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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul c!ich6 sont filmdes d partir de Tangle sup6rieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m^thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 • 6 ^ THE 7 TEACHER'S TEXT BOOK. BY 8EV. AIEIANDEB FOERESTEB, D.D. ■ T«in "P . child i. fte w., he .konld go ; „d wkcn he b old, he will no, depurt Itom il."-Paov«BB. nil. 6. ' " " II 111 II '<^ SAItFAX, NOVA SCDTU: ^' & W. MACKINLAY. 1867, TO THE HON. WILLIAM YOUNG, «!)fef Justfcc of Note Scotfa. SIR,— I BEG LEAVE TO INSCRIBE TO YOU THE FOLLOWING PAGES ON THE Subject of EnccATioN. I do so. not because of the fbiendship thai HAS EXISTED BETWEEN US EVER SINCE I LANDED ON THESE SHORES, NOE BECAUSE OF MY APPOINTMENT TO THE SITUATION OP SUPERINTENDENT OF Education, and Principal of the Provincial Normal Institution, by A Government of which you were Premier; but entirely because op your early advocacy, and that of your lamented brother, op the cause op Popular Education in this Country, and the zeal which you I.AVE all ALONG MANIFESTED IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND amelioration of xhb masses. It is my earnest desire and prayer that tou may bb long spared TO patronize and support all those schemes that have for their object the embodiment op the principle "Prevention better than Cure;" and. by the extent of your juridical lore, and the equity AND soundness OF YOUR JUDGMENTS, TO ADORN THAT BENCH OVER WHICH IT IS YOUR HONOUR TO PRESIDE. I AM, Faithfully Yours, ALEX. FORRESTER. 4 PREFACE. TiiK educational views, presented in the following page?, were originiilly delivered, in the shape of lectures, to the students of the Normal School of Nova Scotia ; and are now published in the hope that they may still be of use to some of these individuals, as well as to others, who may hereafter attend that or .any similar institution, and to all Interested In the general cause of the education of the young. We have often been requested by the pupil-tcachcrs, leaving the Normal School, to furnish them with a list of professional books, by which they might, on future occasions, refresh their memories, or which they might consult in ca^es of doubt or uncertainty, or peruse for their general benefit and encouragement. In complying witii this request, we have experienced no small difliculty in recommending books exactly adapted to their circumstances, or whose educational views accorded with those in which they had just been indoctrinated. There is no book, for example, to which we feel more indebted, or which we could more cordially recommend, than Sfotn's Training System ; and yet, one-half, at least, of that admirable work is Intended and fitted to meet the educational wants of densely peopled and morally sunken large cities or manufacturing districts. Excellent publications on the business of teaching have, also, from time to time, appeared in the neighbouring Republic, but these, to a certain extent, at least, both in their inner and outer arrangements, are unsuitable for these colonies. In these circum- stances, a Text-book for teachers, adapted to the educational condition of the country, has long appeared to ns a desideratum ; and to supply this defect Is one of the leading objects of this volume. Every one, at all acquainted with the history of method In the educational process, will readily perceive that the views we advocate, are substantially those en>bodied in the publication, to which reference has just ' '" made. These views we have endeavoured to systematize and elaborate, . ,.. In their theoretical and practical bearing. If these views are sound, — and sound we consider them to be, — whether brought to the touchstone of phllosojjhy, or revelation, or experience, then, verily, they are worthy the support, the exposition, and the illustrallon of every enlightened and pro;. "H educationist. This has been our aim ; and if we have succeeded In reducing these views to a more systematic form, or in adapting them to the external circumstances of these colonies, and thereby commer^dlng them to the calm and earnest consideration of our fellow, laboui ^ the educational field, we have our reward. VUl. PREFACE. Another reason influencing us in the publication of this volume, is the benefit likely to arise from being able to put into the hands of students attending Normal Schools a professional Text-book. However carefully pre- pared the prelections of a teacher or professor, however calmly delivered or well understood, and copiously noted down, these prelections may be by the great majority of the pupils, there will generally be found inaccuracies and imperfect views on the part of some, and a vague comprehension on the part of others, even in reference to essential points. To obviate all this ii the grand object of a Text-book, composed either by the professor himself, or by some one whose views are, as nearly as possible, in accordance with his own. Prescribing a certain portion of said book for preparation by the pupils every night, and thoroughly examining them the following day, with the explanations and illustrations of the professor, is, in our view, vastly the best mode of arriving at a clear understanding of the subject In hand. Now and again, some advantage may arise from a well digested and condensely delivered lecture on some one branch of the subject under review, but the grand leading features will be far more clearly comprehended, and more thoroughly incorporated into the students' minds by the diligent perusal of a Text-book, than by an entire dependence upon the viva voce utterances of the professor or teacher, however profound and eloquent. But there are hundreds of our teachers who have "^.ever had an oppor- tunity of attending a Normal School. Many of these ; ersons are skilful and successful teachers, possess much of the spirit of their calling, and are sin- cerely desirous to advance in their professional attainments. To such, the following pages may prove of some benefit. If not In the theoretical, at least, in the practical department. Whatever the system pursued, there are many suggestions and directions in the latter, which, to a painstaking teacher, may be of use. At all events, the perusal of such a treatise may help to elevate their conceptions of the importance of the work In wliich they are engaged, and thereby bring them under a more realizing sense of their responsibility and privilege. But there are other reasons besides the local or provincial, that have prompted to the publication of this volume. There Is not, perhaps, a more substantial proof of the improvement at present going on in educational mat- ters, than is furnished by the large and increasing number of books on the business of teaching, that have recently issued from the press. And yet, notwithstanding the number of such publications, we know none that pro- fesses to reduce the whole subject of education to a scientific or systematic form. In some, we have the principles or theory discussed ; in others, the practice or the art ; and in others, some one branch of the inner or outer work of education. But in the best and most copious of these works, there are oftentimes great and palpable defects. An undue jiromlnence is given to some points to the all but total neglect or underrating of others ; and, generally speaking, there is awanting a grand, leading, all pervading principle, moulding, and fashioning, and weaving all the parts, according to their rcla- I PBEFACE. iz. tivc value into one harmonious whole, — one reigning system. And this is what we have attempted and aimed at in the ibllowing treatise. If it pos- sesses any merit, it consists in presenting a compendious, consecutive view of the whole subject, in all its various compartments aud proportions. It cannot, of course, be expected, that, on some points, there should be the same minuteness of detail, as is to be found in some books all but exclusively devoted to their discussion and illustration. Still, it is bclie\ d, there is no essential point omitted in any one department. And, when further informa- tion regarding it is deemed desirable, reference is made throughout to the source whence it mjiy be derived. This is the claim we advance on behalf of our Text-book, in so far as its relation to the general interests of education is concerned ; and on this ground we fondly hope, it may serve as a book of reference not only to teachers and others directly engaged in the work, but to educational pliilanthropists in general, as well as to enlightened statesmen, — such statesmen as are possessed of discernment enough to see, that, in the promotion of a sound popular education, they are pursuing a course most directly securing the diffusion of that righteousness which alone exalteth a nation. We have already expressed our obligation to Stow, the great pioneer of all modern improvements in the inner life of education. Within these ten years, we have visited the most celebrated Normal Schools in the United States of America, in Canada, Britain, and on the continent of Europe, as the best exponents of method, and yet, notwithstanding the reluctance of not a tew to give honour to whom honour is due, no where have we met anything in theory or practice, the germ of wliich is not embedded in Stow's training systoin ; and that, simply, we apprehend, because that gentleman received all his lessons in the school of experience, and sat a close and humble student at the foot alike of nature and of revelation. N.ay, we hesitate not to aver, thsit we have seen but few schools, indeed, professedly conducted on the training system, where anything hke justice is done to that system in its leading peculiarities, as laid down by its distinguished founder ; and that when the day dawns upon any country in which it shall be fairly and universally, and, in all its length and breadth, carried into effect, it will be the brightest and most glorious in the annals of its history. But there are other educational works to which we are also much indebted, especially for their practical suggestions. Those, on the inner life of educa- tion, which we have principally consulted, and from which we have derived the largest benefit, are the following : — belonging to Britain, Morrison's School Management, Currie's Common School Education, the Reports of H. M. School Inspectors, both in Scotland and England ; and, belonging to America, Page's Theory and Practice, Potter and Emerson's School and Schoolmaster. And, on the outer work, or the external machinery, the best and most reliable are, Barnard's National Education in Europe, Barnard's American Journal, Horace Mann's Lectures, and Cousin's Report on Schools in France, Reports of Dr. Egerton Ryerson on Schools of Upper Canada, Reports of X, PREFACE. Roya J Commissioners of Groat Britain, Reports of the Committee, of Council on Education, State of Educational enterprises by Rev. William Frazcr, Paisley, &e. But whilst we have perused these and similar publications with profit, it must not be supposed that the contents of the followinrr pages are made up of mere compilations, of conjectural statements, or of speculative theories. There is scarcely a recommendation made on any one of the topics discussed, that has not been tested experimentally, and found not only practicable and satisfactory, but eminently successful in the accomplishment of the object contemplated. Our great i-egret is, that our opportunities of exemplifying the views propounded have been so limited and circumscribed. But, believ- ing, as we do, that the principles advanced, and the practical directions founded thereon, are in ncordance with sound philosophy and the plain dictates of revelation, and lat they only require to be weighed and exhibited to demonstrate their excellence and utility, we have been all the more emboldened to contribute our quota, with a view to their wider dissemination. However feeble or imperfect our advocacy, we trust our readers will not, thereby, be debarred from giving to them a fair and candid consi'' ' ation, or, what to us would be still more gratifying, subjecting them to the ^.acible of a severe and testing experiment. ALEXANDER FORRESTER. Truro, Novembkr, 1867. CONTENTS. BOOK L— THE NATURE OF EDUCATION. CiiAPiBR I. — Explanation of Terms and Expressions. Education. Instrnction. Training. Public and Private Education. School, College and University. The Common School, the Mixed or Miscellaneous and Graded, the Grammar or High School, the Academy. The Industrial, Reformatory and Ragged School. Middle and first class Schools of England. Normal School or College, with Model and Practising Schools. P. 2 — 9 Chapter II. — Object or end of Education. Definition of Education. End of Education of two-fold aspect. 1. Ilarnionious growth of all the parts of child's nature ; 2. Right direction of these parts. Means of Education, Exercise, mainly carried on by the imparting of knowledge. Means proportionate to the end. P. 9 — 1 5 Chapter IIL — The Importance op Education. Education regarded iustrumentally. Its importance apparent from the l)enefits it confers on the Individual, the State, and the Church, I. Benefits to the Individual : a. Places all parts of Complex Nature in legitimate position ; b. Qualifies for Duties of Life ; c. Oj)ens up Sources of Gratification ; d. Ennobles and dignifies Humanity : c. Augmoiits Eternal Felicity. II. Benefits to State : Civil Government an Ordi- nance of Heaven. Prosperity of State on three Elements : 1. Intelligence; 2. In- dustry ; 3. Morality. 1 . What Intelligence does ? a. Dissipates the evils of Popular Ignorance ; b. Adds productiveness to Human Labour ; c. Renders all resources of Nature subservient to Man. 2. What Industry does 1 a. Develops and applies resources of Country ; 6. Leads to Economy ; c. Dries up sources of Pauperism; rf. Gives Overplus of Means. 3. What Morality does? a. Mainspring of Body Politic ; b. Lessens amount of Vice and Crime, and, by consequence, Public Expenditure ; c. Secures the blessing of the God of Nations. Education necessary for all this must develop, interest and train. These elements must co- exist and co-operate. III. Benefits to Church : a. Education makes all subservient to the promotion of Truth and Righteousness ; b. Perpetuates Truth ; c. Promotes highest interests of Church ; d. Adds largely to Church's usefulness ; c. Education best and speediest way of E vangclizing the Nations. P. 15—48 ziL CONTENTS. BOOK II.— SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. ! , I CnAPTBR I. — What it is. Classification of its principles. These principles viewed in two aspects ; 1, The lending; Features or Characteristics of the Child's nature ; and, 2. The means to be resorted to for the development of the same. Enumeration of these features with their appropriate adaptations. 1*. 48 — 51 CUAFTEK II. — FiRST CUARACTERISTIC. Every child a compound being, having a physical, intellectual, emotional, ajstheti- cal and moral nature. I. Physical Education. Its meaning, general and special, founded on Anima! Physiology. — a. School-houF' — ventilation, temperature, light; dependent on nutritive system of organs. — b. Fui niture of School — graded ; on sup- porting system. — c. Scholars, — clean, neat and orderly ; on Cutaneous system. — d. Scholars attention, — physical exercises ; on Muscular system. — e. Regulation of studies, — variety, regularity, punctuality and iteration; on Nervous syitem. II. In- tellectual Education, — its meaning, — Founded on Intellectual Philosophy. Classifi- cation of powers of Intellect. Intellectual Education consists of tvo parts ;- -Giving proper food, and in a way that it will be digested ; Latter involves twi i things, theory and practice. Intellectual powers considered seriatim ; a. Perception ; b. Conception ; c. Memory ; d. Imagination ; e. Generalization ; /. Reasoning ; g. Intuition ; — their nature, importance, and education. III. Emotional Educa- tion, — meaning, — Founded ou sensibilities. Classification ; — Emotions, aflectiont and desires. Each of these classes considered ; nature, position and education. IV. The will — viewed psychologically — what embraced in every act ot will — Imp<.>rtance of will — Executive of whole man — Education of will. Exercise, — regu- lar course of education, keeping l)ody healthful, punctuality at studies, write critique of what re.id. V. iEsthetical Education. Its import, — in what the beautiful con- sists; — Illustrations, — Taste, both in ellectual and emotional ; Importance of the Beautiful — its influence, elevating and refining ; — Utility in Commerce and in Natural Theology, Education of Taste, Exercise, Actual Practise. Chief works of great masters. Study of Nature. VI. Moral Education. Nature of conscience ; Supremacy ; Outstripping importance of this branch. The education of discrimi- native, obligatory and testifying. Conscience fallible. Whence light and guidance ? Bible ; — its adaptation, — use in schools ; manner and spirit of use ; occasions of use, — a. In public devotions of school; b. Repository of religious and moral instruction ; c. Directory or Statute-Book in every day moral duties ; d. Last standard of appeal ; e. Need of gracious influences. P. 52 — 203 Chapter III. — Second Characteristic. The various ingredients of the child's compound nature are in indissoluble union and rec'iirocal dependence : — adaptation, simultaneous exercise. Influence of mind on body in health and disease. Extract from Abercrombie's Intellectual Philoso- phy. Influence of mind on body. Of one part of mind on another ;— of intellect on sensibilities, on the beautiful, on conscience ; — reaction, conscience on intellect, body, &c. A Captation process ; — exercise the various ingredients of compound nature, individually, and simultaneously, so as to aid one another. P. 203 — 213 i $ I C0NTENT8. XIU. f CnXPTEB IV.— TniBD CnARACTEniSTIC. Great diversity of Mental Endowment and Temperament in the young. The adaptation here is the presentation of a variety of sub'jcts, principally through the medium of Oral Lessons. Diversity of Endowment, — in intellect, feeling and con. science. Adaptation, — great variety of subjects, as widely different as possible. Apcomplished mainly by means of Oral Lessons. More clone here by the mode of presentation than by the subject itself. Answers given both simultaneously and individually. Mode by which the peculiarity or idiosyncrasy of one may contribute to the benefit of all, viz., inverting the right answer into the form of a question, and throwing it back upon the class. Moral eflfcct of this practice. P. 21-3 — 217 CnAPTBR V. — Fourth CnARACTBRiSTic. Different epochs of Intellectual Development in the young. The adaptation to this feature, imparting branches of knowledge, the best suited to these several epochs. Meaning of characteristic. Order of the epochs. Reason assigned for their manifestation. Adaptation to first epoch, from 3 — 8 years. Perception. Word to Mothers. First business at school. Attainments at eight. Second epoch, 8 — 12. Bepresentative. Memory and Imagination. Branches best adapt- ed. Third epoch, 12 and upwards. Generalization and Ileasoning. Branches most suitable. P. 218—228 Chaftbr VI.— Fifth Chabact eristic. Great diversity of attainment. Teaching by outlines, the adaptation process here. The universality and origin of the existence of this feature. Meaning of teaching by outlines. Two illustrations taken from teaching History and Granunar. Benefits of this method of teaching. P. 229—232 Chapteb Vn.— Sixth Chabactebistic. The influence of the Sympathy of Nu'nbers in the School-room, and the means best fitted to render this influence available. Meaning of feature, with illustra- tions. Means to be employed to give tliis principle every advantage and force in School-room : 1. Thorough classification — specially graded schools. 2. Non-sepa- ration of the sexes. 3. Gallery, or elevated seats and desks. 4. Enclosed play- ground. P. 232—238 Chapteb Vm.— Seventh ChabactbuISTic. The impressibility of the young. The adaptation to this feature is a steady, continuous and well-regulated education. Universality of feature in organic beings, and specially in man. Responsibility involved. Application of the adaptation process, a steadily continued and progressive education. P. 238—243 BOOK III.— THE ART OF EDUCATION. Chapter I.— Branches Tauoht. These branches divided into two classes :— I. Those that plainly furnish the means for the acquisition of knowledge and the discipline of the mind; and 11. Those that impart knowledge more directly. I. a. Music ; b. English reading — from alphabet to the highest ehwutionary exercise, with all its accompaniments ; c. Grammar; d. Classics; e. Mathematics, embraciag Arithmetic, Algebra and G«o- XlV. CONTENTS. I I metry, both theoretical and practical ; /. Writing, Drawing and Painting ; PiuvA n: EnrcATioN. — School, Collkge and Univkusity. — Thk Common Sci.ook, tiik ]\Ii.\ei» oil MlSCKLI.AVKOrS AM) GUADKI), TUi; ( il! VMMA It Oli HkMI ScIIOOI,, TIIK Acadkmv. — TnK Ixix stkiai,, 1{i;i'oi{matoi{v avd Haocjkd School. — MiDKLi; ANiJ riifsr class Schools ok En(;lani). — Nokmal School oi; COLLCOK, AVini MopKL AND I'H ACTTSINC, SciIOOLS. In considering any subject, it is of essential moment, that we have clear and delinite views of the meaning of its leading terms. Tliougli these, strictly speaking, may not he technical, they are, nevertheless, used in a wider or more limited sense ; and it is right that that sense be lixed and steadily adhered to, as it will afterwards save much misapprehension and confusion. Now, there are few subjects in reference to which there obtains gi-eater vagueness or indeiiniteness of conception than the one under review, or whose terms are used in a more loose and indiscriminate acceptation. Hence, it is desirable, that we devote a few pagos to the derivation and exposition of the words, in more general use, in educational matters. W(i begin with tJie word education itself. Education. — Thi Is pla'"'y the Latin word educatio anglicized by appending the letter n. This is derived from educo-avi-ntintt-arv. to hriiKj up, to nurture, and not, as some have; supi)Osed, from educa- xl-ctum-ere, to lead, draw or hrinij out, however closely allied the roots of these \erbs may bc». Education thus, according to its derivation, simiilies the act oi' briiiiriiiij nu. nurturinji, fosteriiii!;, trainiii";. When used ill reference to mankind in general, as in the following ])assage : • The people in the liritish Colonies are not yet very self-reliant ; they rc(piire to be educated uji loit;" it means that our ])owers or eneimes ar<^ drawn out. exercised and streiiiftliened. relative to anv particular object or thing. Wlieii applied to the young, however, it signifies the whole of that work by which all the parts of their com- pound nature, in its essential elements, its indissoluble relations, its wide-spreading influences and tendencies, are nurtured, developed, and li NATURE OF EDUCATION. 8 icizetl 'diico- root-s [atioii. When [Hunt : Icrs or |() any /er, it com- Ins, its ll, an, it is synonymous with the terms teachimj or telluiy, and evidently implies two things — the subject-matter or the ktiowledge itself, and the mode in which it is given. In all its fulness, it signifies the means employe manage a school ; and to persevere in this exercise, even until they arrive at j)roficiency — a mode of procedure, evidently implying that Model or practising schools form an integral part of all such institutions. When regarded in this as[»ect. Normal Schools, whatever the educational system or the method of tt aching pursued in them, are appropriately styled Trainiiif/ Schools. IJut the term under consideration is employed to characterize a particular method of teaching, which though, in its essential elements, most strictly accordant with philosophy and revelation, was never fully developed or matured, till alunit forty years ago, by the distin- guished philanthropist and atiKifcin' educationist, David Stow, of Glasgow, Scotland. This is called, pre-r-minently, T/ie Training Si/sfem, in contradistinction to all other systems, because it professes to develop and strengthen the various parts of the child's nature by exercise, that is, by a repetition of the same act. Instead of solving his diHiculty, it merely puts the scholar on the way of doing it himself; instead of telling him what to do at every stage of his progress, it only directs him into the right track; and, by a series of legitimate a))pliances, constrains him to pass, by the use of his f)wn powers, from the region of the known into that of the unknown, and to deduce, from the narrative or subject in hand, the lessons intended to be tauiiht. In this sense, the term is nearly svnonymous with nurture, discipline, tutorage, jjointing not so much to effects or results, as to a special mode or way of bringing them about. The three terms, thus explained, stand in the following relation to one another : — Education is the bringing up, or the nurturing, the growth or expansion of all the parts of the cliild's compound nature ; instruction is the food or nourishment, the material or subject suited for the produ.',tion of that growth or expansion; and training is the mode or way in which the food is administered or the subject presented. The lirst mainly points to the end we ought to have in view, the second and third, to the means. PuiiLic AND Pkivatk EDUCATION. — The expression j)rivafe education has two meanings attached to it. It is sometimes used to signify a school not receiving pul)lic or governmental money, conducted on the teacher's own adventure ; but more frecpuMitly, it is taken in the sense of private or domestic, where the children of only one family receive education. The cpiestion, — Whether a pidilic or private • education, as thus explained, is to be preferred ? is one that has been . \' NATURE OK EDUC \TION. i>y ioii to J, the iture ; ;uito(l lis the 'iited. ', the •irate mI to lucted 'II iu limily rivate been lon^ and keenly anitalcil. Eaeli s'u\o has In- 1 its advoeatos, and, soiin'tinies, the controvt'rsy lias hecii wa^Jt'd with coiisidrrahlc talent and warmth. Tht; ablest writer i;i suiipnrt of private <'dncation, in modern times, is Isaac.' 