GUIDE TO TilE KINDERGARTEN
AND INTERMEDIATE CLASS,
BY
ELIZABETH P.
PEABOD Y; 
t 
* 4 #:
MO0RAL CULTUJRE OF INFANCY,
BY
MARY MANN.
REVISED EDITION.
NEW YORK:
E. STEIGER.
1877.
AND
6  4 
The present volume is a revised edition of the book
which under the title
Moral Ciulture of Infaney
and
Kiindergarten  Guide
has been in the market since  1860, latterly published by
Messrs. J. W. SCHERMERHORN & Co. of New Yorik.
aEizabeth P. Peabody.
Mary Manintn.
Cantbridge,
October 1 st, 1877.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year i869, by
J. W.  SCHERMERHORN  &  CO.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
COPYRIGHT, x877, BY E. STEIGER.
. -0. 
PIR EFACE.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., MAarci 1, 1869.
SINCE: publishing the first edition of what I meant to [)e
a Guide to those who undertake to give Kindergarten cultore, I have been in Europe, and made a special study of
tllhe Kindergartens established in Hamburgh, Berliln, and
Dresden, by Froebel himself, and his most distinguished
scholars.
This study has more and more confirmed the conviction I
derived from reading Froebel's "Essay on the Education of
the Hluman Race;" viz., that no greater benefit could be
conferred on our country, than the far and wide spread of
Kindergartens, as an underpinnh2g, so to say, of our noble
public-school  system, giving  adequate  moral  foundatioll,
thoroughness, and practicality to the national education.
But I also learned that no book could be written that
would make an expert Kindergartner. It was the careful
observations and earnest experiments of half a century, that
gave to Froebel himself that profound knowledge of childhood which enabled him to formulate the principles, deduce
the rules, and call forth the spirit of a genuine art of
education. But though no genius and industry less than his
own could have originated this art, any soundly cultured,
intelligent, genial-tempered young woman, who loves children, can appreciate and practise it, if —and only if- she
is trained by a living teacher engaged in the work at the
n ment.
This, I myself have proved experimentally also; for m1y
knowledge was first obtained only from books.  I had the
best manuals and guides, but did not know that they were
intended merely for the convenience of already trained
teachers; and that they necessarily omitted the cbaracteris
, 1.
I
-0
. Ti 
PREFACE.
tic peculiarity of the method, because written words callnot
do justice to the fine steps by which  the child is led to
gradually carry its total spontaneity forwards, on every plane
of its little life,-  artistic, moral, and intellectual.
For there is nothing merely mechanical and imitative in
true Kindergarten culture: the child acts "fi'om within outwards" in every thing it does, however seemig,ly trifling;
and, if we use the word artist in its most general sense, becomes an artist from the beginning.'Thus is prevented that
too common divorce between the powers of thinking and acting, whose harmony ensures ability in a stiict proportion to
intellectual capacity.  Consciousness of aim, and enjoyment
of success, at every step develop new ideas nuad power, and
fulfil that law of nature by whichl thought tends to rush into
act instantly, as in childish play.  Nothing, is more melancholy in experience than to see people d)ifting instead of
living; but this general failure of human life is owing to the
fact, that the unassisted child is baffled in its will and balked
of its desires, by a want of that steadiness of aim, perseverance, and knowledge of how  to adapt means to ends,
which adult sympathy and wisdom should supply; and from
want of which it loses the original harmony of its being in
the process of its growth. Kindergarten culture is the adult
mind entering into the chil('s world, and appreciatilng nature's
intention as displayed in every impulse of spontaneous life;
and so directing it that the joy of success may be ensured at
every step, and artistic things be actually produced, which
gives the self-reliance and conscious intelligence that ought to
discriminate human power from blind force.
The only mistake in idea which I see that I made in my
"Guide," was making it the object of the teacher to cultivate the individtalities of each pupil especially.   This is not
even desirable, and would require the intuitive genius of
Froebel in every single teacher.  In a true art of education,
indivi(ldualities wvill l)e tenderly respected; but it is not wl.t
is ili,dividual, lut whiJt i; c~,ioion to aill (or that universal of
iv 
PREFACE.
human nature which rises into the divine creative), which
is to be cultivated especially. Every process of Froebel's
Kindergarten is good for all cliil(lien, and, interfering with
nothing, original, leaves their individualities fiee to express
themselves stfficiently.  For ijdividual varieties are irrefiragable, and give piquancy and beauty to human life, except
they are pampered,- llwhen they become deformities. To
tollow universal laws in their orderly development, ensures
a necessary harmony with others, while a margin is always
to be left for invention, wlhich is what gives conscious freedom. and makes obedience no longer blind and passive, but
intelligent and active; every healthy instinct and affection
becoming at last spiritual lavw.
Nevertheless, I gladly meet the demand of the public for
a second edition of the "Guide," because its defect is not
in its spirit and general idea, seeing that it has awakened
anii interest in Kindeigartens all over the United States, as
numerous letters from all parts have proved to-me; but in
my having somewhat confised what belongs to the second
and third stages of plrimary education, with a preliminary
process, which it is necessary not only to begin with, but to
keep distinct for a considerable time, until the habit of mind
is formed of asking clearly what is going to be done before
attempting to do it. What I missed cannot be supplied by
any book; for this preliminary process can only be learned
from the living teaching of the Normal class.  I make some
revisory notes, also change some thirty pages, and gladly
embrace the opportunity, which the popularity of my "Guide"
gives me, to make known, as far as it goes abroad, that,
when I came home from Europe, I found what I had seen to
be the indispensable condition of an effective introduction
of Froebel's art into either the private or public education of
America; viz., a training-school for Kindergartners, actually
established by Madame Kriege in Boston (127 Charles Street),
in connection with a Kindergarten to be taught by her
datghter, fiesh from the school of Berlin, founded by the
v 
PREFACE.
Baroness Alarienholtz, a noble lady who has devoted her pen,
her fortune, the prestige of her rank, and even her personal
services, to the diffusion of Kindergarten culture on the conti.
nent of Europe.
The so-called Kindergarten which I had established, wag
gladly given up to make room for this genuine one; and 1
have the highest expectations from the Normal  training.
Already several teachers, who had made experiments of their
own, which had taught them the need of this special instruction, have engaged themselves as Madame Kniege's pupils;
and the spread of the demand for Kindergartners will, I think,
keep her Normal class always full. I cannot but hope that
the time may come when the Normal schools of all our
States may be endowed with a professorship of Kindergarten
culture adequately filled.
Omitting my own preface to my first edition, I retain as
explanation of the origin of the letters onr moral culture,
which make the last part of the "Guide," and give it its
greatest value to mothers, MIrs. Mann's
POSTSCRIPT.
"  HAVE been urged to publish these letters, written twenty
years ago, as an appendix to a Kindergarten Guide, because
the school herein described was a groping attempt at something of the same kind, and had left very pleasant memories
in the hearts of the children referred to - now no longer children, but some of them men and women nobly and beautifully acting their parts on earth as parents; and others,having died martyrs' deaths for human fieedom in the desolating,  war that now ravages our beloved country,-  angels in
hleaven.
If an inborn love of children and of school-keeping are
qualifications for judging of the best means of educating
them, I may claim to have known somethling of the theory
and practice best adapted to that e(Id(1.  My (d:]j(.t wl  to
vi 
PREFACE.
put them  in possession of all their faculties.   Many  impiovemenrts in methods, and many facilities in means, have
been added to the resources of teachers since these letters
were written. Physical training is felt to be of the greatest
inmportance, in preference to the ancient mode of shutting
children up many hours in close rooms, and repressing all
natural and joyous life. The principle is discovered of
educating by directing the activities.  Hence  the  Kinder.
garten.
M. X
CONCOnD, MAss., 1863."
*.
oo1 
CONTENTS.
CHAP.
I. KINDERGARTEN-WHAT IS IT?                          
II. ROOMS, ETC.........
III. Music..........
IV. PLAYS, GYMNASTICS, AND DANCING
V. TiE KINDERGARTNER.....
VI. KINDERGARTEN OCCUPATIONS..
VII. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EXERCISES.
VIII. OBJECT LESSONS.......
IX. GEOMETRY.........
X. READING..........
XI. GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGES...
XII. GEOGRAPHY...........
XIII. TEE SECRET OF POWER.....
MORAL CULTURE OF InFANCY................ X..105
SONGS.
3?AGE
9
19
........
........
22
28
35
43
54
58
.65
71
98
103,
104
, t - 0 
AMERICAN KINDERGARTEN.
CHAPTER 1.
KINDERGARTEN - WIIAT IS IT?
WHAT is a Kindergarten?  I will reply by negatives.  It
is not the old-fashioned infant-school.  That was a narrow
institution, comparatively; the object being (I do not speak
of Pestalozzi's own,  but that which  we have had in this
country and in England) to take the children of poor laborers, and keep them out of the fire and the streets, while their
mothers went to their necessary labor. Very good things,
indeed, in their way.   Their principle of discipline was to
circumvent the wills of children, in every way that would
enable their teachers to keep them within bounds, and quiet.
It was certainly better that they should learn to sing by rote
the Creed and the "definitions" of scientific terms, and such
like, thlan to learn the profanity and obscenity of the streets,
which was the alternative. But no mother who wished for
anything which might be called the decelopment of her child
would think of putting it into an infant-school, especially if
she lived in the country, amid
"the mighty sum
Of things forever speaking,"
where any "old grey stone" would altogether surpass, as a
stand-point, the bench of the highest class of an infant-school.
In short, they did not state the problem of infant culture
with any breadth, and accomplished nothing of general inter
est on the subject.
0 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
Neither is the primary public school a Kindergarten, tlioulgh
it is but justice to the capabilities of that praiseworthy institution, so important in default of a better, to say that in one
of them, at the North  End  of Boston, an enterprising and
genial teacher has introduced one feature of Froebel's plan.
She has actually given to each of her little children a box
of playthings, wherewith to amuse itself according to its own
sweet will, at all times when not under direct instruction,necessarily, in her case, on conditioni of its being perfectly
quiet; and this one thing makes this primary school the best
one in Boston, both as respects the attainments of the scholars and their good behavior.
Kinderyarten means  a garden of children, and  Froebel,
the inventor of it, or rather, as he would prefer to express
it, the discoverer of the method of Nature, meant to symbolize
by the name the spirit and plan of treatment.  How does
the gardener treat his plants? He studies their indivi(lduil
natures, and puts them into such circumstances of soil and
atmosphere as enable them to grow, flower, and bring forth
fruit, - also to renew their manifestation year after year.
He does not expect to succeed unless lie learns all their
wants, and the circumstances in which these wants will be
supplied, and all their possibilities of beauty and use, and the
means of giving them opportunity to be perfected.  On the
other hand, while he knows that they must not be forced
against their individual natures, he does not leave them to
grow  wild, but prunes  redundancies, removes  destructive
worms and bugs from their leaves and stems, and weeds
friom their vicinity, -  carefully watching to learn what peculiar insects affect what particular plants, and how the former
can be destroyed without ini)juring the vitality of the latter.
After all the most careful gardener can do, he knows that
the form of the plant is predetermined in the germ or seed,
and that the inwaid ten(lde-c(y must concur with a multitude
of influences, the most powerful and subtile of which is removed in place ninety-five millions of miles away.
10
11 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
In the Kindergarten, children are treated on an analogous
fplan. It presupposes gardeners of the mind, who are quite
aware that they have as little power to override the ceharacteristic individuality of a child, or to predetermine this cllaracteristic, as the gardener of plants to say that a lily shall
be a rose.  But notwithstanding this limitation on one side,
and the necessity for a concurrence of the Spiit on the other,
-Iwhich is more independent of our modification than the
remote sun, - yet they must feel responsible, after all, for
the perfection of the development, in so far as removing
every impediment, preserving, every condition, and pruning
every redundance.
This analogy of education to the gardener's art is so striking, both as regards what we can and what we cannot do,
that Froebel has put every educator into a most suggestive
Normal School, by the very word which he has given to his
seminary,-  Kindergarten.
If every school-teacher in the land had a garden of flowers
and fruits to cultivate, it could hardly fail that he would learn
to be wise in his vocation. For suitable preparation, the
first, second, and third thing is, to
"Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher."
The " new education," as the French call it, begins with
children in the mother's arms.  Froebel had the nurses bringr
to his establishment, in Hamburg, children who could not
talk, who were not more than three months old, and trained
tlie nurses to work on his principles and by his methods.
This will hardly be done in this country, at least at present;
but to supply the place of such a class, a lady of B3oston has
prepared and published, under  copyrilght,  Froebel's First
Gift, consisting of six soft balls of the tlhree primary and
the three secondary colors, which are sold in a box, with a
little manual for mothers, in which the true principle and
plan of tending babies, so as not to riasp their nerves, but to
amuse wihout  wearying  them, is very happily suggested.
I I 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
There is no mother or nurse who would not be assisted by
this little manual essentially.  As it says in the beginning,"Tending babies is an art, and every art is founded on a
science of observations; for love is not wisdom, but love must
act according to wisdom in order to succeed.   Mothers  and
nurses, however tender and kind-hearted, may, and oftenest
do, weary and vex the nerves of children, in well-meant
efforts to amuse  them,  and weary themselves  the while.
Fi-oebel's exercises, founded on the observations of an intelligent sensibility, are intended to amuse without wearyiug,
to educate without vexing."
Froebel's Second Gift for children, adapted to the age from
one to two or three years, with another little book of directions, has also been published by the same lady, and is perliaps a still greater boon to every nursery; for this is the
age when many a child's temper is ruined, and thie inclination of the twig wrongly bent, through slicer want of resource
and idea, on the part of nurses and mothers.
But it is to the next age -from three years old and upwards -  that the Kindergarten  becomes the desideratum, if
not a necessity.  The isolated lhomre, made into a flower-vase
by the application of the principles set forth in tihe Gifts
above mentioned, may do for babies.   But every mothel and
nurse knows how hard it is to meet the demands of a child
too young to be taught to read, but whose  opening intelligence and irrepressible bodily aclivity are so hard to be met
by an adult, however genial and active.  Children generally
take the temper of their whole lives from this period of their
existence.  Then  " the twig is bent," eitlier towards  that
habit of self-defence which is an ever-renewing cause of
selfishness, or to the sun of love-in-exercise, which  is the
exhaustless source of goodness and beauty.*
The indispensable thing now is a sufficient society of chil   * Froebel's Building B1locks are in a Series of six, each one to be introduced after the previous one has been in a measure exhausted. But thier,
is a specific way in which they are to) be usedcl, and exact directions for this
are to be found in Mrs. K.Aus-BXLTE'S Kindegle-g,t('n Guide.
12 - 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
dren.  It is only in the society of equals that the social instiuet can be gratified, and come into equilibrium with the
instink,t of self-preservation.  Self-love, and love of others,
are equally natural; and before reason is developed, and the
proper spiritual life begins, sweet and beautiful childhood
may bloom out and imparadise our mortal life.  Let us only
give the social instinct of children its tair chance.  For this
purpose, a few will not do.  The children of one family are
not enough, and do not come along fast enough. A large
company should be gathered out of many families. It will
be found that the little things are at once taken out of tlhemselves, and become interested in each other. In the variety,
affinities develop themselves very prettily, and the rough
points of rampant individualities wear off. We have seen
a highly-gifted child, who, at home, was - to use a vulgar,
but expressive word-  pesky and  odious, with the exacting demands of a powerful, but untrained mind and heart,
become "sweet as roses" spontaneously, amidst the rebound
of a large(, well-ordered, and calefully watched child-society.
Anxious mothers have brouglht us children, with a thousand
deprecations and explanations of their characters, as if they
thought we were going to find them little monsters, which
their motlherly hearts were persuaded they were not, though
they behaved like little sanclios at home,- and, behold, they
were as harmonious, from the very beginning, as if they had
undergone the subduing influence of a lifetime.  We  are
quite sure that children begin with loving others quite as intensely as they love themselves, - forgetting themselves in
their love of others,-  if they only have as fair a chance
of being benevolent and self-sacrificing as of being selfish.
Sympathy is as much a natural instinct as self-love, and no
more or less innocent, in a moral point of view.   Either
principle alone makes an ugly and depraved form of natural
character. Balanced, they give the element of happiness.
and the conditions of spiritual goodness and truth,-  makini
children fit temples. for the Holy Glio!t to dwell in.
13 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
A Kinderg,arten, then, is children in society,- a commonwealth or republic of children, - whose laws are all part
and parcel of the Higher Law alone. It may be contrasted;
in every particular, with the old-fashioned school, which is
an absolute monarchy, where the children are subjected to
a lower expediency, having for its prime end quietness, or
such order as has "reigned in Warsaw" since 1831.
But let us not be misunderstood. We are not of those
who think that children, in any condition whatever, will inevitably develop into beauty and goodness. Human nature
tends to revolve in a vicious circle, around the idiosyncrasy;
and children must have over them, in the person of a wise
and careful teacher, a power which shall deal with them as
God deals with the mature, presenting the claims of sympathy and truth whenever they presumptuously or unconsciously fall into selfishness. We have the best conditions
of moral culture in a company  large enough for the exacting
disposition of the solitary child to be balanced by the claims
made by others on the common stock of enjoyment,- there
being a reasonable oversight of older persons, wide-awake to
anticipate, prevent, and adjust the rival pretensions which
must always arise where there are finite beings with infinite
desires, while Reason, whose proper object is God, is yet
undeveloped.
Let the teacher always take for granted that the law of
love is quick within, whatever are appearances, and the
better self will generally respond.   In proportion as the
child is youing and unsophisticated, will be the certainty of
the cresponse to a teacher of simple faith:
a There are who ask not if thine eve
Be on them,- who, in love and truth,
Where no misgiving is, rely
Upon the genial sense of youth.
And  )lest are thiev who in the main
This faith even now (do entertain,
Live in the spirit of this creed,
Yet find another strength, according to their need."
1 4 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
That "other strength" is to be found in recognition of the
Eternal laws of order, and reverent application of them to
human action.  But children must receive this from the Kin
dergartnler, who shall give theim such help in embodying their
ever-springing fancies as shall prevent "the weilght of chance
desires," and issue in a tangible success, by entering into and
carrying forward their total, spontaneous activity, without
destroying its childishness.
One of the most important exercises for children in the Kindergarten is block building.  A box of eight little cubes is so
managed that it will unfold in the child's mind the law of symmetry, by means of series of forms which the children are led
to make in a way rather difficult to describe here. So quick
are the fancies of children, that the blocks will serve also as
symbols of every thing in Nature and imagination.  We have
seen an ingenious teacher assemble a class of children around
her large table, to each of whom she had given the blocks. The
first thing was to count them, a great process of arithmetic
to most of them.  Then she made something and explained
it. It was perhaps a light-house, - and some blocks would
represent rocks near it to be avoided, and ships sailing in the
ocean; or perhaps it was a hen-coop, with chickens inside,
and a fox prowling about outside, and a boy who was going
to catch the fox and save the fowls. Then she told each
child to make something, and when it was done hold up a
hand. The first one she asked to explain, and then went
round the class.  If one began to speak before another had
ended, she would hold up her finger and say,   " It is not
your turn." In the course of the winter, she taught, over
these blocks, a great deal about the habits of animals.  She
studied natural history in order to be perfectly accurate in
her symbolic representation of the habitation of each animal,
and their enemies were also represented  by blocks.  Tlhe
children imitatted these; and when  they drew upon  their
imaginations for facts, and made fantastic creations, she
15 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
would say,-" Those, I think, were fairy hens" (or whatever); for it was her principle to accept everything, and
thus tempt out their invention. The great value of this exercise is to get them into the habit of representing something
they have thought by an outward symbol. The explanations
they are always eager to give, teach them to express themselves in words. Full scope is given to invention, whether
in the direction of possibilities ori of' the impossibilities in
which children's imaginations revel,- in either case the
child being, trained to the habit of embodiment of its thought.
Froebel thought it very desirable to have a garden where
the children could cultivate flowers. He had one which he
divided into lots for the several children, reserving a portion
for his own share in which they could assist him. He thought
it the happiest mode of calling their attention to the invisible
God, whose power must be waited upon, after the conditions
for growth are carefully arranged according to laws which
thiey must observe. Where a garden is impossible, a flowerpot with a plant in it, for each child to take care of, would
do very well.
But the best way to cultivate a sense of the presence of
God is to draw the attention to the conscience, which is very
active in children, and which seems to them (as we all call
testify from our own remembrance) another than themselves,
and yet themselves. We have heard a person say, that in
her childhood she was puzzled to know which was herself,
the voice of her inclination or of her conscience, for they
were palpably two; and what a joyous thing it was when
she was first convinced that one was the Spirit of God, whom
unlucky teaching had previously embodied in a form of terror on a distant judgment-scat.  Children are consecrated as
soon as they get the spiritual idea, and it may be so presented
that it shall make them happy as well as true. But the adult
who  enters into such conversation  with a child must  be
carefuil not to shock and profane, instead of nurturing the
so']l.  It is possible to avoid both discouraging and flatterilng
16 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
views, and to give the most tender and elevating associations.
But children require not only an alternation of physical
and mental amusements, but some instruction to be passively
received. They delight in stories, and a wise teacher can
make this subservient to the highest uses by reading beautiful creations of the imagination. Not only such householdstories as "Sanford and Merton," Mrs. Farrar's " Robinson
Crusoe," and Salzmann's "Elements of Morality," but sym.
bolization like the heroes of Asgard, the legends of the Middle Ages, classic and chivalric tales, the legend of Saint
George, and "Pilgrim's Progress," can in the mouth of a
skilful reader be made subservient to moral culture. The
reading sessions should not exceed ten or fifteen minutes.
Anything of the nature of scientific teaching should be
done by presenting objects for examination and investigation.*
Flowers and insects, shells, etc., are easily handled. The
observations should be drawn out of the children, not made to
them, except as corrections of their mistakes. Experiments
with the prism, and in crystallization and transformation, are
useful and desirable to awaken taste for the sciences of Nature. In short, the Kindergarten should give the beginnings
of everything.  "What is well begun is half done."
We must say a word about the locality and circumstances
of a Kindergarten. There is published in Lausanne, France,
a newspaper devoted to the interests of this mode of education, in whose early numbers is described a Kindergarten
which seems to be of the nature of a boarding-school; at
least, the children are there all day. Each child has a garden, and there is one besides where they work in common.
There are accommodations for keeping animals, and miniature tools to do mechanical labor of various kinds. In short,
it is a child's world. But in this country, especially in New
England, parents would not consent to be so much separated
from their children, and a few hours of Kindergarten in the
* Calkin's Object Lessons will give hints.
1 7 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
early part of the day will serve an excellent purpose,-  using
up the effervescent activity of children, who may healthily
be left to themselves the rest of the time, to play or rest,
comparatively unwatched.
Two rooms are indispensable, if there is any variety of
age. It is desirable that one should be sequestrated to the
quiet employments. A pianoforte is desirable, to lead the
singing, and accompany the plays, gymnastics, frequent marchings, and dancing, when that is taught,-  which it should be.
-But a hand-organ which plays fourteen tunes will help to
supply the want of a piano, and a guitar in the hands of a
ready teacher will do better than nothing.
Sometimes a genial mother and daughters might have a
Kindergarten, and devote themselves and the house to it,
especially if they live in one of our beautiful country-towns
or cities.  The habit, in the city of New York, of sending
children to school in an omnibus, hired to go round the city
and pick them up, suggests the possibility of a Kindergarten
in one of those beautiful residences up in town, where there
is a garden before or behind the house. It is impossible to
keep Kindergarten by the way. It must be the main business
of those who undertake it; for it is necessary that every individual child should be borne, as it were, on the heart of
the gardeners, in order that it be inspired with order, truth,
and goodness. To develop a child from within outwards, we
must plunge ourselves into its peculiarity of imagination and
feeling. No one person could possibly endure such absorption of life in labor unrelieved, and consequently two or three
should unite in the undertaking in order to be able to relieve
each other from the enormous strain on life.  The com ensations are, however, great. The charm of the various individuality, and of the refreshing presence of conscience yet
unprofaned, is greater than can be found elsewhere in this
work-day world. Those were not idle words which came
from the lips of Wisdom Incarnate: -" Their  angels do
always behold -the face of my Father:" "Of such is the
kingdom of heaven."
. 18 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDF     E
CHAPTER II.
RO OmIS, ETrC.
1 HAVE made an article, which I published in the " Atlantib Monthly" of November, 1862, my first chapter, because
I cannot, in any better way, answer the general question,What is a Kindergarten? I will now proceed to make a
Guide for the conduct of a Kindergarten; in which I shall
freely make use of what Madame Ronge has said in her
"English Kindergarten," and Madame  Marienholtz in her
"Jardin des Enfans;" but I shall not confine myself to
them, for an American Kindergarten necessarily has its
peculiarities.
In the first place, we must think of the accommodations.
These are not to be in the open air, as has been supposed
by many, through misapprehension of the use of the word
Kindergarten. But it is desirable that there should be a
good play-ground attached to the rooms; and Froebel
thought it of very important religious influence that every
child should have earth to cultivate, if it were only a foot
square.
