and ca. culated to awaken their curiosity and attention? In short, the greater part of our arithmetical treatises, like our "School Collections," "English Readers," and "Beauties of Eminent Writers," are calculated for men of advanced years, instead of being adapted to the capacities and the range of thought possessed by boys and girls of from eight to twelve years of age. I might have enlarged to an indefinite extent on this topic; but several additional remarks may be introduced more appropriately in the sequel, when I shall take an opportunity of throwing out a few hints for the improvement of the present system of edu cation. In addition to the above remarks, I shall now briefly state a few miscellaneous circumstances which have a tendency either to impede the education of the young, or to render it disagreeable and irksome. I. In the first place, in most of our schools both in town and country-there is a deplorable want of ample accommodation, and of convenient school furniture. In many cases, a hundred children are compressed into a space scarcely sufficient for the easy accommodation of one-third of that number, and appear huddled together like a flock of sheep pent up in a narrow pen. Scarcely a passage can be obtained for moving from one place to another; and when one class is about to retire, and another is called up, a noise, and jostling, and hubbub ensue, which throws the whole school into confusion. The narrow and unsteady forms on which the scholars are obliged to sit the awkward tables-the confined air-and the press and general disorder which frequently occur, all conspire to render the hours devoted to instruction tedious and unpleasant, and to make the school partake something of the nature of a jail.* Besides, in most of our cities and towns, the school-rooms are generally situated in dark closes or narrow lanes, where there is a sufficiency neither of light nor of pure air, nor of space for the occasional amusement of the children; so that learning, instead of being connected with cheerful and enlivening objects, becomes associated with every thing that is gloomy, dirty, and disagreeable. A school has gene. rally been considered as a "noisy mansion ;" and, as presently *It may be proper to state, that in these, and the preceding and subsequent remarks, there is no particular allusion to Grammar-schools and other public seminaries for instruction in the higher branches of education; but chiefly to those schools both in town and country where the mass of the community is attempted to be instructed in the common branches of edu cation. conducted, it is next to impossible it should be otherwise. There is nothing which produces greater annoyance to a teacher, than the hum and the frequent clamours of a hundred tongues assailing him on every side; and wherever such noisy turbulence daily prevails, it is impossible that a train of rational instructions can be successfully carried forward. Of the many causes of noise and confusion in schools, I am persuaded this is none of the leastthe want of space and proper accommodation for the various movements, classifications and arrangements, which the business of instruction requires-and the want of separate apartments, or of an ample inclosed area around the school, into which a portion of the children, even during school-hours, might occasionally be sent, either for amusement, or for the preparation of their lessons, so as to prevent the general annoyance of the teacher. 2. Another circumstance which tends to make learning dis agreeable to the young, is, that they are in general confined too long in school. When a boy is first sent to school, he is kept in a confined posture for two or three hours at a time, and generally for five or six hours in a day. His direct attention to his lesson, during all this time, does not perhaps exceed fifteen or twenty minutes. During the whole of the remaining hours he receives no instruction, and either sits as stiff as a poker, or becomes restless and noisy, or sinks into sleep. He dares not speak to his companions for fear of punishment, he cannot, without assistance, apply his attention to the unknown characters and sounds he is set to learn, he cannot amuse himself with his windmills and whistles, and, consequently, he feels himself in a state destitute of enjoyment. Can it then be wondered at that young people should so frequently feel an aversion to school, and require to be driven to it as slaves to their task-work, or as culprits to a jail? In such a case as I have now supposed, there is no reason why a child should be confined to school beyond half an hour at any one time; and it is a piece of absurdity, and even of cruelty, to prolong their confinement a moment beyond the limits which are essentially requisite for their instruction; and yet many parents are so foolish as to think, that the progress of their children ought to keep pace with the number of hours they are immured within the walls of the school-room. Children are not mere machines, whose movements may be regulated by weights and springs; they must give scope to their natural vivacity and desire for activity, and must feel, like all other animals, when they are confined to unnatural attitudes, and cramped in their movements. The tongue-that "unruly member" among all ranks and agescannot be restrained; the space of twelve inches square, allotted them for their seat, they will