'PaylDr, in hn treatise on Home Education, and, ofpnblie, Horace Mann of America. The former mode can only be carried into etfeet by those parents who lui]) ;)en to be possessed of sutlicient means to enabh; them to keep a teacher for their 'hildren, under their own roof, called a Tutor or Governor, or, if a female, a Governess, '"'he tendency of the ajxe is decidedly in favour of public education, tn« highest and wealthiest in every land ;L;ivi:ig their children, at least, a certain amount of it, and the first class schools beinj^ constructed and regidateil in adaptation thereto. This, in our opinion, is, as it ou^ht to be. All the advantaifcs arising from a private education, can and onght to be servc(l in a public, and there are innumerable benefits in th(^ latter, arising from the sympathy of nund)ers, which do not and cannot belong to the former. TiiK School, tiik C'()i-M:00 ho^-s, at one time earnestly prosecutinj^ their education, and at another toiling at their res|iective trades, without profoundest thankfuliKi.ss for the social and moral light resting so richly on these oiitcasts, and for the gleams of hopefulness it throws over their future." Still thc! most enlightened nations are hut experinienlali/ing on this vastly important sul)je(!t. Many modili('atii>ns an 111 i! 1,1 ! II PI 1 8 TKAOffKIl's TEXT-nOOK, the (litrcrent ^•iiiIcs or ranks of society. The former is intended for the ehilch'en of parents in the middk; ranks of life, such as niaster- intchanics, farniers, siiopkeeiters, and the like. The hittt'r, the prin- cipal of wiiieii are Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Charterliouse, Si. "aul's, M«!r(;hant-Tailor's, Harrow, Kiighy, and Shrewslmry, is intended for the children of the princely merchants, the wealthy proprietors, and the nobles of the land. Mathematics form tlie staple branch of the middle class schools, classics of the first class. Noii.MAL School ou CoLLK PiiAC- TisiNti Schools. — ^Tho Normid School, of comparatively modern date, has for its gi'and ohject the professional (lualilicution of the teacher, on which account, as jdready stated, it is son»etimes eullcd the Training Sch;x)l. It derives its name from a Latin word, which signilies a fixed principle, or law, or standard, thereby indicating that whatever is the educational metluMl juloi)ted, it must jjei-vade the whole organization and management, all the branches taught umst be in accordance with that one system. Whilst this institution endeavours to consolidate and enlarge the scholarship of the pupils » attendance, and for this puqwse is provided with teachers or tutors for the English and Classical and Mathematical departments, its luain object is to qualify its pupils for being teachers. When this object receives justice, it is genendly divided into two compartments, the theoretical and the practical ; the former, consisting of a course of lectures on the science luid art of etlucation, delivered by a grtiater or less number of teachers in the Normal School proper, or as it should rather be styled Normal College, and the LiHer consisting of the best exemplification of the system pursued and the actual practise. For this exemplification a suite of Model Schools is provided, attended by children in the locality and presided over by the best teachers. For the other, — a practising or experimentalizing school is also provided, ftirnishing the best specimen of the conmion school of the country, and in which the Pupil -teachers statedly practise, both in the management of the school, and in the imparting of instniction. RECAPITULATION OF CHAPTER. The terms explained refer either to the nature, mode oi jdace of education. The term education, as we use it, is of extensive significa- tion, comprehending every preparation made in youth for the sequel of our life, or, more specifically, it means, the formation of character through the cultivation of the body, the intellect, the emotions and 1 ^ NATUKK OK RDl'CATIOIf. W tlu! coiiHcicncf. In tlu; carrying out of this process or cultivation certain things arc rcfjulsitc. There is kiiowh-dge itrelf, Honietimes called instruction; there is the act of inipartinj^ it, scmetinies also calU'd instruction, or tuition or teat hinjif ; tln^re is also tin mode of imparting it, and when this mode has a reference to tluj developing or unfolding of tln^ various parts of our heing l»y a repetition of the act, on the part of the scholar, till the hahit is ac(piir('(l, it is called tvalni'ng or 70(rfnrin(/, or, more vaguely, dlscijiUniuij. The generic term given to all places where this educational process is carried on is a sr/ioo/, — a word denoting, originally, leisure, time given to sports and, afterwards, to literary .studies, — a word, according to modern usage of the most extensive signification, comprehending all ])laces of education, though ordinarily applied t. Seminaries inferior to Collt'ift'S or Universities, and sometimes also indicatiui; the collec- tive body of pui)ils assembled in any place of instruc^tion. The nature of the instruction in any school, the age, the arrangements, and the design, are all generally indicat"d by the word prefixed. CHAPTER II. ce of ■,\ ifica- - i jquel ;[\ acter '" a)ul t ...r. OBJixr OR Exn ov education. Defixition of Education. — End of Educatiox of two-folr aspect. — 1. II.viuif)\i()rs ouowTU OF Ai.r, tmi; v.vkts of child's natcuf. ; 2. HKJHT DIUKCriON OF TUKSE I'AKTS. MlvANS OF EDUCATION. — EXEK- CISK, MAINI.V CAHKIKD ()., IIV THE IMl'AUTING OF KNOWLEDGE. MEANS I'ltOI'OUTIONATE TO THE END. This is a theme of transcendent importance. It is so in itself, involving, as it does, the best and highest interests of man. individually and collectively, in time and eternity ; affecting more dee{)ly and extensively, than any other instrumentality, the fulfilment of the grand purpos lor which he was made. It is so relatively, inasmuch as the views entertained respe .g the end nuist influence the whole matter of the instrumentality. The Wfiat must necessarily fashion and mould the Hoio, the Who and the Wherewithal. But whatever be its importance, it is but too apparent that the mo.'it vague and degraded views prevail respecting it, not amongst the illiterate or unenlightened merely, but even amongst the educated and intelligent. It were no very difficult task to expose and refute these views. But we prefer, at this stage, simply to exhibit and pourtray the truth on the subject, I I 1 f ft'' II' I If 10 TEACHER 8 TEXT-BOOK. when these views will appear in their true cliaracter, as alike deroga- tory to the dignity of our n.iture, tarnishing to the glory of the all-wise and bountiful Creator, and subversive of the highest destiny of the species. Keei)ing in view, then, the primary signification of the term, jierhaps the })est and simjilesr, definition that can be given of the education of the young is the following; — The use of all appropriate mearis for seoiring the gradual development and (jroioth, as well as the right direction, of all the parts of their compound being. This •iefinition, it will be observed, is limited in its application to the young. The term, however, takes a wider range. Man, from the time his observational powers come into operation to the termination of his earthly career, is passing through an educitional process. Nev^ objects, new truths and new scenes are, ever and anon, pr, ented to his vision, and, if rightly exercised thereby, he must daily be adding to his stock of knowledge, and growing in his capacity of apprehension and investigation ; nay, we believe, that throughout eternity, his education will be progressing apace and opening up to him fresh sources of gratification and glory. This, however, is not the sense in which the word is taken in the following pages. It is used strictly in reference to the young, — that stage of human existence, when all the organs, faculties and sensibilities of our compound nature are plastic, most susceptible of cultivation and ir.iprovement, — the stage, too, more especially, when the key v)f self-education is put into our hands ; and, just as it is used, will the treasure-house of future riches l)e unlocked and rendered available both for our comfort and usefulness. Rut it will also be observed, that this definition is confined to t' • school-room, though this is not the only place where the educational process is carried on, even during this oeason. It is begun and continued within the hallowed precincts of the domestic circle ; and it is only when the closest sympathy and co-operation subsist between that circle and the school-room, that the latter will fully accomplish its high and enno- bling purpose. But to return. If, as defined, the grand end to be aimed at in the school-room is the growth of all the i)arts of the compound nature of the young, then it is clear that all these parts exist, however rudi- mental, — that they are to be found in the young, the same in kind though dirterent in degree. How beautifully is this illustrated in the vegetable and animal kingdoms ! Take, first, the seed or bud of the plant. It is now, we believe, very generally admitted by physiologists, that the whole of the future (dant is embedded in the embryo or germ of the seed, and that with a sufficiently powerful I NATURE OF EDUCATION. 11 ickecl iut it •oom, ss is ithin the the enno- n the ire of rudi- kincl ed in bud B^d by ed in iverful 4 M microsoope, the root, stem, and leaf, if not the parts of fructifica- tion, may be discerned. And so it is with tlie k-af, or flower-bud. The h'uves or petals are all wrapped up there, and only await the genializing influence of spring to be evolved, or expanded. And this phenomenon is equally will illustrated in the new-born young of the animal kingdom. Take the infant. All the physical features of an individual of the human species are there. Some, it is true, are mow. prominent than others ; in one, the eye ; in another, the nose ; in another the mouth, and so on ; but in every one, in a normal condition, all the parts are there, though in a state of miniature, requiring a long course of nursing, or training, before they reach the maturitv of their being. And as it is with man physically, so it is intellectually. All the essential i)owers or faculties of the intellect exist in every individual of the human species. Some of these are more consjjicuously displayed in one than in another. One has his observational powers more prominently developed ; another, his reasoning ; another' his imagina- tive ; and another, his abstractive ; but they are all substantially there, and only await the proper external appliances for their continuous growth, their sj-mmetrical advancement from a state of zero to that of perfection. And all this is equally the case with man's moral nature. Again, the terms of our definition plainly imply that these parts, — the leading characteristics of the child's nature, will not reach the perfection of their being, spontaaeously. They may grow after a fashion, but their whole api)earauce too palpably demonstrates that the great end for which they exist will not be served, save for the nourishment and treatment they receive in an adolescent state. The acorn contains within itself, though to us in an occult and inscrutable manner, the possibilities or conditions of a perfect oak ; and by no process within our power can we evolve from an acorn anything else than an oak. In order, however, to effect the development, and instrumentally, perfect, as it were, the nature of the acorn, we must bring to bear upon it circumstances external to itself; and it depends on the knowledge and skill with which we regulate and adapt, in conformity with the nature of the acorn, the external circumstances which operate upon it, whether we educe from it a dwarfed, stunted, warped and unsightly shrub, or a noble oak — the lord and monarch of the forest. And so it i*s with the animal kingdom, and especially with the human species, physically regarded, whose young are the most delicate and helpless of all animals. The infant grows into childhood, child- ■i^p Ir; M - t I 11 h II i >i;|i m ^ 12 TEACIIKU S TEXT IJOOK. hood into youtli, suul youth into mature manhood ; but as to the physical frame of the indivlihial, much, under God, depends on the treatm(!nt received from the mother, wh* M iVcry ^ , and ? kind thus ! end 1 may not be attained ; the mind, save for its own spontaneous, .spasmo- dic working, may remain all the while in a state of dormancy and insensibility. All depends on the way in which this knowledge is imparted. The iustriiction is thus but a part, and a subordinate part, too, of the means. The grand thing to be attended to, is the modus operandi, or, the mod(i of its conveyance ; and that mode is uiupies- tionably the best, which most extensively awakes and stimulates mind, which lays most deeply the fouiKhitions of human character. What signifies the most dainty and wholesome food if it is not diixested ami assimilated ? And what, in like manner, avaihith the best instruction, unless it be incorporated with the very core of our mental frame-work ? And the only specific for all this is exkucise. You may range, if you will, throughout creation ; you may scan the loftiest heights and descend into the lowest depths ; you may devise this s(\hem(^ and that ; but nowhere will you find an ex])edient for one moment to be com- pared with exercise in developing and strengthening either the organs of the body or the faculties of the mind. This is the ordinance of heaven. How to ply such an agent constitutes the grand educational problem. And now, is it asked, which of these is the more important — the end or the means? Un(pu'stionably, here as elsewhere, the eiul is of infinitely greater importance than the means. And it is in connection with this very i)oiiit, that much of the vaguciness and many of tlie mistakes respecting educational matters originate. The means and the end are confounded, or rather the means take the precedence of the end, and are accounted the all in all of education. Three-fourths even of the more enlightened in every jiopulation, seem to regard instruction and education as synonymous terms. And hence, with them, a great scholar or a learned man must of necessity be thoroughly ediicate(l, and in every way (pialilied to teach the rising generation. These defective and erroneous views prevail to an extent far beyond what is generally imagined, and dans — a line that ought to be drawn by every one who possesses any pi-etensions to scholarship. And that end, who can scan its magnitude, who can ade(piately realize its results? Verily, it has a height and a depth, a l(;iigth and a breadth, which transcend our finite comprehension. But because the end to be aimed at, in the education of the young, is so exalted, do we, in conse'ce, tuislic l^xpenditure ; (', secures the dlessing of the God of Nations. — Education necessary for ale this must develop, INTEREST AND TRAIN. — TlIESE I'^LEMENTS MUST (O-EXIST AND CO-OPERaTE. III. Benefits to Church : n, Education makes all suhskrvient to I'f IG TEACllKH S TEXT-ROOK. I.! I i^k, (IP Tin: iMtoMOTiox OF TniTTii AND i{kjiiti,ot'svt:ss; (>, PKrn'KTiATKS Tin'Tii; c, I'komotks iiuiiiKf^T i.NTEitKSTrt (H' Cii rucii ; ^/, Adds i,aiu;i;i,y to Ciukch's i;skkui,ni;ss ; e, J^ducation hkst and si'icKriicsT way ok EVANCJKLIZING THK NATIONS. To (lelinciite fully all the benefits of the ((lunation sketched in the precedini^ chapter, would recpiire more space than can Ix; allotted to tlie whole subject. Whether regarded directly or indirectly, in their individual or collective aspects, they ar(; at once unlimited in extent, and eternal in duration. AVe apprehend, how(!ver, that our work would be, in a manner incomplete, did we not at this stage present a skeleton view of the importance of our subject, as the one paramount to all others, demanding, at once, the profound study, the devoted interest, and the loftiest j)anf'gyrie of every ])atriot and philanthropist. Let us then consider, as brieliy as we can, the value of education in its bearing uj)on the individual reci})ient, upon the state, or man viewed as a nK^mber of the body politic, and, lastly, upon the church, or man regarded as a spiritual being. And here, it is scarcely necessary to premise, that in the discussion of this su])j(ct, we look at education merely instrumentally. There is p(!rhaps not one subject or pursuit, in which secondary agency or human means can be rendered more availal)le, than in the educa- tion of the young. Its influence is deep and wide-spread. It not only stores up in the mind valuable knowledge, it cultivates and develops its faculties and energies ; it nmulds and fashions character, by operating on the iiniate principles of our being, and that at a time, when they are most susceptible of impressions. In the educational proc(!ss, we may, by a re})etition of the same act, establish a habit of thinking, feeling and acting, we may lay an arrestment on the overt wicked act, and thereby, considerably lessen the power of the prin- ciple whence it proceeds ; and who does not perceive that all this w^ill go far in the fashioning and forn g of character ? And yet, withal, we cannot impart to the young that real love of duty, which springs from a scnise of obligation to their Creator and Saviour-Gc 1. We cannot so inllaence them as to give a right direction to their varied endowments and attainments, that their services shall bring down upon them the ap})robation of Heaven, or be accounted by the Search- er of hearts as a contribution to His Glory. This is . ue sole, the inalienable prerogative of Deity — the special work of the Holy Spirit. Let, however, this divine agent go forth either along with or subse- quent to the use of this instrumentality, and how transcend jut the result ! Then will the benefits of well directed ap[)liance3 stand forth in bold relief. Then will a sound and thorough education — an :ii« NATrRE OF KDUCATION. 17 AYe varied down oarcli- de, the Spirit. sid)se- ;[it the 1 forth u — an I'ducation whioli has knonlodge and training for its means, bo feh and recognized and fidly disphiyed. And wlio or what instrume.itality has the best title — the highest warrant to expect the forth-going of tins divine agent ? Surely it must be that which most closely conijilies with His own re(piirenients, as declared in that Book which He has Himself indited. He and he alone h;is a (u)veiiant right to expect the blessing of the most High who not oidy uses means, but the very uKians He has Himself enjoined. And whnt is that means? Not instruction merely, not example merely, but training; — "Train up a child." Skction I. POSSESSOR. -The benefits of education to the individual Education exerts a miijhty uijlnencc in placinr/ all the parts of our compound nature in their legitimate jiosition, subordinatiny tJie lower to the higher and harmonizing the tchole. Man is i)ossessod of an animal, intellectual, emotional and moral nature. ICach of these parts, in its own sphere, has important functions to discharge ; and it is, only, in so far, as these component parts are rendered subservient the one to the other, that man partakes of the ha])piness of which his nature is capable. All these parts, in conse(pience of the catastrophe that has befallen the species, are, as is well known, in a state of disorganization and anarchy. The animal but too often co itrols and domineers over the intellectual. The moral, intended to govern and preside over all, is but too often their willing servant, — their abject slave. Education contributes largely to restore the proper equilibrium and to render one and all of them competent for tlu' right discharge of their respective functions. It imparts a sound knowledge of the oflice performed by these parts, and brings home that knowledge with the most powerful and persuasive motives and considerations. It does more, it trains these parts to the practise of the duties belonging to them. It inspires, too, with a relish for their legitimate application, with a corresponding elevation of mind, and a determinate ])urpose to hold on in the same course with unflinching steadfastness and perse- verance ; and all this by reason of the force of habit. And, over and above all this, it 2)rovides the means and methods by which the possessor may carry into pra(!tical effect the knowledge he has acquired, and the resolution he has formed. It is thus manif(!st, that education does all that can be done, instrumentallv, for the recovery of the equii)oise of our being, and for the exhibition of man in all the symmetry and beauty of his nature. li ifeU T^T 18 TEVCIIEU'S TEXT-nOOK. t, I I.I i ! I' I Education prrparcs and quaHJics man for a rUjht disrharge of the various duties of life. Every individual of the luiniau laniily, whilst he lius great and important general duties to diseharge, has also ;i Hpecial work imposed upon him, a course to fullll, an orbit in which to revolve, :i particular part to play in the great drama of life. The Ahhighty Creator and Preserver hath not only assigned to each his ])lace, but lie hath given the endowments needed, as well as the means recpiisite for their development and enlargement. And whyt is education but this means, — the means of means ? And, when of the right stam[>, it prepares and (pialities for a I)o[itting fiillilment of the course prescribed, — of the duties imposed. It imparts valuable knowledge, and though much of that knowledge may not i)OSsess ajiy direct bearing on his particular calling or the duties appertaining thereto, still it will prove of vast utility in some one department or other, and that oftentimes and in circumstances which he never anticipated. But another and greater benefit, arising from his previous educational training, is the habit of attention, of steady application, and of persevering industry, he has thereby ac(juired, till which has only to be transferred to his own special vocation to ensure success. The methods, too, he has pursued in all liis scholarly attainments, are, in every respect, as applicable to his present employment and will form powerful auxiliaries in its successful prosecution. Education opens up sources of highest gratification to the possessor. There is no reward so immediate, direct and satisfying, as that which attends mental effort. It matters not whether that effort is put forth in the walks of litcature, or of science, or of any of the learned professions ; or in feats of adroit diplomacy, of naval or military strategy or of maphanical invention ; or whether it be by men of exalted genius, or of the ordinary average standard of talent; — we believe, generall}-, it will be found that, in very proportion to the magnitude of the effort, will be the gloiy of the triumph achieved. In all cases, wdiere the ojsthetic faculty is called forth, the gratification experienced is of a still higher character. Here, as in architecture, sculpture, painting and poetry, the mind soars into the loftiest regions. Out of the facts, truths, or principles already stored up in the niind, by the help of the observatioiuil or recollective faculty, new creations are formed, and receive a living embodiment iu words and deeds. And what inexhaustible fountains of delight are here opened up, not merely to the imagination and taste of the fabricator, but to the thousands of fellow beings, whose intellects are regaled aud whose tastes are NATIKE OF EDUCATION. 19 a. In Ificatioii tecture, [•egions. Ions are Ana I merely lands of t,es are ravished by tlic conteinphitioii of such works! But tlie noblest of all mental triuin[)hs are those achieved within the domain of conscience. "Wluu the' conflict between the moral faculty and the selfish or worldly uidiiiation, is vehement and protracted, and the former obtains the victory ; and, cspcicialiy, when tliat victory consists in the maintenauce of a truth or princiiih', whicli, instead of bringing along with it gain or sensible advantage, involves sacrifices or losses of innnense value, then tliere is realized a serenity, an elevation and a l)lessedness, of which none Init tliost^ who have been brought in contact with the world of spirits can jiave any appreciation. Now, for all iliese feats of mental prowess and genuine heroism, educati»ni, and education of a high order, can alone fit and qualify. Natural endowments ari- indispensably necessary, but tliese could nciver achieve anytliing of pennancnt worth, of ImiHMnshabh! glory, without their possessor passing tlu'oiigli a process of thorough educational training, from whatever (piarter derived. In conlirination of all this, we recpiire not to contrast the wandering savage with tlie polished savant, l)ut the partially with the thoroughly educated. And how striking the difference Ijoth as it respects their own (!ondition and that of their fellow-creatures ! The former is at the mercy of every wind that blows, restless as old ocean. Tlie latter is calm, and trancpiil and blessed in all situations and circumstances. The one derives all his happiness from his own selfish carnal indulgences, or from the society of those like-minded ; the other rising into a V^ftier remon — and altogether independent of his fellows, drinks copiously and with purest satisfiiction, at the fountain-head of his own cultivated and accom- plished mind. Education ennobles and dignifies humanity in every sphere and walk of life. The real glory of man is mind. It is that which not only raises him above the lower animals but enables him to triumph over the material parts of creation, and to render the very elements of nature subservient to his happiness. It is mind that enables him to hold converse with the great and good of every ago, and from their accumulated stores to add increasingly and indefinitely to his own stock of knowledge. It is mind that imparts the power of associating with Divinity, and, through His works and ways, to enjoy a sweet interchange of thought and sentiment. It is mind, too, that invests him with the ability of displaying, in part at least, the grand character- istic of the divine nature — diffusiveness, and thereby sharing in the blessedness of His declarative glory. And when is man, by the appliance of mind, enabled to accomplish these and similar results ? 4 Ml 1 *fl V j w n 20 TEACHKU d TKXT-HOOK. ' II Wlien cdiicjitod ; and in viTy jiroportioii to tlio luiture and extent of that education will hv. his moiital (fxploits. It i.s (Mlueation and echication alone;, that imparts aitpctcnciy to mental application and investigation. It is education antate in the matter of national e(lucation, — how they might and ought to co-operate in its promotion, with the greatest mutual advantage, without any interference with each other's appro- propriatc jurisdiction. This last point, howi;ver, we must defer, till we c(jme to that part of our course which treats of the exterior of education. AVe shall, now, briefly glance at the benefits of education, first, in reference to the State, and, then, to the Church. The subject is vast and interesting. We can only look at a few of its more salient points, and these, without attempting anything in the shape of lengthened illustration. T/ic (x'lU'Jifs of R Ik cation to the State. And here a (piestion meets us at the outset, — AVhat constitutes the real pros[)erity or haiipiuess of any district, or community, or Province, or State? To this (piestion we, unhesitatingly, reply, — f/ie in fell /'(/en re, the ivdnsfnj and mofdiiti/ of its people. There may be boundless material resources, all, in short, that can contribute to wealth, independence, or external comfort ; but if these three constituent elements are awaiiting, or if they exist only to a limited extent, or any one of them to the all but entire exclusion of the other, or, what is still worse, if the opposite vices prevail, that people is poor indeed, destitute of everything in which true social happiness consists. But let us briefly glance at each of these constituents in their bearing on a nation's prosperity ; and first as to Intcllijcnce. ,1> iij N.VTinp: OF KDUCATION. 23 111 inocts ipliiness rr.) lliis \tr>) (t)id Isourccs, xtevnal iiii'. or if all but jiposite thing ill tlieir .'>j Iiitelh'(/nirc (h'sprh the f/luniu of j>i)piil(ir >'f/ni>ra)>ce, n'if/i all fhf fi'ils and miseries f//(it follow in I'fs trani. On these evils wo liavo no '••teiitiori to expatiate. AVe iiiii^'ht ciilarite on those superstitions noiio. ' •'• linf; extraordinary natural ithenoniena, asoribinij to (lir(;ct and sjieeial supcjrnatiiral ageney, what can he very easily proved to proceed from the onlinary eourse of nature; such, for »'xaini»le, as an eclijise of tin; moon or siui, eomets with their hlaziiitf tails, aurora- horeales, shooting stars, fiery inetcfors, lunar rainbows, the igiies fatiii which hover above moist and fenny jdaces in th(5 niglit time, and other ;itmospherioal appcaranecs. Wi' might refer, too, to the practise of judicial astrology- -a practise arising from the belief* that the character and fates of men are dependent on the various aspects of the stars and ofinjunctions of the planets ; or to the plaintive note of the mourning dove, tin; ticking noise of the; little insect, called the death-watch, the howlintr of a dorsally diffused, thus indirectly promote national prosperity, it will efT'ect far greater direct results ; and this briii0 cents, while each man can earn a dollar. Physical exertion, in this case, combined with ordinary intelligence and skill, is eighty times more valuable than the same amount of brute force. As man's in- telligence increases, so does his labour become more valuable. A small couipensation is the reward of mere physical power, while skill, combined with a moderate amount of strength, commands higli wages. The labour of an ignorant man is scarcely more valuable than the same amount of brute force, but the services of an intelligent person are a hundred fold more productive. Increase the practical and available education of the labourer, and you enable him to do more work and better, too, than his less informed associate. The facts brought forward by Horace Mann go incontestibly to prove — other things being ecpial — that those who have been blessed with a good common school education, rise to a higher point in the character of the labour performed, and also, in the rate of Avages received. And, hence, prove incontestibly, that education is not only a moral renovator and a multi[)lier of intellectual power ; but that it is the most prolilic parent of material riches. It has a rigl>t, there- fore, not only to be included in the grand inventory of a nation's resources, but to he placed at the very head of that inventory. It is not only, the most honest and honorable, but the surest means of amassing pro}>erty. But it is not in manufacture alone that intelligence is fraught with so many blessings, it is equally signalized in the pursuits of Agricul- NATURE OF EDUCATIOX. 25 [)t only Itliat it thcre- latiou's It is Luis of It with iricul- (itre. Til this depailmeut of industry, we are brought constantly into contact with tlie forces of nature. As farmers, wo are entirely (lei>en(lent upon them for our pecuniary returns, and the profits -.f our investments ; and hence the necessity of knowing what these f(>rces are, and under what circumstrnces they will o[)erate most ellieieiitly, and, most bountifully, reward our original outlay of money and of time. Again, the Province yields a great variety of Agricultural productions ; and this brings into requisition all the chemical and experimental knowh^lge which pertains to the rotation of crops and the enrichment of soils. If rotation be disregarded, the repeated demands on the same soil to ])roduce the same crop, will exhaust it of the elements on which that particular crop will best thrive. If the chemical ingredients and affinities of tin; soil are not und(>rstood, an attempt may be made to reinforce by substances, with which it is already surcharged, instead of renovating it with those of which it has been exhausted by previous crops. But for these arrangements and adaptations, knowledge is the grand desideratum ; and the addition of a new fact to a farmer's mind, will often increase the amount of his harvests more than the addition of acres to his estate. The connection between intelligence and the useful arts is not less close and indissoluble. For the successful prosecution of the manu- facturing and. mechanical arts, if not for their very existence, there must be not only the exactness of science but skill in its application, either in the constructing of mr.chinery, or in the transforming of raw ■materials into finished fabrics. This ability to make exact and skilful applications of science to an unlimited variety of materials, and, es[)ecially, to the subtle and most en<,'rgetic ag(!iicies of nature, is one of the latest attainments of the human mind. This era has but just commenced, and already the abundance, — and what is of far greater importance, — the universality of the personal, domestic and social comforts it has created, constitute the most important events in the history of modern civilization. 15ul, farther still. Intelligence renders all the forces of nature suhservient to the promotion of mans truest interests. Whatever may have been effected by wind, water and fire, far greater achieve- ments have been made within the last fifty years by the agency of steam and electricity — their application to science, manufacture and machinery, and to all the pursuits and emi)loyraents of life. Thousands of volumes could not delineate the triumphs of science during the last forty or fifty years, or tell the effects of these triumphs upon the whole social economy, upon the inteflectual and moral well-behig of m ij m Ijf ri" i 1 ;i 4 « |!; .'1 II ' r 'III I ll H ,1 !