Two rooms are indispensable, and if possible there should
be three, all of good size, with good light and air: one room
for music and plays, gymnastics, dancing, &c.; another for
the quieter mecL,ical employments, -pricking, weaving,
sewing, moulding folding, paper-cutting, sticklaying, and
block-building; and still another for drawing, writing, objectteaching, and learning to read.  It is desirable that every
(child should have a box, if not a little desk, in order to learn
19 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
to keep thiings in order. When this cannot be (ldoie, the
teachers must so arrange matters, as to have  everything
ready for every change; that no time may be lost and no
conlifsion arise.  In my own Kindergarten, I arrange beforehand the chairs in the play-room in a solid square, into which
the children march at the commencement of the exercises.
Sitting in them, they sing their morning prayer or hymn,
hear the reading, and take a singing lesson on the scale.
Then they rise, and, taking up their chairs, march into the
other room for their reading lessons, which are always in
two classes, sometimes in three. They  bring their chairs
back again for luncheon, and then take them out for another
lesson; for in this room they have gymnastics, dancing, and
the play, and need a clear space for all.  They  come back
with their chairs, at the close of the exercises, to sing songs
together before they disperse.  Two of my  rooms are carpeted. The other is smooth-floored for dancing, playing,
and gymnastics. And, for the convenience of the gymnastics,
it is well to paint, at convenient distances, little feet in the first
position, as Dr. Dio Lewis has done in his gymnastic hall.
When Kindergarten accommodations can be built expressly, I would suggest that there should be a house with
glass walls and partitions, at least above the wainscoting;
and that the wainscoting should be rather high and painted
black, so that every child might have a piece of the blackboard; for it is easier for a child to draw with a chalk on a
blackboard than with a slate and pencil.
A house of glass, on the plan of the crystal palace, would
be no more expensive than if built of brick. It would secure the light and sunshine, and make it easy for the superintendent to overlook the whole. It should be equably
warmed throughout. My own Kindergarten is not in a glass
house, but is the lower floor of a house which has threo
rooms, with a hall between two of the rooms; a large china
closet which I use for the children's dressing, as well as to
store many things; and beyond the third room, a bathing
20 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
room, with every convenience.  Rooms, hall, closet, and bathing room have all an east-southl aspect, and are amply liglted.
The room between the china closet and bathing room is lo,nger
than it is wide, and has blackboard painted on three sides of
it, so that each child has a piece of blackboard.
It is possible to keep a Kindergarten in two rooms, but
not possible to keep it in one, if it is of any desirable size,
or there is any variety of age in the children. A large playground and some garden is desirable. I am so fortunate as
to have these in my house in Boston.
The tables for the children to sit at should be low; and it
is a good plan to have them painted in squares of an incl,;
chliequered, or ruled by lines, so that they may be able always
to set their blocks down with perfect accuracy.
One of the rooms it would be well to provide withv flat
box-desks, in which can be kept all the materials which each
child uses,- slates and pencils, blocks, sticks, weaviing and
sewing materials, -and the children should be required to
keep these in order.
In my own Kindergarten I provide all the materials for
their work and instruction, thus securing uniformity; and
it is better to do so always, and to charge a price covering
the expense.  It should be understood, from the first, that
Kindergarten education is not cheap.
As a Kindergarten requires several persons to keep it
properly, a genial family, consisting of a mother and daughters, of various accomplishments, might devote their whole
house to it, preparing for the writing and drawing one large
room with blackboards all round, wl.ose area could be used
for the playing, gymnastics, and dancing.
When this new culture shall be appreciated for its whole
worth, it will not be deemed extravagant for a whole family
thus to devote their house, as well as their time, to make a
Kindergarten the temporary home of a large company of
children.
21 
KKiNDERGARTEN GU1DL.
CHAPTER IlL.
MuIJSIC.
TIlE first requisite to the Kindergarten is Music. The
voice of melody commands the will of the child, or rather
disarms the caprice, which is tl-he principle of disorder. Two
hymns are given in this Guide with which to commence
school, -  one being the Lord's Prayer, set to cheerful music.
But there should be regular scale singing, and if conducted by a teacher of tact, a ten minutes lesson may be
given every day, and the interest be kept undiminished.
The first lesson should be preceded by the teacher's drawing
on the blackboard a ladder of eight steps, and then saying to
the pupils, " Now  listen to my  voice, and see how it goes
up these steps."  She then sings the eight notes very clearly, pointing to each step of the ladder; and runs her voice,
with equal  distinctness, down  the descending scale.  The
children can then be asked to accompany the teacher in going up and down the ladder, singing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, instead of do, re, mi. There will doubtless be
enough discords to be palpable to all ears, and these can be
spoken of by the teacher, and a proposition made that evely
one who thinks hlie can go up and down the ladder alone,
shall hold up a hand.  Some  may be able to do so, but a
majority will fail. Some will not try at all.
The teacher can then say, "kNow  I am  going to teach
you all to do it, -one step at a time. Let us all sing one."
The piano is struck, and teacher and pupils all sing one
Now let us go up a step,-  one, two."   Let this be repeated
22 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
several times. Then stop, and say, " Now I am going to
strike one of these notes and see if you know it." Strike
two, and ask, "What is that, I or 2?"   There  may be dif ference of opinion;  in which case, ask all to "hold up their
hands who think it is 2, and then all who think it is 1."
Tell which is right, and say, ":Now let us all sing 2."  Then
say, "Now let us go down that step, -2, 1; and now up
again, -  1, 2; now all hold up their hands who can  sing
1, 2,1?"   Select one after another to sing it alone with the
piano, and after each has tried, let all sing with the teacher
1, 2, 1, before another is asked to sing it. Then let all sing
1,1,, 1; 2, 2, 2; 1, 1, 1.  Go on in this way till all the
eight notes are learned.  They will be able to tell these
notes, when struck upon the piano, much sooner than they
will be able to strike them with their voices. And other
exercises, every day calling upon them to name notes struck,
-at first one note, afterwards combinations of notes.
The following exercises were given in my Kindergarten
in one year, which resulted in nearly all the children being
able to sing them alone, and tell any notes struck.
1st.-1 21;  11,  22, 1 1; 1 1 1 1, 2 2 2 2,  1 111
2 1 2, &c.
2d.-123,321; 1331,121,232,321.
3d.-12345,54321. 135, 531, 1 551.
4th.  - 1 2 3 4 5 6; 654321; 16, 6 1; 1 3 5 6.
Stlh.- 123 45 67,7 65 4321; 1358,85 3 1.
6th. —12345678,87564321; 1358.
This exercise can be varied by repeating each note one
two, three, or four times.
7th.-  112,223, 3 3 4,4 4 5,55 6,778,8 7 6 5
4 3 2 1.
8tli.-1 1 2, 3   4, 5 5 6, 7 7 8;  87 65 43 2 1.
9th.-   12,1 2 1; 23,2 3 2; 34,343;  45,4 5 6
56,5 67; 67, 6 7  8; 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
10th.-   11,22,1; 22,33,2; 33,44,3; 44,55,4; &c.
11th.- 13; 24; 35; 46; 57; 68; 8,6; 7.5; 6,4;
5 3; 4, 2; 3,1.
23 
K[NDERGARTEN GUIDE.
12thl.-1 358,853 1; 1 4 68,8 6 4 1;  1 8 8 1.
13th.-  1 1, 3 3;  55,88;  88, 77,66, 5 5, 4 4, 3 3,
22,1 1.
14th.-1 2 3 2 1; 23432; 34543; 45654;
5 6 7 6 5; 6 7 8 7 6; 7 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
15th.-1 21233; 232344; 343455; 4544566;
5 6 5 6 7 7; 6 7 6 7 8 8; 8 8 88; 7777; 6666;
5     5 5 5; 444 t; 3 3 3 3; 22 2 2; 1 1 1 1; 1 8; 8 1.
Besides these ten minutes onl the scale, (which should not
occur next to singing the hymn, but after some other exercise has intervened,) it is an excellent plan to let the Kindergarten close with singing  songs by rote.  The words
should be simple, such as  "The Cat and  the Sparrow,"
and other pretty melodies to be found in the Pestalozzian
Singing  Book  and  the  many  compilations  prepared  for
children. For it is well for tlih child not to go out of the
natural octave, and to have the words of songs adapted to
the childish capacity.  Besides the singing, the piano-forte
should be used to play marches, as the children go from one
room to another to their different exercises.  "Order  is
Heaven's first law,"  and music is the heavenly  voice of
order, which disposes to gentleness an)  regularity of motion. As all the exercises change every quarter of an hour
at least, this brings the marching to music as often; and it
will last one or two migutes, sometimes ledger.  The clildren get accustomed to rise at the sound of the piano, and
it will be easy to make them silent during the music, especially if it is hinted to tihemrn that soldiers always  marlch
in silence. Besides this, the piano is necessary for the
gymnastics, and for the fanciful )lays, which are always to
be accompanied by descriptive songs.
A few songs and plays are given in this Guide  which, if
taklen in turn, will recur not oftener than once in t-n days.
We subjoin a description of the plays.
I will finish this chapter by a translation fiom a nc-fce of
EiEnseignemnent Musical, d'apres Froebel, par Fred. Stern,
24 
KINDERGAlRTEN GUIDE.
prix, 2 francs: En vente i Bruxelles, rue de Vienne, 16, ct
A Paris, rue Fosses St. Victor, 35."  "A nion to be com1)lete, should be master of linear and musical expression
-Most of our education aims only to give him lingual expression; and drawing arid music are considered accomplishments merely! The divine art which enables us to reproduce the human figure illuminated with the expression of
the spilrit, a mere accomplishment! * Music, thie melodious
expression of our most intimate thoughts, the colored reflection of the heart, - a mere accomplishment!
"Life is sad, monotonous, earthy, without the arts.  If a
woman of the middle and higher classes especially, does not
daily realize the higher life by knowledge of truth and love
of beauty, what shall save her fiom the frivolity and ennui
that gnaws away the heart, tarnislhes the soul, and brings
misfortune to the fireside?   Every woman  should  be an
airtist, and make artists of her children, if she would do a
womana's whole duty.  Especially should the mother  teaell
her children to improvise music, which can be done by pursuing this method.
"He commences by the study of the three sounds constituting the major triiad, and, as in the model gamut, or yanitt of
do, there are three similar triads, three perfect major clhor(is,
do-mi-sol, fa-la-do, and sol-si-re, we begin naturally with tihe
central chord, do-mi-sol, which we name the master clioid;
for, in the model gamut of do, it is around this, as around a
centlre, that the two other triads balance themselves, the lower
fifth, fal-la-do, and the higher fifth, sol-si-re. We can show
the unity of plan between these three established notes, in
all the possible changes.  We thus introduce a fine variety
* There is no excuse for its being so considered in Boston, now that Dr.
Rimmer, the remarkable sculptor of the Falling  Gladiator, has fouunde(d
the true method of teaching to draw the human figure.  It is indeed.
methlod which it is not probable alty person of less profound knowled,ge
of the human figure than himself, (a practical surgeon as well as artist,)
together with genius less bold and original, can conduct as hlie does; unless he shall train such teachers.
2
25 
KIN lI)ERPGA1tTEN  GUIf)E.
into the exercises, which permits the repetition of the sime
sounds and intervals, without causing fatigue or weariness to
the child.
"Scarcely have our pupils learned to sing or to repeat alone,
at will, the three sounds do-imi-sol, when we have them mark
them with pencils on the staff (key of sol); only as in the
unity of tone there are yet the two other pIerfect chords, fala-do and sol-si-re, we let tlhem write the three notes of thei
central chord with a red pencil, and reserve the three sounds
of the chord on the left, (the lower or stil)dominant,) to be
written with a yellow pencil, and the chord on the right,
(higher or dominant,) with a blue pencil. On the other hand,
for the appellative chords (dissonant,) made by the combination of the chord sol-si-re, with one, two, and even three
notes of the chord fn-la-do, we use green pencils (mixture
of blue and yellow). For we would keep the theory in mind
by visible signs, which act most powerfully upon the minds
of children.
"Then we pass to perfect minor chords, and terminate this
first branch of our method by the study of the gamut.
Our pupil knows as yet only a single tone,   the tone of
do, which we designate by the name of model tone;-but
all musicians are aware that to know well one tone, is to
know them  all, since they are all calculated on  the model
tone with which we began.  The second part of our method
will treat of the other tones, but it will prove no serious dif ficulty to our pupil.
"We have carefully avoided scientific terms, thot,ugh doubt less, by a learned terminology, we should have struck super ficial minds more.   But we address ourselves to the serious,,
who know that it is better to know a thing in itself, (in wlhat
constitutes it essentially,) without  knowing its technology,
than to know obscure terms and be ignorant of the thing.
"Later, we shall initiate our pupil into the language gen erally adopted by all treatises on harimony.  We  wish  that
iie day hle may be a distinguished lihitmonist, knowin,g iu.
2 C) 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
s'eal grammar  at the foundation.   It is strange  that the
study of grammar, so vigorously recommended  for all other
languages, is so entirely neglected in respect to musical
language.   The study of harmony  seems  to be reserved
exclusively to artists; and even  among them, only the few
who are occupied with composing devote  themselves to it
with any profoundness. It is to this culpable negligence that
we must attribute the difficulties of musical education.
Where is the intelligent musician who would dare to deny
thle happy results inseparable from the most profound study
of mnusic?  The scholar would necessarily have to give much
less time to know the art in the best manner, which is now
accessible only to remarkable persons of strong will.  The
gramnmatical study of music should begin at the same time as
all other studies, and soon music would become the language
of all, instead of being reserved exclusively to the privileged.
"Doubtless great reforms will be necessary to arrive at
this result, and the spirit of routine which unhappily reigns
everywhere will render such reforms difficult.
"However, we found great hopes on the inevitable development of the method of Froebel, for the principles he lays
down are of general application."...
I am myself so profoundly impressed with the importance
of little chlildren's beginning music in this mpanner, that, lhaviig, found a teacher who is capable of it, I intend, another
year, to have extra hours for those who will commence instrumental music, in my own  Kindergaiteii; so that each
child can lhave a lesson every day, and only play under the
eye of the teacher until quite expert.
I do not cast out these pages about instrumental music; but I will say, for
lih comfort of those Kindergartners, who cannot commantid an instrument
that ir Oerman Kindergartens I never found one.  All the plays were lone
tc vocal singing, unaccompanied.
27 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDIL
CHAPTER IV.
PLAYS, GYMNASTICS, AND DANCING.
IN playing THE PIGEON-HOUSE, the teacher, who should
always play with the children, takes three quarters of the
number, and forms them into a circle, while the other quar.
ter remains in the middle, to represent the pigeons.
The circle is the pigeon-house, and sings the song, beginning with the words:
"We open the pigeon-house again,"
while, standing still, they all hold up their joined hands, so
as to let all the pigeons out at the word "open;" and, as the
circle goes round singing,
"And let all the happy fiutterers free,
They fly o'er the fields and grassy plain,
Delighted with glorious liberty,"
the pigeons run round, waving their hands up and down to
imitate flying.  At the word " return," in the line
"And when they return from their joyous flight,"
the joined hands of those in circle are lifted up again, and
the pigeons go in. Then the pigeon-house closes round thenm.
bowing their heads, and singing,
"We shut up the house and bid them good-night,"
which is repeated while the circle swings off and again conies
together bowing.
The play can be done over until all in turn have been
pigeons.
In playing HARE  IN THE HOLLOW, a fourth of the chlil
28 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
dren sit in the middle, on their hands  and feet, while tihe
rest, in circle, go round singing the three verses, and wher
the words "jumip and spring," in the last verse, occur, the
circle stops, and the joined hands are lifted up, and all the
children leap out and around, on their hands and feet, (not
knees,) - while the last lines are repeated twice.
In THE CUCKOOS, a circle is formed, or two concentric
circles, and four children are put in the four corners of the
room to enact cuckoos.   The cuckoos sing "cuckoo," and
those children in the circle answer; and when the words of
the song indicate that the cuckoos should join the c(hil(ren,
all four burst into the circle, and those wlho are found at their
right hands become cuckoos the next time.
Almost like this last is the play of THE BEES; one child
being put in the corner as a drone, and at the word " Beware," the drone breaks into the circle.
THE WIND-MILL is done by dividing the children into companies of four, and letting them cross right hands and go
round, and then cross left hands and go round the opposite
way.  By a change of the word wind-mill to water-wheel,
the same music will serve for inothler play, in which there
is a large circle formed, and then four or six spokes are
made by six crossing hands in the middle, and then one or
more children lengthening each spoke, and joining it to the
circle, which forms the rim of the wheel. This is a more
romping play than either of the foregoing, as the different
velocities of those who are at the centre and circumference
make it nearly impossible to have the motions correspond in
time; but it is great fin, and serves for a change.
THE CLAPPERS IN THE CORN-MILL is made by one or by
two concentric circles, going round as they sing the words;
and the beauty of it consists in their minding the pauses and
clapping in time. Whenever there are concentric circles, as
is often necessary, when there are many children, the circles
should move in different directions, and all circular motions
iust be frequently reversed.
29 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
Ili THE SAWYERS, the children stand facing each other in
couples, in a circle, and move their joined hands firom slhoil(ler to shoulder in time to the music of the first verse.   In
singing the second verse, they skip round with their partners.
In THIE WHEELBARROW, they are also arranged in couples,
back to fiont; the front child leaniiing over to imitate the barrow, and stretching his hands behind him, which the child at
his back takes as if to wheel.  When the words are repeated
the children reverse.
In THE COOPERS, the children, who form the barrels or
hogshlead, stand back to front in a circle, each taking hold of
the waist of the one before him. The coopers walk round
outside in time, at every third step pounding on the shoulder
of the child nearest him in the barrel. When the word
"around" comes, the barrel must begin to turn, and the coopers stand still, pounding on the shoulders of each child as
he passes.
In THE LITTLE MASTER OF GYMNASTICS, each child in
turn stands in the nmiddle of the circle, and makes any motion he chooses, which all the rest imitate.
EQUAL TREADING is done in a circle, or in two concentric circles.
In  WE   LIKE  TO  GO  A-ROVING,  the children  marlch
round fieely within sound of the music, sinniIlg and kee)ing time carefully.
In THE FISHES, the children are arranged as in the pigeonhouse; and at the words "swimming," "above,"         " below,"
" straight," and " bow," the fishes must malke corresponding,,
motions, while the circle that forms  the pond goes round
singing.
In THE PENDULUM, the children follow each other in a
circle, moving one arm before them, like a pendulum, in time
to the music, and with a strongly marked motion, while they
all sing the song.  When one arm is tired, the other can be
t ied for the pendulum.
30 
KIND)ER(GARTEN GUIDE.
Let the children also follow one another in a circle to play
hIHE WEATHERCOCK.  Beforehand, the points of the comii pass should be defined in the room, and the children must
point, as they sing, " North, South, East, West."
The prettiest of all the plays is THE  PEASANT.   All join
~hands and sing going round in time with the music, when
they come to the words, "Look,'tis so - so does the peasant,"
they must make the corresp)onding motion.  In the first verse,
they make believe, as the children say, to hold up the apron
with one hand, and throw the seed with the other. In the
second verse, they kneel on one knee at the same words, and
make believe hold the corn with one hand and cut with the
other.  In the third verse, they put the doubled fists at the
left shoulder, and make  the motion of thrashing.  In the
fourth verse, they make the motion of holding and slhaking a
sieve.  In thie fifthl, they kneel on one knee tand rest the head
in the hand; in the sixth, they jump straight up) and down,
turning to each point of ttle compass, till the chorus, " la, la,"
I)egins, when eachl takes his next ineiglibor for a partner, and
they skip round the room.
Some other plays, accompanied by musical words, can be
found in the guide-books of Europl)ean Kindergartens; and
the music, with English words, will be shortly published
in this country by Ditson, of Boston, to meet the growing
demand of Kindergartens.
But the above description of the plays gives no adequate
idea of what can be made of them, such as the Kindergartner
obtains at the Normal class; for they are much more than
bodily exercises.  It is wonderful to see what is made of
them, in such a Kindergarten as that of Madame Vogler in
Berlin, where the conversations before beginning, and in the
pauses for rest, call the children's attention to the facts and
processes of nature and art, symbolized by the plays.
The words and music are taught very carefully, and the
dancing, is gentle, so that there may be exhilaration without
fatigue.
31 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
The object-lessons involved in the plays are those which
especially belong to the Kindergarten, because their aim is not
so much to open the intellect to science, as to give moral traijning.  Tlhe latter is ever to be kept in advance of the former;
for it is the tree of life, whose fruits - if they are first eatenwill render harmless and salutary those of  the tree of
knowledge.
I was not unaware of this when I began my own Kindergarten; and the very first thing I did, was to give an object
lesson, which was, as I afterwards found, exactly in the spirit
of F'roebel. When the children were assembled the first day,
in my very pleasant room, looking full of expectation, I went
forward with a beautiful rose-tree in a little flower-pot, and
said, " Come, and I will show you what is beautiful.  It is
a rose fiilly blown. Now say the words - all of you- after
me; and I said again,'It is a rose fully blown.'"   They all
repeated these words with glad voices, and then each following sentence of that beautiful prose hymn  of Mrs. Barbauld.  I especially noted the smiling eyes and lips, as they
repeated,
" He who made the rose is more beautiful than the rose.
" It is beautiful, but He is beauty."
Another day a basket of roses was handed round to the
children; and, when each had one in hand, this recitation was
renewed.
After it was over, I said, "What did God make  the rose
for?"  They all smiled, as if conscious of knowing; and one,
more courageous than the rest, said, "To give us pleasure;"
followed by a dear little utilitarian, who said, "To make
rose-water."  I added, "Yes;  and the rose-water gives us
pleasure, too, because it has a sweet smell, and a sweet taste,
besides. Is not God very good to give us roses to'ook at
and smell; and to make into rose-water, after they are all
faded and fallen to pieces? What is the reason that Godc
makes things to give us pleasure? Could we not have lived
very comfortably without flowers?" They answered spon.
. 2 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
taneously, "Because God loves us."  "What else does the
dear God give us to make us happy?"  Different children
answered, and spoke of different flowers, and of other things
which gave them pleasure, and thus they were put into a
grateful mood, without a word said about the dutty of gratitude to God; for love of God comes spontaneously, when he
is conceived aright, and forecloses the thought of duty. But
duty to our fellow-creatures should always be suggested when
the heart is overflowing with gratitude to the common Father.
I went on asking such questions as "Do you love anybody?
what do you do to make people happy that you love? what
would you like to do with your rose? Do sick people like to
hJave flowers? do you know any sick person? do you like
to do the same kind of things God does? do you think God
wants you to make your firiends happy? and all happy whom
he loves?"  The roses were then gathered into a shallow
basin of water, to be preserved till school should be over,
and they could go and bestow them as they had severally
suggested; for it is important to make children do whatever
of kindness they think of, not idly sentimentalize.
Other lessons, on the material origin of the rose, the
planting, the process of growth, and even the making of
rose-water, opened up;  and MIrs. Barbauld's prose hlymns
afforded other sul)jects for similar lessons, as well as whatever
other hymns they learned to recite or sing; and I took great
care that no hymns should be sung that did not admit of
being made intelligible to their hearts and imaginations.
Moral training is effected by taking care in the plays to
keep the children in the mood of mutual accommodation, by
showing them how this is necessary for the beauty of the
play.  There is also a great opportunity in the playing, to
check all selfish movements, by appeals to sympathy and coiiscience, which is the presentiment of reason, and forefeeling
of moral order, for whose culture material order is indispensable; and order must be kept by the child intentionally,
that it may cultivate the intellectual principle of vlwhichl it is
2*
3  
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
the manifestation.  Some plan of play prevents  the little
creatures from  hurting  each  other, and fancy  naturally
furnishes the plan,- the mind  unfolding itself in fancies,
which are easily quickened and led in harmless directions by
an adult of any resource. Children delight to personate animals; and a fine genius could not better employ itself than in
inventing a great many more plays, setting them to rhytlinical words, describing what is to be done. Kindergarten plays
are easy intellectual exercises; for to do anythiing wlhatever
with a thought beforehand, develops the heart or quickens
the intelligence; and thought of this kind does not tax intellect, or check physical development, which last must never
be sacrificed in. the process of education.
There are enough instances of marvellous acquisition in
infancy, to show that imbibing with the mind is as natural is
with the body, if suitable beverage is put to the lips; but in
most eases the mind's power is balanced l)y instincts of body,
which should have priority, if they cannot certainly be iii
full harmony. The mind can better afford to wait for the
maturing of the body, for it survives the body, than the bo(ly
can afford to wait for the mind; for it is irretrievably stunted,
if the nervous energy is not free to stimulate its special
organs, at least equally with those of the mind.
There is not, however, any need to sacrifice the culture of
either mind or body, but to harmonize them. They can and
ought to grow together. They mutually help each other.