not be confined to; their feet and limbs will not remain in that precise mathematical position which order is supposed to require; neither will their hands remain in the same unvaried posture as those of a marble statue, but will occasionally be pushing, first towards one side, and then towards another for the benefit of their companions. Hence arise noise, dissension, altercation, and disorder the chief circumstances which render corporal punishment at all expedient in public schools. To confine a little boy in school, contrary to his inclination, when no useful purposes can be served by it, and when it is productive of so many inconveniences to the teacher, to the general interests of the school, and to the boy himself-appears to be the height of folly and imprudence, and must present to the juvenile mind a forbidding prospect of the path which leads to the temple of knowledge. Even when children have advanced to that stage in their education where they are capable of preparing their les sons by themselves, it appears improper to confine them longer than their attention can be fixed to their scholastic exercises. Fifteen or twenty minutes of unremitting application to their lessons before and after having been heard by their teacher in their respective classes, would be of more importance, in promoting their progress in learning, than two or three hours spent in yawning over their books, or devoted, as is usually the case, to noisy prattle and impertinence. Those scholars who are farther advanced, or are engaged in arithmetical or other processes, may remain during all the hours usually allotted to scholastic instruction. In throwing out these remarks, I do not mean to insinuate, that teachers should have much less confinement in public schools than they now have; I only propose it as a principle, which should generally be acted upon, that children should never be confined to school a minute longer than is absolutely necessary for their instruction. And, if this principle were generally recog nised, promiscuous schools would no longer present a scene of idleness and impertinence, of noisy bustle and confusion. But, whatever may be the opinion of teachers on this head, the majo. rity of parents in the present age are generally in opposition to ali such arrangements. 3. The exercise of undue severity towards the young, and the want of a disposition to bestow commendation where it is due is another circumstance which retards the beneficial effects of education. In every rank and department of human life, mankind are too much disposed to find fault with the opinions and conduct of others, and to pass a harsh sentence on the minor delinquencies of their neighbours; while they are slow in bestowing their commendation on those actions and qualities which are laudable and excellent. This disposition, we have reason to believe, is too frequently displayed in public seminaries of instruction. In many instances, trivial faults are magnified into great offences; corporal punishment is inflicted for slight inadvertencies; the terms, blockhead, scoundrel, villain, ass, dunce, numskull, and other degrading epithets, are liberally applied to the youthful group, because they occasionally give way to their playful humours, or because they do not thoroughly comprehend what has never been clearly explained to them. When their conduct is unimpeachable, they are simply screened from punishment; but the meed of praise for diligence and improvementwhich has so obvious a tendency to cheer and animate the youthful mind is slowly and reluctantly bestowed. Those endearing appellations to which they are accustomed under the domestic roof are seldom heard in the village school; and scolding, threatening, and the detested lash, are too frequently "the order of the day." While they are sometimes exercised in writing the following sentiment on their copy-books, "Commendation animates the mind," the voice of praise and commendation is seldom heard resounding from the desk, because, forsooth, they have not yet attained to perfection in their behaviour, or in any of their scholastic exercises. Imperfections attach themselves to the performances of every human being; but where should we find a person grown up to manhood, who would not feel indignant at being perpetually found fault with in all his operations, and who would not be discouraged in the prosecution of his plans, when that portion of praise to which he is justly entitled is studiously withheld? An assemblage of children in a school is a republic in miniature, animated materially by the same principles, passions and interests, as those which appear in action on the theatre of the great world, only directed to inferior objects and pursuits. They must, therefore, feel indignant at the epithets, the threatenings, and the blustering, with which they are so frequently assailed, and must also feel that injustice is done them, when every trivial fault and oversight is magnified into a crime. And, on the other hand, we know by experience, that nothing contributes more to cheer and stimulate the juvenile mind than to receive the merited approbation of guardians and instructors. 4. Another circumstance prejudicial to an accurate and enlightened education, is the practice of hurrying children too rapidly from one book to another. In the "Statistical View of Education in Scotland," published in the Christian Instructor |