«! 26 TEACHER S TEXT ROOK. the human species. And yet these are destined to accomplisli far more transcendent results, as tlieir application progresses and becomes more and more widely diifused. And need we add to all this, that intelUgence elevates and 7-eJjnes the whole tastes and sensibilities of a community or nation. Let it jjy'evail to any extent among a people, and in very proportion will tliey cease to derive gratification from mere corporal pleasures, from mere sensual delights. All their pastimes, and amusements, and recreations, would then spring from a loftier source and be directed to a higher and nobler aim. They would participate hu'gely of the intellectual and moral element, and by consequence contribute to for purer and more permanent enjoyment. Such are a few of the more prominent results of the general diffusion of iutcUigence throughout a community. And how is such a state of things to be brought about, how are tlie masses to be leavened W'ith this all essential salt, with this vital element? In no other way, we positively aiRrm, than by a sound system of education practically and universally carried out. Intellifjence consists of two things — knowledge and the culture of the intellectual foculties ; and these can only be secured by education. Without instruction or teaching, little or no knowledge can be acquired ; and, without education, there can be no cidtivation of the mind. And thus it must appear patent to alli, that there can be no such thing as real national intcl/if/ence Avithout universal education, and that of the highest and most ellieient character. The second constituent of a nation's prosperity and welfare is Industry. We have dwelt the longer on the attribute of i.felfiyence, not merely because it lies at the foundation of a nation's advance- ment, but because it comes moi-e directly Avithin the range and control of the educational process 13ut however essential it may be as tlie basis of the wliole superstructure, it is not in itself enough ; and those who imagine, that Avhen education has gone thus far, it can go no farther, or that no more can be expected from it, labour vnider a grievous misapprehension. Intelligence of itself Avill never make a nation prosperous and happy. IIoAV often do Ave see individuals possessjd of no ordinary amount of intelliyence, and yet that intelli- gence, in a ^'reat measm-e, uiq)roductive of any decided beneficial results ; and that simply because its out-goings, or the efforts it puts forth, are purely spasmodic in their character, made up of fits and starts; or hoAvever sound or Avell-directed, it lacks continuous diligence, steady, habitual api)liciition, unfaltering perseverance. Something KP NATURE OP EDUCATION". 27 to fill" >lfaro is •Ui(jenci\ bdvance- coiitrol |)o, lis the III' I tliose 11 iJO D.) luulor ii miike !i lividiKils It intcUi- li'ueticial it puts fits and lilij^encc, iniethiug % uioiT, therefore, is necessary to constitute a nation's prosperity, and that is — Industry. Industry, as is well known, is the opposite of sloth and indolence. It just means regular, assiduous and habitually steady applicaiion to business, or study, or to any employment or pursuit. AVhen in exercise, and associated with the attiibute we have already discussed, it is souiethlng more than a mechanical process, a mere perfunctory ai)|)lication of brute force. It consists of a steady, patient, persevering following out of the business of our calliuu, with a constant aim at ini[)rovemcnt and advancement, arising from a growing ac(piaintance with tlio princijjle involved, with the theory s are multiplying at an immensely rapid ratio. And whence all this ? It is the product of the industry, the plodding, the m i^ 1 . 28 teacher's text-book. patient, tlio persovering industry and skill of its people. It is tlio fortligoiiigs of nil energy rendered all the more indomitable Vty reason of the very diflieulties encountered. It is the ai)propriate reward of the application of science, and skill, and j)erseverance to the cultivation of the soil. Again, need we bring forward, as another witness, the State of IMassachusetts. Where was there a territory on the whole of this continent more unjjromising or uninviting than the one in question, when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on its shores ? And now its fields are capable of j)roducing and bringing to highest perfection every sort of grain, and fruit, and stock, — its merchants are the most enterprising and patriotic in the world, — its mechanics and artizans, the most ingenious, and respectable and independent. And more than all this, where is the nation upon earth, that has been more successful than the New England States in the invention of machinery, of labour-saving implements, in all manufacturing, agri- cultural, and mechanical em[)loyments. And to what is all this • be traced, but to the industrial habits of the people, founded upon, and proceeding from sound, and practical, and well-balanced, generally diffused intelligence. Industry also directly conducts to economy and the possession of %corldly substance. It is of little service to an individual to be in possession of means, or in a position to accumulate wealth, unless he has acquired the art of discreetly using it, of exercising a wholesome economy, not in few but in all things. And who is the person most likely to manifest this character and to manifest it most extensively, who will most naturally husband the means he has laid up in store, who but the man who, from hard-earned experience, realizes its value, even the man of industrious habits ? Spendthrifts are no doubt found in every walk and sphere of life, in all situations and circum- stances, but these arc the exceptions. Generally speaking, whenever a man toils hard in his calling, he is the most likely ])erson to set a right value on his honestly won gain, to watch over it with care, and to make a wise and legitimate disposal of it. Again, he who, by ordinary frugality, manages to live within his income, and to lay out a small ctqntal at interest, is just the very person who will display the greatest providence and carefulness, in eking out the same by an annual addition. The very fact that he possesses a small amount of means at his service, inspires him with a feeling of comfortable independence, and stimuLitcs him to greater diligence and industry in adding to his stock. Iws notions of what constitutes a decent and respectable competency, grow apace and expand into larger volume ; and these are constantly fed and fostered. 4 i Ill at lie with a Ixrciiter what re and Is to red. '4 NATURE OP EDUCATION. 29 I bv his wants and desires hecoming more numerous, as well as more inii)erious in their demands. What was considered but u few years bctbre a comfort and an indulgence, would not now meet and far less satisfy his cravings ; and so he is necessitated, from the very law of his being, to redouble his diligence and multiply, with an ever increasing ratio, his industry and perseverance. And let such views and feelings be generally diffused throughout a community, and the effects will soon be apparent in their manly in(lei)endence, increasing comfort, advancing civilization and reline- ment ; and still more, in the abundant and substantial provision and accumulation of the means requisite, to feed and extend them. And all this, again, will operate most beneficially on their onward strides in intellectual improvement, refined taste, and social elevation. But on these and similar topics we cannot enlarge. It is more to our puri)ose that we briefly advert to the grand result of this economizing and self-provident spirit on a nation's jmtiperism. It will infallibly dry up the sources thereof — or, according to the expressive language of Sir J. Kaye Shuttleworth — "it will more effectually than anything else eradicate its germs." Though it is evidently the decree of heaven that the poor shall never cease out of the land — a decree which the Almighty will make good by the dispensations of his Providence, — still there is an inmiense difference between such poor and those who are in that condition, because of their own indolence and imi)rovidence, their own intemperance and vice. And wdio does not know that three fourths of the pauperism of any country is traceable to one or other of these sources, drinking up, in too many instances, a nation's natural and acquired resources ; and theicby rendering it, in a great measui'e, unfit for the fulfilment of the higli errand for which the body politic was constituted. In England, for example, the sum expended in the support of [)auperisni is all l)ut incredible, averaging anniially, for the hvst ten years, five millions of pomids sterling. Properties in some cases have been so overbui-deued and oppressed, that they have been literally abandoned and consigned to the support of the poor within tlunr bounds. This state of things would be in a great measure obviated by the prevalence of the industrious habits, to which we have just adverted. In very i)ropor- tion to the extent to which industry bears sway in any land, will be the extirpation of pauperism ; and who that knows anything of the mighty incubus, which such a state of things imposes upon the vital energies of any country, would not long, and pray and labour for its unreserved removal! The effects of all this upon communities or '¥ ■f.::i*. i^r, I « i 30 teacher's tkxt-p.ook. ; I ! ■! itr-HiN nations, partially or wliolly liberated, wouM be signal indeed. It would not only vastly lessen the weight of the jmblic expenditure, and thereby diffuse a S})irit of contentment, of hi<^h toned patriotism, and of genuine conservatism, throughout all ranks and degrees ; but it would enable them to devote their resources to the improvement or hcneft of their fellow-creatures in other lands; and, thereby, add to the lustre, and increase the usefulness of the body politic. Such are a fi!W of the more palpable and direct results of the second virtue in our list, — and, surely, every reflective mind must perceive, that nothing but a universal and enlightened system of education, will either give birth to, or cause such a virtue to bloom, and flourish, and fructify. Let the education be of the right sort, — let it attract and interest the minds of the rising generation ; let it train to habits of steady and persevering industry, not by the force of sheer necessity, or of rigid discipline, but of a self-reliant spirit — a spirit that lives and breathes and expands in an atmos})here of conscious proprietorshi}) ; let it move all the inner sympathies and affections of their nobler being, and they have but to transfer the habits of self-dependence they have acquired to the avocations and pursuits of life ; and, then, will their education occupy its right position, preparing and (jualifying them for the active duties and difriculties of their future career — affecting, and affecting most deeply, all their modes of thinking, and feeling, and acting. We come now to the last element in a nation's prosi:)erity-:^viz.. Public Morcdity. By Public Morality, we mean the absence — the comparative absence, of all the more flagrant and enormous acts of wickedness, of all public, notorious vices and crimes. We say, com- parative, beicause so long as man continues in his present condition of imperfection and sin, will his conduct be characterized by occa- sional outbursts of wickedness, and even the general current of morals will ebb and flow. But in the state of things we are now contemplating, there will not only be the negative but the positive, the presence of all personal, social, and public virtues. These — such as contentment with our own condition and circumstances, temperance, moderation, sobriety, chastity, integrity, courteousftess, generosity, universal benevolence and beneficence, downright honesty and truthfulness, subjection to parents, subordination to our superiors and to all lawfully constituted authorities, predominate and reign. And those virtues must be founded upon some high and infallible sWuidard, to which all must be prepared to come, and before which all must bow. In other words, ■I NATURE OF EDUCATION. 31 ileod. It JCiKlituri', iitriotisiu, rees ; but mnent or add t< ts of the iiid must iystem of to bloom, it sort, — >n ; let it 3 force of spirit — a sphere of ,thies and nsfer the tioiis and its right [uties and st deeply, ty-T^vi/.. nee — the s acts of say, com- condition by occa- |of morals will not Ipersonal. our own [sobriety, levolence ktion to jistituted inust be Imust be worda, ■ ^■^. --i thev must have a reference to God — to His character, as our authority, and to ITis law, us our standard. Ilcnvcver much we may res})ect a mere outward morality — a morality founded on the worldly ])rinciples of honour or self-interest or fear of future punishment, still this, after all, is but a miserable sul)stitute for the real and the genuine, and only maintains its existence on account of the particles of preserving salt, that may be scattered v.p and down the body politic. It is morality, founded on and flowing from true religion, for which we contend. It is this and this alone, which will stand lirm and unshaken, even when subjected to the most fiery ordeal, to the most tremendous sJiock. It is this and this aloiie, Avhich will render it the vehicle of (conveying to the body ]:)olitic tliroughout all its members the most beneficial influence — the most, satisfying and lasting happiness. And are we asked to name a touchstone by which a coiiuiiunity or nati(jii may he tested in reference to the genuineness or spuriousness of its morality 1 We would unhesitatingly reply, its observance of the Sabbatic or hebdomadal rest, that jeW' \ which, like the keystone in the arch, supports the whole fabric of the first and second table of the law, the rearward of the former and the vanguard of the latter. As this institute is respected, its privileges prized, its rites observed, so have we a [)ulse by which the real coiulition of a nation's morality — may be ascertained. Let morality, founded upon such :i principle, generally bear sway in any community or nation, and how stupendous and wide-spreading the results ! It will evince itself to be at once the mainsjjriiig and regulator of the body politic It Avill not only give a right direction to every other department of the social ftxbric, but preserve the whole machine in good working order, and diffuse a health/ul and an invigorating influcjuce over all its parts. But to be somewhat more particular. The prevalence of such a morality will lessen, to a vast extent, the amount of vice and crime in any country. In very proportion as the former bears sway, so wHl the latter in every shape and form, as ashamed, hide its face. And this, again, will bring about an immense reduction in the public expenditure. There is not, perhaps, at this moment, a civilized Christian nation upon earth, a third of whose income is not swallowed up in the punishment of crime, or in attempts to relieve the distresses and the wants of the destitute and desolate. In Dr. Guthrie's Plea for Eagged Schools, it is stated that, in 1845, Scotland expended for criminal prosecutions, maintenance of criminals, not less a sum than £150,045 — and this altogether independent of Judges' salaries, :1 m m '■:m f !-| it . w i 1 t ■1 1 I I ; I I 4 t II) 32 TEAClIEn S TEXT-IJOOK. Do[mty A<, Crown agents, &c. And If tliis is tlio case with Scotlaml, generally admitted to be the most moral, what must it be in otlier countries? It has been computed that every criminal, on an average, costs tlie country for his maint(inance, not less than £400, or, about £.0') per annum. And what an enormous sura must thus bo expended, when it is considered that, in England alone, there were not less than 15,507 juvenile offenders, — exclusive altogether of the seared veterans in crime, connuitted to jail in one biief year. And what an immense saving would, then, be etlected on a nation's expenditure by the diffusion of a sound inoniIifi/9 It may be imagined by some that this is taking very low groun(L It may seem ^=0 when viewed in itself, but it is far otherwise, when regarded as a means leading to great and important ends, even the erection of those defences, munitions and fortifications, which, if they do not inspire terror, will at least command the respect and confidence of surrounding nations, and invest with the awe-striking motto : — " Nemo me Impitne Incesset." But jiational greatness will not only insjtire others with respect and confich^nce, it will, if rightfully used, prove a powerful instrument in thp denouncing of tyrani>y and despotism of every shape and d(>gree, — in the relieving of llu> distressed and down-trodden, everywhere. Take Britain as an exemplitication. Defective as she is in })ublic virtue, considering her external privileges, yet she stands forth in peerless grandeur, sitting as a queen among the nations, upholding the great principles of international law, frowning down upon and putting an arrestment on deeds of national cruelty, bar- barism and persecution, wherever these i.iay manifest themselves. Never could she achieve such exjdoits, save by the vastness of her resources, the prowess of her arms, the magnanimity and moral lieroism of her "eneral administration. But the morality of which we speak, will not only promote the temporal glory of nations, it will largely enhance their whole social, intellectual, and aesthetic welfare. All ranks and degrees of men amongst them, will not only lay aside their hate, malice, and revenge ; but they will feel themselves connected together by bonds of truest friend.'hip, of christian loyal attachment, striving to do good to one another, as they have opi^ortunity. They will give honour to whom honour is due, — treating their superitn's with respect and esteem; their equals, with courteousness and large-hearted generosity ; their inferiors, like l)rethren, relieving them in their distresses, and rejoicing with them in their prosperity. But this morality Avill exert a still more beneficial influence on the NATtUB OF KDUCATION. 33 ;aso with t it bo ill :il, on iui £400, or, , thus bo ere were ler of tlio ar. And nation's may be may seem irtled as a n of those ot inspire rrounding le imjmne hers with , powerful i-ery shape n-trodden, ive as she ishe stands e nations, linj^ down Lclty, bar- iieinselves. ,(^ss of her aid moral l)mote the iole social, |s of men revenge ; of truest jd to one I to whom esteem ; |it.y ; their rejoicing Ice on the nalmn-'il intellect. It requires no <,frcat penetration, or extent of observation to perceive the expanding power of tlie moral faculty over the natural intellect; how it guides and directs in all its inves- tigations and en(iuiries, turning all into a profitable channel ; how it spreads life, and vigour, and healthfulness throughoiit all its faculties, cultivating, strength(Miing, and investing witli ten-fold capabilities; how it summons into recpiisitioii anility, in a state of dormancy and inactivity. The Ksthetic powers will also be summoned into liveliest exercise. Architecture, painting, sculpture, and, indeed, all the tine arts, all those accomplishments and pursuits indicative of a high degree of civilization and refinement, will lie exhibited and shine forth with resplendent lustre. Instead of tliose low, grovelling, and animal gratifications, the inseparable attendants of vulgar and debased nunds, of low-toned morality^ the great masses of the people will 1k>, drinking in draughts of happiness and joy from purer and more enduring fountains. And the benefits which these powers and sensibilities have derived from conscience, will be reciprocated. Just as they increase in capacity and intensity, so will this vicegerent of divinity within, become more; sensitive and authoritative. And thus will they continue nuitually to atfect one another, not merely during the whole period of their connection in time, but even in a higher and serener sphere of being. I5ut over and above fill these natural effects of this high-toned viomh'ti/, there will descend upon that comnnniity aJid people, where it prevails, the direct blessing of the Governor among the nations. It Avill lead to a public recognition of ITim by wlu)m ' Kings reign and Princes decree justice.' It will inspire with entire confidence in His sustaining arm. And it is the law of heaven that the nation which honours God, He will honour. He will impart to it lasting stability, — the perpetuity and continued advancement of all its ins*'tutions and immunities. And while kingdoms and em^pires have been swept away with the besom of destruction, just because they lacked this very element. He will cause it to shine forth with an ever increasincr lustre, gathering from every victory fresher and more verdant laurels, and difl>!sing, far and wide, all those virtues and excellencies, which constitute the light, the life, and the joy of a nation. And how is such a morah'fi/ to be attained and held fast, perpetu- ^ ' .11 i ^-fl ited, aiul extended. In no other way that we know of than by a sound, popular system of education. " If." says the distinguished Mr. m 34 Ti:.vf fri-.i; s ikxi-book. j .; '•■ 1 ^>iiii) Hill in hi.s work on National Kducation, "if you arranj^c the c^)nvictions on charges of maimiiiii', with intent to kill, and l()"2(> persons were convicted oi' rol)bing, uuiler aggravated circumstances. There cannot be a doubt that all this crime is the ofllspring of igno- rance, of the want of education, — there being not more than 1 in '.W of the population in the act of receiving this inestimable boon. In further confirmation of the truth that education diminishes crime, take the following' statistics "leaned from various oilicial documents rt'specting prison-nuinagenu'Ut. According to returns to the IJritish Parliament, the conunitnu'iits for crimes, in an average of nine years, in proportion to the [(opulation, are as foHows : — In JManchester, the most inlidel city in the nation. 1 in l-b»; in Londcni I in SOd; in all Ireland I iu l()t)(>; ami in Scotland, celebrated for education and religion, I in 2i)^H)\}. Sir Richard l'hili])s, SherilF of London, says that on the memorial addi'e^sed to the sheriils by h")2 criminals in the same institution, 2") only signed tlu>ir names in a fair hand, 2i) in an illegible scrawl, and Idl, two-thirds of the entire number, were marksmen, signing with a cross. The Ivev. Mr. Clay, Chaplain to the House of Correction in Lancashire, reports that out of 112'.t persons conunitted, r>ol could not read ; 22i) were barely capidjle of readhig; .'58 only could read well; and only 8 or 1 in 141 coidd read and write well. In the New York State Prisons, as examined a few years ago, more than three-fourths of the convicts had either received no education or a very imperfect one. Out of 842 at Sing Sing, 28!) could not read nor write, and only 42 — less than I in 20 — had received I NATL'UK OF KDUCATION. a'l "'"'S^ a ijood. ('omnioii scliool ('(lucatioii. Tlir State of" roiiuccticiit (•{itit!iii\s fi>\vcr iit'isoiis ill |iroi»(»rti()ii to tlit; whole popiilatioii, that were imaltle to leail and write tliaii any other in tlie I'nion. And what dueation as leaNcs a man unahle to reM who may lie said not to have been e(lucated at all. What a disifrace to the nation I Ivaixucd Schools meet, to a certain extent, this clamant e\il. and furnish th(! hest cure for crime, the clieapest. most hinnane. and holiot remedy. In Kdin1>uri,di. they iiavi^ ]iut an end to stri'et mendicancy — for just as the school tilled, the cells of tin' [irison emptied. In jSlT. when the oripnal IJair;.fed School was opened, in Ivliidnir^h, the centesimal projiortion of children under 1 1 years of a'^i^ in prison, was TjO. anil in IS;")!!, it was 1.2. 'J'he mnnhi-r of prisoiu'rs hetween l-I and I(! years of aiic, was in IS is, ')')-2, in IHo'.) it was down to 1.'50. These statements jire siitlicieiit to demonstrate the position, that education is ihr; ixratnl iustrnnieiit in the production of a sound, hijj;li-toned niomlffi/. And how ouiiht this to I'uhanee the sidjjeet of the education of the youin;'. in the eyes of communities and nations, and lead to the adojilion of every possible means for its eneournijement and support ? And that not merely, because it is the nation's obliifation and honour, but its hiifhest interest, its truest economy. And this education, that it may be })roducti\e of such results, must be not only of a sotnidly intel- lectual, but of a thoroughly moral character, that is, it must combine trainini;- with instnictioii ; and all in conformity with the pn-eepts of inspiration, exemplilied and enforced by the Great Teacher of Nazareth. This — this is the orand instrumentality of heaven for the preservation of a nation from corruption and dissolution, as weli as for the upliftuig and elevation of the sinking and sunken. This — this is pre-eminently fitted to raise a nation to true dignity and glory, to the security and perpetuity of its institutions and iuuuunities. Having now discussed the. lienetits of intelligence, industry and morality to the state, singly, and having shown that e(Uication. and \4 m i 1)1 ■'vi :;!'■- :.i| ..Hi ri '•I ["I'll" .mllf ifij il ;JG TKACIIKU .S TKXT-I'.OOK. the kiiitl of cfliiciition that ciin iiloiu: scnirc these three cuDstituents, respeetivcly, we are in a position to tai\e a hrieC conjunct view of the whoh'. It has now heeii sliown that intelligence! dissipates the evils of popu- lar i^ruoranee, adds largely to the productiveness of human lal)our, iu manufacture, agriculture, and tlu^ useful arts, renders all the resources tind forces of nature subservient to tlie interests of man, and elevates and relines the tastes and seuslhllities of any conununity ; and that the education necessary for inipartiiiif this intelliiifence must be sucli us will exercise, and develop, all the oronnis exercise! 7V(tin up a child it! the tnti/ he should (j». and when he is old he will not depart fr<>>n it! Skctiox III. — Tin: i'.knk/ its of kditation ro tiik Ciirucu, 'V\m other urand association of the human family is ilie eceh'si- astica' or man viewed as tlie member ol' a spiiitual society — the Chn.^n. Tlie seliool has often, and, with i^reat pro])riety, been (lesi«i-nated 'the nursery of tlie Church.' It is so, because; of the knowk'd^e it imi)arts. — the sj)irit it inspires, and the liabits it forms. That tlie school effectuate these high and ennobling purposes, it must bi' ])ervaded and leavened \vith the spirit of true religion, of geruine morality — a I'eligion and morality that must i)e inwoven willi the mental sniicture of the recipients and exhibited in actual lite. Education of this character is of iui.spe'akable value to the Church : — Jiecansc it renders all tlie discoveries of sriiuce, all Oie inventions of the arts, and all the resources of nature subservient to the establish- ment and riromotion of truth and righteoHsness. The; work of human redemption, that work which the Church is commissioned to maintain and pro[)agate in this world, is the greatest of all the works of Deity. Those; attributes of His nature, which are singly displayed in other objects and in other realms, meet here in one, full, concentrated whole. Those, too, that apjiarently clash or seem to run counter to one another, arc here all re(Mmciled, and harmonized, antl blended together, none darkening or eclipsing the other, but each shedding a brighter lustre upon all around. This world was (,'reated and preserved as an arena for its manifestation and development, and, as soon as that work shall have reached ils consummation, it shall lie rolled up as a scroll and pass away from our vision, and a new heaven and a new earth made its dwelling-place. Even now the; earth is [(reserved from decay and (H)rruptioii (intirely because of the 'excellent' that are in it, and who are appropriately styled its .ireserv- ing salt; just as the ten righteous men, if found, would have been to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. If, therefore. Creation and Redeni})- tion stand to one another in the relation of means and end, if every object or event of the former miinsters to the advancement of the latter, it is clearly our bounden duty and our highest interest to render all subservient thereto, — everything in nature and providence, every- thing that bears tlie impress of the divine architect, or of human NATUltE OI KDUCATION. m urtifioe and skill. I'lit ula-s ! for the scliisluifss atitl worldly minded- (loss of liumanitv. And this spirit noii<>lit but a Christian education will supplant, and extirpate. Hy means of such an education, the plastic tniuds of the youuif will l)e taui^ht to see and feel that they are not their (nvn, but the property of the sovereign Lord of th(! Universe; and that all tlmy are and all that they have, are but h'ut thcni as Sicwai'ds, ■which they iwv, bound to restore, again, with usury : and not only so, but they will be trained to part with this object and with that, for increasing the usefidness or extending the boundaries of the Ciiurch of the living God, — the pillar and ground of the truth. As tlu y advance in years, this habit will grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength ; and as their capabilities enlai"ge, so will their hearts and hands. Whatever their study or employment, they have b'arned to prosecute; the one; and the other, just that they might have new tields of exploration and new triumphs of science to <'onsecrate to the service of the Church, just that they might have larger possessions, fresher and richer objects on which to levy a tribute for some moral exjdoit, or the achievement of some heroic, spiritual deed. Rilnrafio)!. prrpcfunfes and extemh the vdnse of fnifh and rir/hteons- iir.