34 
KINfDERtGAITIN GUIDE.
CHAPTER V.
THIE KINDERGARTNER.
THI  first requisite to a Kindergarten is, of course,  the
Kindergartner, fully intelligent of childhood, and thoroughly
trained herself in everything that the child is to do.
The first Kindergartner was Froebel himself; who, in the
course of a long life, studied into the science of childhood,
and worked out a series of artistical exercises, which aim to
educate - that is, draw forth - the powers of children from a
nmore profound depth than ordinary education respects.  B         ut
i    n     s     t     e    a     d      of beginning with putting checks upon childish pla y,
he took the hint of his method from this spontaneous activity;
and began with genially directing it to a more certainly
b e a u t i f u l    effect than it can attain when left to itself.  A     lar ge
p        a         r         t          of the art of primary school-teachin, hitherto, has consisted in keeping children still, and preventing them firom
playing.
It was Froebel's wisdom to accept the natural activity of
childhood as a hint of the Divine Providence, and to utilize
its spontaneous play for education.   And  it is this which
takes away from his system that element of baneful antagonism which school discipline is so apt to excite, and which it
is such a misfortune should ever be excited between the
young and old. Nothing is worse for the soul, at any period
of life, than to be put upon self-defence; for humility is the
condition of the growth of mind as well as mnorals, and ensures that natural self-respect shall not degenerate into a petty
wilfulness and self-assertion. The divine impulse of activity
in children should not be direotly opposed, but accepted and
guided into beautiful production, according to the laws of
l
35 
KINDERGARTEN GU DE.
creative order, which the adult has studied out in nature,
and genially presents in playing with the child.
But such playing is a great art, and founded on the deepest
science of nature, within and without; and therefore Froebel
never established a Kindergarten without previously preparing Kindergartners by a normal trailling, which  his faithfil
disciples have scrupulously kept up.  And if only genius and
love like his owni could in one lifetime have discovered the
science and worked out the processes of this culture, yet
Nundreds of pupils of these normal classes have proved, that
any fairly gifted, well - educated, genial - tempered young
woman, who will devote a reasonable time to training for it,
can become a competent Kii)dergartner.
Nothing short of this will do; for none of the manuals
which have been written to guide already trained experts,
can supply the place of the living teacher. Written words
will not describe the fine gradations of the work, or give an
idea of the conversation which is to be constantly had with
the children.  It would be less absurd to suppose that a person could learn to make watches by reading a description of
the manufacture in an encyclopedia, than to suppose a person
could learn to educate children by mere formulas.
Indeed, it is infinitely less absurd.  For a child is not
finite mass to be moulded, or a blank paper to be wriitten
upon, at another's will.  It is a living subject, whose own cooperation - or at least willingness   is to be conciliated and
made instrumental to the end in view.   Would a Cremona
violin be put into the hands of a person ignorant of music, to
)be tuned and made to discourse divine harmonies?  How is
it, then, that the' harp of a thousand strings "-  wlicll God
Iuts into the hands of every mother, in perfect tune- is so
recklessly committed, first to ignorant girl-nurses, and  then
to the least educated teachers?  Looking at children's first
schools, it would seem that anybody is thought skilful enoughl)
to begin a child's education! It takes a long apprenticeship
to learn to play on the instrument with seven strings, iD
t3 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
order to bring out music.  But it is stupidly thought that
anybody can play on the greater instrument, whose strings
thrill with pleasure or pain, and discourse good or evil, as they
are touched wisely or unwisely!
Froebel struck the key-note of the music of the spheres,
which human life is destined to become, when he announced,
as a first principle, that the well-thought-out wisdom of tlhe
ideal muother's love is the science of education; and that this
science of sciences is founded on self-knowledge; by which
hlie did not mean (any more than did Socrates, or that older
sage who  engraved  "know thyself" upon the  temple of
Delphi) individual idiosyncrasy, but thile very self which
Jesus Christ said all men must become, when he set a little
child in the midst, and declared that no one could enter his
kingdom, that did not become as one; and  when, another
time, he called and blessed little children, because, as lie said,
of such was the kingdom of heaven; and again, more significantly still, when he warned froIn "offending (it might be
better rendered perverting) these little ones; because," as lie
added, "their spirits do always behold the face of ny Father
who is in heaven." To know the soul before it has been
warped by individual caprice and circumstance, is the science
of sciences, on which is to be founded the art of arts; viz.,
that of educating the child so that its individuality may develop, not destroy, its sense of universal relations.   And
here I must pause to say, that it is simply astonishing that
when most of us believe, as our religion, that Jesus Christ
embodied in himself the wisdom, as well as love, and eveni
power of  God, - " without measure," -  his words  a,bout
children are passed over with so little inquiry into the deptlhs
of their meaning. What can it mean - that their spirits
always behold the face of the Father -short of the very
philosophy of Giobert;i,- that the newly-created soul conimences its consciousness in the eternal world, with a reciprocal vision of Go'l remembered in the heart through life, and
constituting the divine term of conscience, which is the CON
37 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
STAN'I, while the human term is of only fitful growth.  As
Wordsworth says, -
"Our Life's Star
Hathl had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar!
Not in entire forgetfulness
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home.
Heaven lies about us in our infancyv!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing boy,
But he beholds the light and whence it flows;
He sees it il his joy:
The youth, who daily from the East
Must travel, still is nature's priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended."
But Froebel does not, like Wordsworth, make it strictly inevi.
table, however it may have hitherto been common, that
"The man perceives it die away
And fade into the light of common day;"
for he teaches that the parental sympathy and instruction of
those adults who have attained
"The faith that looks through death
In years that bring the philosophic mind"
should intervene; which is just Kindergarten culture; preserving the heart's vision of the truths that
"We are toiling all our lives to find"
unshadowed; while the organs of the human mind gradually
bring to bear God's manifestation in nature, which, point by
point, forms the human understanding, by mIaking an intellectual consciousness of what the heart klinows.
Because the science of education is the analysis aid gauging
of love by intellect, Froebel sought the true form of the art
of education in the method of the mother's love, whilch he
38 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
studiied out with a philosophic earnestness.  Not that any
mother could tell him the secret. It cannot be put into
formulas, nor does it come by intuition into the scientific form
in which a Kindergartner needs to have it. Froebel, iii
watchlling the mother, saw that she was "led in a way she
knew not."  But he divined the meaning of that way, and its
issues, and gives it to the Kindergartner.
The beginning of a child's life is its learning the fact and
uses of its body. Here, as everywhere, human action blindly
gropes for knowledge. The child cannot even find the breast
to-suck, but sucks what is nearest, compelling the mothler to
give it the bri,ast by automatic motions which she understands; or by cries which awaken her heart.  Gradually these
reciprocal instincts open upon the child the first thing it
knows; namely, that it is dependent for the means of life.
For a child knows, in its heart, for a long time before it
reflects and gets the thought, that not in itself, but outside of
itself; is the source of its life.  Of course, it is bodily lif,
merely that it seeks at first, trying to incorporate the without
with the within by eating every thing; the organs for this
action on the outward world being first developed. But if it
is regularly fed and kept comfortable, the eye will be satisfied
with seeing, the ear with hearing, the hand with handling.
Now it is no less the instinct of the mother to make the
baby's body the first playtliing, than to feel its own body is
the first pleasure of the child. To use its organs in play is
the first action in which the voluntary combines with the
instinctive animal impulse.
The first distinctive human intelligence a child expresses, is
the recognition of its mothler's smile. Its hilgher life begins
in the reciprocation of that smile.  No mere animal smiles!
The mother's heart also goes to meet the child's faith with
vocal expressions of tender joy; the heart of the child is
awakened by tones which emparadise it, and it answers by
like tones.  There is nothing among the lower animals like
this conversation of mnother and child, by looks and tones,
119 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
empaiadising both.  By and by, it notices light and colors
and begins to play with its hands and feet.
IHence the most characteristic work of Froebel is "The
Mother's Cosseting, Songs."  In this imperfect world, motllels3
are not always true to ideal motherhood; but ignorance, and
often indolence, and other forms of self-indulgence, superindutcing stupidity, - even a tyrannous sense of property in
the child, and sometimes mere timidity, interferes. And, in
general, Froebel saw how little most mothers reflect on the
great work they are doing when they play with their children.
Ie wished them to study into the laws they are obeying,, in
order to discover their scope and meaning, that they may be
able to supplement with thought the short-comings of their
too often spoilt instincts. Mothers taught him more than they
knew themselves; and he repaid the debt by telling them
what they taught him in these "Cosseting Songs," which lie
gathered from many lips and brought together for the enriching of all.
First may be seen in the pictured illustrations which accompany the songs, that the plays are merely the sympathetic
furtherance of the child's own motions. The mother enjoys
the sight of her baby kicking up its little legs, fumbling its
little hands, and enjoying its bodily existence generally; and
she sympathizingly intervenes, and draws the child to forget
itself in its heart-sense of her sympathetic presence.   She
feeds the instinctive putting forth of its own joy, the first
form of its faith, with the expression of her joy; and thus
the heart grows with the body, and the mind opens to expect
boundless love, which it reciprocates without reserve.   A
healthy child
"Loves whate'er it looks upon."
If it is not happy and loving, it is the condemnation of its
environment.  Some one in relation with it, perhaps more
than one, has failed to show the necessary love; and a better
were it for such," as Jesus Christ has said "that a millstoine
40 
KINDERGAPRTEN (;t UIDE.
were hung about their necks, and they were cast into the
uttermost depths of the sea."  If these words mean  ai)y
thiing, - and who will dare say they are mere rhetoric?then let us take care that we do not rush into the work of
education, without being sure that we shall not do so immense
a mischief; and let mothers see to it, that they do not pltt
their children into the care of persons who do not combine
love and knowledge of childhood in measures not to be expected of the common run of children's nurses and primary
teachers.
Not only because every mother is not an ideal mother, but
because sometimes clhildren are consigned, by inevitable circumstance, to other nursing than a wise mother's, such a
manual as the " Cosseting Songs" is indispensable to instruct
autrses.
And nurses ought always to be instructed. Whlen Froebel
was in Hamburg, he received nurses into normal training.
Both mothers and nurses brought their infants of six months
old to his house, and hlie taught them how to play withwithout fatiguing- themrn, by carefully respecting those indications of pleasure and pain which are the child's only means
of communication.
And as lectures on child-nat(t~.e are a part of the Kindergarten training, those preparing to be children's nurses, even
to this day, are admitted to the Hamburg  training-school,
which was not relinquished when Froebel died, but is now
instructed by the best teachers of the Volks-Kindergartens,
who go into it by turns.  It has its sessions in the eveniings;
and the normal pupils pay for their instruction, at least iii
part, by assisting in the morning in the Volks-Kindergartern,
which forms also an important part of their training.
But at all events, there can be no adequate Kindergarten
culture anywhere, unless a specific normal training is coinstantly kept up to supply the ever-increasirng demand which
tcnds to outgo the supply, especially when  nurses are ad
iitted, as at Hamburg.
41 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
Having thus indicated the  source whence must be drawn
the Kindergarten culture, it is not our purpose to attempt the
impossible, by stating it abstractly; for a series of abstractions is more apt to conceal than to reveal a living science.
No book can train a Kindergartner, but only at best serve
as a convenient reminder to educated experts, and instruct
parents that there is one necessary condition of their children's receiving the benefit of Kindergarten cultuie; viz.
a thoroughly educated Kindergartner.
And this may be obtained even in America, from a lady of
the apostolic succession; a pupil of the training-school of the
Baroness Marienholtz, of Berlin, who has devoted her talents,
her fortune, the prestige of her rank, and her personal services, to spread the art of her revered master on the conti
nent of Europe. Miss Kriege not only has studied a year in
this training-school, but all the while frequented the Kindergarten of Madame Vogler, as observer and assistant; and,
together with her mother, a lady who is the equal of the
Baroness Mlarienholtz in every thing but the fortune which
enables the latter to teach without price,- combines every
qualification, with enthusiasm, for tile spread of a method of
education that unquestionably has  a great future in this
country, inasmuch as it makes  a true base to the grand
harmonies of our national constitution.
As one feature of the normal class is a series of lectures
on thle being of the child, which are given on one day of the
week, it would be desirable that Madame Kriege should
admit mothers and sisters who have no intention of making
teaching their vocation, but who may thus understand and be
able to co-operate in spirit with the Kindergartner, in the
education of the children; for it is a great hindrance to
the Kindergarten when it is not understood at home. All
the educators of the child should understand each other,
and co-operate, if the highest results are to be attained.
42 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
CHAPTER VI.
THERE is a kind of thing done in Kindergarten,  which
retains the best characteristics of childish play, and yet
assumes the serious form of occupation.
Fancy-work, if Froebel's method be strictly followed, is
the best initiation of industry; for it can serve to a perfect
intellectual training.
Childish play has all the main characteristics of art, inasmuch as it is the endeavor to "conform the shows of things
to the desires of the mind," - Bacon's definition of poetry.
A child at play is histrionic. He personates characters, with
costume and mimic gesture. He also undertakes to repiesent whatever thing interests his mind'by embodiment of it
in outward form. Advantage is taken of this, by Froebel, to
initiate exquisite manipulation, in several different materials;
a veritable artistic work, which trains the imagination to use,
and develops the understanding to the appreciation of beauty,
symmetry, or order,-" Heaven's first law."
Froebel's first two Gifts, as they are called, are a box of
colored worsted balls, and a box containing the cube, the
sphere, and the cylinder. These two Gifts belong, more especially to the nursery series, and were published some years
silnce in Boston, with little books of rhymes, and suggestions
for playing with babies.
But they can be used, in some degree, in the Kindergarten:
the first, to give lessons on the harmonies of colors; and the
second, to call attention to fundamental differences of form.
It is possible, however, to omit these, and begin a Kindergarten with the Third Gift, which is a little wood(en box,
conitaining, eight cubes of an inch dinlension.
43
KINDERGARTEN OCCUPATIONS. 
KINDER(GARTEN CGUIDE.
The first plays with these blocks, especially if the children
are very young, will be to make what Froebel calls forms of
life; that is, chairs, tables, columns, walls, tanks, stables,
houses, &c.  Everybody conversant with children knows how
easily they will "make  believe," as they call it, all these
different forms, out of any materials whatever; and are most
amused, when the materials to be transformed by their personifying and symbolizing fancy are fewv, "or so much do
children enjoy the exercise of imagination, that they find it
more amusing to have simple forms, which they can "make
believe," -  first to be one thing, and then another,- than to
have elaborately carved columns, and such like materials, for
building. There is nothing in life more charming to a spectator, than to see this shaping fancy of children, makilng everything of nothing, and scortcing the bounds of probability, and
even of possibility. It is a prophecy of the unending dominion which man was commanded, at his creation, to have
over nature; and gives meaning to the parable of the Lord
God's bringing all creatures before Adam, that he might give
them their names.
Wordsworth felicitously describes, in that ode which he
cal      ls "Intimations of Immortality in Childlhood," this victo.
rious            play of
"The seer blest,
On whom those truths do rest,
Which we are toiling all our lives to find."
"Behold the child among his new-born blisses;
A six years' darling of a pigmy size;
See where, mid work of his own hand, he lies,
Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses,
With light upon him from his father's eyes!
See at his feet some little plan or chart,
Some fragment of his dream of hummin life,
Shaped by himself with newly learned art,_
A wedding or a festival,
A mourning or a funeral;
And this hath now his heart,
And unto this lihe fiames his song.
44 
KINDERGARTEii GUIDE.
Then he will fit his tongue
To dialogues of business, love, or strife;
But it will not be long
Ere this be thrown aside,
And with new joy and pride,
The little actor cons another part;
Filling from time to time his humourous stags
With all the persons down to palsied age
That life brings with her in her equipage."
That this is a literal picture, every mother knows; and, in
this childish play, there is all the sul)jective part of a genuine
work of art; the effort being to dramatize, or embody in
form, the inward fancy, no less than in the case of the most
mature and successful artist.  The  child seizes whatever
materials are at hand to give objectivity to what is within;
and he is only baffled in the effect, because he is not developed enough in understanding, and has not knowledge enough
to discover or appreciate means appropriate to his ends. It is
for the adult to show him that the universe is a magazitie of
materials given to the human race wherewith each is to build
an image of God's creative wisdom, into which he shall inwardly grow by the very act of accomplishing this destiny.
As the child is satisfied at first with a symbolical representation of his inward thought, a row of chairs and footstools, arranged in a line, makes a railroad to his imagination;
and no less a row of cubes, one being piled on another for
the engine.
In using the blocks in a Kindergarten, the child at first is
left to his own spontaneity, as much as possible; but the
teacher is to sut,,est means of carrying out whatever plan or
idea he has.  What is cultivating about the exercise is, that
the child makes or receives a plan, and then executes it; has
a lthought, and embodies it in a form.
But something more can be done with the blocks.  They
can be made symbolical of the personages and objects of a
story.  Thus even with the eight blocks, five may be a flock
of sheep, one tihe shepherd, one a wolf who is seen in thbQ
4:-)' 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
distance, and who comes to steal a sheep, and one the sliep
herd's dog who is to defend the sheep against the wolf. 
When all the Gifts come to be used, much more compli
cated dramas may be represented. The teacher should set
an example; as, for instance, thus: "I am going to build a
light-house, so;" (she piles up some blocks and leaves openings near the top, which she says are "the lantern part where
the lights are put;" near the light-house are a numlber of
blocks, rather confusedly laid together, of which she says,'
"These are rocks, which are very dangerous for ships, but
which are scarcely ever seen, because the water dashes over
them, especially when there is a storm, or when the night is
dark; and that is the reason the light-house is put here.
Whenever sailors see a light-house, they know there is dangei
where it stands; and so they steer their ships away from the
place.  Look here! here is a ship" (and she constructs with
other blocks something which she calls a ship, or schooner, or
sloop, representing respectively the number of masts which
characterize each  kind of vessel), "and  there is a  pilot
standing upon it who has seen the light-house, and is turning
the ship another way."
Having built her story, she will now call upon the children
to build something. Some will imitate her; others will.have
plans of their own. As soon as one has finished, he or she
must hold up a hand; and the teacher will call upon as many
as tk re is time for, to explain their constructions. There is
no better way for a teacher to learn what is in children, their
variety of mental temperament mid imagination, than by this
playing with blocks.  Some will be prosaic and merely imitative; some will show the greatest confusion, and the most
fantastic operations of mind; others, the most charming fancies; and others, inventive genius. But there will always be
improvement, by continuing the exercise; and it is a great
means of development into self-subsistence and continuity of
thought.
But to return to Froebel's Third Gift, consisting of eight
46 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
blocks. In making things with the blocks, a great deat is to
be said about setting them accurately upon each others and
upon the squares drawn on the table (if it is so painted). I
was both amused and instructed, when I was in Hamburg,
by seeing a little table full of children taking a first lesson iii
making two chairs, by piling three blocks on each other for
the back, and putting one in front for the seat; the Kinderdartner going round so seriously to see if each block was
adjusted exactly, and stood squarely. When, at length, the
chairs were done, the children took hold of hands, and recited,
simultaneously with the Kindergartner, a verse of poetry;
and then sang it. I could not understand the words; but tile
conversation, while they were making the chairs, had helped
the several chlildren's fancy to seat their fathers, mothers, or
grandparents, or some other favorite friends, in them; each
child having been asked for whom hlie wished to make his
chairs, which developed a good deal of the domestic circumstances.  None of the class was more than four years old.
But the most important use of the eight blocks is to lead the
children through a series of symmetrical forms, which Froebel
calls forms of beauty.
As a preparation for this work, the children are questioned,
till they understand which is the right, and which the left
side of the cube made by the eight blocks; which the firont,
and which the back side; which the upper, and which the
under side; and are able to describe a cube by its dimensions; also to know how to divide the whole cube into two,
four, or eight parts;  how  to divide the length, how  the
breadth, and how the height, into two parts,-lessons of
analysis sufficiently amusing, and giving precision to their
use of words.
Dividing the height, they get a simple fundamental form;
and the four blocks taken off can be arranged around the
others symmetrically.
For instance: tell them, first, to take an inch cube and
place it in front of the square that the four lower blocks
4't 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
make, so that one-half shall be on one block, and the other
half on the other; then tell them to take another small cube,
and place it opposite, in the same way, one-half on one cube,
and the other half on the other. Already they will find the
figure is symmetrical, or, as they may phrase it, even.   Then
tell them to put a cube on the right hand of the fundamental
figure in the same way as before, and then another opposite
on the left side; and the figure will be still more symmetrical
When this has been recognized all round, tell them to
move the front block just half a block to the right; then the
opposite one half a block to the left; then the right-hand
block half a block farther back; and, on the opposite side,
the left-hand block half a block towards the front. This will
make again a symmetrical form. Again, they may be told
to move the front block half a block farther to the right; and
then move the opposite one to the left, and so on, -which
will make another figure.  Their attention must be drawn to
the fact that always -if the symmetry is to be retainedall four of the movable blocks must be moved; demonstrating
to the eyes, by otherwise placing them, that symmetry is
more pleasing than confusion, and order than disorder.
In going on, through the large number of forms which are
given in the manuals of Madame  Ronge  and the Baroness
Maxrienholtz, for the convenience of the Kindergartners, the
children can be asked in turn to suggest rules for new figures,
and then diirected how to apply the rule, and adjust each of the
four blocks to make a symmetry. Often, a form of the series
given, is anticipated; but, if no suggestion is made by the
children, the Kiiiderg,artner must choose, and ask if so and so
would not be pretty. But in no case must the engraved
forms be given as a pattern. Imitation is mechanical, and
children soon tire of working by patterns; while to work
from a rule, whether it is suggested by another, or is one's
own fancy, will keep up the interest a long while, and stiniulate invention; for it is real intellectual work, though less
abstract than geometry.
48 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
The great secret of the charm of working out symmnetrical
forms is, that the mind is created to make, like the divine
mind.  "God geometrizes," says Plato; and therefore man
geometrizes. The generation of forms by crystallization, and
by vegetable and animal organization, follows the law of
polarity, which is alike the law of the human and the mode
of the divine creation. It was amusing to hear a little chil(
cly out, "I cannot find an opposite;" and, when another said,
'No matter, take this," reply, "But then it will not make
anything.'"
In going through, the series of forms, made first by the
eight blocks, then by those of the Fourth Gift, and afterwards by the larger number of the Fifth and Sixth Gifts, the
child comes, by being led perpetually to put'down opposites,
inl order to make symmetry, to learn the value of the law of
polarization, which obtains alike in thought, and in the created
universe.
But, besides the boxes of solids, there are boxes of triangles, one  of equilateral, one of right angle, and  two  of
isosceles trian,gles-one acute and one  obtuse- affording
means for an infiniiity of forms of beauty; so that this amusement of making symmetrical forms is not exhausted in the
whole four years of the Kindergarten course.
The same principle of polarity is brought out in the coml)ination of colors, as well as of forms.
In weaving bookmarks and mats, with strips of different
colored papers, the series of forms becomes more attractive
by observing the harmonies  of color.  The  children  are
taught, by the colored balls of the First Gift, to distinguish
tlle primary and secondary colors, and to arrange them harmoniously. Children acquire very soon a very exquisite taste
;in color, and, if carefully called to attend to harmonies, detect
an incongruity at once.
Calkins, of New York, has published sheets of diagrams,
if they may be so called, of the harmonies of colors.
The Kindergartner, while at the training-school, gets a
3
49 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
series of several hundred woven forms, to relieve her fi'on
the fatigue of constantly inventing, when she is full of care.
But children soon begin to invent of themselves, and are
recreated -  not fatigued -  by  it.  This weaving  may  1Is
turned to much account for innumeral)le ornatmental articles
which the children are delighted( to make, in order to lave
something of their own, to give to their friends, at Christmas
New Year's, and birtlhdays.  Our woodcut gives the beginning, of the series of woven forms. Childi-eii of three years
old can begin these; and those of five will make beautiful
things. But a series of forms may perhaps be most easily
begun by little children, by sewing colored worsted threads
into pricked paper.
One essential furniture of the Kindergarten is paper ruled
in squares of a sixteenth of an licli, which can  be done
whlerever paper is ruled. Every child should have a piece of
this paper, pricked in the crossings of the squares, and be
taughlt to use the needle and colored thi'ead, so  as first to
make parallel lines, then diagonals, then right aingles, then
squares; and then other more complex but still symmetrical
figures.
This squared paper may also be used to teach pricking,
filrst at the crossings of the lines, preparing sheets for sewing,
and then making a series by pricking symmetiical forms; fol lowing the same general law as produced beauty with the
blocks and trianrgular planes.
Also, simultaneously with these occupations, the children
should be induced to draw, by means of this squared paper.
A very small child can be taught to use the pencil, so far as
to draw a line of an eighth of an inch over the blue line, or
the water-mark of the squared paper. Immediately thlese
lines must be so drawn as to correspond and makle forms;
and it is perfectly wonderful to the child himself, to find how,
by following the rules given, he goes straight on t6 make tlhe
most complicated forms and beautiful designs. WThen I wNas
in Dresden, I bou,,ght of Ms, lame 5I:i'(lIlittt ltiillie('eis oif
50 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
drawings made in series by children between three and seven
years of age, where no stroke was longer than an eighth of
an inch. I was told that every one was the invention of some
child; for only inventions were carefully preserved.
But another manipulation must not be forgotten; viz., the
folding of paper.
Here, a square piece of paper, of four or five inches, is
given to the child, who had. previously been exercised in
building with solids, in making forms with sticks, and in peawork;  which last is done by having sharp-pointed sticks
of various lengths, and constructing squares, triangles, and
the frames of chairs, and other articles of furniture, uniting
the sticks by means of dried peas, soaked in water. (See
woodcut.)
As the sticks and peas were used to teach the properties
of geometrical lines and points, which they clumsily represent, so the square of paper can be used to develop ideas of
surface and geometrical planes; without, however, using any
abstract geometrical language.
Folding papelr develops the value of the law of polarity,
just as all other symmetrical work does; but there is the
additional charm to children, of making, by means of this
folded paper, a multitude of forms of life as well as of beauty;
involving a great instruction. For always the foldiig begins
with nothing but a square piece of paper, which, by following
their thought, is made into hundreds of beautiful forms; and
thus they learn to respect in themselves the power of thought
applied to work, which is nothing less than creative. By cutting off a piece of the folded paper, while still it is folded, a
new series of forms can be made, of unimagined symmetrical
forms, which the chil(lren, when they unfold the paper, are
electrified to find they have caused; and, with the pieces cut
out, they can also enrich the figures with new varieties of
symmetrical beauty.
I have seen, in one of the Kindergartens, five hundred
different fig,uires niade out of the simple square, variously
51 
KINDERGARTEN GIUIDE.
folded and cut.  The attention of  the children should bo
called to the fact of this endless capacity of development of
the simplest and most uninteresting form, by the exercise
of human ingenuity, acting according to law.  Thus they will
realize that beauty is not an outward thing, but an inward
power, which they exert.
This cutting and folding of paper can only be learned in
a Kindergarten training-school.  It cannot be described ill
a book.
-Modelling is the highest form of manipulation of solids,
and one which is very fascinating to children, who often
make forms with mud and snow in their out-door play.
The material, whether clay, rice, wax, or whatever else
may be employed, must be previously prepared, and always
kept in a plastic state.  
Clay is the least expensive material, but it must always be
kept wet, and it is cold to the hands.   Wax, prepared with
oil, is more expensive, but far cleaner than clay; and it has
the advantage of preserving the forms moulded, while the
clay shrinks and cracks when it dries.
The material being prepared, each child is supplied either
with a small fiat board, slate, cloth, or strong paper, to -cover
:the part of the table used; a small blunt elastic knife, and
a portion of the plastic material.  The child is first left to
.pursue the bent of its own inclinations, generally the roller
and the ball are the first objects attempted.  In their forma:tion the child finds great delight.  Irregular forms are, how.ever, the easiest  The children are encouraged to imitate
lbirds' nests, baskets, candlesticks, and various firuits: apples,
l)ears, strawberries, also some  vegetables,  and  especially
flowers; —whenever it is possible let them have the natural
objects before them. Afterwards models of animals couchant
,are given for imitation; and they are encouraged to make
parts of the human figure, -  fingers, hands, ears, noses, for
!which they have models in each other.  I have known a boy
,ot wtwelvc years old, who would take an engraved head, and
5 2 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
mould one by it, in which the likeness would be remarkable;
— he used wax and a pin.
To make forms from the hint of an engraving, is a little
above imitation; and it is to be remembered that we do not
wish the children to stop with imitations. Let them go on
and invent forms, beautiful vases, pitchers, &c. When they
begin to make heads and human figures, a teacher, who understands the principles of drawing, can bring to their notice
the proportions of the human figure and face found in nature,
wfiich make ideal beauty.  Mlaniy a heaven-destined sculptor
will find himself out, in the Kindergarten.
In Germany, at the quadrennial meetings of the Froebel
Union, it is the custom to carry specimens of the childrein's
work in all these kinds.  A series of each kind is made up
by taking the best work of all the children.  The six meetings which have already taken place, have all been signalized
by impressing upon the commissioners of education of some
State, the value of Froebel's culture to the interests of art, -
fine and mechanical,-  followed by its adoption.  And yet its'
value to art is of secondary importance to its influence on
character, which must needs be lifelong,   leading away from
temptation, and delivering from evil, the activity secured to
the production of use and beauty.
In America, where the excitements of opportunity are
literally infinite, the importance of training the speculative,
mind and immense energy of the people to law, order, beauty,,,
anl( love (which are all one in the last analysis), is incalculable; and that it can be done most easily and certainly by,
be(ginning with the child's mind while he is still "'beholdingi
the face of the Father in heaven" with his heart, no; olie
who has ever  faithfully tried  Kindergarten  culture willdoubt.
!7 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDF
CllAPTER VILI.
MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EXERCISES.
HARMONIOUS  development  is  Froebcl's idea.   Hence,
although the physical should never be sacrificed, and comes
first into view, in the scheme of Kindergarten  culture, it is
not to be exclusive. Children grow in stature and physical
force, all the better for having their hearts and minds opened
in the beginning. It is desirable to have a child become
conscious of right and wrong, in reference to eating and
drinking, quite early; thoLugh  temptation to excess shoull be
removed, as a general thing, by giving them sirnple wholesome food. In any case where children may not go home at
noon, and there is a luncheon, some simple fi'uit, like apples
or grapes, together with milk biscuits, or plain bread and butter, make the best repast, satisfying hunger, and not stimulating the palite unduly.   I am sometimes shocked at the kind
of luncheon children bring to the Kindergairten, it shows such
lamentable ignorance of phlysiological laws.  The  practical
value of the beautiful symbol of the origin of evil, which
stands as the first word of the sacred volume, is enhanced, by
its having the form in which temptation first assails the child.
No deeper interpretation of it is foreclosed l)y our )resenting
it at first, to children, just as it stands.  Tile forbidden fruit
is that which will hurt the child; i. e., give it the disease
which by and by may make death a merciful release from
pains intolerable to bear. Serpents have no higher function
than eating; but human beings live to know and love and dc
good, and so ought not to eat everytliling that is pleasant
to the eyes, - but to stop, as Eve did not, and inquire
5 -1
6 
KINI)ERGARTLIN GUIDE.
5whetller it is G(o  or tlhe mere animal which is mnan's proprtr
.alvisce.  Our a)ppetite is tile serpent, our  thoughit is ti-om
God(l. A child understands all this vely early, it' it is thus
simply presented; and it suggests the )beginning of his moral
life.  The lesson can soon be generalized.   Whatever wrong
tilings he is tempted to do, whatever  liii conscience tells him
not to do, is " forbidden fruit;" his desire to do it is tile serpent, and if he falls, it is the old folly of Eve, who preferred
the advice of thie lower being to the command of God, always given in the Conscience.
I have known a child, to whom this story was early read
and interpreted, to whom it seemed to become  a "guard angelic" over her life. The moral nature responded to it iat
once, and a suggestion that a desire was perhaps the voice of
the serpent, was always quite enough to arouse the guardian
angel - Conscience - to a watch and ward of the severest
character.  It precluded the necessity of present punishment
and the fear of future retribution, (with which a child should
never be terrified.)
There is such a thing as making children, I will not say
too conscientious, but too conscious; and this is otften dlone
l)y well-n-meaning parents and teachers, wvlo make themn look
upon themselves personally as objects of God's pleasure or
displeasure.  This will be avoided by using, a symbol, like
the story of Adamr  and Eve, which touches the imagination,
and saves them from tile reactions of personal pique.  A judicious teacher, who knows how to paraphrase  as she reads,
and to skip what is mere prosaic statement, (and no one who
cannot do this, is fit to read to children,) can make use of
many other passages of the Old and Newv Testament, and of
Pilgrim's Progress," to give to children the whole doctrine
of religious self-control, and inspire them to the highest moral
issues.
Spiritual life, strictly speaking, can only be prepared for
by the best education.   Its characteristic and essence consists
in that action of the heart and reason which does not come
55 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
fiom human promnpting.  But it canst be prepared for, by
awakening in the child such an aspiration and felt necessitv
for virtue, as well as general idea of God, as makes prayer
to the Father of Spirits sponitaineouis and inevitable.   I am
in the habit of speaking of God to children as the Giver ot
love and goodness, and of the power of thought and action,
rather than as the Creator of the outward world, and have
found that the tyrannizing unity of the soul's instinct did the
rest.
In what is called religious education, teachers often do
great harm, with the best intentions, to finely strung moral
organizations.   Encouragement  to good should  altogether
predominate over warning and fault-finding.  It is often better, instead of blaming a child for short-coming, or even
wrongdoing, to pity and sympathize, and, in a hopeful voice,
speak of it as something which the child did not mean to do,
or at least was soiry for as soon as done; suggesting, at the
same  time. perhaps, how it can  be avoided another time.
Above all things, an invariable rule in moral education is
not to throw a child upon self-defence.   The movement towards defending one's self and making excuses, is worse thlin
lmost any act of overt wrong.  Let the teacher always appear as the friend who is saving or helping the child out of'
evil, rather than as the accuser, judge, or executioner. Another principle should be, not to confound or put upon the
same level the trespasses against the by-laws of the Kindergatiten, made for the teacher's convenience, and those against
the moral laws of the universe.  The desirableness of the
by-laws that we make for our convenience can be shown at
times when the children are all calm, and their attention can
be drawn to the subject; and if these regulations are broken,
all that is necessary will be to ask if it is kind and loving
to do such things?  But it must never  be forgotten that
natuial conscience always suffers when  artificial duties are
imposed.   Hence the immoral effect of formality and superstition. 
56 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
In a well-regulated Kindergarten there should be no pun.
ishments, but an understanding should be had withl parents
that sometimes the child is to be sent home for a day, or at
least for some hours.  The curtailment of the Kindergarten
will generally prove an effectual restraint upon disorder, and
it will not be necessary to repeat the penalty in a school year.
But I shall say no more upon moral and religious exercises, Mrs. Mann  having treated this part of the subject so
exhaustively. It is to be remembered, however, that she
had in: her school children who had strayed much -farthel
from,the kingdom of heaven than those who'will'generalty
make up:the Kindergarten.   But she shows tile spirit, that
should pervade all that is done to children at all time s.
I saw, in observing the Kindergartens of Germany, that there was great
noral education involved in the mutual consideration of each other, which
the children learn to practise, in order to make the plays beautifll; and alsc
in the constant idea kept before them, of making  beautiful things for: tit
purpose of giving pleasure to their parents and other friends, by giving thlni
away on'birthdays and Christmtas and New-Year's Days.  Moral education
does not come by the hearing of the ear, but by generous life
3*e
,51
. I
I 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE
CHAPTER VIII.
OBJECT LESSONS.
I NOW come to Object Lessons, which should begin sims
uiltaneously with all the above exercises; for mental exercises are not only compatible with physical health, but
necessary to it. The brain is not to be overstrained in childhood, but it is to be used.  Where  it is left to itself; and
remains  uncultivated, it shrinks, and that is disease.   A
child is not able to direct its own attention; it needs the
help of the adult in the unfolding of the mind, no less than
in the care of its body.   Lower orders of aniiimnls can educate themselves, that is, develop in themselves their one
power.  As the animals rise in the scale of being, they are
related moie or less to their progenitors and  posteriity, and
require social aid. But the human being, whose beatitude
is "the communion of the just," is so universally  related,
that he cannot go alone at all. He is entirely dependent
at first, and never becomes independent of those around him,
any- further than he has been so educated  and trained by
his relations with them, as to rise into union with  God.
And this restores him again to communion with his fellowbeings, as a beneficent Power among its peers.
The  new method of education gives a gradual series of
exercises, continuing the method of Nature.   It cultivates
the senses, by giving them the woi-k of discriminating colors,
sounds, &c.; sharpens perception by leading children to describe accurately the objects immediately around them.
Objects themselves, rather than the verbal descriptions
of objects, are presented to them. The only way to make
68 
KINDERGARTEN  GIJIDE.
words exp)essive and intelligible, is to associate them sensibly with the objects to which they relate.   Children must
be taught to translate things into wiorids, before they can
translate words into tliing,s.  Words are secondary in nature; yet much teachling seems to proceed on the principle
that these are primary, and so they become mere counters,
and children are brought to hating study, and the discourse of
teacllers, instead of thirsting for them.   To look at objects
of nature and art, and state their colors, forms, and properties
of' various kinds, is no painful strain upon the mind.  It is
just what  children  spontaneously  do when  they are first
learning to talk.  It is a continuation of learning to talk.
The object-teacher confines the child's attention to one thing,
till all that is obvious about it is described; and  then asks
questions, bringing out much  that children, left to themselves, would  overlook, suggesting words when necessary,
to enable them to give an account of'hat they see.  It is
the action of the mind upon real thiings, togetlher with clothing, perceptions in words, which really cultivates; while it
is not tile painful strain upon the brain which the study of
a book is.  To translate things into words, is a more ag,r(eable and a very different process from translating words into
things, and the former exercise should precede the latter.
If the mind is thoroughly exercised in wording its perceptions, words will in their turn suggest the things, without
painful effort, and memory have the clearness and accuracy
of perception.   On the other hand words will never be used
without feeling and intelligence.  Then, to read a book will
be to know all of reality that is in it.
I am  desirous to make a strong impression on this point,
because, to many persons, I find object-teaching, seems the
opposite of teaching!  They say that to play with things,
does not give habits of study. They think that to commit
to memory a page of description about a wild duck, for instance, is better than to have thc wild duck to look at, leading the child to talk about it, describe it, and inquire into 
KINDERGAR,TEN   GUIDE.
its ways and haunts!  They do not see that this study of
the thinhgs themselves exercises the perception, and pice
turesque memory, which  is probably  immnortal, certainly
perennial, while the written description only exercises the
verbal memory.  Verbal memory is not to be despised;
but it is a consequence, and should never be the substitute
'for picturesque memory. It is the picturesque memory only
which is creative.
There is another and profound reason why words should
follow, and not precede things, in a chllild's memory. It will
have a tendency to preclude the unconscious sophistry which
takes the place of real logic in so many minds; and at all
events will give the power to detect sophistry; for it necessitates the mind to demand an image, or an idea, for every
word. It gives the habit of thinking things and principles,
instead of thinking words merely;  of looking  through
rhetoric after truth and reality.  There is nothing perhaps
which would conduce more'to sound morality and earnestness of character, in this country, than that object-teaching,
as proposed in Mr.  Sheldon's " ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION," should pervade the primary schools. It would re,
quire a volume to go into object-teaching, in such detail as
to serve as a manual for teachers; and hlappily the work of
Mr. Sheldon's, just named, precludes the necessity of my
doing so.  It is published broadcast  o ver our northern
States; and every teacher, especially every Kindergarten
teacher, should procure it, and give days and nights to the
study of it, until its methods and matter are completely mastered. I have one or two exceptions to take, in respect to
it myself, as will be seen in the sequel; yet I consider it not
only an invaluable manual, but that it goes far to supply.tllhe
place of the training school for teachers on the Pestalozzian
plan, "for whose use I believe it was primarily intended."
Object-teaching should precede as well as accompany the
process of learning to read.  In Germany, even outside ot
Kindergarten, thinking schools have long preceded reading
60 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
schools, and yet learning to read German, in whlich every
sound is represented by a different letter, and every letter
has one sound, cultivates the classifying powers, as learnilig to read English cannot.  With children whose vernacun
lar is English, it is absolutely injurious to the mind to be
taught to. read the first thing,.  I must speak of the reasons
of this in another place, my purpose here being to show
that object-teaching is necessary, in order to make wordteaching, whether by teachler's discourse, or by the reading
of' books, a means of culture at any period.
Every child should have the object to examine, and in
turn each should say what is spontaneous. Out of their answers series of questions will be sugg,ested to the teacher,
who should also be prepared with her own series of questions,   questions full of answers.
The first generalization to which children should be led
is into the animate and inanimate,- what lives and what
exists without manifestation of' life.  Tile next generalization will be into mineral, vegetable, animal, and personal.
But  you  can  begin with chairs,  tables,  paper, cloth"
&c., coming as soon as possible to natural objects.   Mrs,
Agassiz's "First Lesson in Natural-History" is an excellent hint.  Sea anemones, star-fishes, clams, and oysters are
easily procured.  If sea anemones, taken into a bottle of
salt water, clinging to stones, look like mere mosses at
first, on the second day it is pretty certain, that in their
desire for food they will spread themselves  out, displaying
their inward parts in the most beautiful manner.  Every
child in the class should have his turn at the object, if there
ate not objects enough for each, —  should tell what he sees,
and, be helped to words to express himself. This, I must
iepeat, is the true way of learning tile' mrneaning of words
and leaves impressions, which no dictionary, with its periphrases and mere approximations to synonymes can give
Let a child himself hammer out some substance with a mallet, and. lie will never forget the meaning of malleable; and
6i'l 
KINDERGARTEN GU,IDE.
so of other words.  As far as possible we should always
use Saxon words, but it is the words that come firom the
Latin and Greek, which it is most necessary to teach the
meaning of; and they should be taught by things themselves, which have them foi- names or qualities.
A  good linguist will have an advantage here, by being
able to trace the words  through  the  original language
lip to nature; for every word is, in the last analysis, either
a picture, whose original in nature is its definition, ol a
poem, which can be recognized by the general inagination.
A  child whose vernacular is Englishl will easily see that
a bit is something bitten off, and so is smaller than  the
mouth; but that morsel means a bit is not so obvious to one
who does not know that morsus, also, is the perfect paiticiple of the Lafin verb for bite.  That acute means sharp is
plainer to a child who knows that acu is the Latin  for
needle.
No time is lost which is given to this definition of words
by the objects of nature and art, from which, or fi'om whose
attributes, words are derived.  In words are fossilized the
sciences, that is, the knowledge mankind  has already attained of nature; and he who understands all thle words in use,
would know all that is known, nay, much that has been once
known and long forgotten.  But the study of objects not only
gives significance to words, it educates the senses, and produces the habit of original attention and investigation of
nature. These do not come of themselves, as we see in the
instance of country children, who are ignorant of  whalt is
around them, because left to grow up amolig, the objects of
nature, without having their attention called to things in
their minutiae, or their relations in extensu; nor led to
clothlie with words their perceptions, impressions, and reasonings.
Besides Mr. Sheldon's " Elementary Instruction," there is
the " Child's Book of Nature," by Worthington Hooker, in
three parts, whl-ich will be a great help to an object-teacher.  It
62 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
is p)ublished by the Harpers, and is the very best intro(lIuction
of children to flowers.*  Mrs. Ma-nn's " Flower People " is
also full of facts, carefully studied out. Thlis is a chlarinlg
book for children to read in, when they shall come to read.
It is a great pity that the latest edition, published by Ticknor and Fields in 1862, is not illustrated by the flowers
spoken of. But perhaps these may be lithographed, and
published in a card-case, to accompany it.  Both the science
a.iid cultivation of flowers comes very naturally into the
KIinderg,arten.
The greatest difficulty about object-teaching is, that it
requires  personal  traiining, and  wide-awake  attention in
teachers, of a character much more thorough than they commonly have.  When it shall become general, as it certainly
must, it will no longer be supposed that any ordinary person who can read and write,'and is obliged to do som-nethling
for a living, will be thoucghlt fit to keep a school for small
children!  The present order of things will be reversed.
Ordinary persons, with limited acquirements, will be obliged
to confine themselves to older pupils, who are able to study
books and only need to have some one to set their lessons
and hear them recited; while persons of originality and rich
culture will be reserved to discover and bring out the various genius and faculty which God has sown broadcast in
the field of the race, and which now so often runs into the
rank vegetation of vice, or wastes into deserts of concentrated
mediocrity.  Then  this season of education will command
the largest remuneration, as it will secure the finest 1)owers to the work; and because sucIh  worik cannot  be pursued by any one person for many years, inor even for a
short time without assistance, relieving fiom the ceaseless
attention that a company of small children requires, for little children cannot be wound up to go like watches; but to
keep them in older, the teacher must constantly meet their
outbursting life with her own mugnietic forces; while tlheir
Gray's How Pigttts Grow, is invaluable for a teacher.
J'
63 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
employments must be continually interchanged, and mingled
with their recreations.
Children ought to continue these Kindergarten exercises
firom the age of three to nine; and if faithfully taught, they
could then go into what is called scholastic training, in a
state of mind to receive' from it the highest advantages it is
capable of giving; free from the disadvantages which are
now so obvious as to have raised, in our practical country; a —
party prejudiced against classical education altogether.
The preceding chapter and the one on Geometry, which succeeds, are
rather for the direction of children in the last than the first years of the
Kindergarten; for they go over into the second stage of education.  Objectlessons, addressed more to the heart and imagination, grow directly out of the
plays, as we have seen.
And, without any of the terms of Geometry, the sticklaying and the folding of paper give the child geometrical facts in a practical way; as well aa
counting, and all of arithmetic that precedes Colbirrn's "First Lessons,"
some of which can be taught even before teaching to rea(.
64 
KINI)kEIGA],TEN GUIDE.
CHAPTER IX.
REV. DR. HILL, the present President of Harvard College, in his articles in Dr. Barnard's " Journal of Education,"'
has set forth the importance of Geometry in the earliest edu-:
cation, giving the Science of Form precedence to that of
numbers.  Of course he does not mean  that logical demonstration is to form one of the exercises of little children!
but that observation of differences and resemblances of shape,
and the combination of forms, should be inwoven with the:
amusements of children.  He invented a toy on the principle of the Chinese tanagram, (published by Hickling, Sqwan:
& Co., in Boston,) to further an exercise which begins in the:
cradle with the examination of the hands and feet.
The blocks are the first materials.  Take the-cube and
ask how many taces it has; how many corners; and whether
one face- is larger than another or equal; and finally, lead
the child to describe a cube as a solid figure with six equal
sides, and eight corners. Then take a solid triangle from the
box and draw out by questions that it has five sides and six
corners, that three of its sides are equal, and two others
equal; that the three larger sides are four-sided, and the two
smaller sides are thlree-sided; and  that the corners are
sharper than those -of a cube.
Make analogous use of all the blocks, and of the furnituire
of the room, of the sphere and its parts, the cylinder, &e.
Do not require the definition-formulas at first, but content
yourself with opening the children's eyes to the facts which
the formula afterwards shall. declare..
61
GF,OMETRY. 
KINDERGARTEN GIJIDE.
I)'r,lr-!dlillg can be made subservient to another step,
justl  short of abstraction.
Give each one of a class a square piece of paper, and
proceed thus: What is the shape of this paper?  How
many sides has it? Which is the longest side? How many
corners has it?  Have in hand, already cut, several acute
and obtuse angled triangles, and showing them, ask if the
corners of the square are like these corners?  If they are as
sharp as some     of them; or as blunt as some?  Spreading
out the triangle before them say, which is the sharpest corner, and which the bluntest? and let the children compare
them with the corners of the square, by laying them upon
the square.  They will see that the square corners are neithler blunt nor sharp, but as they will perhaps say, straight.
Let them look round the room, and on the furniture and
window-sashes, find these several kinds of corner.  At least
they can always find right angles in the furniture. Then
tell them there is another word for corners, namely, angles,
that a square corner is a right angle, a sharp corner a sharp
angle, and a blunt corner a blunt angle.
If the teacher chooses she can go farther and tell them
that acute is another word for sharp, and obtuse another word
for blunt; (or these two Latin words may be defeilied till by
and by, one new word angle being enough to beg,in with.)
You can then say, " Now tell me how you describe a square,
supposing somebody should ask you that did not know;" and
give them more or less help to say: "A square is a figure
with four equal sides and four straight corners  (or right
angles)." To prove to them that it is necessary to mention
the riglit angles in describing a square, you can make a rhombus, and show them its different shape with its acute and ob tuse angles.  Having thus exhausted the description of a
square, let every one double up his square, and so get an ob long,.  Ask if thi is sa square?  What is it?  How does it
differ from a square?  Are all four sides different from each
)ther?  Which sides are alike? How are the corners (or
c ; 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
iangles)?  In what, then, is it like a square?  In what does it
(liffer?  Bring out firom the child at last the description of
an oblong, as a four-sided figure with straight corners  (or
right angles), and its opposite sides equal.   Contrast it with
some parallelogram which is not a rectangle, and which you
must have ready.  Let them now fold their oblongs again,
and crease the folds; then ask them to unfold and say what
they have, and they will find four squares.   Ask  them
if every square can be folded so as to make two oblongs, and
then if every oblong can be so divided as to make two
squares?  If they say yes to this last question, give them
a shorter oblong, which you must have ready, and  having
made them notice that it is an oblong, by asking them  to tell
whether its opposite sides are equal, and its tangles right
angles, ask them  to fold it, a.nd see if it will make  two
squares.  They will see that it will not.   Then ask them if
all obloIngs are of the same shape; and then if all squares
are of the same shape?