-is ill /he ('(trth. Every one ac(piainteects ; and what in those circumstances are tlujy to lo ? They must just call in the aid of i)roxies in the capacity of scliool- mastersi, and hand over to them, for so many hours a-day, their whole education alike in things secular and sacred. They thus carry on the education of their (children by delegation, the teachers enjoying the sympathy, the counsel, and the co-operation of the parents. In tliis way, is the cause of truth and righteousness hande c power ■ {". the way ■^V )n of the •;. ■ni. ^ ; neither lud what ■* nsihility, (lays, in vl training, ■:l >rinji ; it J ast their ;| y to lo ? ■ sehool- ir wliole ' ''*; y on the '% yiu\ er, are ■ ->i llc'l and 'J is jfreat ■■4 4 '<»nnfi)iot, naturally, so much demanded. -Ith. It receives a higher meed of divine approbation. Evil in every shape is an abomination in the sight of the inlinitely Holy One. Wluin, therefore, we use our instrumentality in presenting our fellow-creatures from falling into sin, we must Ixj regarded by the Ahnighty with greater complacency, than in attempting to bring them back from the paths uf the destroyer, and must occupy a higher vantage ground in securing that blessing which alone gives success. Now what is the whole educational course, when sound, and thorough, and having resi)eet throughout to tin; formation of character, by the cultivation of the [diysical, intellectual and moral miture of the young; — what is the whole character of such a course but one of prevention, and that, at the time, when the mind is most plastic and most susceptible of lasting impressions ? This is the period, too. when good habits are most easily formed, iu)t merely those of diligence and close application to study, but of correct deportment and moral obedience. This is the period for training, not only to abstain :i.i •• ;l^ la e tl w^ 42 TKACIIKUS TEXT-BOOK. \'A0 k I- , U ' • M#' jiliiii i \ '' ■!; Y mm 1 i from every species of vice iiiid criminality, but to practise all those graces and virtues, wliich alike diiruify and ennoble bunianity. Tliis is tlie period best a(laj)ted for sowinij on tlu; soil of the hnnuin heart the ine(>rrn()tible seed of the Word, and laying hold, by faith, of those promises which plcdL^e the divine faithfulness to second such instru- mentality with iiis richest blessinjj;. It is thus clear, as the surd)eam, that education constitutes a most powi^rfid mean for promoting the best, the highest interests of humanity. It is tVom this (juarter and through this channel, accordingly, that the Church, in every succeeding age, derives her largest succour, her (,'hief sup])lies, her recruiting and over .idvancing progression, all d(!monstrating the soundness of our position — the manifold obligations of the Church to education. Ediirntion adds (UiuizitKjhi to the Clnirrli's ('(ip(d)illttcs of KSffidness. There are two cardinal duties imposed upt»n the churcli universal, for the discharge of which she was established in this world, and for which, mainly, she is preserved, — duties which enter into the very <'ssi'n('(! of her constitution, and foi'm, when vigorously )aet and K EDICATION. 43 all those ty. This iiaii h(^art I, of those L'h iiistni- sunlieam, iotin Church Iher ill the it, whether truth, far not only to truth; and, :il.>o versant wiili the general princi[)'.es of intei'pretation, and with the literature of thcol«/gy. And does not all this imply a comi)lete sclioolini'- in the (elementary branches of education ? Jf all thi^ wits of Satan and his emissaries are sharpened to substantiate charges against the bulwarks of our faith, surely it is necessary, indispensably neces- sary, that the champions of the truth meet them on their own liattle-ground. and light them with their own weapons ; and this can only be done by the possession of vast stores of learning, wielded by nunds of discriminating acumen and of high culture — such as what nothing but a thorough education can im[)art. Again, the diversified phases of idolatiy, delusion, superstition, scepticism and infidelity, which the heralds of the truth nuist expcict to meet in unfurling their banners u[ion foreign shores, can be dinnolished, and Christianity built upon their ashes, oidy by those whose int(dlects have been well disciplined, and whose stores of learning are vast and orderly arranged. On the banks of the Ganges, the very same objections are brought against Christianity by the learned IJralmrns, that were advanced by the Humes and Voltaires and other se( itics of last century, liesides, many of the Pagan systems of religion, that obtain at this nu)ment in heathen lands, are founded ujxtii their philosophic creed. IMiat ci'eed is, generally speaking, erroneous, aiul can easily be disproved by the v(M'iest tyros in physi-al science. But, in order to effectuate this, the propagators of Christianity must be thoroughly educated ; not only well accpiainled with the subject matttu* of their message but with all those systems of religious belief, which it is their aim to demolish, as Well as with those systems of science and philosophy so closely Sfl mM P^ i»i •■It- m ^ 44 TEACHEU S TEXT-nOOK, h'if -rl j .III inxii interwoven tbcrewitli. Tuit over and above all this, it is now a well establislied fact that the most sucoessf'iil missionary among the heatlien nations, iiistrumcntally roifanled, is the man who ])ossesses the ii'reatcst power, in presenting; to the nntutored mind reli<,dons or spiritual truth through the medium of visilde or natural objects or things. The untutored mind of the masses of the heathen is like that of a child, it cannot grasp abstract truth. The grand avenue to tlnir understanding is thi'ough their perceptive faculties. And need we show again that for this, natural science is much reijuired ? That the Church, then, serve the high end for which she is planted and j^reserved in this world, a high education is indispensabl(!. Education is the best and speediest ivaij of evanfielizing the nations of the earth. Thure arc two ways in which this high and holy mission may be fullilled. It may be either through the medium of a foreign or a home agency. The former is the mode generally pursued ; the latter has only l)een tried, and that to a limited extent, in more recent times. AYliich of these two modes is the more likely to effect tlie end with the greatest speed and eiliciency, is an im[)ortant question. And in answering this (piestion, no one, we think, can shut his eyes to the fact, that the mode generally pursued has not been followed with the results that we would have anticipated from the expenditure of means and apjiliances. And surely, it is a befitting subject to en(piire into the probable cause of this, in so far as secondary instrumentality is concerned. And we have no hesitation in expressing it as our opinion, that much of this comparative failure is to be attributed to the nature of the agency employed. The greater proportion of the nations still enslaved and steeped in the abominations and cruelties of idohitry, are resident in tropical climates, with languages, habits and pursuits diverse from those sending to them the glad tidings of salvation. The result is, that two-thirds of the missionaries that are from foreign shores, foil victims to the inbospitableness of the climate, and that oftentimes before they have mastered the language, or become acquainted with the peculiarities and habits of the people. Thus each successive supply is hurried off the field before much religion^: Imiijht, bv lospel. A for such. v.lio, in course of time, might I)c qnaliiied to go forth as teachers, or catecliists, or ministers, instructing and disciplining their benighted fellow-countrymen. These, possessed of constitutions in very way adapted to the climate, a thorough acquaintance with the {(cculiarities [ii!(l habits of the people, and a perfect knowledge of the vernacular ton'nie, v/ould be the mosL i-iigible instruments for the evann 1 4 ; I I ov(!r the iiiitions. Then, indecMl, would she be, like tlx! sun in tlit! finnament, " Which is as u l)ri(l(\i,TO()in coniinir out of his chiniilicr, and iTJoiccth as a strong' man to run a race. Ilis i^oing forlh is ironi the end of the heaven and his circuit utito the ends of it ; and there is uothiiiL' hid from tlu; heat thereof." ' i'll' '' 1 il '''; ■H 1; "llli ill i I ''1 lli:||iliij!l Itl'CAPITULATION f)F CHAl'TKU. The importance; of education. !!s seen from the benefits it confer.-, we have sketched in broadest outline. The benefits it confers on the individual may well bt! called /('(/ion, for they are many. Indeed, it is education and education alone, that elevates man, instrumentally. to liis rijihtful position both in tinu* and eternitv. It miid't be a belittini:- exorcise for the students att(Midinij a Normal School, to trace the [)arallel between the educated and uneducated, the tutored and untutored mind. This miuht exhibit the advantages of education in a more conspicuous and palpable li;>ht. It will be observed that we have more fully elaborated the biMiefits of education to the State, than we have done either to the individual or C'inirch ; and that mainlv because the i^rand burden of our theme is national education. We have presented a jflowing picture of the effects of education orx the State, but that picture is neither overdrawn nor cxaagerated. We have abundant corroborative facts in the past history and present condition of the species to substantiate every step of our argument, to uphold every })osition we have taken. Who can impede the onward progression of mind? As well might we attempt to bid ba<'k the waves of old ocean. AVlio will V(>nture to controvert the infallilde testimony of inspiration that truth and righteousness will eventually prevail? And how can these Ik; diffused save through the educational process? ]>ut if the benetits of education to the individual and to the State are great and diversilied, they are eciually so to the Church. In using the term Chur(;]i, it need hardly be notified that we refer to an\ one branch or denomination of the visible Church above another, but to the universal Catholic Church consisting of all. who, in every age' and in every place, make a credible [)rofessioii of true religion, together with their children. There was a time when it was thonoht that education was prejudicial to the interests of the Church, that the height of her faith was proportioniite to the depths of her ignorance ; but that time has already gone by, and now po|)ular systems of education are patronized and pro[)agated by all who profess Chris- tianity, even where despotic rule reigns. There need be no jealousy I NATUUi: "M Pi If r « iiir""!rjn i. i i i \ I ^■ ill n BOOK II. SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. CHAPTER I. 'iiillll' llill!ith!;i: i WHAT IT IS. ^^LASSinCATIOX OF ITS rRJNCllT.Kr". — TlIKfiK I'KINCII'LKS VIIAVKD IN TWO ASi'ix'TS ; 1, The lkauing Featuueh ok Cuauactkuistics of ths Chilus natuue; and, 2, Tnii Mkanh to ije kesoktkd to fok thk l>i;Vr,L01'Mi:N"T of THK SAMK. — Exl'MEUATIOX of these features WITH TIIEIU Al'I'UOl'lUATE ADAl'TATIOXS. The term science, accoixllng to its derivation, signifies knowledge in general. It is, however, rarely used in this vague sense, and commonly imports knowledge of a certain description, — knowledge systematically 'arranged ; it may be, either of facts, or principles, or laws. In a more restricted sense, it is applied to any branch of knowledge, properly arranged such as the science of Astronomy, Botany, Zoology, Geology. Philosiophy has already performed its otHce. By observation and exiieriment, it has investigated the varied phenomena presented, dis- covered their causes, and in the shape of general conclusions, deduced certain laws and principles. "Wlien these have been classified, and a complete method or system constructed, it is designated a science. But the term before us has a still more restricted meaning, and often stands opposed to art. Science and art, when thus used, are correlative terms, and correspond to theory and prctctisc. This is the sense in which we now take it ; and as thus understood, it signifies a body or system of principles .and deductions, by which the nature of any given subject is explained ; whilst art signifies a body or system of !| : 1 ^ , i;v 1 1 ■i ill 1 1 1 1 ( SCIKNCK OF EDUCATION. 49 precepts, with practical skill for the complt'tion of some work. A science teaches us to know; an art to do. IVie science of cducatioHy then, is neitlier ninn; nor less than a knowledge of its principles, sys- U'lnuticuliy arranged. These i»rineiples are just the leading features of the child's nature with the adaptations most suitable for their growth and development. These two, in all our subsequent discus- sions, must go tog(!ther — the one constituting the pedestal and the other the columnar pillar. By the leading features or characteristics, we are clearly to understand tiiost* wliieli are common to all children, such as enter into the very essence of their being. In a field of wheat, for example, of any one kind or sort, whilst every stalk has something peculiar to itself, there are certain specific characters common to the whole, by reason of which they are all pronounced to belong to the same kind or species. So is it in reference to the young of the human family. Though every child may have some peculiarity of its own, yet <'very one has certnin leading features, which stand out in bold relief. These, with their appropriate ada2)tations, may Ix^ thus enumerated. Ki'fnj child possesses a physical, intellectuah emotional, aesthetical - ly into m1 iiutl rood or )roccss. 1 vUvy- Ueclual J re sus- i- luituie way ciui |^i()S^^il>lL' 1 piu'ties nilor the )11 of tli« liiuce lit age. LIS of the it will be lie into u prineiplc is charuc- |a perfect |maiutain, iciple on tinu and ovideucc, ,10 of the supreme Ifuruishes, origin of Ll remedy Idual who le udapta- le one on [surely on 1 our side, liat reigns KKCAriTn.A'lKiX OI" CIlAl'TKi:. It \> the opinion of some that tlie time lias not yet arriveil for icdii- clng education to a science, and that it ought, for a wliile longer, at least, to be subjected to the experimental crucible. We need scarcely say that we have no symjiathy with this sentiment. If the jiractical results of education, in all tlieir length and breadth, are to be consider- ed an indispensablj prerecjuisite in the construction of such a science, tliere might be some ^■alidity In the opinion thus ex[)ressiHl. This, however, is not the case. Tlie science of education no more depends on its results than the theory of nuisic, or painting, or architecture, does on the art, or the science of chemistry on the practical ai)plIcation of its princli)les to the economics of life. All that is necessary here, as ill every otluu" department, is first to draw tlu^ line of demarcation lielweon the principle or j)rlnciples invcdved, and their practical appli- cation — between the science and the art ; and having determined this point, to proceed to classify these jji-inci^des according to the resem- lilances or difference; that obtain, and tlie result of this classification is a methotllcal arrangement or a science. In the science of chemistry, for examj'le, we have first the material on which we oi)erate, namely, the elementary bodIes= "Wc must make ourselves well accpialnted with these in their properties and relntloiis, all already reduced to a system. Tlie next point worthy of consideration, is the end or object to be aimed at, and that Is the formation of other bodies having specific (piullties liy the combination of these elementary substances, accord- ing to a fixed law, called the law of chemical attraction or affi- nity. All really necessary for the construction of the science of chemistry, is a knowledge of these materials and of the law of com- binatiun. The application of that law in the production of distinct resultants does not at all affect the principles involved in the science. And just so is it in the subject of education. Here wo have the mate- rials or the leading features of the child's nature. Here, too, we have a great end or object aimed at, namely, the development and growth of all these parts, and that by the application of a principle ftir more extensive in its range and far more enduring in its results than even that of chemical affi nity — \v'c mean, of course, the principle of adapta- tion. In reducing education, then, to a science, all we have to do is to classify or arrange, in systematic order, the leading features of the child's nature, and to apply to each the adaptation principle in the production of the desired end, and that principle is either exercise or something originating in the social or sympathetic constitution of our being. This is just what we have sketched in the preceding chapter, and which we proceed to elaborate in detail. m t m F! ° pw'if^ ■i;fc 52 TEACHER S TEXT-BOOK. CHAPTER II, .ill . . t 'Willi' '11 First chauactkristic. — Every child a compound ueing, having a physical, intellectual, emotional, ^sthetical and moral na- TUUK. — I. Physical Education. — Its meaning, general and special, FOUNDED ON AnIMAL PhYSIOLOGY. — O. ScHOOL-HOU SE. — VENTILATION, temperature, light; — dependent on NUTRITIVE SYSTEM OF OIIGANS. b. FUKNITURE OK SCHOOL — GRADED ; SUPPORTING SYSTEM. — C. SCHO- LARS, CLEAN, NEAT AND ORDERLY ; CuTANEOUS SYSTEM. — d. ScHOLARS' ATTENTION,— PHYSICAL EXERCISES ;— MvJSCULAR SYSTEM.— f. KeGULATION OF STUDIES, — VARIETY, REGULARITY, PUNCTUALITY AND ITERATION ; Nervous system. — IT. Intellectual Education. — its meaning, — Founded on Intellectual philosophy. — Classification of powers OF Intellect. — Intellectual Education consists of two parts ; — GIVING PROPER FOOD AND IN A WAY THAT IT WILL RE DIGESTED : LATTER INVOLVES TWO THINGS, THEORY AND PRACTICE. — INTELLECTUAL POWERS CONSIDERED SERIATIM; — O. PERCEPTION; — 6. CONCEPTION; c. Memory ; — d. Imagination ;— e. Generalization •,—^f. Reasoning ; — ;/, Intuition : — their nature, importance and edi;cation. — III. Emotional Education, — meaning, — founded on sensikilities. — Classification ; — Emotions, affections and desires. — Each of these classes considered ; nature, position and education. — IV. The will — viewed psychologically — what emhraced in EVERY ACT OF WILL — I.MPORTANCE OF WILL — EXECUTIVE OF WHOLB MAN — PvDUCATION OF WILL. ExERCISE, REGULAR COURSE OF EDUCA- TION, KEEPING ItODY HEALTHFUL, PUNCTUALITY AT STUDIES, WRITE CRITIQE OF WHAT READ. V. il^STHETICAL EDUCATION. — ItS IMPORT, IN WHAT THE REAUTIFUL CONSISTS ; — ILLUSTRATIONS, — TaSTE, llOTH INTELLECTUAL AND EMOTIONAL ; I.MPORTANCE OF THE BkAUTIFUL — ITS INFLUENCE, ELETATING AND REFINING ; — UtILITT IN COMMERCE AND IN Natural Theology. — Education of Taste, Exercise, Actual PRACTISE, — Chief works of Great masters, — Study of Nature. VI. Moral Education. — Nature of conscience ; — Supremacy ; — Out- stripping importance of this uranch. — The education of dis- criminative, OHLIGATORY AND TESTIFYING. — CONSCIENCE FALLIIiLE. Whence light and guidance f Bihle; — its adaptation, — use in SCIIOOL3 ; MANNER AND fy this term is meant the act of ventilating or fanning with wind, the replacement of nox- ious or impure air in an apartment, mine, or other enclosed space, by pure fresh air from without. The importance of a due supjily of fresh atmospheric air in the school-room, cannot be over-estimated. It is indispensable, not only for the preservation of the life and the growth of the physical frame of its inmates, but still more for the healthful and vigorous application of their mental powers. Though the human mind has an existence perfectly distinct from the body, yet so long as wo are in the body, it i« indissolubly united to and dependent u[)on it for its legitiniate exercise. If the body is in a disabled condition ; if, for example, the blood that goes to the brain, the seat of thought and volition, is not prop(Tly vitalized, the mind in its operations is propor- tionally affected, is not in a position to do justice to itself And on what does the vitalizing of the blood depend ? On several things, but especially on its being brought in contact with pure atmospheric air by the act of respiration ; and hence the vast importance of the sub- ject b(>f()re us. l?ut we must enlarge here. We have said, that the blood constitutes the vital fluid — that it is essential for the life, and lieaUli, and activity, both physical and mental, of all, and, especially, of tile young ; and, this being the case, it is surely in every way l)efitting, that we trace, as briefly as we can, its various stages or processes of pn>paration, until it reach its maturation and become capable of per- tin'ming the functions for which it was intended. On what, then, is it ) ." I' m i'*l &M > .iVk I i If f H\ r ;';i- 56 teacher's text-book. i ' ' . lit' '1 ! i 1 i ; 1 1 1 ' I ' ill:; lit' ' J i asked, does the due quantity and quality of this fluid depend — how are the supply and jjurity of the blood to be maintained ? It depends on these two things : 1st. The organs involved; and 2nd. Tlie appliances administered. The organs employed in preparing the blood on which the whole vital functions depend, are sometimes called the nutriticc. or, from the nature of the process, the assiinlhttive; and these again are divided into the diyestife, the circnlntonj, and respiratory. In digestion there are three processes gone through : mastication, chymi- Jication, and chylijication. 1st. Mastication^ performed in the mouth by the teeth, the salivary glands, the muscles of the tongue and of deglutition. 2. Chyniification, the act of making into chyme the food taken into the stomach by the left or cardiac opening, by which it is changed into a greyish l)ulpy substance, always in a healthy state, slightly acid ; and the agent employed to bring about this decompo- sition of the food is called the gastnc juice, — a clear, transparent iluid without smell, slightly saltish, and very perceptibly acid ; — one of the most potent of secretions, perforating and grinding into powder the hardest metals. 3. Chylijication, or the making of chyme into chyle, which takes place in the duodenum, the first part of the intestines, where it mixes with the bile and the pancreatic juice, and is sej)arated into two parts, one of which is carried out of the systeu;, and the other, which contains the concentrated essence of the whole, is taken up by innumerable minute vessels, called lacteals, and is thence con- du(;ted through the mesenteric glands into the receptacle of the chyle, and, afterwards, into thoracic duct, by which it is poured into the vena; cnvce, under the clavicle or collar bone, to be mingled with and become the blood. Here endeth the digestive process, or that process by which the raw material is supplied to the venous blood, to repair the waste that is unceasingly taking place. The extent of the change which the food undergoes before it is fitted to form part of the animal body, is proi)ortionate to the difference between the qualities of the nutritive materials in their original and assimilated states. Thus, the conversion of vegetal)le into animal mattc^r necessarily implies a more lengthenee detained and exposed to a much largiH- surface. Hence the comparative length of the intestines in difTerent tribes of animals. The intestines of the ram are twenty-seven times the length SCIENCK OF EDUCATION. 57 4 of its l)u(ly. the ox twenty-two. man five and a half, the lion three, and the shark little more than three-fourths its len<^th. As to the nature of the food taken, that digestion may go on pro- perly, it should he, in every respect, adapted to the age, the situation, and the circumstances of the consumer, sufficient in quantity and suit- able in (juality. The digestive process is much more rapid in some kinds of food than in others. By 'i series of experiments, it has been foiuid that vegetables are muc'i more rapidly dissolved thai animal substances, and some of both more quickly than others. Thus, fried tripe has been found to digest in one hour ; boiled cod, and likewise bread and milk, in two hours ; roasted beef, and also soft-boiled eggs, in three hours ; salt(»d pork, in three and a half hours. The lower orders generally suffer more from the indigestible quality of their food, and the higher from the quantity taken. In both, the bad effects are most marked, when combined with sedentary or intc^nqx'ratc habits. The next class of organs employed in the preparation of the vital fluid, is the circulatory. The heart, composed of two lobes, one on the right and the other on the left side, with two cavities in each, called the auricle and ventricle, having a separating valve, may be reijarded as the seat or centre of this class of organs, and acts as a kind of forcing pump, propelling the venous blood into the lungs, which, after being purified by a process of aeration, is diffused ])y means of the arteries all over the body. There are thus two motions in the current of the blood, the one called the pulmonic and the other the systemic. The object of the former is to conduct the venous l)lood into the lungs. This blood, of a dark modena red, is primarily, the residiHuu of the arterial blood after the body has been duly supplied. It is taken up all over the body by the small hair-like vesicles, called capillaries, appended to the veins, and thence conveyed to the vencp cavte, where it is joined by the chyle in its concentrated essence, in consequence of the secretions through which it has passed. The ascending and descending vence caiiee empty themselves into the right auricle. From this, the venous blood passes into the right ventricle, which, by muscular contraction sends it into the pulmonary artery, and this innnediately divides in the lungs into innumerable branches. In the lungs, as already stated, the blood is subjected to a })rocess of aeration, by which it passes from a noxious into a nutrient condition, containing the elements of all the tissues and organs of the body, and, ni this condition, is conveyed as red and arterial blood by the pulmonary veins to the left lobe of the heart. These veins from both sides, pour their supplies of blood into the left auricle, from which, again it passes m f, ,s; i ■ ■■ 1 p 58 teaciu:r s tkxt uook. : I , ) : 1. « into the left ventricle, and is thence by that contraction which creates the pnlsation, sent to all parts of the body through the aorta and its branches into the capillaries of the arteric- ; and, what is not ri'(]uired for the sustenance of the body, is taken uo by the cajjillaries of the veins to be again conducted aloni; with the chvle, to the luncs for revivication. As to the time employed in completing the circulation, considerable variety of opinion obtains. Assuming the average weight of a man, between 30 and 40 years fof age to be 170.5 lbs. troy, the blood would amount to about 39 lbs. If, now, we suppose, that the heart contracts 70 times in a minute, and that each contraction propels two oimces of blood, it follows that the whole mass of blood will com- plete the circulation in three minutes, though some allow even a shorter period. Much depends in this matter on the age, the constitution, and the habits of the individual. In early life, the pulsations of the heart are much more rapid than in mature age, and of course the circulation must be quicker. There are two distinct forms of constitution in which the blood is circulated with gr(,'ater or less vigour through the system. In the one, the circulation is very vigorous ; all the functions ■ are performed with energy ; and the diseases in general are of an acute character. When the complexion is fair, this constitutes what has been called the sanguine temperament ; when dark, the choleric. In the other variety, the circulation and all the functions connected with it, is languidly performed ; the surface is easily chilled, and the diseases have frequently, a low, insidious character. "When the complexion is fair, this has been called the 2)hlegmatic temperament, and the melan- cholic when the complexion is dark. With a feeble circulation, the general health never can be good ; and hence we find the action of the heart weak in most delicate persons. Before leaving this branch of the subject, it is worth while to call the attention of our readers to this delicate yet marvellous piece of mechanism — tiio human heart, — the seat of the whole circulatory process. From the account given above, it is clear that the office discharged by this organ, with it> accurately working valves, is essentially that of a fo''cing pump. And with what inimitable precision and regidarity, doe. t perform this all- important dutv ! Unweariedly, during the whole term of a long life. it sends out daily its 100,000 waves of healthful fluid to refresh ami renovate every corner of the system ; and small as each wave may bi individually, the aggregate is enormous. Thirteen thousand pounds pass out of the left ventricle of the heart of an ordinary man every twenty four hours, and yet the aorta of such a person, is scarcely fui inch in diameter. What evidence have we here of the perfection oi SCIBNCK OF EnUCATION. 