The above foldings will be enough for a lesson, and if the
cl)ildren are small it will be enough for two lessons.
Beginnirng, the next time, ask them what is the difference
between an oblong and square? and if they have forgotten,
do not tell them in words, but give them square papers and let
them learn it over again as before, by their own observations.
Then give them again square pieces of paper, and ask them
to join the opposite corners, and crease a fold diagonally
(but do not use the word diagonally). Then ask them what
shape they have got? They will reply, a three-sided figutire.
Ask them how many corners or angles it has, and then
tell them thlat, on account of its being thlree-cornered, it is
called a triangle. Now let them compare the angles, and
they will find that there is one straight corner (right angle)
and two sharp corners (acute angles).   Ask them if the sides
are equal, and they will find that two sides are equal and the
other side longer.  Set up the triangle on its base, so that
the equal sides may be in the attitude of the outstretched
67 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
legs of a man; call their attention to this by a question, and
then say, on account of this shape this triangle is called
equal-legged, as well as right-angled-  a right-angled equal
legged triangle.  By giving them examples to compare it
with, you can demonstrate to them that all right-angle(l triangles are not equal-leg,ged, and all equal-lecgged triangles
are not rig,ht-angled.   Show them an  equal-legged righltangled triangle, an equal-legged acute-angled triangle, and
an equal-legged obtuse-angled triangle, and this discrimination will be obvious. Tile word isosceles can be introduced,
if the teacher thinks best;  but I keep off the Greek  and
Latin terms as lon'g as possible.
Now tell the children to put together the other two corners of their triangles, laying the sharp corners on each other,
and crossing the fold; unfolding their papers they will find
four right-angled equal-legged triangles creased upon their
square paper.  Are all these of the same shape, and of the
same size?  Now fold the unfolded square into oblongs, and
make a crease, and they will find, on unfolding again, that
they have six isosceles triangles, two of them being twice
as large as any one of the other four. Ask, are all these
triangles of equal size?  Are all of them similar in shape?
leading them to discriminate the use in geometry of the
words equal and similar.   Can triangles be large and small
without altering the shape? Then similar and equal mean
differently?  Are all squares similar? are all squares equal?
are all triangles equal? are all triangles similar?  Wlhat is
the difference between a square and oblong? What is the
difference between a square and a triangle?  What is the
difference between a square and a rhombus?  What  kind
of corners has a rhombus?   In what is a square  like a
rhombus?  How do you describe a triangle?  What is th(,
name of the triangles you have learnt about?  They will
answer righlt-anigled, equal-legged triangles.  Then give them
each a hexagon, and ask them what kind of corners it has?
Whether' any one is more blunt than another?  Whether
8 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
any side is greater than another?   How many sides has it?
And then draw out from them that a hexagon is a figure of
six equal sides, with six obtuse angles, just equal to each
other iln their obtuseness.   Having done this, direct the folding till they have divided the hexagon  into six triangles,
meeting at the centre.  Ask  them if these are right-angled
triangles, and if they hesitate, give them a square to measure
with.  Then  ask them if they are equal-legged (isosceles)
triangles. They may say yes, in which case reply yes, and
more  than equal-le(gged, they are equal-sided.   All three
sides are equal, and so they have a different name,- they are
called equilateral. Ask, what is the difference between equilateral and isosceles, if you have given them  these namles,
and help them, if necessary, to the answer, "equilateral triangles have all the sides equal, isosceles triangles have only
two sides equal."  Are equilateral triangles all similar, that
is, of the samne shape?  Are isosceles triangles all similar?
and if they hesitate or say yes, show two isosceles triangles,
one with the third side shorter, and one with it longer than
the other two sides.
Now give to each child a square, and tell them to fold i:t
so as to make two equal triangles; then to unfold it, and. fold
it into two equal oblong>.  Unfold it again, and tliei-e will be
seen, beside the triangles, two other figures, which are neither squares, oblongs, or triangles, but a four-sided figuare of
which no two sides are equal, and only two sides are parallel,
with two right angles, one obtuse and one acute angle.  Let
all this be brought out of the children by questions.  As
there is no common name for this figure, name it trapezoid
at once.  Then let them fold the paper to make two parallelograms at right angles with the first two, and they will have
two equal squares, and four equal isosceles triangles, which
are equal to the two squares.  Now fold the paper into tawo
triangles, and you will have eight triangles meeting in the
centre by their vertices, all of which are right-angled and
equal-legged.   Ask them if they are equal-sided? so as to
69 
KINDERGARTENT GUIDE.
keep them very clear of confounding the isosceles with the
equilateral, but use the English terms as often as the Latin
and Greek, for the vernacular keeps the mind awake, while
the foreign technical puts it into a passiveness more or less
sleepy.  Then give all the children octagons, and bring out
from them its description by sides and angles; and then fold(
it so as to make eight isosceles triangles.
Another thing that can be taught by paper-folding is to
divide polygons, regular or irregular, into triangles, and thus
let them learn that every polygon contains as many triangles
as it has sides, less two.
Proportions can also be taught by letting them cut off tri angles, similar in shape to the wholes, by creases parallel to
the base.  Grund's "Plane Geometry" will help a teacher
to lessons on proportion; and can be almost wholly tatught
by this paper-folding. Also Professor Davies's " Descriptive
Geometry," and Hay's " Symmetrical Drawing."
Of course it will take a teacher who is familiar with geometry to do all that may be done by this amusement, to
habituate the mind to consider and comnpare forms, and their
relations to each other.  Exercises on folding circles can be
added.  It would take a volume  to exhaust  the subject.
Enou,lgh has been said to give an idea to a capable teacher.
Care must be taken that the consideration should be always
of concrete not of abstract forms.  Mr. Hill says his " First
Lessons in Geometry" were the amusements of his son of
five years old.  Pascal aind Professor Pierce fotund out such
amusements for themselves, which had the high end of preparing them for their great attainments in logical geometry.
Sometimes surprising applications of Geometry, thus piac.
tically appreciated, will be made by very small people. A
boy of eight years of age, with whom I read over Mr. Hill's
"Geometry for Beginlei-s " for his amusement, in two months
after invented a self-moving carriage for his sister's dolly, that
would give it a ride of ten feet!  A nei,ghlboring ca'pcntcr
made it firomn his drafted model.
70 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
CHAPTER X.
THIS art should be taught simultaneously with writing, (or,
more properly, printing; and I should certainly advise that it
do not come till children are hard upon seven years old, if
they have entered the Kindergarten at three. For it properly
belongs to the second stage of education, after the Kindergarten exercises on the blocks, sticks, peas, &c., are entirely
exhausted; and the children have become very expert in
sewing, weaving, pricking, and  drawing.  They will  then
have received a certain cultivation of intellect which will
make it possible- to teachi Reading on a philosophical method,
which will make the acquisition a real cultivation of mind.
instead of the distraction it now is to those whose vernacular
is English, the pot pour?ri of languages, and whose orthograph?S
should be called Ifakography, it is so lawless.
Though we repudiate phonography, so far as to deprecat(t
its being applied to the English language, and reducing all
our libraries to a dead language as it were, we are not insell
sible to the truth that phonography is the true principle of
writing; and this method of ours takes advantage of it to a
certain extent, as we shall proceed to show: for if we pronounce the vowel-characters as in the Italian language, and
the letters c and g hard, it is a fact that the largest numbei
.)f syllables in English will be found strictly plionograrhic
It was on this hint, given by a great philologist, that the
l I
READING.
t 
KINDERG(ARTEN  GUI)LE.
"First Nursery Reading Book" was written, which has no
word in it that makes an exception to the letters so sounded.
In my own Kindergarten, where I began to teach reading
when I was yet ignorant of the necessity for the previous
training of which I have just given account, I began to teach
on  this method, reading and  writing  at the same  time;
thus:
All the children were set before the' black-board, with their
slates and pencils; and I said, "What does the cat say?"
The answer was immnediately ready, —" mieaou."  Now this
sound goes firom the highest to the lowest of the Italian
*;ow'cls, beginning with the consonant m.
I said, "Now we will lecarn to print'mieaou.'  Hlow does it
begin?"  I answered myself, -  shutting my lips, and sounding m.  They all imitated the sound, which, being a semi'vowel, was continuous.
I said, "We will wriite m," putting down three short perpendiculars, and joining them on top by a horizontal; and I
mtnade the letter myself, according to this direction, and they
imitated with more or less success.
I then said, "mi," sounding the i as in machine; and adding "Now we must write i, -and that is one little short
perpendicular with a dot over it." I did it, and they imitated.
Then I said "mie," sounding e as in eg,, only making it
long; "and this -e is made by a curve and straight line,"  at
the same  time making it on the black-board, which  they
imitated.
Then I said "miea," sounding a as in ah; and, as I made it
on the black-board, I said, "We will make a little egg; and
over the egg, we will make a dot, and that is a snake's hea-d;
and this is -the body," I continued, as I made the curve that
completed the a. They imitated with indifferent success, but
I did not criticise their scrawls.
Then I said, "mieao," and making the o, they imitated it
easily:
11'I)
i,j _ 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
Then I said, "mieaou," sounding the u not y?t, but likle u in
Peru; and they imitated sound and character.
It proved quite an entertainment to repeat this lesson, till
they were very expert. The next day I made them tell me
the sounds, one by one, as I had done to them; and I wrote
the letters. I also would write it, letter by letter; and they
would sound first, m, then the syllable mi, then mie, then
mniea, then mieao, then mieaou.  When they were perfectly
familiar with these sounds and characters, I told them these
letters were called vowels, or vocals, because they were the
sounds of the voice.
In another lesson, I asked  them  how  they made  the
sound m, and helped them to say that they did it by
putting their lips  together, and  sounding without  opening them; for I wanted the power of the character and
not the name, -  em;  and then  I said, "Now  tell mc
how shall I write mama?"  which they also wrote on their
slates.
I then said that the lips made another motion when they
began to say papa; that they were put together and opened
without any sound of the voice at all,- at the same time
shlowing it myself on my own lips. And I told them to write
the letter p by making a straight perpendicular line, twice as
long as the lines that made m; and then, at the upper right
hand, drawing their upper lip, - also doing it myself
for them to imitate.  I then told them to put on an a after
it, then another p, and then another a; and now they had
papa.
I said, "You have now articulated with your lips two
sounds, but you can make more articulations with your lips.
You can put your lips just as you do to make p; and then, if
you sound a little, you will make b; and when you write
b, you can make a perpendicular line as you did to make p,
but instead of puttiing an upper lip to it, put an under lip on
the lower right-hand side of it;" and I showed how to do
4
73 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
it on the black-board, arnd saw that they imitated it on tL3
slate.
The next day I began with calling on them to write the
vowels, dictating by the sounds I had given them; and thea
the lip letters, m, p, and b.
I then said, "But there are two more articulations with lipsPut your upper teeth on your lower lip and breathe" (ariticulating f at the same time).  They imitated, and I said, "Now
make a perpendicular line and cross it, and then make the
top of the line bend over a little; that is the letter f" (I gave
the power, not name, ef).  "Now put your lip as before and
breathe again, making a little sound, and instead of f it will
be v. The letter v is printed by two short obliques meeting
at the bottom. Now you can make all the lip letters, m,
p, b, f, v."
For exercise in printing, and to make sure of these letters
and sounds, I told them to write ma, pa, ba, fa, va, always
keeping the Italian sounds of the vowel; also, me, pe, be, fe,
ve; mi, pi, hi, fi, vi; mo, po, bo, fo, vo; and mu, pui, bu,
fu, vu.
Another lesson was the tooth letters d, t, s. Here the teeth
must be set together, and a sound made for d; and the lip
put behind the perpendicular in printing it; the teeth put
together, the articulation t is made without putting any
voice to it. The teeth put together, and a hissing sound
makes s. The letter can be described as a snake, the head
on the right and the tail on the left of the curl: z is still
more easily made by three lines.
These letters can be made fast in the minemory, by dictating
(ii, de, da, do, du; ti, te, ta, to, tu; si, se, sa, so, su; and zi,
ze, za, zo, zu.
Then attention is drawn to throat letters.   The easiest
to make is h.   Let them see that the sound is breathed
out of their throats, and do not give it the name of aitch.
They  can write ha, hi, he, ho, and lu; and  tlhen make
74 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
the sound k, and show them how it is written: sometimes k.
sometimes  q, and sometimes  c;  and do not call c see.
Make them write ca, co, cu; ka, ke, ki, ko, ku; and qua,
que, qui, quo.
Show them how to write the sonorous throat letter in go,
ga, gu. It will be very easy for them to make the nose sound
n, and write the letter by two short perpendiculars, joined on
top by a horizontal line; the tongue sound 1 and the rolling r
are also easily sounded and written. In a week's lessons, or
possibly a fortnight's, these letters can all be learned; but it is
of no consequence if it takes a month.
Another way of learning the letters is given on a subsequent page  (the 79th);  but this has the advantage of
being a little more scientific, and exercising the classifying instinct, which has been considerably developed by the
exercises involved in the occupations.
On account of the irregularity of what is called English orthoepy and orthography, the written language is
a chaos -into which, when the child's mind is introduced
ill the usual way, all its natural attempts at classification are
baffled.   The late Horace Mann, in a lecture on the alpha bet, has with great humor and perspicacity shown this; ani(
he recommended that children should be taught to read by
vcords purely. But when some years afterwards his atten.
tion was drawn to the phonic method, he accepted it fully;
and wrote for Mrs. Mann the preface to her Philadelphia
edition of the Primer of Reading and Drawing.  This was
not until after it had been tested in his own family and some
others, where I had introduced the phonic method.
On the details of my method I must enlarge all the more,
because I find myself differing in some respects from Mr.
Sheldon's plan, which loses a large part of the advantages
of the phonic method by not having one definite sound for
each letter. As I have taught on my plan successfully for
fifteen years, I am prepared to defend it at all points, fi'om
the ground of a various experience.  But I can adduce also
75 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
the highest philologic authority for my mode of sounding the
alplpabet,* as well as an argument of common sense from the
nature of the case.
The primal cause of the chaotic condition of English
orthography, is the fact that the Roman alphabet, which was
a perfect phonography of the old Latin language, lacked
characters for four English vowels and four English consonants.   The Latin monks had not the wit to invent new
characters for these additional sounds; but undertook to use
the Roman letters for them also. Hence for the vowel heard
in the words irk, err, work, and urge, they used indifferently
all four characters; for truly one would do as well as another.
But if they had put a dot into the middle of the o, and added
it to the alphabet, it would have been better than either.
Also, if for the vowel sound of pun, they had put a dot
under the u; and for the vowel sound of man, they had put
a dot under the a; and for the vowel sound of not, a dot
under the o; they would have had four more letters in their
alphabet, which would have completed the phonography of
the English vowels.  Similar dots under d t s c would have
made a phonography of consonants, and avoided the awkward
combinations of sh, ch, and the ambiguity of th, which now
stands for the differing initials of then and thin.
But as they did not do this, a certain divorce took place
between the ideas of the sounds and the letters; and hence
the long uncertainty of the English orthography, and the
stereotyped absurdities which now mark it.
It is so nearly impossible to remedy a difficulty which has
passed into print so largely, that we have to accept the evil,
and remedy as best we may the disadvantage it is to young
minds to have all this confusion presented to them on the
threshold of their literary education.t
* See the North American Review of' Jaiiuary and April - articles
Kr(itsi's Significance of the Alphabet, from the pen of an eminent
philologist; also Kraitsir's Nature of Language and Lanyuage of Na ture, published in 1851, by George P. Putnam in New York.
t The only possible advantage the present spelling has, is the help it
76 
KINDFRGARTEN GUIDE.
It was suggested to me by Dr. Kraitsir, that I should take a
volume of any book, and count the times that each of the vowels, and c and g, were sounded as the Romans sounded them,
and how many times they were sounded otherwise, and thus
see whether it was true, as he said, that these Roman sounds
were the most fiequent, even in the English language. I
did so on a few pages of Sir Walter Scott's novels, and found
that the letter i sounded as in izk 240 times, to one that it
sounded as in bind; and though the proportion was not quite
so great with any other vowel, yet there was a large majority
for the Roman sound, in each instance, as well as for the
hard sounds of c and'.g. Indeed I found g was hard, even
before e and i, in the case of every Saxon word; and that
all the soft gs, which are not many, were derived from the
Norman-French.
I then set myself to find what words in English were
written entirely with the Roman-sounding letters; and, to
my surprise, found a large number, - enough to fill a pi'imary spelling-book; -   hile most of the syllables of the rest
of the words in the language yielded on analysis the same
sounds.  It immediately occurred to me to begint to teach
children to read by these words, whose analysis would always
yield them the Roman sounds, and reserve, till afterwards,
the words which are exceptions, leaving the anomalies to be
learnt by rote.
I tried my first experiment on a child a little more than
four years old, by printing on a black-board certain words,
letter by letter, until he had learned the whole alphabet,
both to know each character at sight, and to print it on the
black-board, and it was a signal success.
For the convenience of those who do not know the old Ro.
man pronunciation of Latin, for which our alphabet is a per.
fect phonography, I will give the sounds of the letters here.
gives to Etymologists, but it also often confuses them. A perfect alphabet, that is, an alphabet with eight more characters than the Roman,
would have been the right thing to have had in the right place and time.
7 o' 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
Iii the case of the vowels (voice letters),
i is pronounced
e       "(
a                        io
O       i;
u    it
(not e    ye.)
(not as in be.)
(not as in may.)
(not as in unit.)
in the case of the consonants, giving the powser of the letter
by making them finals, and obscuring the e as much as possible for the lip letters, eb, ef, ep, ev, while the semi-vowel
m, n, 1, r, require  not even the obscure e to their being
sounded perfectly, shutting tile lips and sounding m, opening
them and shutting the palate to sound n, holding the tongue
still to sound 1, shaking it to sound r, (1el, em, en, er;) the
tooth letters ed, et, ess, ezz -and the throat letters ec, ek,
eq,* eg, and a breathing from the throat for h. Often children will come to the Kindergarten knowing the letters, ins
which case it is best to begin with the letters according to
the organs, as is suggested in my first chapter, and when they
give the old names- you  can say, "No, I do not want that
name but the sound."
The whole alphabet in order will then be ah, eb, 6c, ed,
eh, cf, eg, h (breathed), ih, cj, ek, 6l, cm, en, 6h, ep, eq, er,
ess, t, fiuh (oo) cv, w (breathed) cx, y, just like ih, and not
called wye, ez. Also the sign & for the word and.
In the first palt of this chapter, I have detailed one
method of beginning with a class,- that of giving the sounds
of the letters first, classed according to the organs.
But my common way is to begin with whole words, which
are more sure to interest a child.  A  limited number of
* k, q, and y were not Roman letters but Greek ones, k being introduced
into the Latin originally as an abbreviation of ca and q as anll abbreviation
of cu. J and x were introduced into our alphabet by the first printers,
but we have appropriated j to a new sound, not in the Latin language;
and we have two sounds for x, (as printed Latin has), one being gs and
the other cs. The Latins at first wrote lex legs, and vox vocs, as we see
by the variations of these n( ins for case.
;,s
ih
6h
iLh
oh
ri h
as in ink,
as in ell,
as in arrri,
as in old,
as in ruin, 
KINDERGAPRTEN GUIDE.
words arranged  in sentences, teaches them  to know and
write the whole alphabet. For the convenience of teachers
who may not have either my "First Nursery Reading-Book,"
or Mrs. Mann's "Primer of Reading and Drawing" on hand,
I will give here some sentences that contain the whole alphabet, which the teacher can teach by printing them on the
black-board, and letting the children imitate them with pencil
on the slate, or chalk on the black-board.
0 puss, puss, pussy; 0 kitty, kitty, kitty; Kitty sings
miu, miu; pussy sings mieaou; pussy is old, pussy is cold;
put pussy into mammna's basket; mamma is singing to papa;
papa is kissing mamma; pussy, go to kitty, go, go, go; kitty is
in mamma's basket; go into mamma's garden, and pick roses,
anemones,tulips, and pinks; mamma's velvet dress fits well;
bells ring and cars go; cars go very quickly; hens sit; hens
eggs; eggs in lark's nest; eggs in linnet's nest; larks sing
tralala, tralala; fill mamma's basket full of roses, anemones,
pinks, tulips, crocuses; Lizzy is dizzy, very dizzy; Helen is
rosy red; Alexis sent his mamma a jar full of jelly; Barbara
kisses Cora; Dora is spinning yarn; Flora is spinning yarn;
Gilbert sent Henry a jar of guava jelly; Isabella is kissing
Julia; Karlito sent a linnet's egg to Lilian; Margaret picks
roses; Nina picks tulips in Olivia's garden; Penelope plants
pinks  in Ellen's gardeni;  Rosalind  sings to  Quasi-modo;
Susan puts eggs into mnamma's basket; Tina brings roses to
Vivian; Willy brings crocuses to mamma.
The above sentences, written over and over again, will
teach all the letters; others must be added, but after certain
letters are learnt, it is useful, and a pleasant variety, for the
children to write columns of words, with only one letter differing; thus, old, cold, fold, gold, hold, sold, told, wold; ell,
bell, dell, fell, hell, quell, sell, tell, well; art, cart, dart, hart,
mart, part, tart, start; in, binn, din, fin, jin, kin, pin, sin, tin,
win, &C., &c.
MyA "First Nursery Reading-Book" is entirely made up of
suclh columns, after half a dozen pages of words in sentences;
79 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
and long before the children have written it half tlhIough,
they can pronounce the words on first sight, though many
of them are five and six syllables long.
And here I must foreclose some criticisms which have
been made on this book.
First, -  that the sentences are not interesting or important.   That is of no moment.   Children are interested in
separate words; especially if they are to write them as well
as read them.  I have never seen children tired of the words,
and of making them.
Some persons have disputed the pronunciation of some of
the words. There are, perhaps, half a dozen inadvertencies
in the book which can be corrected in a second edition.
I indicate no difference between the s when it is sounded
sharp, and when soft like z.  But I think this will never
lead to any practical error; because the language is vernacular, and the child has a teacher.
I affirm that the article a is sounded ah in the spoken language, when it is not accented.  Also that in such words as
deject, reject, &c., the two e's sound alike, like most unaccented e's in the language.
F,or a time, there is no need for the cl-ildren to have a
book at all. Let them have a lesson fifteen minutes long iil
which they write the words after the dictation of the teacher.
Let the written words remain on the black-board, and after
some other employments have intervened, let them read the
words off the black-board.
When they have mastered all the letters, it is a good plan
to give them the book, and let them find the words.   Showing, them a line, ask them  to look along and find a certain
word.
They will be pleased to find that they can read in a book,
and will like to copy on their slates the columns of words,
which may be made another exercise of a qularter of an
hour.  In my Kindergarten, they write the words, after the
teacher, on their black-boards; and afterwards write out of
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
the printed books upon the slate. I have hitherto had more
time, in proportion, given to the reading than my own judg.
ment quite approves; because parents are so urgent, aind
measure their children's progress so exclusively by their
power of reading; and, if they do not learn a great deal
faster than children usually learn to read, distrust the system, and interfere.
Even if this method did prove longer than other methodls
of learning to read, I should wish to pursue it, because to
find that the same letter always represents the same sound,
cultivates the mind's power of classification, and gives it
confidence in its own little reasoning.   But I have found
that it is a shorter, not a longer, process.  I have known
a child of three years old, who was found to know how to
read, when there was no thought of teatcliing, him, but his
brother of five years old had been taught to read upon the
black-board in his presence. A child of seven years old
learnt to read and write print beautifully, in three months, in
lessons of ten minutes, given only when she asked for them.
And in those cases there was not the additional advantage
of a class.  Several children in my own Kindergarten, in
my first season, when I never gave half an hour in the day to
reading, not only mastered my first Nursery Reading-Book,
but got upon the anomalous words, and learnt to read so far,
that the second season they could read fluently.   If as
much time was given, in the Kindergarten, to mere reading,
as is given in the public schools, they would, doubtless, have
learnt in three months, but I would not give the timne; for
I believe it is so much better for the whole nature, i. e., all
the powers of sense and apprehension, to be cultivated by
examining objects.
I have also another difficulty to contend with. Children
are taught their letters at home, and the parents interfere to
help, and really hinder by bringing in the old sounds of the
letters and the anomalous  words, before I am  ready for
then    There is no objection to the children's having the
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KINDEPRGARTEN GUIDE.
First Nursery-Book at home to use and copy on their slates,
provided those at home will confine themselves to pronounceing the words to them instead of attempting to spell them.
The question, however, comes at last, But how are they to
attain the rest of the language? Before I had any expeiience, I myself thought this was to be a great difficulty.
In the first instance, after I had brought my little pupil
to the point that he could print correctly any word that I
pronounced to him, and could read at sight any of my
selected words, I gave him a piece of poetry to read, be,-inning -
"Sleep, baby, sleep."