59 the divine workmanship ! "Wliat a tribute is here to the honour of that Ahiiighty Being who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working I The last stage of the assiuiilative i)roc('ss is that of respiration. The organs ('nii)loyed for this puri)Ose, are the lungs and the pulmonary artery. Tlu; former is composed of the windpipe or tracluea, hranching off into bronchi, and terminating in very minute sacs or vesicles, which vary in s'ze from the oOth to 100th part of an inch in diameter, and which are supjjosed by some to cover an area of 20,000 square inches. Tlie latter is made up of an immense number of blood-vessels, branch- ing out upon the sides of the air vesicles. The a of inspiration or drawing in a breath, is performed by raising the ribs, which, for this pur{)ose, are provided with numerous nuiscles between and attached to the ribs, and, at the same time, by depressing the diaphragm. Again, the act of expiration or the expulsion of the air from the lungs, is effected, principally, by the elasticity of the ribs, — the muscles that acted during inspiration having been relaxed, and by the contraction of the muscles of the abdomen pushing up the diaphragm. But for what purpose is this delicate piece of mechanism constructed? Pliiinly, for that of bringing the atmospherical air in contact with tjie venous blood flowing through the lungs, with the view of its being sul)jected to the process of aeration or purification. And what, is it asked, is the composition of this atmospheric air, when inspired, and when expired? And what is the cause of the change it has under- gona ? Piu'e atmospheric air is made up, principally, of the two ingredients, nitrogen and oxygen, in the proportion, per volume, of 4 to 1, or of 79 parts of nitrogen to 21 of oxygen. There is besides a small projjortion of carbonic acid, but it is so insignificant as not to produce any sensible effect. The large proportion of nitrogen, acts as a sort of diluent to the oxygen, a conductor to that gas which seems as essential for sustaining life as it is for combustion. " The cpumtity of air," says Combe, " taken into the lungs at one inspiration, varies according to the age. constitution, and circumstances of the person at the time. Tt has been variously estim'^ted at from 15 to 40 cubic iiii'hes." Dr. Southwood Smith states that the largest quantity ever inlialed, at one inspiration, is nine pints and a quartei'. He adds, that the quantity received at an ordinary inspiration, without any effort at all, is about one pint imperial measure, or 34*659 cubic inches ; while, at any easy inspiration free from any great effort, it amounts to 2^ |)iuts. Females take in a smaller quantity than males, and hence, jionerally speaking, the thorax is less capacious. The popular notion that the whole of the air is expelled from the lungs at each exj)iration, ti id 1 '■I'M 60 TKACIIEllS TKXT-BOOK. t ' I 1 -1 "llWdi is entirely erroneous. Even after forcing out as much as we caw, U is calculated tliat, at least, 40 cubic inches remain in the air cells ; while, after an onlinary expiration, about 12<> inches remain behiml. Accord- ing to Sir II. Davy, the whole quantity of air in the lungs after a natural inspiration, amounts to 13') cubic inches ; so that taking an ordinary inspiration and exi)iration at 20 inches, the (piantity of air remaining in the chest, is, at least, five times greater than that exijired. Dr. vSmith estimates the quantity of air remaining at eleven pints. It is by this continuance of the air in the lungs that its requisite action on the blood, is rendered continuous, and has time to take place ; and also, that we are enabled for a time to hold our breath, when under | water, .as in diving. In man, the average numl)er of respirations in health, varies from 14 to 20 in a minute ; but, during disease, it is often uuich greater and, j sometimes, also, considerably less. " AYith these data to guide us, we can form a correct idea of the ; extent to which a constant renewal of the air we breathe is required ; for the support of life. Taking the consumption of air, at eadi inspiration, at even the moderate rate of 20 cubic inches, and ratin;: the number of respirations, at only IT) per minute, it appears that, in that short space of time, no less than 300 cubic inches are requireil for the respiration of a single person. Mr. Finlayson estimate^ the fresh air inspired in one minute at GIG cubic inches, or as nearly as may be, eighteen pints. In one hour it amounts to lOGG 2-3 pint.\ or 20 hog.sheads, 20 gallons, and 10 2-3 pints. In one day itj amounts to 57 hogsheads, 1 gallon, and 7| pints." Before entering the lungs, the atmospheric air consists, as we liavf seen, of 21 parts of oxygen and 79 of nitrogen, with a very small trace of carbonic acid. WHien it is expelled, however, it is found tr be greatly altered. In bulk the air expired continues to be nearly equal to that inspired, but observers are now generally agreed that i slight diminution takes place. Its chemical proi)erties, however, are I much changed, for we find on analyses that about five parts out of tliej 21 of oxygen have disappeared. Of these five parts of oxygen, fourl are returned in combination with carbon as carbonic acid ; lint one! part remains unaccounted for, and is supposed to enter into combi nation j with unneutralized hydrogen of the food, to form water and to Ix' excreted in this shape by the skin, or the lungs, or kidneys. The changes effected by respiration in the appearance and constitu- tion of the blood are not less remarkable than those produced on the j air. From being of a dark purple hue it ])asses immediately to il •• r; SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. C,\ bright red colour. This cliaiigf! is cuusfd l»y the action of the oxygen on tlie red particles of the blood ; and it takes place even oiU of the I body, when venous blood is exposed to the contact of oxygen. In etiecting this change the oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid is exhaled. Arterial blood accordingly contains more oxygen and less ciirbon than venous blood. It is in the red globules that the chief Changes produced by respiration take place. These constitute the I respiratory portion of the blood, and each globule may be considered ;is a separate living entity, which comes to the lungs to iidiale fresh lair. Consecpiently, the greater the number of red globules, the greater |i>s the ipiantity of oxygen inhaled, and the more energetic arc the vital functions. The red globides laden with oxygen are carried along the larteries to the capillaries where, by means of exosmosis and endosmosis Itlioy deposit their cargo of vivifying materials, and, becoming venous. jrcceivo in exchange the expended materials of the tissues which they Iconvey to the lungs and other organs of excretion. The vast import- liince of the red ijlobules of the blood for all vital actions will now be uanifest; and it will be readily understood why the powers of life are most vigorous in individuals whose blood contains the due jjroportion jf globules oxygeiuited by the respiration of a pure, dry, and bracing iir; and why, on the contrary, every function is carried on with languor and listlessness, when the red globules are deficient in quantity. )r the air respired is lo? ded with impurities. The restoration of the vital properties of the venous blood is not the l>nly change which is effected during its passage through the lungs. — The development of animal heat is another and very important result |)f its oxygenation, and one scarcely less essential to the continuation )f life. If the human body did not possess within itself the power of generating heat, so as to maintain nearly an equality of temperature in )ill climates, it could not long exist. In winter and, especially, in the lortheru regions, if no provision existed for replacing caloric withdrawn From the system by the cold air surrounding it, the blood would be |peedily converted into a solid mass and life be extinguished. In most [)arts of the globe, the heat of the atmosphere is even in summer Inferior to that of the human body, and, consequently, a loss of caloric J8 always going on, which must be made up in some way, otherwise lisease and death would speedily ensue. The principal source of the heat of the animal body is the combina- |ions into which oxygen enters with the products of the digested food, rlie nature of these combinations and the amount of heat in-oduced, lorise(iuently, vary with the quality of the food. In this sense, respi- ¥i V 1* II I G6 TKACIIKK s ri:xT-r,00K. i I • ife r 'iiii 0- i' llic miinhiT of scholars, and this agaui by 3G, for (h<' (jiiaiitity of cubic iuclies iusplrcil, and l»riiig this to cubic feet, aiul the wliol(! will amount to o'Mf) cubic feet, — just iifteen cubic fc(!t luorc^ than is necessary to sustain healthy res2)iration. It is thus clear, that a school house, of the. dimensions indicated, is altogether insullicient for the comfortable maintenance of i') scholars. From the nature of the case, however, these conditioii-; cannot be Conveniently fullilled. There is no such thini; in thesis regions as air- tight sch(jol-houses. Indeed, we have always looked u])oii it as no orilinaiy boon, that amid tin; clamant deficiencie.^ of capacity in our school rooms, there should exist, from the structure of the house, such abundant provision for the admission of fresh atmosjdieric air. Rut, besides all this, the air in a room is not resj)ired once, before a jiortion of it is breathed the second or even tlu; third and fourth time. The atmosphere, in conso(pience, is not suddenly changed from purity to impurity, from a healthful to an infectious state. Were it so, the change, being more perceptible, wotdd be seen and felt too, and a remedy sought and applied. Uut because the change is gradual, it is not the less disastrous in its conseciuc^nces. And all the more when we lake into account the fact, that the derjingement resulting from breaching impun , 'r in the case of children is j'ar greater than in the case of adults, wi..ise constitutions are matured, and who are thereby leso susceptible oi' injury. Aiul now need we depict the saddening and desolating effects of this state of things ujjon the bodies both of teachers and taught, and all tlu; more because the change in the atmosphere from a healthy to a vitiated condition is not sudden but gradual, not palpably felt at once, but creeps on impi'i'ceptibly. This is jdainly the reason why so many children, whose health is sufli(;ient to enable them to engage in other pursuits, but - .o are either uiud)le to attend school at all, or, if they do persevere ir. their attendance, are subjected to headaches, faintings and other species of sickness ; and in whom, we believe, are abundantly sown, in early life, the fruitful seeds of disease and ^jremature death. I'liis, too, is plainly the reason why teaching has accjuired, and that jastly, the reputation (jf being uidu'althy, and why we find so many ellieient tea(!hers disabled and laid on the shelf, before they /each the meridian of their days, and others retiring in fear and alarm, after they have been engag(3d but a few weeks or months at the work. There is, however, not th'? sligntest reason why the health either of pupil's or tea I's should sooner give way at this than at any other business, provided tiie house in which it is carried on is of proper si/e, aud suitably ventilated. The evil in (piest'ou can at •Ij SCIKKCF, OF EDUCATION. ^1 Jc,u^\^ h(- romovcd \>y t'le mJidicatioii of a sijitable rcinody. But the ■"ffl'ct.s of this stat(! of tilings arc still more manifest on thn intellectual ])rogress of the pujjils, on the success of the most painstaking and "uthusiastie teacher. Listen to the testimony of Combo on this subject, that) v/hom there is not higher authority, touching any point of uiiima! i>hysiology : — '• It is now ma!)y years since ou the occasion of a visit to : .... of the classes of a great public seminary, my attention was first stronglv attract(Ml to the injury resultinL'' to the mentaJ and bodily finictions froin the inhalation of impure air. About l-OO boys were issenibled in one large room. wh(>re they had been already confined ticiirly an hour and a hrJf when F d as it w;)s by a sensation of fulness in the forehead, and ■<;liglu heudiiehe. The boys, with every motive to activity, that an excellent sTsfeu) and an enthusiastic tea^dier could bestow, presented in aspect of w(>!iriness and listlessness which the mental stimulus they v/ere under could not, overcome." And if such were the effects on the menial energies in a comparatively comfortable school Ivouse, such IS the one here alluded to. and in an hour and a half after the business uf the day had begun, what must it be in this and some of the adjoin- ing provinces with too many of their schools ! The pupils may attend and the teacher may carry on his operations for five or six hours every arly and distinctly that two-thirds of the time of both pupils and teacher are lost and worse tliau lost. Would til par(Mits and trustees could be brought to consider this matter as they ought I Would that they saw and thoroughly believed that infinitely the most economical school houses are those which make the best jwovislon for a due supj)ly of atmospheric air, whatever the original cost ! Need we go a step farther and point out the effects of such .a state of things on tlw order nml government of a school establishment? — Contrast for this purpose the conduct of the children in a crow(h}d '>chool-room durin,^'- the former and latter part of the forenoon Session, 'iiid still more during the forenoon and afternoon. At first all is "ittentlon and mertal energy and proper behaviour. Gradually a liingnor, a listl.ssness, an inactivity steals over them, which is followed i'-^ m'-'. m m '1 ■ -! :i" m ,tr4 I '■ I- S8 teacher's TE.^r-COOK. 4 . It : I ' I 1^ "Wi I 'I by ail utter indifference to, and disciualilieation for, study. And this, again, takt'-^ vent in mischievous plottings, and pranks and trickeries, as the only alternative of the e-er active children. The teacher, ignorant of the cause, and ascnblng the whole of this conduct to mental or moral stupidity and indifference, under the influence of the same hallucination, is all the while increasing in his acerbity and fretfulness, till, at length, he can scarcely look with comjdaisance, even up' n good behaviour, and, hi his peevishness, is disposed to magnify the most trifling departure from the rules of propriety. He scolds, he threatens, he dragoons, he flogs, but all to no purpose ; for the atmosphere, which both scholars and teachers inhale, is becoming more and more con- taminated, increasing the yawning and trickery of the one, and the irritability and despotism of the other. And this repeated, day after day, and week after week, what is the result? The scholars are l)ecoming continually more ungovernable and the teacher move unflt to govern, or, if government is maintained at all, it becomes the end instead of the means, and the real work of education occupies a com- paratively subordinate position. But w .ave said enough on this theme. It must, we think, be now apparent to every unprejudiced mind that the whole matter of the proper ventilation of schools is no figment of the imagination, but springs from the very constitution of our being ; that it is a thing which has to do not merely with our physical or bwlily welfare, but with the whole of our intellectual and moral culture ; and, consequently, that the laws that regulate the same, eveiy thing connected with the size and ventilation of the building, is not the result of mere arbitrary caprice, or of morbid taste, but clearly deducible from the soundest scientific principles. The various details connected with the size of the school house, providing it with suitable ventilation, «St;c., will be found under the practical dej)artmeut of school premises. Tcmpe, ature of school house. On thia subject there is no need of saying much. Full directions are also given under the practical departmeuc, as to the best mode of preserving a uniformity of tempera- ture. We have introduced the subject here, principally, for the purpose of showing, that the proper temperature of the school room is not more necessary for the welfare and comfort of the body, than it is for the culture and improvement of the mind. Enough has bee ;i said on the vast importance of preserving the due propwtion of oxygen iu the school room, and the necessity of ^aarding against the contamina- ting influence of the carbonic acid exhaled by the children. Bat there is another way of destroying this proportion, Mid that is by the SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. fi9 carbonizing of the atmosphere through an overheated temperature, especially when no means are employed to preserve the humidity of the air. This is exceedingly deleterious to the health, and equally so to all mental application and progress. This, therefore, must be care- fully guarded against, by ventilation, by the vaporation of pure water, and other artificial means. But, again, it is indispensable for the intellectual progress as w^ell as for the bodily comfort of the pupils and teachers, that the temperature be kept uniform. If it is too low, especially in a climate such as exists in B. N. America, where there are such extremes, and, oftentimes, the most rapid transitions, the body soon becomes so uncomfortable and the circulation so sluggish, that the mind is, in a great measure, incapacitated for work. If, on the contrary, the temperature is too high, the circulation will soon rise beyond its usual rate ; and the mind being well exercised, the current of the blood will naturnlly be directed to the brain — which will l)e put upon the rack ; and this will inevitably le.ad to mental reaction and exhaustion. For well sustained vigorous action, and, by consequence, a large amount of good work, a well regulated, uniform temperature is absolutely necessary. Light of the school-house. A due supply of this commodity is not less necessary than an equal temperature for carrying on the real work of the school. We all know the effect of light on the vegetable and animal kingdom — ujion all oi'ganized existences. Exclude the light from the former, and plants are not only stripped of their verdant hue, but they lose, in a great measure, their nutritive qualities. And so is it with the animal race. If even they sjiend a considerable por- tion of their time deprived of the cheerful rays of the sun, the effects will ere long be apparent on their physical frame. Colliers, miners, and others immured in dark lanes, in large cities, or in deep cellars, are notoriously wan, and pallid, and sickly. And if such are the effects on the physical frame, not less marked are they on the mental. We believe it will be found, as a general rule, that all who sj>end much of their time in pits or cellars are dwarfish in their intellectual powers, and utuisually lull and stupid in their apprehensive ea{)acity. And the reason of this is obvious. The food int,ended to supply, and exercise, and strengthen the perce[)tive faculty, is all but entirely cut off; and as this is one of the grand inlets of knowledge, not only docs the power itself remain in a great measure inactive, but it oi)erate8 injuriously pon all the other faculties — (he abstractive, the reason- ing. &c. IIow patheticany does the blind j)oet lament the Joss of t]ii« organ ; — i '? P'^T 11 , 1 ■ ' M t |*l)llll TO TEACmCR'^S TKXT-KOOIC- " From tlie cliocrfu! ray.s of iiu'U " Cut off; and for tlic book of knowledge fair "Presented \vitl>. a universal blank " Of Nature's works ; to nie expunti,ed and ra/.oorting system of organs iu tin; animal, is the bones. The bones in the human body amount to about 2()0. This large jiumber is evidently owing to the incalculable variely of movement.-; required b} man ; and they are so admiral)ly coimected by artietdations, that they admit (/f precisely that kind of motion v. liich is requisite, — The advantages of this ariangement are as adni'irul)le as they arc obvious. Had the osscdus l'rani(!-work consisted of one entire pieccv not only would men and animals have been incapable of motion, but every ext< "ual shock woidd have b(;eu eontmunic;ited at once to the whole -.tern. By the division of the parts, however, and by I Ik interposition of elastic cartilages and ligament^, at the joints, free and extensive motion is secured; and the impetus of every external shock is deadened in its force and diffused over tlu body, — in the .same .vay^ aa tA) a person riding ' • liis carriage, tin.' jolt of a wheel passing ovcr^.^ SCIENCK OF EDUCATION. 71 ■I stone, is (liiniiiished by being e([u:illy diffused ovvv tlie wliitle vehiele by reason of tlie elastleity of the springs. Bone.< consist of two kinds of sui)stane(!s. animal and earthy, the fornu-r imparting life and growth, and the latter, solidity and strength. The proportion of these substances varies at ditl'erent ages. In childhood and youtli, the animal preponderate, and, in more matur< years, the; earthy ; and, hence, in early life, the bones are less heavy, more {)lial)le and ela.sti(\ and possessed of greater vitality; and, in old age, their sensibility is diminished and u lower degree of life exists. — And hence, too. it is that bones broken in youth reunite in on(;-luilf the time required in a more advanced period of life. Ami wluit is th(^ gr(';it and important lesson taught parents and teachers l»y thi- diver>ity of com[)osition in the bones? If tlie bones of the young are. in con>e(pi(!nee of the preponderance of animal matter, more elastic and flexible, then it is clear, that every means ought to be employed for the purpose of preventing their con(')rtiou au, and to deposit tliose very substances of which they are maiidy compos<'(l. By a law of our constitution, when any part of the system is active, it attracts to itself, by the simple stimulus of that activity, an inci'eascd supply of blood and nervous energy. The former rej)airs the waste of suhstanct! which action produce's, ami the latter gives an increased tone in harmony witli the greater call made ou its powers. If the exercise is momentary and not repeated, the extraoi'dinary flow of blood soon disappears, and tlu; nervous power falls to the usual staiul- ard. But if it is cnntinued for a time and recurred to at red, the stimulus reipiired for the supply of food to them, becomes insunicient ; imperfect nutrition takes place ; iiiid debility, softness, and unfitness for duty ensue. Ibit while exercise is thus indispensably necessary to impart solidity and strength to the bones, it behovc^s to b(> wisely and jn•) 72 teacher's text-book. ratively soft and pliable in iufancy, and in their anxiety to see their darling little objects walk without support, are continually soliciting attempts at standing or walking, long before the bones have acquired sutficient power of resistance, and the muscles sufficient power of con- traction, to cope with this law of gi-avitation. The natural conse- quence is a curvature of the bone, which yields just like an elastic stick bending under a weight. The two ends approach nearer each other than they ought to do ; and the muscles, to accommodate them- selves to the change, become shorter on one side and perha])s longer o)i the other, each losing part of its efficiency in the unnatural change which it undergoes. But even after the young are capable of sustain- ing some pressure, every means should be used and every pains taken to preserve tbe straightness of the bones of the young. For this pur- pose they sho;ild be made to stand, and sit, and walk, in an erect position. This will enable the vertebral column to accomplish the high and important ends for which its whole construction was evidently intended, and preserve the bones of the upper and lower extremities in a vigorous and healthful condition. And now, it may be asked, Wliat is the provision required for secu- ring all these objects, in so far as the furniture, seats, desks, &c., of the school-room are concerned ? In reply to this question, we would say, first, that the seats be exactly proportioned to the age and size of the scholars, — that they be thoroughly gi'aded. In a miscellaneous school, the height of the seats, to allow each child to rest his foot firmly on the floor, should range from seven to fourteen inches. If this is not attended to, — if the seats are so high that the feet of the children cannot reach the floor, not only will they '^e uncomfortable and restless, but their thigh bones, from the wei\jht bearing upon them, will be in danger of becoming curved. But not only should the feet of the children rest gently on the floor, — their backs should also be well supported. For this end, the seats should be furnisheil with pi'operly constructed backs, and of such a height as will afford a plea- sant and agreeable suppoi't to the small of the back — or the lumbar region, as it is called. If these things are not provided for, — if the seats are too high, and the back, besides, unsupj)orted, the most dis- astrous consequences may ensue. The children will naturally stoop forward in order to balance themselves ; and thus the shoulders will become rounded, their chests contracted, their constitutions enfeebled, and not unfrecjuently the seeds of pulmonary disease deposited. Every care should be employed in the construction of the desks, that is, they should be made exactly to correspond with the height of SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 78 the seats. If tliey are too low, a stooping posture will be induced. If they are too high, the effect will be the elevation of one shoulder and the depression of the other ; and tiius a permanent curvature of the vertebral column may be produced. To avoid these evils, the desks must be so constructed, as that both the arms shall be kept on the same level and rest etjually on the table ; and their height such as that they shall strike half-way between the elbow and the arm-pit as the arm hangs by the side. "■ The secret of posture," says Mayhew, *' consists in avoiding all bud positions, and not continuing any one j)osition too long. The ordinary carriage of the body is an object worthy of the attention of every parent and instructor. The more favorable impression which a man of erect and commanding attitude is sure to make, is not to be overlooked. But there is a greater good than this ; for he that walks erect, enjoys better health, possesses increased powers of usefulness, realizes more that he is a man, and has more to call forth gratitude to a heneficent Creator, than he who attempts an oblique posture." These are some of the reasons for the grading of the furniture in the school room, — reasons, it will be observed, founded upon no whim, or caprice, oi fancy, but upon one of the first principles of animal physiology *•> ' ^le of the bdves in the rising generation. And if this expf ■ . J of great service in securing the health, the command- ing mien and the physical comfort of the human species, it contributes indirectly, yet powerfully, to their intellectual and moral advancement; for whatever gives strength and stamina to the body, must necessarily affect the mind, and render it far more capable of exerting its energies, — of doing justice to itself. Besides, there arc important branches of education, such as penmausliip, drawing, &c., which can not be properly taught without a gradation of seats and desks. The coustruction of the furniture, and its proper adjustment in the school room, and indeed the whole practical details for the carrying out of this department, will be found in the chapter on school premises. The cleanliness and tidiness of the persons of the scholars — Cutane- ous system. With an ample and well ventilated school-room, with the seats and desks all nicely graded and arranged, we are in a position to go on and consider physical education in its more direct bearings on the scholars themselves. We have erected our workshop, and provided the befitting tools, and are now prepared to proceed with the actual work — to welcome, as it were, our customers at the door. But before they cross the threshold — before they are admitted within the pre- cincts of the school establishment, it must be seen that the scholars are I' r I :' :1 » ', '.''} 1 '■A "' f I 1 ¥■ I !i ■" 7.t TKACIIKRS TKXT-BOOK. : I 'ft' W clc.iii, and uciit, and orderly in tlicir persons; and this not inoroly for tilt! sake of eonunon decency, but for the preservation of tin; health of the body, and the invij^orating of the mental powers. And on what does this depend, or wliat renders all this necessary? It depends on the nature of the skin or the cutaneous system of organs. Throughout the whole domain of nature there is going on a never ceasing process of waste and rej)air — of decay and renovation — of degradation and ehnation. This is api)arent on a grand scale in the disintegration and consolidation of the material parts of crea- tion through the medium of acpieous and igneous agency. It is apparent, too, throughout the whole organized world. In the animal kingdom, for example, as long as life continues, a copious exhalation, without a moment's intermission, is going on ; not a movement can )ii p<;rformed which does not, in some degree, increase the cir- culation and add to the gtuieral waste. Now, there is a set of organs exactly fitted for this object, just as there is one for supjdy- ing, secreting and preparing the raw materials ; and one of the most important of these is the skin. Physiologists generally consider the skin as composed of three parts — the cuticle, the mu(X)us mem- brane or n'i/^ murosii/n, and the cufis vera or true skin. The skin is the outlet through which a large })roportion of the waste, of the body passes. The means by which it effects this end, is that of innu- merable glands, called the sebaceous or oily and perspiratory glands. The fornnu" are spread over the parts of the skin most exposed to the changes of tt'mperature and moisture, and are made up of that oily fluid with which the skin is bedewed and rendered soft. The latter separates from tlie blood the perspiration or sveat. They are exceedingly numerous, being about two thousand to every scpiare inch of skin, or five millions, or, according to some, seven millions in the natural covering of the body. These discharge tluimselves either by sensible or insciiisible perspiration. Every one knows that whv.n the body is overheated by exercise, a copious sweat breaks out, which, by evaporation, carries off the excess of heat, and pnxhices .an agreeable feeling of coolness and refreshment. This is called sensible perspira- tion, because it is ajiparent. But in the ordinary state of the system, the skin is constantly giving out a large quantity of waste materials in the form of vapour, which, being carried off by the surrounding air, is invisible to the eye, and hence is called insensible pctrspiration. Tliis cutaneous exhalation is of immense importatx^e to the welfare of the system at larger, and has led to many attempts to form an accurate estimate of its amount; but so many difficulties have stood in the wav m V SCIKNCK or KDUCATIO.V. 75 of obtainiiiif jn-ofisc results, uud tlie (lirtiirciico in ditfcrctit fonstitu- tiuiis, :ui(l oven in the siini(> person at different times, l)eing so great, that we must ho satisfied uitli an approximation to tlio truth. What- ever he tho nature of the condition of tlio constitution at tlie time, it is now agreed b^ all eminent jihysifaans, that uetwi-en .'iO and 40 ounces ot" matter pass off through tlu^ skin of an adulf eveiy 21 hours. And \vli;it is tho nature of the material thus exhaled? It is composed partly of watery vapour, and partly of earthy suhstanees, which latter cuiiNist mainly of concentrated animal substances, — a very energ(!tic puisun. liut the skin is not only a powerful exhalant, it is also an absorbent. By means of this funciion, substances plaee. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 'Y ^ A // ^^ A^^is. /. f/. y^ ^ 1.0 If"- I I.I 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 11-25 IIIIII.4 IIIIII.6 V] V /^ 1 78 teachkr's tkxt-book. U f !li ■i- ! The children, all neat, and tidy, Jiud dean in their i)erson, are now assembled in a commodious, well ventilated and thoroughly graded school-room, and that for a distinct and specific object. 15ut a vast majority of the inmates of every school-room realize comparatively little of the importance of the object for which they are ass(Miibled ; and instead of diligently applying themselves to the discharge of their duties, with a few honorable exceptions, they are careless and uncon- cerned ; so that the teacher has not merely to labour for the accom- plishment of that object, but to secure their attention thereto. Various means may and ought to be resorted to for this purpose : such as awakening an interest in the branches of knowledge taught, and that by the adoption of particular methods. — appeals to conscience, — the sympathy of numbers, — the exennse of legitimate discipline, and the like. There is, however, a distinct class of means, but rarely resorted to, and which, when judiciously employed, seldom fails to further this important point — the attention of the pupils to the particular study in which they are engaged, — we refer to those means by which the mind may be operatinl upon through the medium of the body, and, ospoclally, through the muscular system of organs, the most important of any we have yet consiilercriate functions. This is exemplified and illustrated at all ages and in all circumstances. If exercise be withheld from the child, the muscular frame is stunted and enfeebled. In the adult, the inaction causes the muscles to shrivel and waste. If a lind) only be kept inactive, its muscles wither, whilst the rest of the frame is vigorous and growing. A broken arm, bound \\\^ and kept unmoved for a month or more, comes out at the end of that time, scarcely the half of what it was, the muscles wasted away and reduced to a few slender iibres. And, hence, the practice, in the city of London, of beggars manufacturing shrivelled arms and legs, and giving themselves out as disabled soldiers or sailors, in order the more etfiectually to excite the commiseration of the bene- volent and charitable. Particular avocations, too, lev}' an impost on certain muscles, and leave the others in a great measure unaflected ; and llie result is, that the former become strong, athletic and brawny, whilst the latter are weak and slender ; as may be seen by contrasting the muscles of the arm of the blacksmith with those of a man who follows a sedentary occupation. And what is the cause of all this ? I^y motion or the use of the muscles, the circulation is active and vigorous, the blood issues into every crevice or interstice of the fibrous substances, the stimulating element is preserved in full and eihcient operation ; and thus the muscles enlarge amain, and ai-e gradually and steadily developed. And this exercise not only exerts a powerful influence over the muscular hut over every other system of organs. It promotes, as we have just stated, circulation ; circulation increases respiration ; respiration, exhal- ation; and exhalation, digestion ; — and all these, again, reciprocally operate upon the muscles — and the muscles, upon the cerebrum, the seat of thought. But this law of contractility has its bounds or limits, andean only be maintained by the constant alternation of relaxation or rest. The very conlinuousness of this exercise is fatiguing and exhaustive. Let any set of muscles be placed in a state of severe tension, and retained in that position for a lengthened period, and soon will the most arduous toil be felt to be light in comparison. You may easily put this fact to the test, by attempting to hold the arm extended at a right angle to the body, for the short space of ten minutes. He, whose muscles, if indeed 1 '* (■ ' \ -f ■ 80 teacher's text-book. i < » \i » H' f'4 1^ 11 capable of the exertion, do not feel sorely fatigued at the end of that time, may think himself very fortunate in possessing a powerful consti- tution. "What happens to an arm, may to the whole body. And if the entire muscular frame be overworked by efforts which are either excessive or prolonged, the result must be debility, trembling, exhaus- tion, faintness, and even death. Let such overworking be habitual, and, both in men and animals, the most disastrous consequences will inevitably ensue. It is clear, then, that the real health and strength of the muscles depend on the due alternation of contraction and relaxation, of activity and repose. A certain amount of exercise is indispensably necessary, and the greater the variety the more beneficial will that exercise be. But relaxation is just as much needed as contraction, repose as activity, that the restorative power of the muscles may be preserved, rallied and reinvigorated. In one word, if the muscular system of organs is to serve the great end of their being, they must be exercised, that is the law of contractility must be constantly attended to. And, here, it may be asked. What are the rules that ought to guide us in this exercise, that it may be productive of its legitimate benefit ? Keeping in view the condition of muscular action as already set forth, it must appear obvious to all, that this exercise, as Combe expresses it, spring from, and be continued under, the influence of an active, nervous, or mental stimidus. This point scarcely requires illustration. Every- body knows how wearisome and disagreeable it is to saunter along, without having some object to attain ; and how listless and unprofitable a walk taken against the inclination, and merely for exercise, is, com- pared to the same exercise when made in pursuit of an object on which we are Intent. The difference is simply, that, in the former case, the muscles are obliged to work without that full nervous impulse which nature has decreed to be essential to their healthy and energetic action, and that, in the latter, that impulse is in full and harmonious operation ; the great superiority of active sports, botanical and eoological excur- sions, gardening, &c., as means of exercise, over more monotonous movements is referable to the same cause. Every kind of youthful play and mechanical operation interests and excites the mind, as well as occupies the body ; and by thus placing the muscles in the best position for wholesome and beneficial exertion, enables them to act without fatigue for a length of time; which, if occupied in mere walk- ing for exercise, would utterly exhaust their powers. Hence it is that the elastic spring, the bright eye and cheerful glow of persons thus excited, form a perfect contrast to the spiritless aspect of many of our M SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 81 boarding school processions of girls ; and the results, in point of health and activity, are not less different. But, in the second place, we would remark that this exercise, that it may produce the desired effect, should involve as tni'ch variety of movement as possible. The sphere of action of each muscle is strictly local, and it is only by calling them all into play that a general effect can be produced. Thus, by much walking, we may largely develope the muscles of the legs, and yet leave those of the arms and chest comparatively feeble ; or by wielding a ponderous hammer or rowing a boat, we may develope those of the chest and arms, whilst the general circulation is languid. For the same reason, a slow formal walk, with demuro look and motionless arms, is much less useful than a smart walk or run, in which we cannot refrain from exercising both the arms and chest. Exercise, therefore, is most beneficial when all the muscles, or as many as possible are called into play. The next regulation for exercise is, that it should always be proportioned^ in amount, to the age, strength, state of constitution, and former habits of the individual. A person accustomed to daily activity, will feel invigorated by a walk of four or five miles in the open air ; whereas the same distance will weaken another who has not been in the habit of walking at all. But instead of inferring from this, as is often done, that exercise, in the open air, is positively hurtful to the latter, reason and experience coincide in telling us, that he has erred only in over-tasking the powers of his system, and that to acquire strength and activity, he ought to have begun with one mile, and to have gradually extended his walk in proportion as the muscles become invigorated by the increased nutrition, consequent on well regulated exercise. A person recovering from fever begins by walking across his room, perhaps ten times, in a day, and gradually extends to twenty or thirty times, till he gains strength to go into the open air. On going out, a walk of ten minutes proves sufficient for him at first ; but by degrees his flesh and strength increase, and his exercise is prolong- ed, till he arrives at his usual standard. Such is the order of nature ; but many sedentary people have no patience for such slow progress. When urged to take exercise, they grudge the trouble of going out for a short time, and think that if a walk of half a mile does them good, one of a whole mile will do more ; and when they suffer from the error, they shelter their ignorance under the general assumption that exercise does not agree with them ! Hence it follows that to be bene- ficial, exercise should always be proportioned to the strength and con- stitution — that it should be regularly resumed after a sufficient interval 6 n Hi I- 1 i ' 1 h' » ^ » |.i4 1 1 *k- 1 ■ l' i; 14 1 I'm fliill 82 TKACHER S TKXT-BOOK. of rest, and that it should be joined ^ ith a mental and nervous stim- ulus. Another matter that ought to be attended to in exercise, and the only other one our space will allow us to notice is, the time at which exercise should be taken. Those who are in perfect health, may engage in exercise at almost any hour except immediately after a full meal ; but those who are not robust ought to confine themselves within nar- rower limits. To a person in full vigour, a good walk in the country before breakfast may be highly beneficial and exhilarating; while to some invalids and delicate persons it will prove more detrimental than useful, and will induce a sense of weariness which will spoil the plea- sure of the whole day. To some, however, who have no appetite on rising, a short walk in the open air before breakfast proves very beneficial. Exercise should be resorted to only when the system is sufficiently vigorous to be able to meet it. In delicate constitutions, this is the case at the end of from two to four hours after a moderate meal, and, consequently, the forenoon is the best time for them. If exercise be delayed, till some degree of exhaustion from the want of food has occurred, it speedily dissipates instead of increasing the strength which remains, and impairs rather than promotes digestion. For the same reason, exercise immediately before me.als, uidess of a very gentle description, is injurious and an interval of rest ought always to intervene. Active exercise ought to be equally avoided immediately after a heavy meal. In such circumstances the functions of the diges- tive organs are in the highest state of activity ; and if the muscular system be then called into considerable action, the withdrawal of the vital stimuli of the blood and nervous influence from the stomach to the extremities, is sufficient almost to stop the digestive process. But it is time we make some practical application of the principle? laid down to the matter of school management and school teaching. — In this respect the muscular system of organs is vastly the most impor- tant of any we have yet considered, whether we regard it in the light of a means or an end, directly or indirectly. Looking at it, as an end, we may remark first, that muscular action deeply affects the whole matter of the health and growth of the body of the young. It enlarges and renders robust the muscles themselves, but it does far more. Muscular action exerts a most powerful influence over the whole of the physical frame and especially over the nutritive system of organs. There is not, in fact, any one organ of the body that is not less or more affected by it. And what is the inference naturally deducible from all this. — Plainly that every thing iu school ought to be avoided, that has the SCIKNCE OT EDUCATION. 88 smallest tendency to run counter to the due exercise of the muscles. — Instead of keeping the children pent up in one posture for one, two or even three horrs, with the most tremendous threats if they dare to alter it, they ought to be required to change every ten minutes or so, and every facility or encouragement affbrtled for this purpose. Instead of <'ontravening the law of nature,— the law of contraction and relaxation, it is the bounden duty, as well as the highest interest, of every teacher to direct and control that law, that he mav render it subservient to the furtherance of his educational plans and prbceedings. For this purpose he ought sedulously to watch the condition of his pupils, and even during the time of their recitations and before they evince any symptoms of exhaustion he ought, by the use of certain signs — which may be i-alled into requisition without the utterance of a syllable — to require tliem to change their position. If they are standing, he may require them to be seated, and '-ice versa. Whatever is the class of muscles that has been the longest period in a sUite of contraction, he must take <'are that these are relaxed, and the opposing ones called into exercise. Unless the trainer adopt this course, the scholars will, in all probability, take the law into their own hands, and, despite all his remonstrances, yield compliance to its dictates, though it be in the way of itile, mischiev- ous pranks, or unruly conduct, or actual iH^bellron. And we know not, which of the two is, in these circumstances, the more reprehensible — the scholar in his violation of the rules of the establishment, or the teacher in his selt-complacent yet iaexcusable ignorance. But, again, muscular action may be viewed as a means as well as an t?nd, and, wlten properly regulated, will secu7-e a far greater amount of \Utention and intellectual labour. The connection between the eye and the mind is close and influential. AVhen the eye of the listener is steadily fixed upon the whole countenance of the speaker, a closer attention and a readier access to the understanding and heart are secur- ed and maintained. Ilcnce the vast superioiity of a viva voce address when due justice is done to it — that is, when the outer man of the speaker corresponds with the inner, as comparct But muscular action operates more directly on the mind tliromjh the medium of the nervous system. It is well known that the whole mus- cular part of the physical frame is pervaded by the nerves — that there is, in fact, a set of nerves belonging to every muscle, and that there can be no motion of the muscle without the nerves being affected. Tlie change thus effected is communicated by cords of nerves to the cerebrum or seat of thought; and thus a change, too, is produced in that delicate piece of organization, and a fresh and health- ful impulse imparted to its functions. By this means, too, the spiritual or thinking part of man's nature is rested or relaxed, and thereby better fitted and prepared for another and more determined effort. Thus it is manifest that every muscular movement deeply affects the powers of the mind, and procures a much larger amount of intellectual labour. And from all this will be seen the vast importance of phy- sical in-door exercises. These exerci.-'es may vary according to cir- cumstances. Whenever the teacher observes anything like general inattention on the part of any class or section of his scholars, instead of scolding, or threatening, or flagellating, he should immediately call upon them to assume their right position, or to change their position, or to go through the various motions, first, second, third, &c., or to sing a song, or to take a march, which, if possible, should be accompanied with music, either vocal or instrumental. These exercises should be chosen by the teacher, who takes the lead in them all, according to the condition or circumstances of the children, care being taken to diversify them less or more on every repetition ; for the moment a dull, monot- onous routine is fallen into, that moment do they lose their effect. — See outline of these exercises, both in-door and out, under chapter on Management of Schools. Need we state further, that these exercises produce a wholesome moral injltience in every well-conducted educational establishment, not merely in acting as a preventive against disorder and confusion, but in influencing indirectly the moral faculty. The scholars, generally speaking, take delight in these physical exercises — readily and cor- dially obey whatever instructions or orders are given regarding them ; and thus they acquire a habit of obedience which is easily transferred both to intellectual and moral subjects and pursuits. Regulation oj study — Nervous system. The nervous system of organs is the highest and most important of the whole. It operates upon and influences all the others. It forms the grand medium of communica- tion between the mind and all the other organs, — between the mind and the external world. The brain, the centre of this system, is now ;'. H SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 85 th the imis- -that I that being rds of too, 19 lealth- )intual hereby effort, icts the llectual of phy- to cir- geueral , instead tely call positiou, r to sing mpanied ould be icr to the diversify 1, monot- effect. — chapter wholesome lent, not )n, hit in Igeuerally and cor- ing them; fausferred of organs upon and Immunica- the mvi^ |m, is now universally admitted to be the seat of the mind, — the organ by which it manifests its operations and executes its purposes ; and by which, too, a knowledge of the world without, its existence and its quali- ties, are conveyed to the mind. As to the mode of this intercourse between matter and mind, or mind and matter, we literally know nothinsi. We know the fact, and that certain links in the chain of connection are absolutely necessary to produce the fact, but that is all. Tlie mind, by some mysterious power, conveys its volition to the brain, the brain oj>erates upon the nerve, the nerve upon the muscle, and the muscle upon the bone ; and thus locomotion is effected. And so is it iu the o[)posite direction. The object congenial to the nature of the sense — which is neither more nor less than finely attenuated nervous substance — when presented in favorable circumstances to that sense, produces an impression thereon ; that impression is conveyed by the sense to the nerve, the nerve to the brain, and through the brain a sensation or perception is conveyed to the mind. Such is the chain of connection, every link of which is indispensably necessary to protluce the effect ; but as to the modus operandi, we are just as ignorant as the child unborn ; and so long as the present state of things lasts, the probability is that we shall continue to be. But, be this as it may, it is perfectly clear that, from the intimate and indissoluble relationship subsisting between this system of organs and the human mind, it is invested with the deepest importance, and, in its connection with phy- sical education, demands the calmest and most earnest consideration. The nervous system of organs is extremely complicated both in structure and function ; but it may be described, in a general way, as central masses and expansions of nervous matter linked together by connecting cords called nerves. The principal nervous centres are the brp.'.n and spinal cord. The brain, in the widest signification of the word, is that largo organized mass which, along with its enveloping membranes, — the dura mater, the arachnoid, and i\\e, pia mater, com- pletely fills the cavity of the skull and i '^bdivided into the cerebrum, the cereheUnm, the ni'dulla oblongata, auu .,he cephalic ganglia: all which are composed of two distinct kinds of nervous substances, the grerj and the tvhite, the former being the generator and the latter the conductor of the nervous influences, "^he spinal cord, which is also composed of two kinds of nerv^ous suoo-.inces, is subdivided into two sets of fibres, the anterior and the posterior, the one containing exclu- sively motor, and the latter sensitor stimulus or infiuence. From the spinal column, incl ^ the medidla oblongata, which is but the upper extremity of that .x a, emanate nerves in all directions ; some of 1 ml s ■• 8G TEACIIKRS TEXT-BOOK. r. ^: h ■ 1 \\ < if I' !• I i^iiili; 5 •' N, Hii f 9 < J which, in a finely attenuated form, constitute the senses, and other* discharge tlio olfice of sensation or locomotion. And now as to the functions performed by these nervous centres of animal life. On this point physiologists differ in matters of detail, though in the main, considerable harmony prevails. It is then univer- sally admitted that the cerebrum or hemispheric lobes of the brain constitute or include the organs of the intellectual and moral powers. It is the seat of consciousness, volition and emotion ; and when it is removed the bo4 88 teacher's text-book. as they ought the outstripping importance of ventilation in connection with all educational movements ! Supposing that hoth these points, namely, a sound hereditary brainy system, and a due supply of pro- perly oxygenated blood, have oeen secured, the question now arises — What are the means to be employed for the purpose of strengthening the nervous system, and thereby rendering it more capable of carrying out the purposes of the mind, — if not, of imparting to it greater vigour? If mind manifests itself through the medium of the bruin, it is clear that the operations of the mind must depend largely on its condition ; and vice versa, for the influence is clearly reciprocal. Though we can- not comprehend the mod* here is the most uncontrovertible evidence that the one operates mo.si extensively upon the other. "What, then, ought to be done, so as to strengthen the brainy system ? We must just resort to our usual specific — exercise. By exercising the various functional parts of the brain, the blood is made to flow throp'' jut all the bloodvessels of the brainy mass, nicely adjusted and delicately attenuated though they be. This exercise, in order to accomplish the end desired, must be steady and moderate, neither defective nor exces- sive. If the effect of too little exercise of any particular part of the muscular system be the enfeeblemeut, if not the entire paralysis of that part, it is, in very proportion to its surpassing delicacy, much more so with the brain. If the excess of exercise deranges the whole system, as being a direct violation of that law of activity and repose, which pervades the whole natural and moral world, it is infinitely more so with the brain, and that for the same reason as is mentioned above. And what is the inference deducible from all this ? It is, plainly, that we are to use tin brain neither too much nor too little. And how is this to be effected ' By the moderate ai)plioation of the mind to study. For this purpose, instead of giving ourselves to mental pursuits by fits and starts — by long seasons of rest or violent exertion, we ought to have steady and regularly fixed hours for study, and adhere to them most scrupulously. This will operate upon the physical brain, and produce the most beneficial results for its enlargement and consolida- tion. " Periodicity, or the tendency to resume the same mode of action at stated times, is peculiarly the characteristic of the nervous system ; and, on this account, regularity is of great consequence in exercising the moral and intellectual powers. All nervous diseases have a marked tendency to observe regular periods, and rational inclination to sleep at the approach of night, is but another illustration of the same fact. It is this principle of our nature which promotes the formation of what 8CIF.NCK OF EDUCATION. 8» are called habits. Tf we repeat any kind of mental effort every day, at the same hour, we at last, when the time approaches, find ourselves oiiforing upon it without })remeditation, and, in like manner, if we arnin^o our studies in accordance with this law, and take up each regularly in the samo order, a natural aptitude is soon produced, which renders api)lication more easy than when the subjects are taken up as accident may direct, — nay, occasionally, the tendency to periodical and associated activity becomes in the course of tiwi so great, that the facidties seem to go through their operations almost without conscious effort, while their facility of action becomes so prodigiously increased as to give increasing certainty, where at first great difficulty was expp>'ienced. In thus forming habits and ac(|uiring readiness, we mc.cly turn to account that organic law which associates increased r.ppctite, animation and vigour with regular exercise." Fixed regular times for mental application is thus of essential moment for strengthening the brain. And the question here arises, what is the best tinie for study ? It is, certainly, not after a full meal of meat. It is a law of the animal economy, that two classes of functions cannot be called into vigorous action at the same time with- out the one or the other, or both, sooner or later, sustaining injury. — To go to study, then, immediately after the pleasures of the table have hetn indulged in, is to act right in the teeth of this law. In such circumstances, the stomach and brain will react upon and disturb one another, till all the horrors of nervous disease make their un- /el- come appearance and render life miserable. The tendency to inactivity and sleep, which besets most animals after a full meal, shows repose to be, in such conditions, the evident intention of nature. The bad effects of violating this rule, although not in all cases immediately ai»parent, will most assuredly be rendered manifest, at a period more or less remote. Nor should the time for study be late in the evening. Persons who practise night study, if they be at all of an irritable habit of body, will be sleepless for hours aflter going to bed, and be tormented, perhaps, by unpleasant dreams, which will render their sleep unre- freshiug. If this practice be long continued, the want of refreshing repose will idtimately produce a state of morbid irritability of the nervous system bordering on insanity. Nature has allotted the dark- ness of night for repose, and for the restoration by sleep of the ex- hausted energies both of mind and body. What, then, is the best time for study ? Unquestionably, we reply, the early part of the day. '■. h tf# :I'< :* » * (- U l^wf: ..,.. J, 1 »k< ^ J i I^^H ^H ' tH ! I^^H r ' i IP i' 90 tp:acher's text-book. The morning and forenoon ought to be spent in hard mental work. Then the brain is free to perform its functions, and is necessarily strengthened. This, again, will operate upon the mind, and reuaer it more capable of vigorous exertion. In this case, the evenings ought to be spent in lighter reading, in music, or in cheerful and amusing conversation. The excitement produced in the brain by previous study will be soothed by these influences, will more readily subside, and sound refreshing sleep will much more likely follow. This rule is of the utmost importance to those who are obliged to perform a great amount of intellectual labour. It is only by conforming to it, and devoting their mornings to study and their evenings to relaxati(jn, that many of our most prolific writers have beei enabled to preserve their health. By neglecting this rule, others of the fairest promise have been cut down in the midst of their usefulness. But not only is regularity, but variety of study requisite. "Whether the science of phrenology, — that science which makes the protuber- ance in the convolutions of the brain, the organ of some meatal taculty, — is founded on fact, we do not take it upon us to decide. There are great and distinguished names ranged on both sides ; some as stout in maintaining, as others are in denying its truthfulness. But without pretending to dogmatize on the subject, we believe that it is all but miiversally admitted that the anterior part of the cerehrum constitutes the seat of the intellectual powers, and the middle and posterior parts, the emotional and moral. If so, then it is clear that our studies should neither be purely intellectual, nor moral, nor emotional, and that simply on th.^ law of contractility. The brain is liable to the very same law of contraction and relaxation that the muscles are ; and, of course, if any one part is kept in a state of exclusive tension, both it and all the others must suffer. The health of the whole consists in each receiving its due amount of exercise. And how ia this to be done but by a variety of subjects for study — such a variety as will not only give employment for these three great classes of powers with their corresponding organs, but to these powers in all their minuter shades or details. And hence the necessity not only of blending the intellectual and social and moral, but of blending them in all their energies and sensibilities for the preserving and in- vigorating of the whole; — and this can only be done by a variety of subjects of study, not keeping the mind too long fixed on any ono subject, however interesting or engrossing. And if all this is of force in reference tv those whose brain is consolidated and strengthened, it SCIENCK OF EDUCATION. n must bo still more in reference to those whose brainy substance is hut in a state of growth and development, and thereby exposed to the •M-eatest possible injury by continued overtension. And hsnce the vouiigcr the children, the greater the need for variety of study, and ior a limited period being devoted to the prosecution of any one braiioh. But not only is it necessary for the full health and vigour of the nervous system to have regularity and variety of mental pursuits, but also reiteration and judicious repetition. Practise is as necessary to induce facility of action in the organs of the mind as in those of motion. The idea or feeling must not only be communicated, but it must be represented and reproduced in different forms, until all the faculties concerned in understanding it, come to work efficiently together, and until a sufficient impression is made on the organ of mind to enable the latter to retain it. We may understand a new subject by a single perusal, but we can fully master it only by dwelling on it again and again. In order to make a durable impression on tlie mind repetition is necessary ; it follows hence that in learning a language or science, six successive months of ap}»lication will be more effectual in fixing it indelibly in the mind and making it a part of the mental furniture than double or even treble the time, if the lessons are interrupted by long intervals. The too common practise of begin- ning a study and keeping at it a little while, and then leaving it to be comjDleted at a later period, is as unphilosophical as it is injudicious. The fatigue of study is thus doubled and t\e success greatly dimin- ished. Studies should not, as a general rule, be entered upon until the mind is sufficiently matured to understand them thoroughly, and, when begun, they should not be discontinued until they are completely mastered. By this means, the mind becomes accustomed to sound and healthy action, which alone can qualify the student for eminent usefulness in after life. By this means, too, the physical organization of the brain is strengthened and consolidated, so that they mutually aid one another in the accomplishment of the same grand object. Section II. — Intellectual Education. Classijication. — As physical education is founded upon animal physiology, so is intellectual, upon intellectual philosophy, or that part of our mental nature, designated the intellect. Though the human mind is one and indivisible, yet it manifests itself in a great variety of forms or ways, now reduced to a science, and generally known by the Ml 'H m m 1' \vk I )(■; ;M 92 teacher's text book. « ! name of Psychology. For a long period, the human mind was regarded in a twofold aspect, called by some the understanding and the will ; by others, the contemplative and the active powers ; and, by others, the cognitive and motive, or the internal and external affections. Now, however, it is generally regarded under the threefold classifica- tion, — the intellect, the sensibilities and the 10 ill ; and each of these is again subdivided into several subordinate departments, called faculties, or modes of acting or doing. It is with the first of these divisions, we have at present to do. The faculties of the intellect have been variously arranged and classi- fied according to the stand-point from which they are viewed, whether synthetical or analytical, proceeding from particulars to generals, or from generals to particulars. These classifications are considered by some as defective, and by others as redundant ; by some, as beginning where they should end, and by others, as ending where they should begin ; but, after all, in their grand leading features, they are substan- tially one and the same. There is one division or classification that can hardly fail to force itself upon the attention of the most superficial student, ajipropriately denominated the sensational and the intellectual ; the first, embracing all those powers or forms of activity connected less or more with external objects ; and the second, all those thoug .•■■ or ideas which, though occasioned or suggested by external things, are, nevertheless, entirely independent of them, and to be regarded as the results of its own spontaneous actings, the outgoings of its own inherent constitution. The former of .hese, — the sensational, may be subdivided into the three following classes, according to the way in which external things are presented to and affect the intellect, viz. — the presentative, the representative, and the combining or rejl^^ctive. There is a large number of our thoughts or mental operations, which originate in external objects being brought irto direct and immediate contact with their appropriate sense. In some cases, the knowledge thus imparted is a mere mental change called a sensation, and, in others, is accompanied with a clear apprehension of the existence and quality of the visible object or thing that produced it. From the way in which the object is presented to the mind, this may be designated the presentative class ; from the effect pro- duced, the perceptive faculty ; and from both being combined, sense — perception. Again, a large number of our thoughts or ideas spring from the conception of objects that have, aforetime, been presented to our senses in some shape or other, but which are now removed or SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 98 absent. These objects we may conceive of or represent to our minds, thougb thus absent, eitlier in a more vagne or definite form ; the former capability we designate the conceptive faculty, and the latter the recoUective. Or, we may take the parts or properties of these objects, unite them into a whole which had no existence before, and so hold up that whole to our mind ; and, hence, this class of powers has been called the representative. Again, we may compare one ob- ject with another, or one attribute of an object with that of another, and arrange the same into distinct classes, according to their resem- blances or differences. This, we all naturally do. In looking at any one object or class of objects, we separate them into their parts or attributes ; pass judgment upon them, compare them with others, and classify accordingly. This is to proceed from particulars to generals, according to the synthetic method, and is appropriately designated the generalizing faculty. Or we may reverse the process. We may analyze the idea or term, we may pronounce a verdict respecting its properties or relations, and show that whatever belongs to the whole, belongs to all the parts. All men are mortal ; Homer was a man ; therefore Homer was mortal. This is called reasoning, or that faculty by which, from the use of knowledge obtained by the other faculties, \vc are enabled to proceed to the discovery of other and original knowledge. Both these powers are of the same nature, tli is, they proceed from premises to consequences or conclusions, and may be classified as belonging to the discoursive or reflective class. These are all the sensational powers — or those powers of the mind operated upon through the medium of the senses. But the mind has also the power of acting or of forming ideas by reason of its own constitution, independent of any external object whatever. The ideas of power, — of cause and effect, — of time, — of a sense of the beautiful or of the right, for example, may be occasioned or suggested by the faculties of perception or consciousness, but they are not derived therefrom. They are the result of the exercise of pure intellection. We know them to be #ue without the intervention of any media. Nay, they really lie at the foundation of all our other knowledge, and on this account are designated by some first or primary truths, self- evident axioms, intuitions or intuitive cognitions. As these primary truths are beheld at once by the mind without any process of analysis or ratiocination, the power is called the intuitive ; and as they are occasioned or suggested by the ideas of consciousness and perception, though neither produced by them nor in any respect similar to them, they are caWed original suggestions. ■^ ■ -i m- i.»t)| I l^ m v\ I ( ... 14 94 TEACHEIl's TEXT-IJOOK. The faculties enumerated may be thus represented in tabular form ; CLASSES OF POWERS OF INTELLECT. Faculties. L — PuESENTATiVE, Sense — Perception. ( Conception. IL — Representative, < Memory. ( Imagination. TTT T» ( Abstraction or Generalization. Ill — Reflective, < r> ( lieasomng. IV. — Intuitive, Origiml Suggestion. V/ith this brief analysis and classification of the intellect, — in which we have mainly followed " Haven's Mental Philosophy," — we proceed to make a few remarks on the subject of their education in general ; thereafter, we shall discuss each facultv in order. What then is intellecti 0.1 education^ As to the matter of intellectual education very inade»iuate views obtain. Not a few seem to imagine, that it consists merely in making the subject that may happen to be brought under the notice of the young, clear and palpable, thoroughly under- utood ; and, for this purpose, the terms are traced to their source and defined, the clauses or sentences analysed and expounded. Now, whilst all this is exceedingly proper, and whilst no one can fail to perceive its vast superiority to the old routine, mechanical process, which required the mandating of so many words and clauses without the most distant idea of their import ; still, after all, it is nought but instruction, and falls far short of real intellectual education. Intellec- tual education includes instruction, and that conveyed in the most simple and intelligible manner ; but it is something far above and l)eyond, — something vastly more lofty and ennobling. It is neither more nor less than the best knowledge communicated in such a way as that all the faculties of the intellect shall be exercised, and thereby drawn out, developed and strengthened. And how is this to be effected ? In two ways ; first, hy presenting the appropriate food to each faculty, Vii\i\, sacomWy, by administerin^t in a way that it shall be digested; or, to speak without a figure, by bringing those very subjects before the mind that are best fitted for the exercise of its powers, and doing it so that these several powers shall be actually used. As to the first point, there is little or no difficulty. The food, most congenial to the perceptive faculties, is just the object adapted to each sense ; to the conceptive and recx)llective faculties, a vivid appre- hension of the original ideas and a thoroughness in whatever is tiommitted ; to imagination, the formation of ideal pictures, and the SCIENCE OF EDnCATlON. 05 association of the invisible with the visible, of the spiritual with the natural; to abstraction, — the distinguishing and the separating from each other of things which differ, the study of the generalizations and combinations of nature ; to reasoning, — the tracing of the connection between premises and conclusions, and the manufacturing of argu- ments for ourselves whatever be the subject of investigation ; and tx) original suggestion, — the encouraging a spirit of earnest and perse- vering enquiry in reference to phenomena that may fall under our observational powers. All this is comparatively an easy matter, and is accomplished cither through the medium of text-books on usual branches or oral lessons. The actual digestion of the food on the part of the scholars, their using and strengthening their own faculties uj the study of subjects adapted "thereto, and the presentation of these 8ul)jects so that this end shall be served, constitutes at once the grand problem and the main difficulty. This plainly involves two things — the theoretical and \X\e practical, or the principle and the mode of carrying it into effect. And first as to the philosophical principle involved. This is neither more nor less than the teacher's coming down to a level with his class, and conduct- ing them by the use of their own faculties from the known to the unknown, from objects or things with which all are familiar to the discovery of those facts, or the deducing of those inferences, or the reception of that knowledge, or the learning of those lessons, at which he is aiming, or which he is striving to impress on their minds Ilie object is to impart knowledge, to enforce truth, to inculcate wluiesome moral instruction, not by telling them, not by didactic statements or finished prelections, but by guiding and gently constraining them through the legitimate exercise of their own powers to the wished for landing ; and this that he may de\'elope and enlarge the particular faculty or faculties intended. For this purpose he avails himself of certain innate constitutional principles, viewed in connection with the »tage of the mental development of his scholars. These principles are such, as the powers of perception, comparison, analogy, classification, intuitive beliefs, acts of the judgment, or deducting conclusions from certain data or premises, and the like. And where does the teacher find materials for the exercise or the play of these principles ? He finds them everywhere about and around ; and, accordingly, he levies a tribute on the works of nature and art, on man and manners, on the past and present, with the view of catering for the special appetites of his pupils. Two things must be kept before his miud's-eye in the solection of this provision ;— the aptnesB of the incident or occurrence, 4" era -;i'v. { I m 13 If I I I K > ii 1 '• I |.wl lii^J;^ 96 TEACHER S TEXT-BOOK. of the object or illustration, to the case in hand, to the point to be made out, and the character, the circumstances and stage of advauco- ment of his class. In one word, he viust sec and be sure that the platform on which he takes his stand is one (,u which all can join, — one in reference to which the transition from Aie natural to the nvnital or spiritual, — from the visible to the invisible, — from tiie temporal to the eternal, — from the finite to the infinite, is easily perceived and duly appreciated. But there is one field where he, the teacher, may revel at will, — a field as inexhaustible as it is in every way suitable, a field on which the child and the adult, the lale and the female, the stupid and the intelligent, are alike at home, wo mean, of course, the field of nature, of visible objects, and of t le employ- ments and pursuits around. All know something about stones and plants and animals, their uses, their varied applications, &c. And why so ? It is because of the very constitution of their being, because they are possessed of a sensible nature, and because the grand avenue, the easiest pathway to the mind, is through the senses. And do we not see this principle displayed every day before our eyes ? Look, for example, at the conduct of the mother in her endea- vours to impress the mind of the prattling child on her knee with any event, or fact, with anj' Bible story. Is it, for example, the un- natural deed of Cain imbruing his hands in the blood of his unoffend- ing brother ? She has no sooner determined to depict this transac- tion to her little one, than she hies away to the library shelves in search ot the big folio copy of the Bible, and at once turns up the pictorial representation of the scene. With consummate tact she fixes the eye of her child on the more prominent and striking features of the picture, and then pri L-eds t'^ the rehearsal, the verbal delineation of the tragical story. And why does she resort to this method ? Is it because she is aware of the philosophical principle involved ? No, she does it from pure instinct. And could there be a nobler testimony to the truth of our position ? But why cite such occurrences? Ilath not the Divine Being Himself in making known His will to mortals adopted this very mode, and set its suitableness and soundness for ever at rest ? No one, we think, can peruse the Sacred Record with- out being struck with the profusion, the appropriateness, and in many instances, the gorgeousness of its imagery, without perceiving that there is scarcely a spiritual truth, or doctrine, or moral precept unfold- ed, not bodied forth in some biographical sketch, or exhibited in some emblem or parabolic illustration. It matters not whether man is contemplated in an unfallen or fallen condition, whether he is living m SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 97 undei* the dawning twilight or the noontide radiance of the remedial economy, the same modi of revelation is pursued. "Witnesf, for example, the two &pecial trees in the Garden of Eden, — the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Witness, again, the stupendous ceremonial of the preparatory dispensation, how com- pletely every thing connected with the person, the character, the office and work of the great coming Deliverer of the human family, was portrayed and shadowed forth in personal types, symbolic rites, and sacrificial observances. And why all this ? It was because the church was in her minority, in a state of pupilage, requiring, like children, that her instructions be couched under natural emblems, and that her lessons, her moral and spiritual lessons, be conveyed through visible or tangible objects and things. But the finest exemplification of this mode of teaching, are the discourses and addresses of Incar- nate divinity, — of Ilim in whom were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. No one can read the evangelic story without perceiving with what admirable dexterity the Great Teacher wields this weapon ; with what inimitable ease and skill he renders universal nature tribu- tary to his purpose ; and through the help of emblems, analogies and parables, meets and rebuts, at the instant, the captious cavils of his accusers, shutting them up by their own reasoning to certain convic- tions and conclusions, which they could neither gainsay nor contro- vert. — '' Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?" asked the Pharisees-: " Show me a penny," resumed our Lord. " And they brought it, and he said unto them, whose is this image and superscription ? And they said unto Ilim, Caesar's. And Jesus answering said unto them. Render unto Ca5sar the things that are Cajsar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him." " Who is my neighboiur ?" said the same party. Jesus Christ did not say in reply that all the human fiimily were the lawyer's neighbours, or enter upon an elabo- rate abstract disquisition of the great moral lesson he came to exem- plify and establish, viz., that we are all our brothers' keepers ; but he answered it by picturing out to him the touching and the thrilling story of the good Samaritan. After which, the crafty Lawyer did not require to renew his question. Again, on another occasion, the Pharisees watched Him whether he would cure on the Sabbath da}^ our Saviour looked on them, and asked : " Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day ; to save life or to kill ? but they held their peace." A similar, and, perhaps, still more impressive incident occurs in St. Luke's gospel : " And it came to pass as He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they 7 ' -i : rm . U i III -•»; Ipli 98 TEACHERS TEXT-BOOK. i'l ' n » f *i !fm- watched him. And behold there was a certain man before Ilim which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, s.'iyiug, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day ? And they held their peace. And lie took him, and healed him, and let him go ; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ox ur an ass fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath-day ? And they co'dd not answer Ilim again to these things." In both those examples, Christ, it will be observed, does not tell the Pharisees whether it w;>3 or was not lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day ; he appealed to their conscience ; he trained them ; they felt the rebuke ; " they held their peace." Take another exam- ple, which we simply recite. It is so appropriate and beautiful, that it can hardly be touched without marring its effect : " And one of the Pharisees desired Jesus that he would eat with liim. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment. Now, when the Phari- see which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and whaL sort of woman this is that touched him ; for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And ho saith, master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors : the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, then, which of them will love him most ? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him. Thou hast rightly judged." Then all was clear for making the application. Indeed Simon himself, however reluctantly, was compelled to draw the inference. As the debtor who had been for- given most loved most, so this woman loved much because she had been forgiven much. One other case, and that mainly for the pur- pose of showing how, by this mode of teaching, the Great Teacher enlists the intellectual powers, and insists on their legitimate exercise. The case to which we refer is the mission of John's two disciples to ^rist, for the purpose of discovering whether he were the Messiah. These two disciples being introduced, asked, " Art thou he that should <;ome, or do we look for another. Jesus answered and said unto them, cdss of self-educatiou, will strengthen aiMl develop the intellectual powers of our being ! And thia principle, in all its exem[)lifications and d'ivelopment^, is. just as applicable to secular a.s it is to religious and moral subjects. Indeed the similitudes, the parables and allegories are perhaps more Quiuerous and appropriate in the one case than iu the other. At all events, the young are as well acijuaiuted with them, and can appre- hend with even greater facility their application and their force. The first systematic attempt to reduce t'lis principle to practical applicittion in the general business of the school, was that made by Pestallozzi, the great Swiss educational Reformer. lie sat a diligent student at the feet of nature, — perceived the influence which the objects in the world without had on the whole inner life of man, and laboured most asF'duously and perseveringly to apply this principle to the whole ed-ijational process. Hence the objective system, as it is called, which is neither more nor less than the application of this principle to all the branches of education, is identified with the name of Pestalozzi, and is sometimes interchangeably designated the Pestalozziau system. This devoted enthusiast, however, stopped short here. His system at the utmost only appeals to the perceptive faculties. He attaches little or no value, or, at least, makes little or no use of the conceptive or the reflective. But there is a defect greater and more desolating far, and that is the neglect or the casting away of the grace and strength so fully and so freely tendered to all in the discoveries of the Bible. Nature is idolized and adored, but Revelation is ignored, or, at least, occupies but a subordinate place. And yet Pestalozzi did inaugurate the exercise of Object lessons. lie was, perhaps, the foremost that ever ^stematically attempted to adapt the educational process to the nature of the child, and, so far as he went, a great, and good, and progressive work was doue in the very essentials of our theme. Stow, of Glas- gow, completed and perfected the work which Pestalozzi had begun. He consulted both Books, the one ot nature and the other of grace, and gladly availed himself of all tlxe assistance he needed. And what SClBJiCE OP EDUCATIOK. 101 iVkI he not need ? But not only did he impart durability to his work by laying its foundation deop on the rock of eternal truth, he was i'liahled, by the vision derived from these two Books, to take a full ,-iiid panoramic view of the recipients of education — to descry more /■iculties demanding culture than even those of conception, imagina- tion, generalization and reasoning. And hence he added to the object- ive, the word-painting-lessons, and to all these the drawing of conclu- «ions from certain data or premises. And what an enduri^jj fabric to the glory of humanity did he thus erect? What homage did he pay to the author of our being ! What honour and lustre did he confer on the law of adaptation ! So much for the history of the principle. How, it may now 1>« asked, is it reduced to practice ? What is the process by which, in word-painting, we are iwtually to exercise the faculties of the scholars, to train, and not merely to teach ? What plan is to be pursued by which the scholars shall actually use, and thereby strengthen the special power or faculty intended ? Is it to be effected by a lecture from the Teacher — by an oral or written delineation of the scene or transaction, of the most graphic description — the thoughts lucidly conceived, and the inferences logically deduced? All this may bo done, and the pupils both apprehend and appreciate s import, and yet their faculties remain in a state of all but complete dormancy and inactivity. Or is this to be done by a series of questions and aiiswers, the former well put by the Teacher, and the latter accurately given by the scholars ? No ; this exercise may acquaint the teacher with (he extent and character of his pupils' knowledge on any given point, and it mvy help to quicken and expand and consolidate the ideas of the pupils ou subjects they oady know, — it may rouse their l' i.i, ^|: 102 teacher's text-book. suppose, then, that the subject of instruction is chosen, and that the pictorial representation by which the knowled^ is to be communicat- ed and the lessons to be inculcated is vividly before the mind's eye of the Teacher, the first thing to be done is for him easily and freely to put a (juestion, or a numbiT of (juestions, merely to ascertain the extent of tlmir knowledjjfe, whether the majority of the class are familiar with the image — the natural picture. Having done so, and finding all prepared to enter ujmn a conversation thereon, he continues his (piestions, pausing and allowing them to go on and supply both words and clauses— -ideas. Specific directions for the conducting of this exercise will be given at a subse00 degrees of loudness, — have a natural meaning, and awaken corres- ponding emotions in the breasts of those who listen. Hence the power of music both over the tutored and untutored mind. Hence, too, the power of the orator over his auditors ; and hence, too, its power in teaching. The grand peculiarity of the organ of vision is, that it not merely imparts, through the medium of light, a direct knowledge externally of colour, of superficial and solid extension, but also those acquired perceptions, which give us the notion of things as they are, that boar sway in the percepti , i fawdty. It is to its picture gallery of the visible world that the mind retires at every moment when not occupied by that world itself ; it is over these images that it exerts a plastic power, recombining the elements they consist of, in an iiilinite variety of modes ; " and it is exclusively out of these same elements, fiintastically consorted, that those magic halls are stocked and ornamented, through which the soul flits and roams during sleep." ■ f'. ... r ■ . . • , The furniture of the conceptive faculty, as derived from the objects of sight, constitutes the principal wealth of the mind ; and upon the ready command of these treasures, with some specific end in view. Hi' 'II ; ;((■■': 1 1'" 1 m '>m ■ 1 % -'m if ft- • +-#-^-^ ■ryj ~ II 1 1 i r 1 f 4, . h^ 4 I » i""«ii(t no TKACIIKU'S TKXT-ROOK. ilopoiKls, in a <^reat mcastirc, its powei The quality and extent of these ideal stor(!S, and the degree in which they are available as mate- rials for the otlu'r facnilties to work U{)oii, are the chi(!f reason of the vast difference l)etwcen one mind and another, and generally the dif- ference between eulttired and uncultured minds. Whatever may be the path of exertion pursued by any one, if the conceptive faculties in the particular department which the mind occupies be fully fraught with its proper objects, and be prompt in prochu^lng its stores, such a mind will take the lead among others. It is clear, then, that these two scMises present by far the strongest claims on the educationist, — constitute, in fact, at first, the grand bur- ileu of all his operations. And yet it is not less clear that their eidti- vation ought not to exclude the otiuir three — tou(!h, smell and taste. The education of these onjiht to be carried on at one and the same time. The