He read it slay-ape bahby, slay-ape.
I said, "No, that first word is sleep."  He was surprised,
and wondered why it was written so.
I said, "Perhaps they used to say slayape, but they say
sleep now; and in books there are a good many suclh
words.  Now I will rub out sl (I pronounced  this combination with one impulse of the voice) and put a w, and
say, now, what is that? "   "0, That is weep."  Now I rubbe(1 out the w, and put d.  He  imlnediately said, "That
is deep."  I said, "Now  you write sleep, and  under  it
put weep, deep, peep, keep, steep, sweep, creep." He did
so, at once, and then he took great pleasure in getting a
paper and lead-pencil, and writing the whole column,
w\hich, of course, he  never  forgot.  I proceeded  in  the
same manner, till he had not only written  all the  song,
but all the analogues of each word, - and it was wonderful
how soon he could read. The scientific habit of mind
wvhich was attained by classing the words  as he  learned
them,  has  shown  itself throughout  his  education.   He
never learned a so-called spelling-lesson, but he scarcely
ever  wrote a word  wrongly  spelled; and  it  has  been
a   uniform   observation  that  children  taught  on  this
method'always write without errors.  Each variation from
tlhe standard so strongly fixed in their minds makes a
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
great impression; and to write the words in groups, makes
these anomalies remembered in groups.
In my own Kindergarten, I give to my class "Mother
Goose's Melo(lies." They know many of them by heart;
but I make them sit in class, and each, in turn, read one
word, in order to teacht them to keep the place, and when
they finish a verse, I ask them to find some word, and
often make  it the  nucleus  of a group of words  of the
same kind, to be written upon the black-board and slates
as above. But I think it is a good plan, before giving a
book, to call their attention to the initial sounds  of  thin,
tteel, shin, chin, and ask them what letter stands for these.
Of course they will say they do not know. Then you can
say "There is none; for the people who made these letters
did not have these sounds in their language; and so, when
they came to write English, they put a t and h together to
stand for one sound; and c and h for another; and s and
h for another."
Lists of words should then be dictated and written: such
as thin, think, thing, thrift, thrill, thick, bath, lath, doth, sloth,
quoth,  pith, smith, fifth, filth, width,  depth, tenth, truth,
thresh, threshold, methodist, synthetic, pathetic, cathartic,
then, them, with, this, hither, thither, nether, tether, hitherto, farthing, withhold, brethren, char, chart, charm, chaff,
chant, larch, march, parch, starch, chest, chess, chin, chick,
chill, chit, chink, chintz, rich, chirrup, inch, pinch, clinch,
flinch, winch, finch, filch, milchi, clinch, trench, bench,
wrench, quench, shin, ship, sharp, shark, shed, shell, shelf,
shaft, shorn, shred, shrift, shrimp, shrill, flesh, mesh, fresh,
dish, fish, wish, harsh, marsh, sheriff, shiver, relish, cherish,
perish, freshet, finish, prudish, bluish, garnish, tarinish, varnish, blemish, refresh. Attention can then be called to the
words beginning with wh, which are pronounced (as they
were written in Saxon) by uttering the h before the w; as
when, whet, whelk, whelp, whelm, wherry, whiz, whig, whip,
whiff, whist, whisk, whirl, which, whimper, pronounced
hwen, hwet, &c.
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
I suppose I need not say that the considerationr of ole of
the extra consonants will be enough for one lesson.
The next step is to learn the diphthongs, that is, the proper
-which I consider the only-diphtliong,s. Make the children
pronounce oi, and see that two sounds are slid together; and
then let them write on their slates, in different columns, boil,
coil, foil, soil, toil, moil, spoil, coin, join, groin, point, joint,
joist, lhoist, foist, moist, cloister, surloin, exploit, void, &c.;
also boy, coy, joy, toy, cloy, loyal, royal, envoy, enjoy, &e.
Then let them pronounce the diphthong  ou, and write in
one column the words out, ouri, thou, loud, proud, cloud,
noun, bound,  found, hound,  mound, pound,  round, sound,
wound, bout, clout, flout, lout, gout, pout, rout, sprout, spout,
shout, snout, stout, mtoutli, southl, c(ouch, crouch, slouch, pouch,
vouchl, roundabout, bounty, county, amount, abound, scoundrel,
discount, expound, about, &c.; and in another, how, cow, bovw,
mow, now, vow, owl, scowl, biow, prow, howl, gown, brown,
crown, drown, cowl, fowl, crowd, clown, frown, vowel, towel,
trowel, prowess. Call attention to the proper diphthlong,, which
we write with what we call i long, (but it is no sound of ih
at all,) and wllich the Romans wrote as a diphthong with two
letters, ae and ai, pronouncing it as we do the i in ire.   Then
let them write in columns bind, find, grind, hind, blind, kind,
mind, rind, wind, violet, dialect, inquiry, horizon, &c.
This samc diphtionig is also written with the Greek y,in my, thly, cry, try, fiy, wrly, fly, ply, asylum, dynasty, petrify, signify, vilify, vivify, simplify, rectify, edify, notify, &c.
Call attention lastly to the diphthong yu, written first
with th-e letter u simply, as in unit, lhumid, fuel, cubic, stupid,
putrid,  mutual, funeral, singular, bitumen, acumen,  nltitLiment; and secondly with ew, as few, clhew, pew, new, mew,
mewl, eschew, sinew; thirdly with iew, as view; fourthly with
eu, as in eulogy, European, &c.; sometimes withl eau, as in
beauty and its compounds.
There  is no propriety in calling (aU a diphtlonlg, as it is one
sound, and not two sounds.  It is one of the extra vowels of
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
the English language, written when short with o  (tllough is
is no sound of o proper) a, aw, and oa.
And now we come to the consideration of the extra vow
els, beginning with this sound heard short in not, and long in
the name of a carpenter's tool, awl.
Explain that there is no character for this vowel in the
Roman alphabet, because the sound was not in the Latin
language,  and  then  proceed  to  show  how  it is  wnritten in various ways: first with an o, as in bob, cob,
fob, gob, job, mob, nob, rob, sob,  cock,  dockl, hock,  lock,
clock, flock, mock, pock, frock, rock, crock, shock, sock,
cod, hlod, nod, pod, odd, shod, rod, sod, trod, dofft off, of, (pronounced or,) cog, dog, fog,, hog, jog, log, nog,, doll, loll, poll,
on, don, ton, pond, fond, blond, won, fop, drop, crop, lop,
mop, pop, sop, top, chlop, shop, stop, swo), prop, ox, box,
fox, pox, moth, lotl-h, frothl, brothl, lot, cot, dot, got, hot, jot,
not, pot, rot, sot, tot, wot, grot, clot, shot, spot, boss, cross,
dross, floss, loss, moss, toss, gloss, cost, frost, lost, tost, bond,
fond, pond, pomp, romp.   Then  show that  it is written
sometimes with an a, as in all, fill, call,  hall,  gall,  tall,
wall, small, stall, ball, tlhrall, squall, squash, squad, squat,
quart, war, dwarf, scald, bald, salt, halt, swab, ward, sward,
warn, wairp, warmr, wand, want, was, wast, wash, swan, watch,
swamp, waltz, wasp; sometimes with au, as in daub, firaud,
gaudy, fiault, vault, paunch, craunch, laurel, haul, caul, maul,
augury, autumnal;'and sometimes with aw, as in caw, daw,
draw, haw, hawk, jaw, law, maw,  paw,  claw, straw, raw,
thaw, squaw, saw, flaw, awl,  shlawl, bawl, brawn, drawn,
awninig, tawny, awkward, tawdry, sawyer, mawkish, lawful;
also with oa in broad.
Another extra vowel, heard in the word man, is written.
in default of a character for it, with a, as in cab, dab, gaib,
jab, nab, hack, back, jack, lack, pack, rack, crack, cl-tck,
black, bad, gad, glad, had, lad, mad, pad, sad, shad, bag, cag,
fag, gag, hag, lag, nag, rag, crag, shag, sag, tag, wag, mall, shall,
am, dam, fiam, ham, sham, jam, an, ban, can, fan, clan, man
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
pan, ran, band, hand, land, stand, strand, grand, brand, cap,
flap, gap, chap, lap, clap, map, nap, pap, sap, tap, at, bat, cat, fat,
gat, hat, that, mat, pat, rat, brat, sat, spat, sprat, tat, vat. This
same vowel is heard in the word plaid.
A third extra vowel is heard in pun, and written generally
with an u; as cub, dub, hub, nub, rub, scrub, drub, tub, buck,
duck, luck, cluck, muck, pluck, suck, stuck, truck, tuck, chuck,
bud, cud, dud, mud, suds, stud, scud, buff, cuff, luff, bluff, muff,
puff, stuff, ruff, scuff, bug, dug, drug, hug, jug,  lug, slug,
shirug, mug, snug, tug, cull, dull, gull, hull, mull, null, scull,
gum, hum, drum, glum, plum, mum, rum, sum, bun, dun, gun,
pull, run, sun, tun, stun, shun, up, cup, sup, bump, crump,
dumps, gump, hump, jump, lump, mumps, pump, rump, us,
buss, fuss, muss, rush, crush, gush, hush, mush, tush, bust,
dust, gust, just, lust, must, rust, crust, but, cut, gut, l hut, jut,
nut, rut, tut, bunk, funk, sunk, drunk, trunk, hunt, put, blunt,
grunt, brunt, lunch, bunch, hunch, munch, puncllI, bulk, sulk,
skulk, gulp, pulp, gulf, tuft, bung, hungt,, lung, clung, rung,
stung, swung, strung, musk, rusk, dusk, tusk, busk, mulet,
buskin, musket, runlet, bucket, public. This same sound is
written with o in mother, brother, some, come, &e., and outi in
touch, and in rough, tou,gh, enough, in which gh sounds like ff.
The fourth extra vowel in English hlaving no character for
it is written, first, with i, as irk, shirk, dirk, kirk, mirk, quirk,
bird, gird, whirl, quirl, girl, firm, first, chirp, shirt, sir, fir,
stir, flirt, spirt, squirt, squirm, girdle, &c. Secondly, with e,
as in err, her, herd, term, fern, pert, wert, overt, clerk,
sperm, stern, insert, vermin, perhaps, perplex, persist, expert, divert, superb, sterling, verdict, pervert, ferment, fervent, servant, perfect, serpent, partner, sever, several, inter,
internal, firaternal, paternal, maternal, external, infernal, interdict, intermix, infer; and generally the final er, as silver,
toper, &c.   Thirdly, this vowel is written with o, as in work,
worm, word, worst, world, worth; and thie final orl, as in arbor, ardor, vigor, &C.  Fourthly, with an u, as in urn, burn,
turn, churn, spurn, cur, fur, blur, bui, )urr, spu r, curb, sub
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
turb, sotid, curd, surf, scurf, turf, turk, lurk, curl, furl, hurl, hulrAle; and the finals ur, or, and ture, as arbor, honor, perjure,
illjure, &c.
Another anomaly of English orthography is the silent  e,
at the end of so many words; as doe, foe, hoe, roe, toe, cue,
clue, blue, glue, flue, give, live, lucre, axle, noble, ogle, reptile, fertile, sterile, sextile, flexible, futile, missile, famine, jasmine, destine, plistine, frigate, senate, reptile, legate, pensive,
missive, active, captive, festive, motive, sportive, illusive, defective, objective, elective, invective, perspective, defensive,
expensive, preventive, retentive, progressive, vindictive, restrictive, instinctive, descriptive, explosive, corrosive, delusive, exclusive, inclusive, preclusive, intensive, palliative,
narrative, relative, privative, lucrative, intuitive, infinitive,
explicative, figurative, imitative, indicative, superlative, diminutive, retrospective, barnacle, spectacle, miracle, pinnacle,
article, parti(le, ventricle, edible, credible, flexible, audible,
enol)le, ignoble, sensible, senile, juvenile, feminine, egl,antine,
multiple, dissemble, assemnble, quadrille, clandestine, intestine, determine,  illumine,  calibre,  ferule,  marble, pebble,
treble, tremble, nibble, quibble, scribble, nimnble, meddle, peddle, kindle, spindle, fiddle, riddle, griddle, quiddle, middle,
twinkle, gargle, single, mingle, sparkle, speckle, sickle, tickle,
trickle, dimple, simple, pimple, ripple, triple, pickle, grizzle,
little, brittle, spittle,  whittle, nettle, settle,  kettle,  startle,
tinkle, sprinkle, valise, marine, ravine, maclhine, Alexandrine,
creditable, and other words having the final syllable ble.
This silent e final is found also in words which have the
dip)hthliong i; as bide, glide, hide, chide, ride, side, slide, tide,
wide, bride, fife, life, wife, rife, strife, bribe, jibe, dike, like,
bile, file, mile, pile, tile, vile, wile, smile, while, style, dime.
time, mime, chime, riime, prime, crime, dine, fine, thine,
line,  nine,  mine,  pine,  spine,  shine, wine,  swine,  twine,
vine, kine, chine, pipe, wipe, ripe, gripe, snipe, tripe, stripe,
type, vie, dire, fire, hire, mire, shire, siue, tire, lyre, wire,
spire, squire, tribe, scribe, bribe, jibe, bite, kite, mite, smite,
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
kite, write, white, trite wise, lithe, blithe, writhe, strive,
thrive, drive, wvive, alive, size, prize, agonize, paralyze, sym
pathize, symbolize, &c.
E may also be considered silent, it is so obscure, in many
words ending in el and en; as harden, bidden, golden, gar  den, sicken, quicken, thicken, stricken, broken, spoken, token,
swollen, stolen, open, kitten, mitten, smitten, bitten, given,
molten, driven, woven, frozen, mizzen, dizzen, tinsel, morsel,
swivel, drivel, novel, model, level, bevel, eleven, seven, &c.
U and e are both silent in the words rogue, brogue, fugue,
eclogue, prologue, apologue, epilogue, intrigue, fatigue, syna  gogue, demagogue, pedagogue, decalogue, catalogtie, mysta  gogue, picturesque, burlesque, grotesque, pique, casique.
U is silent in guess, guest, guard, gaunit, flaunt, taunt,
daunt, avaunt, launch, staunch, laundry, laundress, liquor,
piquet, coquette, paroquet, exchequer, palanquin, guarantee,
gauntlet,  saunter, guilt, guitar, built, build, biscuit, four,
pour, court, gourd, mould, bourn, soul, moult, shoulder, poul try, coulter; and w final, when preceded by vowels, ex except when ow stands for ou diphthong, is silent.
I is silent in fruit, suit, recruit, bruise, cruise, heifer, sur feit, forfeit, counterfeit, Madeira, and y in they, prey, whey,
obey, heyday, convey, survey, purvey.
W is silent in bow, low, mow, row, sow, tow, slow, blow,
glow, flow, snow, row, crow, grow, throw, bowl, owni, blown,
flown, grown, sown, mown, growth, owner, toward, below,
lower, owner, disown, alrow, barrow, farrow, harrow,  Inar row, fallow, gallows, hallow, shallow, sallow, tallow, bellow,
fellow, yellow, shadow, burrow, furrow, billow, pillow, willow,
widow, minnow, winnow, follow, hlollow, morrow, sorrow.
A   is silent in boat, coat, goat, doat, moat, groat, bloat,
throat, loath, oath, boast, coast, roast, coax, hoax, oak, soak,
cloak, coach, poach, roa(ch, broach, goad, load, coal, foal, goal,
slhoal, oaf, loaf, foam, loam, roam, loan, moan, groan, soap,
- oar, boar, soar, board, hoard, hoarse, hoary, cocoa, gloaming,
encroach, reproach, approach.
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KINDERPARTEN GUIDE.
I'The silent consonants are k before n - (doubtless pro.
nouniced( in Saxon times,) in kit, knee, kniell, kneel, knave.
knife, knack, know, knead, knives, knock, knuckle.
Also, g before n, as gnat, gnaw, gnarl, gnome, gnash, reign.
deign, sign, consign, assign, design, condign, benign, impugn,
oppugn, arraign, campaign.
Also, g before in, as phlegm, paradigm, &c.
Also, elb in schism and drachm.
Also, 1 before in, k, v, f, and d- as in alms, balm, calm,
qualm, calf, half, talk, balk, stalk, chalk, walk, fi)lks, salve.
halves, calves, could, would, should, almond, salnon.
Also, p before s, and  sh, as in pshaw, pseudo,  psalm,
psalter.
Also,  b  before  t, as debt, doubt, subtle, indebted, undoubted, &c.
And b after m is silent, as lamb, janib, climb, tomb, womnb,
numb, thumb, criumb, dumb, plumb, comnb, hecatomb, catacomb, currycomb, coxcomb, succumb.
Also, n after in, as column, solellin, autunin, condemn,
hyimn, &c.
And d before t in stadthlolder.
K is often unnecessarily used after c, and t before ch.
T after s is silent in listen, glisten, hasten, chasten, christen,
fasten, moisten, thistle, "whistle, bristle, castle, nestle, pestle,
gristle, jostle, justle, hlustle, bustle, rustle, epistle, apostle,
mistletoe, forecastle.
C after s is silent in scion, scent, scythe, muscle, sceptre,
science, sciatica, sciolism, scissure, scission, scissors, scenery,
transcend, descend, descent, viscid, crescent, proboscis, fascinate, viscera, ascetic, excrescence, corpuscle, acquiesce, coalesce, rescission, abscission, putrescence, ascendency, susceptible, irascible, viscidity, eviscerate, lascivious, resuscitate,
scimitar, scintillate, phosphoresce, deliquesce, effloresce, effervesce, transcendent, condescend, condescension, convalescence,
concupiscence, reminiscence,  acquiescent, iridescent, arborescent, susceptibility, scenography, sciographly.
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
The initial h is often silent, as in hour, herbage, huge,
nonest, honor, humor; also, after r, rhomboid, rheum, rhyme,
myrrh, ghost, aghast, catarrh, rhubarb, catarrhal, rheumatic,
dishabille, rhapsody, posthumous, hemorrhage, &c.
W is silent before r in wry, write, writhe, wrath, wreath,
wreathe, wrong, wretch, wrigh,t, wrist, wriggle, wrinkle; and
befobie h in who, whose, whom, whoop, whole.
What is especially puzzling about the English orthography, is the unnecessary use of the same letter for different
sounds.  Thus s does not always sound s -  but sometimes
sounds like z. (If all the sounds z were written z, it would
make our language look as full of z's as the Polish.)
After all the sonorous labials, gutturals, and dentals, we
cannot help sounding z-  as cabs, hods, rags, etc.; also, before m, as heroism, paroxysm, somnambulism, materialism, &c.;
in monosyllables eniding with a single s, as is, was, as, has,
his, hers, ours, theirs; also, in daisy, reside, desire, noisy,
btosom, visage, closet, resign, music, prison, reason, pansy,
tansy, disown, preside, pleasant, peasant, prosaic, present,
presence, Tuesday, measles, cosmos, pleasure, measure, treasure, leisure, disclosure, enclosure, composure,  kerseymere,
resolute, devisor, revisal, reprisal, basilisk, deposit, courtesan,
raspberry, residue, venison, disaster, division, plausible, feasible, basilicon, presbytery, resolute, deposit, president,  visionary, perquisite, exquisite, composite, resentment, carousal,
espousal, disposal.
Instead of c or k we have in many words cli - as Christ,
chasm, chyle, conch, chrome, ache, scheme, school, chaos,
epoch, chorus, chronic, echo, anchor, tetrarlch, troclhee, archives, scholar, schooner, monarch, hierarch, chronicle, chrysalis, technical, mechanic, patriarch, pentateuch, bacchanal,
saccharine, chamomile, eucharist, character, archetype,  orehiestra, catechize, catechism, alchemy, chemistry, schedule,
paschal, ehaldee, stomach, lilach, sumach, chimera, heptarchy,
lachrymaL
All the above words are from the Greek, and so are those
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
in whi(ch f is written with ph, as sylph, lymph, spheie, sphinx,
graphic, phalanx, phantom, orphan, dolphin, camphor, painphlet, sulphur, zephyr, hyphen, trophy, philter, phaeton, spheroid, alphabet, emphasis, prophesy, prophecy, caliphate,
sophistry, &e.
The sound of S is substituted for the Latin guttural (hard c)
in acid, placid, facile, tacit, process, precinct, docile, recipe,
illicit, cinder, fleecy, census, pencil, precept, accede, recede,
concede, cite, pacify, lacerate, macerate, taciturn, oscillate,
precede, implicit, explicit, decimal,  precipice, specify, specimen, abbacy, imbecile, indocile, solicit, felicity, atrocity,
ferocity, rapacity, tenacity, v racity, vivacity, voracity, audacity, precocity, simplicity, lubricity, rusticity, municipal,
medicinal, rhinoceros, publicity, diocesan, mendacity, mendieity, duplicity, elasticity, pertinacity, incapacity, electricity,
multiplicity, authenticity, duodecimo, anticipates, necessary,
countenance, abstinence, and all other words which end in
ce.*
The sound of j is substituted for that of g (the sonorous
guttural) in germ, genus, genius, angel, gentile, pigeon, dungeon, surgeon, sturgeon, bludgeon, curmudgeon, sergeant,
pageant, vengeance, stingy, dingy, &c., manger, danger, strangelr, religion, badger, budget, gibbet, giblets, allegiance, plagiarism, gibe, (sometimes and better jibe;) all words ending
in ge, as bilge, huge, barge, large, and all ending in dge, as
wedge, ledge, pledge, hedge, sledge, fledge, ridge, bridge,
midge, drudge, judge, lodge; all words ending  gious, as prodigious, egregious, sacrilegious, &c.; or in geous, as courngeous, &c.; or in age, as cottage, plumage, foliage, &c.
The extra consonant which we sometimes write sh, is written variously; 1st, simply with s, as in sugar, sensual, and
sure, and its compounds; 2dly, with ss, in cassia; 3dly,
* Nearly every one of these words are derived from the Latin, but they
come into the English language from the Norman-French in which they
were already corrupted. All nouns in ce are from Latin nouns in tia, and
ought to have been written with se instead of ce, except peace anrd voice
which comec from the Latin pace and voce.
91
lill'i' 
KINDERGARTEN GIJIDE.
with  i, in lmagiciun, logician, patrician, optician,  musicians
academician, geometrician, mathematician; and in a multitude
of words ending in ious, as specious, gracious, spacious, avai'icious, auspicious, pertinacious, judicious, suspicious, loquacious, audacious, sagacious, fallacious, capacious, rapacious,
tenacious, delicious, malicious, pertinacious, officious, capricious, feroc(ious, atrocious, precocious, voracious, veracious,
and perhaps some others; also, in words ending with al, as
official, judicial, provincial, commercial, artificial, beneficial;
and in sociable, associate, appreciable and appreciate, enunciate, dissociate, exeruciate, depreciate, emaciate, denunciate,
renunciate, pr-scient, omniscient; 4thly, with ce, in cetaceous,
filaceous, herbaceous, caduceous, cretaceous, testaceous, crustaceous, argillaceous, gallinaceous; 5thly, with ti, in factious,
fractious, captious, vexatious, facetious, licentious, factitious,
propitious,  flagitious, nutritious, expeditious,  superstitious,
adventitious; vitiate, expatiate, ingratiate, insatiate, initiate
partial, martial, nuptial, initial, essential, substantial, credential, potential, pliudential, solstitial, impartial,.penitential,
equinoctial, influential, reverential, pestilential, providential,
circumstantial, ratio, and all words ending in tion, as ration,
nation, station, notion, diction, fiction, fiiction, fraetion, potion,
action, junction, suction, section, mention,  lil)ation, vacation,
vocation, location, exhalation, installation, implication, flagellation, appellation, revelation, education, &e.; 6thly, with eh,
as chicanery, seneschal.
In many words is a superfluous t, as in hitch, ditch, pitch,
witeh, switch, stitch, flitch, stretch, sketch, etch, fetch, wretch,
notch, botch, hotch, potch, watch, latch, match, batchl, catch,
hatchl, patch, hutclh.
Ill some words is a superfluous d, as badge, ledge, sledge.
And a superfluous k is very common.
Some  of the  above  substitutions  are  perhaps  natural
enough, in consequence of the faet of extra sounds, having
no special characters for them in the alphabet, which was
pkonography for the Latin language only.   But there are
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KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
the same perplexing changes with respect to the regular
vowels.
Thus, in the case of e, when it is long, as ill fete,-we
find it written in five ways,-  ay, ai, ea, ey, and simply a.
As 1st, aye, day, bay, fay, gay, hay, pay, may, nay, say,
ray, dray, bray, gray, fray, play, pray, array, assay, allay,
display, portray, dismay, mislay.
2d. Aid, braid, laid, maid, paid, afraid, staid, bait, gait,
wait, bail, fail, hail, jail, mail, nail, pail, quail, rail, sail, tail,
wail, frail, flail, snail, trail, avail, entail, assail, fain, gain, lain,
main, pain, rain, vain, wain, train, grain, brain, stain, sprain,
swain, drain, dainty, portrait, saint, faint, paint, quaint, plaint,
aim, claim, maim, tailor, jailer, traitor, sailor, raiment, caitiff,
plaintiff, prevail, contain, chilblain, sustain, upbraid, declaim,
exclaim, proclaim.