first gives an immediate perception of externality, exten- sion, form, hardness, softness, «S:c., including the various mechanical properties of bodies ; the second, all the odours ; and the third, all the flavours ; and it is in every way advantageous that we obtain a correct knowledge of all these, — in other words, that those senses be exercised and developed. And now is it asked, ITow is this to be done ? Plainly, we again repeat, by the trainer submitting to each sense the congciiiial object. If the sense of smell, the odoriferous particles must be brought in contact with the olfactory nerves ; if of taste, the body must be siibject- ed to the palate ; if of touch, the person must be allowed to handle the object with wlu)se hardness or softness he wishes to become ac(iuainted ; if of hearing, the sound must be brought into contact with the ordinary nerves ; and if of sight, the object must be subjected to the inspection of the eye. If each sense is to be cultivated, the object must be directly and immediately addref^ed or submitted to the sense. The exercise of the one will not suffice .jt that of the other. And these senses, if they are to be thoroughly strengthened, must be exercised when they are in course of growth, and most susceptible oi improvement. Any of the senses may be strengthened by exercise, 80 long as they are free from disease or decay. But there is a season when they are far more capable of being unfolded and developed *han any other, and that is when the muscular or nervous substance that enter into their composition, are in a state of growth. When these reach their maturity, or when our physical nature ceases to grow, then our instrumentality, to a great extent, terminates. We may still use means for their exercise, but we arc not in the same favorable BCIKNCE OK KDUCATION. Ill coudition. All are now confirmed uiid eotisolidated, and, consequently, not nearly so flexible, or so susceptible of efficient impressions. How loudly does this circumstance call upon all interested in the education of the young to ply every energy in the cultivation of the senses before they reach their teens ! And how forcibly, too, docs it demonstrate the benefit of object lessons, with a view to their devel- opment ! But enough has been said regarding the nature, the improvement and the education of this faculty. Its application, less or more, pervades the whole practical details of o»ir third book. (See articles on Music, Oral Lessons, and also on School Management, &c.) CoNCEPTivE Faculty. Its Nature. There is not, perhaps, in the whole range of mental science, a term with a greater latitude of signification, than tlu^ one before us. Some msiintain that it embraces all the knowhjdgo of which the human mind is cognizant, whatever we can form a thought or au apprehension of ; that it may refer, not merely to the past, but the future — not merely to the actual, but the ideal — not merely to the sensible, but the super-sensible ; that this is the comraou meaning of the word, and that it should bo used in no other. Others, again, take it in a more restricted or limited sense, and make it refer merely to the knowledge of all that has entered the mind through the medium of sensation and p(;rception ; and between these two extremes there is every possible phase of view and opinion. The former class of interpreters deny its existence as a separate faculty, seeing that, in their, opinion, it enters into all our mental operations, and is involved in all the other powers. The latter, again, assign it a distinctive and a very important place among the other faculties. We are decidedly of opinion, that, whatever may be the common meaning of the term, there is a power or faculty that may appro- priately be designated the conceptive, or, at all events, has not a more suitable appellation. Wo refer to that mental power, by means of \Thich, what has already been present to the sensations and percep- tions, returns, or is brought back to the mind, in the absence of the object, with more or less distinctiveness, and is then dealt with as a material of cogitation, or, after serving to lead on to other ideas, dis- appears. It is this power — the power of entertaining ideas apart from the sensations and perceptions — which seems to be the first point of distinction, marks the superiority of the human mind, and gives Uio earliest indication of intellectuality in the infant, after the percep- tions have becama pretty well defined. Long before any other men- lis ■111 112 TEACH EU'S TEXT BOOK. h * ti '% :•' h Uil power can bo detected, the infant gives proof that it has already come into possession of a not slenderly furnished treasury of images, which, withjiit its hid ling, take their turns in enlivening its other- wise vapid existence, and which, although, as yet, it has acipiired no control over them, do not fail to obey the great laws that are to regulate the mental operations of the adult. A thousand familiar facts give evidence of the existence of this faculty in the earliest stages of life ; and a single and conclusive one is afforded by an infant's instantaneous recognition of the most imperfect representative symbol of a known object, and its ready coimexion of an idea of such an object with the name of it, ii few times repeated. This power, need we say, is perfectly distinct from perception. When I look upon a book, or any external object, I instantly form a notion of it, of a particular kind. I know it is an external body, numerically distinct from myself, of a certain form, colour and magni- tude, at this moment and in this place, externally before me. When I handle an object, I have the same notion, the quality of colour only excepted. This knowledge is called perception. And now, supposing the object of perception removed, the act ceases, but a knowledge of the object is still present to my mind. This is called a conception, and it is in this acceptation that we use it. It is different, too, from mem- ory. In memory, there is the assurance or the belief that, at a certain time, these objects actually existed as I now conceive of them. There is the perfect recognition of the things remembered, as having been presented to my senses at a certain time and in certain circumstances. But we can easily separate the act of conception from that of memory. I can conceive of a certain tree, or cataract, or garden, without con- necting it with the idea either of present or past existence, or the circumstances under which I formerly saw it ; and this is the mean- ing we attach to the faculty under consideration. In like manner, it might be shown, that this faculty differs widely both from abstraction and imagination. But we think enough has been said to indicate the meaning we attach to the power under consideration, and to point out, not only its necessity, but its vast importance in the mental system both of the very young and of the adult of our population. Position and Importance of this Faculty. This power is inval- uable. Without it, the passing moment — the impression or sensation of the instant, would be the sum total of our intellectual life — of our conscious being. The horizon of our mental vision would extend no further than our immediate present perceptions. The past would be SCIKNCIC OF KDUCATIOS:. 118 ^ blank, as dark, and dreary and uucortain as the futuro. Conception liglits u[) the otliorwlsc dreary waste of pa.st existence, and, reprodue- ing the former scenes and objects, gives us mental possession of all that we have been, as well as of tlie present moment ; lays at our feet the objects of all former knowledge. The mind thus becomes, in a moa^ure, independent of sense; and the external world. What it has (Mice seen, heard, felt, becomes its permanent possession, even when the original object of perception is far removed. " T may have seen the grand and stately minster, or the snowy alp. but once in my life ; but ever after it dwells among my conceptions ; and in after years on ollior continents, and amid far other scenes, that vision of beauty and grandeur passes before me as an angelic vision ; that succession of sweet sounds traverses ai^ain the silent chambers of the brain, with all the fresliness of first reality. It is only a conception now, but wlio shall estimate the worth of that simple power of conception." And if such is the importance of this foculty to all classes, it is especially so to the young. It is the earliest developed, and the first to reach its maturity. It supplies materials aiul a basis for every other mental operation. And this is all the more enhanced when we take into account the fact that there is no intellectual energy more sasceptil)le of improvement by discipline, or more likely to I'cpay the pains bestowed upon it, as conducive to ulterior mental operations. Education of this Faculty. And what are the means to be employed in the culture of this faculty ? AYhat is best fitted to impart to it vi\acity and precision. We have already shown, in our discussion of the perceptive, how much of the conceptive depends on the thorough use of our ol)serva- tional powers, and especially the sense of sight. The more closely we examine and analyze any object for ourselves, the more likely are we to increase the vivacity, and precision and permanence of the concep- tive taculty. But as much, if not more, depends on the state of the emotions for deepening the impressions, and thereby giving vivacity to the concep- tions. Many familiar facts establish what we now affirm, and show that it is feeling in its various degrees and kinds, from the gentlest pleasurable sentiment to the most overwhelming hurricane of the pas- sions, that stimulates the senses, and fixes indelibly upon the mind the impressions of external objects. The poetic character turns upon this connection between the emotions or the sensibilities and the concep- tive faculty. The poet is one whose keen susceptibility or whose pro- foiuid affections give a tenfold intensity to whatever, in external 8 •^■4 3 » I 1 m • I i ( «!I1:'I i t 114 TEACHERS TEXT-BOOK. nature, has in any way the power to move the human mind. Poetry is a picture of the external world, painted in those vivid colours that are supplied by refined and intense emotions. The cherished recol- lections of childhood are those treasuries of the conceptive faculty which have been consigned to its keeping, under the influence of vivid, pleasurable emotions. It is always those classes whose course of life is the most adventurous, and whose passions — whose hopes and fears, are liable to be wrought up to the highest pitch, that are the most distin- guished by a bold and graphic style of speech, — whose descriptions of scenes are the most impressive, and whose epithets have the mgst striking appropriateness. The more agitating emotions of the mind, and its stormy passions, serve to give force and permanence to the conceptions. And what is to be done for this purpose ? What means should be employed to rouse the emotions ? A visit once and again to some mountainous district, or to some romantic locality, or to some scene of historic fame, will be of great utility. Another means of great service is the society of those of kindred sentiment, and, if pos- sible, of higher impulses than ourselves. Whatever are the branches of education taught, we ought to deal, not with the technical nor the ratioclnative, but with the descriptive. This should be done, especially with every thing borderhig on the sciences. Another powerful means for the culture of the conceptive faculty, is language, — language " as the engine of the mind's operations — as the record of its stores, and as the index to whatever is cognizable by the external or internal senses." In treating of language, as related to the conceptive faculty, we have to do with the descriptive portion of it only ; that is to say those words, whether verbs, adverbs, adjectives or substantives, which sig- nify such properties and accidents of things as are cognizable by the senses. The teacher, whether the actual objects he is speaking of are before the eyes, or are graphically represented, or are merely embo- died in language and realized in fancy, will remember that it should be his aim, not only to convey a clear and vivid notion of those objects, which he might effect, perhaps, by a few well chosen words ; but also to establish a connexion in the minds of his pupils between these objects and the entire compass of these descriptive terms that might be associated with them, in the way either of resemblance, contrast or negation. In teaching languages, ' " v process would be greatly facilitated by confining the learner's attention, in the first instance, or, so far as could SCIENCE OP EPrCATION. \n Vtc conveniently done, to the descriptive portion of each, this Xmng the ■class of words most readily taken np by the miud. But there remains a process of another sort, highly useful in ilself, as well as in relation to that command of knowledge which we wish to ensure, and to the enrichment of the conceptivo faculty. To ex* plain what is here meant, the reader must be reminded that the voca* bulary of Words relating to the visible appearances and sensible pro- perties of the external world, is, if we speak of it in a mass, a record of general facts, cognizable to the human mind through the senses. And whereas no human mind, however nice in its perceptions, or exact and excursive in its habits of observation, ever takes account of more than a portion, and probably it is a very small portion, of the sensible «(}ualitie3 and shades of difference which are actually cognizable by man, a copious and refined language, such, for example, as our own, contains the recorded notices of thousands of minds, and of minds of jvll classes, and of all degrees of precision. If the most frequentlv used words or epithets of a language are taken as representing the broad perceptions of the mass of mankind, and as snfRcient for all ordinary description and narration, there yet remain in reserve several sets of terms, representing the more exact or more penetrating perceptions of minds whose faculties have been •exercised and sharpened by peculiar pursuits, or by the habit of admit- ting intense sensations. Take, for example, a storm at sea : we would require a common observer — the poet — the marine painter — the old sailor, and the man of science, to give a description of whatever passes under their eye. And suppose we take the entire compass of phrases employed by these several persons, and expunge the foW which may be strictly synonymous or undistinguishable in sense, the copious collection will then constitute a vocabulary corresponding with all the appearances that are cognizable by the human eye during a sea storm. The set of phrases employed by the first observer embra- ces only the most obtrusive features of the scene ; those introduced by the second, have the effect of extending and refining our conceptions on all sides ; and thus, in succession, a third, a fourth, and a fifth pair flf eyes is lent to us ; and by the aid of each, and through the inter- vention of language, we are made mentally the spectators of the scene five times over, and until nothing scarcely remains unnoticed or unthought of. But words are at once our guides, and our goads, and our stimu- lants, in pei'ception, and the indicators of the less obtrusive class of 'sensible facts. There are many thousand appearances iu nature >!•' ■ (i yic teacher's text nOOK". \* I -rf ' * ^ - I'll i !;9 '.fliich would never aiTcst tho eye, nnd of wliidi we hliouM take u6' iovt of ('o;;iiiz;uice, if wc hud not lirst conu; to the knowledj^e of the word whicli notes tlie [nirticuhir pheiionienon, :uiroi>erties, general antl i>articular, and appends an api)ropriate nomen- clature to them all, lllling. wlioU; e<4umns of the book. Take, again, the variation.s' ill :> pulse. A novitiate! could only give three or foin epithets, whereas a pra(!tis(!d and *kilfid physician could give a scon and more. The actjuisition of the entire con>past> of a universal Nocabulary of descriptive words, in our own hmgnage, may therefore l)e CMisidered as the chief preliminary work of int«llettual education. If llii.i labour be tJioroughly itehieved, the wind is placed in a position, whence it may advance with e;ise and success, in any direction it may choose- It is by means of classifuatiou that we nuist abbreviate ou.r toils in this deparhnent of study. Thia may be done both concretely and ivbstractly. Here we may pcirceive the whole glory of giving pictorial representations in words. Drawing and luodelHng in all their modes should be considered as another admirable supi)lenientary means for bringing the eye and the mind into intimate communion with nature. For several of the [rrecediug hints on the culture of this faculty, we are indebted to Isaac Taylor's Treatise on Home Kducatioii. That distinguished author devotes two chapters to the education of the ConeejHive Faculty, which we eai-nestly recomniend to tho stiuly of our readers* Memouy. Nature of Faculty. But man has something more than the simpio power of i>erception or conception of objects and things ; — 'he has also' power aver the element of tin>e. He can summon to his aid the knowledge he luxs dsrived from- the intuitions of his senses, at a partic- ular \avuq and in particular circumstaiices, and render that knowledge subservient to his immediate wants and necessities. And what he now labours to acquire, and, with uuremitting^ diligence, to store up in his mind, he has the satisfaction of knowing, may be turned to account on- some future occasiou — may never be entirely obliterated. Thi>^ '' *«iii sriKNCE OF F.nrcATirw. 117 ■facnlty is dosignatec? ruemory, which, when in oxorciso, i:« t'liHcd n'liKnnlx'riii^, and when tliat (.'xercise (huniuids Komo effort, TCRolIcct- iiii^. It (lifVcrs from the faculties nlrcady discussed; — from |H*rcc|)tioii, ,jn that it rj-. Tliis is manifest by the niarvellous feats it adiieved in ancient times™ Since the inveutioii of i)rinting and other modem improvements, the- faculty has not boon put on the same sti-etch, or siibjectet^l to the same- amoiuit of j>ressiwo. Still, no bouinds can be fixed to its expansion^ when fairly tested — whew the ediicational process is legitimtitely direct- ed — the original idea clearly and vividly appreliende<1, and the co-existe«t emotion rousing and thrilKng. Let any one honestly, and industriously, and perseveringly, put the matter to the test, and a week's experience even, will produce the most astounding effects. All this \vill l^e gi'eatly affected and modified by early habits and profes- sional pursuits. If tliese habits and piu'suits are of such a character as to d'eumnd the niiemory of wx^rds, or figures, or dates, or names, or laws, or principles, the memory necessarily becomes accastomed to t-iat partiCTiiiar work, and rises to the highest perfectibility in any of these depaii'fnients. But the effect of certain states of the body upon memory, is, })erh»ps, the most astounding phenomenon in ccwinexiou with extei'nal influences. The most indubitable testimony has beeiiD given over and over again of the case of individuids, who, in the first stages of the disease, which terniiinated their earthly existeiice, spak(^ only the language of the country where they lived ; at a more advanced stage, the langiuige of the country in which they previously resided ; and in the litst stage, in their own vernacular. Instances, too, are oit record, of individuals who, in certain states of the body, have recited whole pages of foi'cigu languages, which they only casually overheard^ whea ia health and strength, and without the least effort at remem- brance. This seems to give some countenance, at least, to the idea tliat, in certain states of the physiri\l organiaation, whatever may have passefl ilirough the mind, mny be sumimoned up and spread in array before us. How solemnizing is such a view in reference to the eter- nity of oua* existence I Its importance and appMcation. The imjjortance of this facolty, al! are ready to adreat. It is through its exc^rcise that we obtain evidence of our peisonal identify. Memory is the only voucher that we had' any previotis existence — that we existed at all at any period antc".'- dent to the- present moment. Without it, we could only be conscious, of the present raeoment ; and even that would he doubtful, inasmuch as we are only conscious, a-s cognizant of change. Memory is the grand repository of all the knowledge we derive fron\ our observation or the observation of others in whatever way «Qti -' "^d to us,, by boots or otkerwise.. We may store up valuable SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 119 facts or truths, which, if remembered, might prove of immense ser- vice to us ; we might be devourers of books, and toil hard to master their contents, but if we have no memory what does it avail. Memory is essential for the exercise of all our mental powers, whe- ther intellectual, sensational or voluntary. "Without it, we could neither compare, nor classify, nor generalize, nor reason. And just in proportion to the health and vigour of memory will be our capability of doing justice to these reflective and other more exalted mental operations. Without it, success would not be attainable in the com- mon transactions of every day life. Business men of all descriptions are a,^ dependent upon this faculty as professional, or as men of liter- ature and science. They are even more so, and, consequently, with- out it, all worldly transactions would be at an end, and the clock of commerce would ciiase to beat. As the servant of human happiness, the influence of memory is great. Moralists have descanted upon the short-livedness, the eva- nescence of all earthly enjoyments. " Memory seizes the passing moment — fixes it upon the canvas, and hangs the picture on the soul's inner chamber, for her to look upon when she will. Thus, in an important sense, the former years are past — not gone. We live them over again in memory. Even to the mourner, memory is the source of highest gratification. There is a luxury in our very grief, and in the remembrance of that for which we grieve. We would not forget what we have lost. Time assuages ou** grief, but impairs not the strength and sacredness of those associations, nor diminishes the plea- sure with which we recall the forms we shall see no more, and the scenes that are gone forever. Every memento of the departed one is sacred ; the books — the flowers — the ftivourite walks — the tree, in whose shadow he was wont to recline, — all have a significance and a value which the stricken heart only can interpret, and which memory only can afford." In one word, and to wind up the matter regarding the importance of this liiculty, we hesitate not to aver, that no one can be truly great who is not possessed of a good memory. In consequence of some having what are considered great memories, with their other powers considerably below mediocrity, if not mentally deficient, it hath been seriously questioned by some whether great memories could consist with common sense or with ordinary soundness of judgment ; and not a few, in consequence, anxious to get rid of the labour attendant on the cultivation of this faculty, have done their utmost in spreading disparaging views on the whole subject of its improvement, if they H'ft i! 1.1;. 120 TEACHER S TEXT-BOOK. t. £':ir' '"'I'm' ' 111.1 have not broadly deelainied against even a good memory as indicative of general feebleness of intellect. This is a grievous and hurtful ilelusion. It is (|uite true that what are called great memories, but not in reality so, have sometimes been possessed by individuals -with their general intellect bordering on insanity, if not actually semi- idiots ; and who did not even understand, and far less carry into prac- tice, the sentiments embodied in the vocables they so dexterously recited. But what of this ? How often have particular faculties of towering and out-shining lustre been bedimmed and obscured by others in closest juxta-position. But this is not a fair way of dealing with the subject. The question is not whether great memories have not been claimed oftentimes by little minds — by intellects palpal)ly defect- ive in other respects, but whether great minds have been manifested without great memories — whether men of towering genius have ever appeared on the theatre of the world, without memories of the same commanding calibre. This is the true form in which the question ought to be put, and, when thus put, you may defy and challenge the whole world. Were not Liebnitz, Milton, Johnson, Scott, Napoleon, Cuvier, Goethe, Sir William Hamilton, great and extraordinary men, and did they not manifest the same greatness in memory as in any other faculty ? Nay, we are prepared to go a step higher, and to maintain that no one can be entitled to. the epithet, whose memory, to say the least, docs not equal his other powers. Memory is essential to all intelligent action. Could there be a stronger testimony of the value of this faculty than is furnished by the name given to it by the ancients, signifying, as it did, the whole mind, as if it formed the very tissence — the heart — the chief characteristic. Education of Memory. Enough has su/ely been said respecting tlie nature and iiaportance of this faculty, to demand not only the utmost sagacity, but the most painstaking assiduity in its culture. Like every other faculty, if it is to be strengthened and expanded, if com- mon justice is to be done it, according to its worth, use is the grand hpecilic ; and the province, the high responsibility of the trainer, is so to regulate and guide that use or exercise, that the end miiy be accom- plished. If, as has been hinted, much, we had almost said, everything, relative to the power of memory, depends on the clearness and vividness of the original iuq)ression or ie obtained by an illustration. I am a landscape painter of some repute, and I am desirous to produce an ideal landscape of first rate character. How do I proceed ? I first of all summon to my recollection all the l)eautiful pieces or elements of the various scenes of which I have been an eye- witness, along with all the more striking objects ; and, having narrowly surveyed them all, and suspended them orderly in the chamber of my memory, I proceed at once to the formation of the fictitious landscape. At first, my conception is very vague and indistinct, and the various elements or parts are but clumsily assorted and combined. I per- severe, however, in my excogitating process, and gradually the picture, the complicated image, looms up into shape — its form, and dimensions, and general appearance, become more and more distinct. I subject it again and again to my imagination, and rest not satisfied until I see every object properly adjusted, and in its rightful position, until the whole ideal landscape is as vividly before my mind's eye as any natural i« I i 11 i»jM m 5?'' ,f . :.,} '! {' .Ji if !^.f -124 S'RACKEK K TKXT-UOOK. M u^ k t i !^ ) - landscajiG was ever heforc my naked eye. This is a combination, k is true, but it is more — it is a living thing — a new creation — a system- atic whole, with all its adaptations, and arrangements, and adjustments. This is the result, not of a series of contingencies, or of a chain of events, when tlie mind is perfectly passive or indilferent, but of one presiding, regulating and controlling power, — not of a complexity of agents, but of one simple, active agent, different from all others, and claiming absolute glory in its domain. This is no passing phantom — no abstract speculation — no incomprehensible entity, but a something capable of being gras[)ed, and weighed, and measured, and convertible into a tangible reality — into an actual substantiality — of being subject- ed to the senses. And surely such an agent is entitled to a distinct appellation, and what more appropriate than imagination. But we have said that the ideal must be such that it can be realized — such that it can be reduced to actual manifestation. And need we say that this may be done in a great variety of forms. It may be done in words, either prose or verse, or in painting, or sculpture, or archi- tecture, or in other fine arts. And this will depend on the endowment of the individual. If he happens to have great fluency of speech — a great command of vocables, it will take vent iu words — in strains of oratory — in tropes of rhetoric. If he is possessed of rhythm — has an ear gifted with a high appreciation of time, then it will assume the form of poetry — it will burst forth in lyrics, tragedies or epies. If he happen to have a good apprehension of form, the ideal will take effect in architecture; and if along with this, colour, in painting. And what is to guide in pursuing the one or the other of these inclinations or directions ? It is that power which enables us to discern and to enjoy the beautiful — the result of natural sensibility and of culture ; and not only so, but to reduce the ideal of the imagination in aiiy one of the fine arts that shall awaken the sentiment of the beautiful in the great mass of those who may be eye-witnesses of the same. Two faculties are thus indispensable in an eminent artist — a healthful and vigorous imagination on the one hand, and a refined and cultivated taste on the other. The one without the other will infallibly mar and tarnish the whole. Importance. There are few faculties of greater value, both in its theoretical and practical — iu its intellectual and moral — in its direct and indirect bearings, than the one under consideration. Without imagination, this world would be dreariness indeed ; with it, the wil- derness and solitary places are gladdened, and the deserts are made to rejoice and blossom as the rose. To be more particular : it spreads a thinrjs ,jl'JI I SOIKNCE OF EDUCATIOK'. 125 w autif III and I nvi