3d. Break, steak, great.
4thly. They, convey, survey, &c.
5thily.  Any, many, legation, aspargaus, virago, volcano,
verbatim, arcanum, potato, octavo, tornado, and words  ending in ace, ade, afe, age, ake, ale, ame, ane, ape, ase, ate,
athe, ave, ary, aste, aze, base, case, face, grace, lace, mace,
pace, ace, bade, fade, shade, made, wade, safe, chafe, cage,
sage, rage, gage, stage, page, wage, plumage, foliage, cottage,
bake, cake, lake, make, quake, rake, take, sake, brake, flake,
bale, dale, gale, hale, male, pale, sale, tale, whale,-vale, bane,
cane, fane, lane, mane, pane, sane, wiane, vane, bathe, lathe,
swathe, cave, gave, lave, nave, pave, rave,  drave, grave,
shave, stave, crave, ate, bate,  fate, date, gate, hate, late,
mate, pate, rate, sate, crate, prate, plate, state, skate, slate,
waste, baste, haste, paste, chaste, taste, came, blame, dame,
fame, fi'ame, game, lame, flame, name, same, tame, frame,
shame, cape, gape, nape, rape, grape, drape, crape, blaze,
daze, gaze, haze, maze, raze, craze, graze, glaze, honorary,
actuary, tributary, sedentary, primary, salutary, solitary,
burglary, contrary, &c.
93 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
So for the sound of i long, as in marine, we have sonme.
times e, sometimes ee, sometimes ea, sometimes ie, as   1st.- He, she, we, me, mete, glebe, tl-heme, breve. veto,
hero, zero, negro, ether, theist, deist, edict, fever, lever,
metre, zenith, extreme, supreme, impede, serene, coni-ene,
gangrene, austere, cohere, adhere, revere, severe, interfere
persevere, secret, complete, concrete, secrete, obsolete, the
orem, torpedo, inherent.
2d. - Fee, bee, lee, glee, flee, free, tree, see, three, eel, feel
keel, reel, peel, wheel, deeml, seem, keen, green, queen, teens,
ween, deed, feed, heed, meed, need, reed, seed, bleedscreed,
leek, meek, sleek, seek, week, cheek, beef, reef, keep, sweep,
weep, deep, peep, sleep, beech, speech, leechl; spleen, compeer, between, beseech, discreet, steeple, vaneer, career, tuireen, moreen, careen, redeem, agreed, settee, rizee, degree,
agree, decree, grandee, linseed, peevish, esteem, devotee, legatee, referee, repartee, patentee, absentee, privateer, muleteer, overseer, volunteer, chanticleer, domineer, gazetteer, genteel, indiscreet, steelyard, thirteen, &c.
3d.- Pea, tea, yea, flee, plea, bohea; each, beach, breach,
bleach, teach, meach, peach;  bleak, sneak, streak, speak,
squeak, beak, peak, creak, teak, creak, freak, tweak, weak,
bead, lead, read, plead, deaf, leaf, sheaf, beam, ream, dream,
cream, stream, team, steam, seam, deal, heal, leal, meal, peal,
seal, steal, veal, zeal, bean, dean, lean, mean, wean, yean;
heap, cheap, leap, reap; ear, fear, hear, blear, clear, smear,
near, spear, rear, drear, year, beard, east, beast, feast, least,
yeast, eat, beat, feat, heat, meat, neat, peat, seat, wheat,
bleat, cheat, treat, heath, sheathe, breathe, heave, weave, leave,
treacle, eagle, eaglet, squeamish, dreary, weary, creature,
impeach, anneal, appeal, reveal, endear, appear, arrear, besmear, defeat, release, increase, decrease, beneath, riepeat4 entreat, retreat, bereave, bequeath, cochineal, eatable, easter'ly, deanery.
4th. Where the e is silent; either, neither, seizure, surfeit,
94 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
inveigle, forfeit, mullein, fief, chief, thief, brief, grief, field,
shield, wield, yield, fiend, priest, belief, sieve, grieve, belief,
achieve, retrieve, relieve, aggrieve, cashier, brigadiei, grenadier, cannonier, cavalier, cordelier; also receive, conceive,
perceive, deceive, deceit, conceit.
The sound of u is also written oe, o, ew, oo, and ou
(silent o), shoe, canoe, woman,  chew, brew, screw, threw,
shrew, sew, dew, few, jew, mew, new, pew, coo, too, loo, woo,
tattoo, bamboo, hindoo, food, good, hood, mood, rood, stood,
wood, book, cook, hook, look, nook, rook, took, cool, drool, fool,
stool, wool, spool, boom, broom, doom, bloom, groom, loom,
gloom, room, boon, spoon, coon, swoon, loon, shalloon, moon,
picaroon, noon, soon, poltroon, cocoon, platoon, festoon, monsoon, baboon, coop, droop, hoop, loop, poop, stoop, boor, moor,
poor, goose, mnoose, noose, boot, coot, foot, hoot, loot, moot,
root, soot, booty, roof; behloof, aloof, reproof, proof, groove,
soothe, smooth, tooth, booth, boost, roost, pantaloon.
It is also written with a silent o, as in tour, croup, group,
youth, wound, souvenir, surtout, cartouche, contour, amour,
uncouth, accoutre, moustache, tambourine.
I have said that I give to my scholars "Mother Goose," as
soon as they have mastered my first "Nursery Reading-Book."
But this is for recreation; while all the important work is
making the groups of exceptional words upon their slates, at
my dictation.  Sometimes these can be  written on the blackboard, and copied into little books, by the children. When
there are several ways of writing  the same sound, I make
several columns, and put at the head of each a word thus:
Ii,    e,              ee,            ie,
pin,           me        s,         rsieve
and then, mentioning different words, ask in which column
they are to be put?  The children are greatly interested in
this exercise; and the effect of it is, to mnake them know the
precise spelling of the words.   When  a column is finished,
they are called on to read the words, and sometimes to repeat the group by heart. 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
I have not put all the words in the language in my group)s;
but enough for the purpose, - they can be filled up fiom the
teachller's and children's memo,'ies.
Tihe greater the anomaly, the more easily it is remembered,
because the specimens are few, and the anomaly amuses.
Thus, I sometimes begin (after I have shown them how to
write the extra vowels and consonants, and the diphtliong(s,)
with the word phthisic; asking them all to write it on their
slates as they think it should be; and then writing it myself;
as it is, on the board. So I ask them to write throgiyh, which
they will write thru.  I then surprise them  by writing it
on the black-board, and putting in the silent vowel and consonants.  Then I ask them to write bouyh; and then though,
and dough; then trough, which they will write trothl; then
laugh, diaught, tough, which they will write with f for the
gh.  In reviewing the lesson the next day, all these words
can be written in their manuscript books, with a lead-pencil.
Thle book, which is the best one to follow Mother Goose, and
perhaps might precede it, is Mrs. Mann's "P rimer of Reading
and Drawing." This begins with about twenty pages of
words that can be read at once by those who have used the
"First Nursery Reading-Book," because the Roman alphabet
is a phonography for it aill.  Mrs. Mann's book is full of
sentences that have beautiful ineanings, and it contains some
attractive stories.  It has been out of print a long time; but
a new edition is about being put to press.
But any book can be used by a person of judgment.  The
mother of the WVesleys always taught her children to read
in the Bible fiom the beginning.
In good reading, words are not only to be pronounced, but
to be read with expression; and this end is gained by its
coming after ol)ject-lealning. Unless a child conceives what
a word means, he cannot have the appropriate emotion, and
without the emotion he cannot read with expression. In
hurrying children on to read faster than they can understand
and feel, permanent bad habits are acquired, and especially
9 f, 
KINDERGARTEN GLIDE.
the habit of reading without sufficiently filling the lungs
withl breath; and this not only makes disagreeable reading
for the hearer; but is very injurious to the health of the
reader.
Dri. H. F. Briggs, of New York, who teaches elocution as
a means of health, proposes that there should be exercises
of vocalizing,-  uttering each vowel sound to express all
kinds of emotion which the special vowel will express, and
in all quantities and accents.  Children are all naturally
histrionic and will be amused in doing this.  The vowel
sounds  educate  emotions  in those who  utter them, and
awaken them in those who hear.  When pronounced with
feeling, they come from the chest and abdomen and not firom
the head merely, and so give a general internal exercise that
is healthy.   Bronson's "Elocutionist" will give a teacher
mucl-h assistance in this branch, tlough he has not worked
out the thing so completely as Dri. Briggs has done.
It is proper to remark to those who measure the success
of a school by the rapidity with which it teaches a child to
read, that the thorough attainment of the art here proposed,
requires time.  But when attained, much is gained besides
the mere reading, - namely, development of body, mind, and
heart.
Besides, to those who are hereafter to be taught other
languages it will be found of great advantage to have associated the vowel sounds of ark, ebb, ill, old, aind rue, with
the characters a, e, i, o, u, respectively. See for the proof of
tlis, some articles on " Kraitsir's Significance of the Alphabet," published in "The North American Review" for 1849.
The First Nursery Reading Book7 and Mrs. MANN's Primer of Reading and
Drawing being out of print, Mr. E. STEIGER is about to print their substance
together with the foregoing chapter as Preface to a Primer of Reading and
Writing, for the Intermediate Class.
97
0 
KINDERGARTEN  GIJIDE.
CHAPTER XII.
GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGES.
MRS. MANN has suggested, in the last part of this volume,
the first exercises in grammar. But grammar is the most
abstract of sciences. There are at present few children
sent to Kindergartens, who are not too young for the abstracting processes of classing words into parts of speech.
But it is a lesson of orthography, to lead the children to
make the few changes which there are in English words,
to denote grammatical modifications. For instance, let them
write cat, and then say-"If you are talking about more
than one cat, what do you say?"  They will say cats.  Let
them write at the head of two columns - cat and cats. After some exercises on words adding s only, tell them to write
box, and ask, "What if there are more than one?"  Then
go on and get groups of other irregularities, as changing f
into ves, y into ies, &c.  Having  gone over the nouns, and
told all their changes, for number, also letting the children
write a list of the nouns that do not change for number, go
into verbs, and give the few personal terminations thus: tell
the children to write, 1 cry.  Then say, "Would you say
George cry?" "No," they will reply, "George cries." I say,
"I have a book; but should I say, Geo,ge have a book?"
They will say, -" No; George has a bot'k." Also by ask ing questions whose answers shall give the comparison of
adjectives, these can be written; and finally the past tense
and past participles of irregular verbs. In my own Kin dergarten I have given to about half a dozen children who
98 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE. 
know how to read fluently, and can print very pretti l             y 
little LATIN.  It is but a quarter of an hlour's lesson, and
is conducted  in this wise: -Write down am.  Now, that
means love in Latin; but if you want to say he loves you,
add at, which makes amat. Write down ar. That means
plough; if you want to write he ploughs you write what?
A bright child said arat. Now write down cant. That
means sing.  Now  if you want to say he sings, you add
what?  at, then it is cantat.  But if you want to say to
love you must add are to am. They all said amare. Now,
if you want to say to plough? arare; and to sing, cantare.
Now make the whole sentence, he loves to sing.  What is
it lie loves?  They all wrote amiat cantare.  Now write he
loves to plough. They wrote amat arare. I took the hint
from Harkness's edition of "Arnold's First Lessons," and gave
them six variations on the four regular conjugations, the
infinitive and the third person singular of the present imperfect and future indicative, and Latinized their own names;
and they were greatly entertained to improvise sentences,
the most complicated of which was, 0 Helena, Anna loves
to dance, Maria loves to sing. I give them no grammatical
terms, but only English meanings, and shall not give any
cases but the nominative and vocative at present; but I think
I shall teach them to vary verbs throughout all the conjugations. It is perfectly easy to give so much of Latin grammar to children in the Kindergarten, because it will not
involve the use of a book. They can have a manuscript
book into which they can write their words and sentences,
in print-letters.
French, so far as it can be taught by merely conversing
with the children, is legitimate in the Kindergarten; also
any other inoderr language. But let there be no books
used, nor should l'rench be written by the children, for it
will confuse their English spelling, and not, like Latin words,
aid it. In my Kindergarten, about a quarter of an hour a
flay is given to making French phrases by all but the small
*. I    e..    s..: -,: 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
est children. They have also been greatly interested in
learning the French words of a play, which is a useful exercise in pronunciation. I will give tl-he words here:
L'ESTURGEON  (Sturgeon).
Commere Perche,
Je vous salue!
Comment vous portez-vous?
LA PERCHE (Perch).
Je me porte tres bien, et vous?
Quelle est l'heure pour le ragofit
Fait de sole et de morue?
LA SOLE ET LA MORUE (Sole and Cod).
Commere Perche, je vous salue;
Nous autres ne serons pas un ragouit.
L'ESTURGEON.
Commere Baleine,
Comment vous portez-vous?
LA BALEINE (Whale).
Tres bien, et vous?
L'EsTURGEON.
Pouvez-vous sauter en haut
Comme moi,
Au dessus de l'eau?
LA BALEINE.
Je ne puis sauter si haut;
Mais je saurais faire jeter de l'eau.
L'ESTUR GEON.
Commere Hareng, je vous salue,
Dites moi, je prie, ou allez-vous?
LA  HARENG  (Herring).
Je vais chez moi, chercher les jeunes,
Alors nous irons a l'oceau.
100 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
L'ESTURGEON.
Comnmere Broclhet, je vous salue!
Comnrere Brochet, que mangez-vous?
LE BROCHET (Pike)
Je mange des truites
Pour mon dejeuner,
Et des eperlans
Pour mon diner.
L'ESTURGEON.
Commere truite,
Je vous salue!
Dites moi, je vous prle,
Qu'avez-vous?
LA TRUITE (Trout)
Ah, par exemple,
J'ai bien grand peur;
Voilh le brocheton
Meme si de bonne heure I
L'ESTURGEON.
Commere Requin,
Je vous salue!
Que faites-vous hla
Aupres du bateau.
LE, REQUIN (Shark).
Je veux manger
Le petit gar~on,
Qui peche dans l'eau.
Pour l'eperlan.
L'EPERLAN (Smelt).
Petit gal'on,
Je vous salue!
Voila la Requin
Pre's de moi, et pres de vous.
(Tous les poissons se plongent)
101 
KINDERGARTEN GU,DE.
Tile play consists in each fish being represented by a
child; and the little boy also.  As the Sturgeon asks her
questions, she jumps up and down, and c,3 the fishes answer,
they jump al, and down, till all are in motion. But, before
it is played, the whole must be learnt, -which is nearly a
winter's work.
In the Kindergarten connected with Madame Kriege's Normal class in
Boston, German is taught at the same time with English; or at least as soon
as the children can read English with tolerable fluency.
And Mrs. Kriege would doubtless, if desired, teach the Normal  scholars
German; but to learn German they would need to reinma.n in the trainingschool more than six months, the time she decides'- be the least possible
for preparation to be a Kindergartner.
-I 0)2
4 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
CHAPTER XIII.
GEOGRAPIIY.
MR. SHELDON, in his "Elementary Instruction," has show.r
the way in which we may begin to teach geography without
books.  To proceed in that way, up to the point of drawing
all maps, is feasible in a Kindergarten, if the children stay
long enough.  My  children learn a great deal about the
geographical locality of animals, from the natural history
lessons given over the blocks.  A "Picturesque Geography,"
compiled by Mrs. Mann, from the most brilliant descriptions
of travellers, may,by and by be printed, and it would be
a good book to read to children. It should be read slowly,
requiring them to tell what it makes them see in their fancy.
This comprises a great deal of physical geography, and is a
desirable precursor of political geography, which  will be
studied to most advantage by and by, with history.   (But
history is altogether beyond the Kinderg,arten.)
As soon as children know how to read, we advise that they
be taught topography by Mr. Theodore Fay's atlas, according
to his method,-  which secures that they learn the maps by
looking at the places as represented, and not by words, which
can be learned witho'lt conveying the image, or an idea; and
are easily forgotten.
103 
KINDERGARTEN GUIDE.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SECRET OF POWER.
IN the foregoing pages I have done what I can, to make
a Kindergarten Guide; not only for the use of those who
undertake the new education, but in order to give parents
a definite idea of the value of the new education to their
children, and how they may aid rather than hinder its
legitimate effect. Parents who live in places so isolated as
to make a Kindergarten impossible, may also get some hIints
how to supply the want in some measure, by becoming themselves the playmates of their children.
I think it will be readily inferred, from what I have said,
that the secret of power and success is gradualisn.  Any)
child can learn anything, if time and opportunity is given to
go step by step. Then learning becomes as easy and agree-'
able as eating and drinking. Every degree of knowledge,
also, must be practically used as soon as attained. It then
becomes a power. makes the child a power in nature; and
prepares him, whiel his spirit shall come into union  with the
God of Nature, and Father of Humian Spirits, to become a
power over Nature -  "for the glory of God and relief of
man's estate."
104 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
LETTER I.
MY DEAR ANNA, -  I had heard of your intention of
keeping school before you wrote to me, and had rejoiced for
the good cause as only one can do who knows your peculiar
qualifications for it.  I have been full of the purpose of answering your letter, to tell you how joyfully I look forward
to the realization of some of my wishes thlrough your help,
such as that of perfecting some beautiful plan of education,
which you and I, with our faith in perfectibility, might invent, but which I could not make alone. When we parted
many years since, in one of those beautiful porticos of the
temple of knowledge, where we had together been warmed
by the fires of genius, and where our sympathy (perhaps I
should say yours) had rekindled a certain torch of enthusiasm
that had been long quenched by adversity - (I sadly fear it
is smouldering again under the ashes of fi'eshly-buried hope)
-I little expected to meet you again in my favorite walk,
made fragrant by the bireath of little children.  If we had
chanced to meet often enolugh since then, we should have
found much to reunite us, for my best teachers have been
certain wise mothers; - indeed, the only schools in which I
have ftound the instruction I needed, have been the nurseries
and firesides to which I have been admitted, often through
my loving interest in the little flowers that bloomed around
them. I could tell you, if I dared, how many times I have
wished I could be queen of such kingdoms, for the sake of
the younger subjects of those realms, for I have learned
quite as much firom the mistakes as from the wisdom I have
witnessed.
My desire to gather all I could, from the efforts and ex
perience of others, once tempted me on an exploring expedition through our muchl vaunted Primary Schools.  What
5 ~ 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
would you say if I were to tell you that I met with but one
spirit kindred to my own in the whole circuit?  Among all
the hard, knotty women, young and old, whom I found presiding over youthful destinies in this extensive organization,
I found one lovely young creature who loved all her scholairs,
and who, by the power of this love, contrived partially to
mitigate the horrors of benches without backs, long rote
spelling-lessons, crowded and ill-ventilated rooms, tedious
periods of idleness in which little darlings had to sit up
straight and not speak or fidget (which last I consider one of
the prerogatives of childhood).  Her face radiated sunshine,
her voice wias music itself, and yet firm, and she often varied
her routine of exercises, prescribed by the primary school
committee, with a pleasant little story to illustrate some principle she wished the children to act upon.  She was the only
one who had interpolated a regular entertaining lesson into
the routine, and this she effected by nipping some of the
prescribed lessons five minutes each, so as to save twenty for
her little treatise upon some interesting subject of natural histoly.  I quite agreed with her that it was a species of petty
laiceny for which she would be acquitted in the courts above.
I could describe sad, heart-breaking scenes of youthful
misery and  terror, injustice and  daily  cruelty in these
schools. In several cases my indignation was so much
aroused that I was obliged to leave the room to avoid showing  my  excited feelings.   My  sympathy  for suppressed
yawns, limbs suddenly outstretched, or wry faces made behind the teachers' backs; tearful eyes, sleepy little heads
nodding on fitt shoulders, was so great, that I often smiled
upon them when the teacher did not see me. I returned
to my own little fiee republic, after spending one of my
vacation weeks thus, more resolved than ever not to coerce
babes into the paths of knowledge. Many a spine had its
first bend there, I doubt not, and many a child learned to
hlate school in such scenes of' discomfort. I have no doubt
there were among the teachers many conscientious ones who
did as well as they knew how under such a system.  If such
,,06 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
, iools could be presided over by genius, and such geniuses
should be left to their own judgment about what to teachl and
how to teach it, the experience of Mr. Alcott in his first Infant School among the poor of the North End proves that
primary Education can be made for all, what we can make
it who have the advantage of teaching in our own parlors.
It is astonishing to me that greater improvements have
not already been made in this public school education.
Often when I am sitting in my pleasant school-room with
these favored children of wealthy parents around me, my
thoughts recur to those crowded rooms, and the only remedy
I see is, that school committees shall be formed of womnen. I
believe many of the women I saw teaching in those primary
schools would do better if left to their own instincts about
the children. They have no liberty whatever, except such
stolen liberty as I mentioned in the case of Miss E.   What
do men know about the needs of little children just out of
nurseries? If I were one of the school committee, with
carte blanche, I would  have "stir-the-mush" or "puss-illthe-corner" among the exercises, with singing every hour,
and marching and clapping of hands.  And I would have
well-ventilated rooms instead of such hot, suffocating places,
warmned by large iron stoves.
And as I see the poor and neglected children in the
streets, or in their own wretched houses, and how they live
and grovel in low practices, gradually losing the sweet innocence of inftntile expression, and becoming coarse and violent, even brutal, I wonder still more at the torpidity of
society upon this subject.  Nothing is such a proof of its
selfishness as this ueglect.  Nothing makes me feel so keenly the need of a new organization of tlhings.  I do not like
the thought of merging the sacred family relation in communities where all live together in public as it were, but it
seems as if something might be done for the children of the
needy that is not yet done. These poor city children are
sequestered even  firom  the influences of Nature.   How
107 
IMORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
strange that the more favored individuals should not seek
every means to give them what culture they can have amid
these brick walls. So much might be done by the help of
the salient imagination of childhood, that we should be
helped more than half way by blessed Nature herself: I
often take an unfashionable walk inside the Mall on Sunday
afternoon, when the Irish people bring their babes to play
upon the green.  I think it is the best institution in the city,
and it would be a good idea to appoint a Commissioner in
each ward to bring all the street children there every day
and watch them while they play, and see that all have fair
play. If school committees were formed of women, I think
such an office might be created.
What faith we need to forgive heaven for the things that
are!  " How much that is, is not right," I am sometimes
tempted to exclaim.  I have no idea, however, that Pope
meant anything but the eternal Is, when he wrote " Whatever is, is right."  It would have been better for superficial
thinkers, if he had never said it however, for I often hear it
quoted to defend what  I consider  the  inarring, not  the
iiiaking of God's plans.  I have no doubt there is a remedy
for every individual case of misery in this world, if eyes
were only open to see it, but this couching process is the
needful thing, and that God has left us to think out for ourselves.  We know that there are millions who live and die
in ignorance of all that makes God God, or a Father.  To
these hlie is only the being that created them, and they may
well ask, " Why did he make us? to suffer? to sin?"-  for
they are conscious only of the irregularities of that creation
by which they are tortured. They never see the wonderful
adaptation of things to each other;-  they know nothing of
the harmonies of their being with the being of others, or with
Nature. The sort of education they get in cities, where life
is stirring briskly around them, and each one seems scrambling to get the best morsel for himself, only makes them
worse, unless something is done to levoke order for them oul
108 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
of this chaos. Their belief in Deity is a superstitious feeling
about some supernatural power that exercises dominion over
them, and subjects them to an imperious necessity.  In the
agony of death they cry aloud for fear; for they know they
have made their fellow-men suffer, and death is a mirror
that holds them up to themselves. Conscience breathes upon
the glass, and in the dissolving picture its countenance is
recognized, - but this is a base fear, and cannot be called an
aspiration. To make sure the foundations of faith in God,
one must know what God lhas done for him. Man must be
made acquainted with his ownii nature before God's benevolence can be realized.  If I did not -think ignorance was at
the root of all human evil, I should not have any hope; but
though its kingdom is very large, no despot can be so easily
driven from the throne. I hope all this does not seem irrelevant to the matter we are discussing; it brings me nearer
to the point I wished to reach. I believe in that redemption
which knowledge and principle combined bring to the soul
that has slumbered in darkness. Its recuperative power is
its most glorious attribute.  The  tendency of the character
is so often imparted in earliest youth, that if this is ri,ght, if
the first impressions of life and its author are the true ones,
the rest of the education may almost with impunity be left
to what is called chance.  But if a child lives to the age of
eight or ten years, without a ray of light which will explain
his existence and position to himself; or lead him through
Nature up to God; it must be difficult to inspile him afterwards with the true filial feeling toward his heavenly parent. And if, by a longer period of darkness, he has found
that in a certain sense he cal  live without God in the world,
he will stand a poor chance of realizing that he cannot do so
in ordinary life after the period of impressible youth is past.
I believe the soul will to all eternity have renewed chances
to redeem itself; but I cannot easily give up this first life.
When I think of the beautiful adaptations of the world to our
wants; of the exquisite gratification the knowledge of thy,
109 
0MORAL CULTUIRE OF INFANCY.
brig.s to the mind; of the harmonies of our existence( with
all other existences; and of tile power of virtue to tr'iumph
over the earthward tendencies of this double human nature,
and to sacrifice the present to tl-Ie future good; - when I
think of what the perfect mian can be,   I cannot be ieconciled that one should live and not have  the keys to unloek
this part of the universe.  Childhood is in our power.   The
helpless little beings must be taken care of. The world waits
upon the babe, as has truly been said; and is not this one
of those beautiful provisions of Nature which show us how
" There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
.ough-hew them as we will!"
"The  child is father of the man," indeed; and while the
heart bounds lightly, let us teach this youthful father the religion of Nature, which he can understand. When he comes
to riper years he will be ready to comprehend the religion of'
the Spirit, without danger of superstition or bigotry.
One obstacle to such instruction in Christendom is, doubtless, the very prevalent feeling that the study of Nature leads
to scepticism about revealed religion.  This injury has been
done to religion's self by the fact that a few learned men have
been scoffers at Christianity, or rather at what has been accepted as Christianity, and it is the association of their names
which is the foundation of the prejudice. The discrepancy
also between the discoveries of science and the imagery of'
the Hebrew poets who sang about creation, is another cause;
but since Mr  Silliman has ventured to say that there piobably were a great many deluges, the ice of that difficulty has
been cracked in our community.
I see no reason why simple religious lessons, like those
Mr. Waterston gives in his Sunday-school, may not be given
in the public schools.  You will say, we must have Mr. Waterston to do it, (and that is true indeed, now,) but vlwhen the
public mIind is ready for such instruction, such teachers will
come up to supply the demand.
My first intrioduction to natural science was in listening tc
110 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
instrucetioni of this kind given to children older than myself,
under the sanction of a mother's authority.   They were lessons in Astronomy and Chemistry, given before there were
any elementary books upon such subjects; and they so kindled my imagination, when a very young child, and gave me
such a realizing sense of the presence of God around me,
whom I had already known as a Heavenly Father, who took
care of me and of all men, by night as well as by day, that
from that time I never lost the child's sense of nearness, or
felt any of those fears of the supernatural which haunt the
imagination of uninstructed childhood.  And yet I was in
the habit of listening to the stories of an old crone who believed in tl-he witches of Salem, where she had always resided,
as fir'mly as she believed in the God that made her. When
I first heard the remark that the study of Nature tended to
make men atheistic, I resented it with indignation, though
but a child.
This, then, is the kind of teaching that I think adapted to
childhood. It need not be exclusive, but let it predominate.
Other faculties, beside the emotions of wonder and veneration, may be cultivated side by side with these.  Memory,
comparison, judgment, and calculation may be strengthened
by a judicious and well-proportioned teaching of the elements
of languages and nurmbers, thus insuring the tools for future
acquisition.  But this is not direct food fbr thie soul.  The
young heart is full of love for its parents, of delight at the
knowledge of new things, and these affections nmayv be guided
into adoration of Supreme Intelligence; this love of knowledg,e turned to its source, as easily and  naturally as the
stream flows firom the mountain to the sea.
Side by side with this higher cultivation I would teach the
eye, the hand, and the ear to practise, and to work readily.
The pencil should ever be in the hand, the picture before
the eye, -  especially when the objects of Nature cannot be;
and sweet s)unds in the ear.  The love of activity is suffi.
cient aid without the debasing influence of emulation.  Facts
II] 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
are divine teaching, and a clear perception of them the basis
of ali theories; therefore they should be clearly and sharply
presented and discriminated. When children are led to see
their own ignorance, let them understand that we, who appear to them the concentration of all wisdom, (" Pallas-Minervas," as one of my little readers of Homer called me one
day), are also ignorant in presence of the universe, which is
full of things to be known, and they will not be discouraged,
but only more eager to learn what they can of these worlds
of knowledge; and will think of those still to be conquered
rather than of any little acquirements of their own, thus
escaping the dangers both of despondency and vanity. Let
children lead this happy life till they are eight or nine,
and let it be so full and blessed by love, sympathy, and the
play of the creative imagination, that it will lift them over
the rough places for many more years, while they shall build
stone walls and towers of facts, as starting-places for fiuture
flights.  It is the observation of every experienced heart that
the most hardened sinner may be more easily redeemed, if
he can be reminded of anll infancy of puriity and golden sunshine.  If true, it is an argument for prolonging thl)at infancy
as far as possible, that the recollection of it, if unfortunately
dimmed, may the more surely revive in those deep moments
of existence, when the soul is thrown l)ack upon itself for
support and consolation; whether they be moments of guilt
or of sorrow, of disappointed ambition or disappointed hope,
of wounded pride, or wounded fatith.
I am aware that the public schools are the hope of our
land and its glory, and schools are the best world for children to grow up ill when properly regulated; but I wish
they need not be so large, so that there need be but one sovereign in each.  Still more desirable is it, however, that
none but living souls should ever have the privilege of uiilocking the treasures of knowledge and thought for children.
It is not enough to have deep and varied acquirements,
but there must be a native delight in communicating, and a
112 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
sympathy- a living sympathy -  with every human  being.
These alon,a will awaken the love of excellence and call forth
the powers of the mind. No one should ever have the care
of children who does not love them because they are children, or who can ever feel the undertaking an irksome task.
I always regret to see the occupation entered upon as a last
resort for a livelihood, or by those whose spirits can no longer
respond to the touch of childhood. It must be a strong
spirit that, in such instances, can rise again to meet the
bounding hopes of fresh being.  It is like going back to
principles, when our experience fails to answer our just demands for highest happiness.   In the faith of childhood,
which knows no doubt, wve cani see that one expeiience is
not the test of what our birthright is; and while we do not
neglect the warnings we have had, we must never think that
our single experience has exhausted the source whence truth
flows.
I believe, too, that the germn of everything is in the human
soul; and this faith seems to me essential to a teacher.  Education is not the creation, but only the bringing forth of these
germs, and that alone is a true education which brings them
forth in fair proportions.  To make children learn somethino
tangible, if I may so speak, and to keep them quiet, are the
usual aims of a teacher, and success in these is the usual
test of his value; but they seem to me not to be his highest
merit.  I have often waited long, and I have learned to wait
patiently, for anything like results. There is a certain harmonious play of the faculties, to the production of which I
direct my efforts, and which I watch for with intense interest
in my children, (for they seem to me mine,) and this car
never be cultivated if one is bound by any formulas. I consider myself fortunate that my own mind has always enjoyed
its birthright of fireedom; that no iron habits have bound me
to airy mechanical system. Mly advantage is a negative one,
perhaps, for I never had much training of an intellectual
kind, my physical education being tl'e chief object in my
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MOR.AL CULTURE OF INFANC;.
childhood. I was at least saved firom such formality as enabled the teacher of a distinguished school to say in my presence, that "the less boys understood or were interested in
their lessons, the better the discipline of study."  This was
surely making the process as mechanical a one as the motions
of a trip-hamrmer.  But there you have an immense advan:
ta,e over me.  You have been well trained, and yet measured by no Procrustean bed, for your most living teacher
never wore any fetters herself, and could not impose any.
Am  I not right?  Your summer retreat has been  "twice
blessed" in having such advantages of highest education,
added to the influences of Nature, which you so dearly love.
You are bound to open your eyes as beamingly as she does,
upon all who come under their glance, to showe your gratitude
for such teachings. I well remember your frequent descriptions of those "large orbs" that presided over the most interesting part of your youthful training. I have seen those
eloquent eyes myself, and can conceive their power when
animated with the inspiring pleasure of pouring the treasures of thought into a receiving soil.  And you are not the
only one whom I have heard discourse of this source of inspiration. Your best study, too, was in the season when the
reins are generally relaxed. The time when I received most
benefit from study, solitary and unaided, and even stolen as
it was, (for the family decree was that, I being an invalid,
must not study,) was when I pursued my lessons in an orchard, and generally in a tree, or sitting in the baby's breakfastchair, in the midst of a shallow, rushing river, utinder a sweeping willow. I was brought up so much out of doors, that
walls were oppressive to me. Indeed, I look back upon it
as the only time of my childhood when any variety of influences acted upon me at once; and one which I ought not to
omit to mention, was a much admired friend, who knew how
to point out to me, leaf and flower in hand, what riches of
knowledge were stored up in Nature for her children.  I do
not know but what my love of these hidden treasures was
lilt 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
stimulated by the fear of being deprived of them. Owingr to
this fear I probably arrived earlier in life at that point which
I have always contended was the great point in educatioi,,the time when one takes it into one's own hands. But I do
not think that your "two outward advantages" of motherhlood and education, constitute all your qualifications for the
task you have undertaken. I know what soil was warmed
into fruitfulness by the rays shed from the sun of genius.
Now, you are bound to fulfil my hopes, and if my own path
is not smoothed by your help, I shall call you to account for
my disappointment.   I will give you my small experience,
and tell you how I found out methods, because they were not
practised upon me; and I bid forth your power of deducing
theories and improvements that will cheer us both onward.
For want of more interested auditors, I often pour out my
plans for educing order out of the little chaoses committed
to my care, to ears that stretch to their utmost for politeness'
sake, and for my sake, perhaps; but not for the thing I wish
to impart.
LETTER II.
MY DErAR ANNA,-  I will begin by telling you that I can
do the thing better than I can describe it. You must let me
tell you stories out of my school-room to illustrate the wisdom of my proceedings. I can hardly tell you my enjoyment
of the fresh affections of children, of their love of knowledge (of new things, as it always is to them), of their ready
apprehension of principles, of their quick response to truth,
their activity and buoyancy, their individuality, their protmise. Sometimes I look forward for them, and tremble at
what awaits them, when I see tendencies to evil or weakness.
I know that every ill in their various paths may  be made
stepping-stones to highest good; but the doubt whether they
will be made so, the certainty of the long and sharp paiins
of conflict, the dying down of hope, (that happily, I know,
115 
IMORAF, CULTURE OF INFANCY.
can yet rise Phcenix-like firom its own ashles,) these, and
many perils by the way, that my broodir.ng heart points out
to me, often oppress me, and I could wish them spared.
When it is remembered how man has marred the work of
God, how different his part ought to be from what it is, and
how long it must be before the individuals of the race can
work themselves free from the crust of evil that has grown
over the whole, I think I may be pardoned for these heart
aches; but I know they are not my highest moments.   It
has been deeply said that pain is the secret of Nature. I
have that within me which responds to it.  I must feel it for
others as well as for myself, and shall constantly do so when
my faith is perfected.  I am grateful that I exist, for I can
look upon what we call this life as only the beginning of a
long career, in which I shall ever look back and rejoice that
I have been a human being, whatever may be the ills that
I suffer from just now.   The consciousness of the capacities of expanding intellect and of glorious affections, assure
me that the destiny of the soul will compensate for the heritage of woe, which this life is to many of us. Thus I try to
look beyond the conflicts I see in the future of these little
beings who now dance joyfully around me.
You will wonder, perhaps, that one can conceive such a
personal interest in the children of others; but it will come
to you in time. You have truly said, that it needs all the
tenderness of a mother, and her vital self-forgetting interest
in the result, to enable her to find the true path of Nature
from the beginning, and remove all obstacles to free unfolding. But many a mother sacrifices her elder children, as it
were, to this discovery. As the germ of the maternal sentiment is in all women, relations may be established between teacher and child that may take the place of the nat.
ural one, so far as to answer all the purposes required. Such
a relation is the only foundation upon which a true education
can go on. It leaves no room for a division of interests between child and teacher, which division alone has the power
v
116 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
forever to destroy all the best benefits of the communication
of mind, and is generally, indeed, an effectual barrier against
any communication at all. Such a relation as I would have
does away with every feeling of reserve that might check
the full and free expression of thought and feeling.  A
young child should turn to its teacher, as well as to its
mother, with the undoubting confidence that there is a wealth
of love equal to all occasions. When my little scholars call
me  "mother," which they often do from inadvertence, I
feel most that I am in the true relation to them. I have
in some instances been preferred before the mother, because
I was the fountain of knowledge and even of tenderness to
starved and neglected little souls. A very sensitive child of
seven years old, who always said "can't," when any task
even the simplest, was set before her, but who was, nevertheless, so morbidlv conscientious that she was miserable not
to be able to accomplish anything that she thought her duty,
took an opportunity one day, when she was alone with me,
to make me the confidant of her domestic sorrows, asking
me to promise I would not tell "mother."  This was rather
dangerous ground; but I knew something of the domestic
life of the family, and that the tender mother of it was often
exasperated almost to madness by the cruel tyranny and exactions of the father, and I promised. Then, with burning
cheeks and trembling voice she told me that they did not
love her at home; that her father despised her; that her
mother urged her beyond her strength to meet his requirements; that her eldest sister treated her with harshness and
ridicule because she was so "stupid," and that her younger
sisters did not like to play with her because she was cross.
I saw at a glance why she always said and felt "can't," and
I stood awe-struck before the endowment of conscience in
the child which had stood the test of such trials as these, and
made duty the central point of her being, for that I had
already known to be the case. I sympathized with her, as
you may well imagine. I told her what I knew of the vir
117 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
tues of her mother, whom  she tenderly loved, and whose
love for herself she felt, but could not enjoy, because its natural expression was lost in the impatient endeavor to hold
her up to her father's unreasonable requisitions.   From that
hour she was my child, and could work happily in my presence.  I told her that I knew she alvways wished to do righi-t,
and that I should always be satisfied with whatever she
could accomplish; that if I required too much of her, she
only need to say so; that she must not try to do anything
more than was pleasant and comfortal)le, for only thus could
she preserve her powers of mind, which were good, and
which would work well if they could work happily.  Througll
my influence she passed much time away from her ungenial
home, with friends in whose society she could be happy and
unrestrained, and the burden was lightened so far that she
was in the end able to justify herself, and take a happier
place in the family circle; but she was irretrievably injured
both mentally and morally, learning to become indifferent
n lere she could not assert herself, and the battle of life will,
I fear, ever be a hard one to her.
In such cases one feels the true spirit of adoption, and this
should be the standard for the general relation. I do not
feel satisfied till the most timid and reserved are confiding to
me, smile when they meet my eye, and come to me in the
hour of trouble; nor till the most perverse and reckless take
my reproofs in sorrow and not in anger, and return to me
for sympathy when they are good.
Nor am I willing to have anything to do with the education of a child whose parents I am unable to convince of my
vital interest in its welfare, and into whose heart I cannot
find an entering place, while at the same time I speak candidly of faults; for there is a sort of magnetism in the cooperiation of mother and teacher; and its subtle influence, or
the reverse, is distilled into every detail of the relation.
Sometimes I find parents who do not know enough of their
children to interfere at all, and then I am willing to dc
118 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
what I can to supply the deficiency. The school should only
be the larger family for them, and the lessons learned should
be the least good they receive from the daily routine. Still
worse off are those who are educated at home by servants
who rule in nurseries, and so long as they keep the children
quiet are not questioned much as to the nimeans by whlich they
do it.  Quite aggravated cases of oppression have  come
under my observation, whichl I have discovered by noticing
the sway held over children  by these hireling,,s, who brin
them to and from school.  I think I should never risk this
evil in a family of my own.
To seize every opportunity to unfold thought in a natural
way, to consider duty, to awaken and keep alive conscience,
and cultivate a mutual confidence and forbearance between
the young, should be the aim in such a little world as a
school. The flow of happy spirits should be unchecked, and
no deep memory of faults should remain with a child, unless
they are of the deepest dye, such as falsehood and selfishness. A serious invasion of each other's rights should be
made a prominent subject of blame, but the only retribution
of which a child should be made to have a permanent consciousness, is that of the injury, or the danger of injury to
itself, and I firmly believe if this can be made apparent to a
child, it may be the strongest possible motive to keep it in
the path of rectitude. It seems to me indeed the only legitimate motive to present to a human soul.  I do not mean a
selfish regard to the welfare even of one's own soul, but that
regard which includes the welfare of others as well as of one's
own.  I do not like to say to a child, "do not so because
if you do I cannot love you," for that is an outside motive,
but rather "' because you cannot grow any better if you do
so and then you cannot respect yourself or be worthy of any
one's love.  "Do  not grieve dear mother by doing wrong,
for then she cannot be happy." " Are you not afraid if
you do so, that by and by you can do something more
naugohtty? "   "Is there not somethling in you, that makes
119 
MORALI CULTURE OF INFANCY.
you feel very uncomfortable when you have done wrong?
That is the way God  has made  us, so that we may grow
better and not worse."   I have arrested very naughty doings
by such remarks, where defiance of human authority was
very strong and determined.   I have awNakenred a similar
fear in many a child by relating what a dread I had in mv
own childhood of growing worse.  Nothing is easier than to
,make a child false by frightening it or blaming it too much;
but nothing will make a child so ingenuous as to convince it
that you are interested in its progress, and would like to
help it cure its own faults.  But we must often wait long
before a child is capable of taking this view so fully as to be
influenced by it, in opposition to the dictates of passion and
the weakness or immaturity of intellect; experience teaches
us that the volatile, the obstinate, the self-indulgent, the
crafty, and even the indolent must be influenced by the
apprehension of a nearer penalty or the power of a more
direct authority than that can always be understood to be.
Self-control is often the first virtue to be cultivated, and a
fear of present evil must sometimes be the instrument of its
cultivation. A distinguished and most successful superintendent of an insane hospital once assured me, that in the
majority of cases, self-control was all that was needed as a
remedy for insanity.  I asked him if he had ever known of
insane children? Hle said he had known many; and that
it usually appeared in the form of unmanageableness.  If we
concede that all evil in our race is partial insanity (and if
we believe in the soul, we must finally think that the crust
of organization into which it is built for a time is the only
obstacle to its right action, and to put one parenthesis within
another, which I know is not canonical, does not this point to
the duty of providing against evil organizations?), why
should we not treat all evil as insanity should be treated.
and believe that if the power of self-government is cultivated,
the soul will take care of itself?  In this connection I always
take health into consideration; for one wise mother of my
120 
MO)RAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
acquaintnnce suggested a new idea to me by once telling me
thait for certain faults in her children she always gave mnedicine, being convinced that the difficultv lay in the stomach.
I am always very careful to disarm all fear before I use
any authority.  I find much timidity in children, as if they
lad been harshly dealt with.  I have seen fearful looks of
terror in little faces when I have approached them to enforce
: reqrest, and in such cases I either take them gently in my
arms or draw them close to me with a caressing motion,
which is sometimes all the punishment they need, if you will
allow me such an Irishism. They are at the same time convinced of my earnestness, and disarmed of all opposition,
and when I approach another time, if occasion requires,
I can lead them to another sent or even out of the room,
and enjoin obedience without exciting either fear or opposi-O
tion. I never threaten any penalties, but execute my own
requisitions decidedly at the moment,  "because  this is the
i'hlt thing to be done."  I think it is not well to threaten
for next time; and where  punishments  are mild, such as
changing a child's seat, or putting it into a room  alone, or
going to its mother and talking the matter over in presence
of the child, a repetition of the offence may be avoided.  I
have one child in my school who would crouch down upon
the floor, if opposed, or required to do any thing she did not
wish to, and go into a sort of hysteric, protesting that she
was dying. I laughed at her a little at first, but I soon saw
hlie was very obstinate and  very passionate, and several
times on such occasions I took her up in my arms, though
she was pretty heavy, and carried her to a bed, where I
laid hler down and left her to enjoy her performance alone.
After a while she would sneak down into the school-room
again looking very much ashamed, but I took no notice of
this, and after two or three experiments she was entirely
cured.   I learned afterward  that she had practised  this
device successfully upon a doting mother and her nurserymaid, wh-o really feared she would die.  They were much
121
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MORAL CULT[URE OF INFANCY.
6blige(i to me for having  the courage to meet it resolutely.
She.as become a charming little scholar, for she is as full of
talent and affection as of self-will, and has been sent, by my
urg(nt entreaty, to learn  calisthenic exercises, where she
expends the extra fluid which, when bottled up by inaction,
works mischief in her. She was formerly unable to tie her
cwn bonnet or draw on her own gloves, but in six montihs
she has so changed that she can dress other children as well
as herself, and climbs the banisters and perches herself fearlessly upon the tops of the doors, greatly to the terror of
other little children of luxury like herself.
We  should never prevaricate or in any way deceive a
child for the sake of an immediate result, for that is not
being true to principle, but we may be allowed sometimes,
in our characters of mothers and teachers, to act as that
"near Providence," which the mother has so happily been
said to be. In God's government, some penalty, though
often a hidden one, is the consequence of every transgression of law; and do we not in a small measure act to the
child as his representatives? It is a dangerous power to
have dominion over another soul, even for a time; but since
it is actually given to us, are we not bound to make use of
it, conscientiously and tenderly, but still to make use of it?
I once knew a father who thought, because hlie was not himself perfect, that he had no right to exact obedience firom
his children. His retribution for this morbid conscientiousness was most deplorable. One child became insane from
want of self-control, which he would not allow her to be
taught; and another failed to have any sentiment of duty
toward God or man, but passed many years of life without
apparently knowing that any duty was required of him.
Worldly prosperity in his case only increased the evil, for
he was never obliged to make an exertion for himself or
others.  I have never heard that he was  vicious, but lie
could not live even with the parent who had allowed  hinm
to grow up unrestrained.  The parents surely are desiagned
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
to represent to the child the Heavenly Father whom they
cannot see, and who must later become an object of faith
through that beautiful analogy of parental love and care.
I agree too with one of the best and wisest, who has said
that it is not necessary to reward children for doing riight,
since God has so made man that doing right is, like loving,
its own reward.  Only those who have thought deeply can
make such discriminations as these, yet to what noble mind,
when the thing is once said, does it not seem base to give
an outward reward for a lofty action?  And is it not a brotheily act to help our fellow-pilgrims on their way; by giving
a friendly warning when a stumbling-block is in the path?
I think children can be made to understand that a judicious
punishment is a friendly warning, if not the first time we
administer it, then the second, or the third, or even the
fiftieth time; for as we should forgive, so we should warn
our brother, "not seven times, but seventy times seven."
I learn to feel that if I am actuated by the righlit motive in
my  dealings with their souls, (and one learns to be very
conscientious in meddling with them,) my pupils will find it
out sooner or later; and then  they will see all that I have
done, as well as all that I may do, in a new light.
I have a bright little fellow in my school who had acquired a sad habit of sucking his thumb.    I thought he
actually began to grow thin upon it. I had checked him
many times, and he was good about it, but the habit was
too strong for him.  One day I drew on a little conversation about helping each other out of difficulties, which all
agreed to; and all professed themselves willing to be helped
and to listen to warnings.  I then said there was one in the
school whom I wished to cure of a bad habit, and I had a plan
for doing it, but its success must depend upon whether he was
willing, and upon whether the rest would be really friendly
and not laugh at him, or tease him, but help him in every
way they could. They were very desirous to know who and
what it was, and very sure they would do all that was de
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MORAL CULI,TURE OF INFANCY.
sired.  I then spoke to little W, who was only six, or
it most, seven years old, and asked him if he was willing to
let me tie that hand behind him that he might be cured of
sucking his thumb; for I knew of no other way.  I told him
it would try his patience; for it was his right hand, and he
would have to be dependent upon others for many things,
and oft,n would find it very inconvenient and  annoying.
After I had impressed him fully with the importance of the
matter, he consented, and the rest of the children promised
to be attentive to his wants. I never tied the hand behind
him till lie put the thumb into his mouth; but it had to be
done every day for a fortnight. He bore it, and all the
inconveniences, like a hero, and not one child forgot to be
considerate and helpful. He was cured of the trick, and he
has been an object of great interest amnong, his companions
ever since, because they helped to do him good.
Perhaps, dear A, you will think I dwell longer than
necessary upon this subject, knowing as we do that the usual
fault of schools is too much penalty, and  too much  low
motive;  but you and I are surrounded by those who are
inclined, by their tendency of thoughlt, to forget practical
wisdom; who, in their lively sense that immortality begins
now, and is not a distant good,- a sort of reward for welldoing, are in danger of forgetting that we are to be educated
by circumstances, and that circumstances will educate us,
whether we direct them or not, in this beginning of our
long career.  Those who have most faith in the soul and
its ultimate power to work itself free fiom all impediments,
are most apt to despise all the minor aids that may help its
first steps.
Th-en there is another class of persons, who do not believe
in the soul enough to think education of any use. They
cannot very well tell you what they do believe; in truth
they have no faith in anything, but finding it hard to control
circumstances, and seeing instances of great failure where
there  have  been  most appliances, (they do  not consider
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MBIORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
whether these appliances were wisely administere(d,) they
give all up to chance, and believing neither in innate
ideas nor in the use of means, rest satisfied with a low
standard of action, and go through life without ever having
a glimpse of anything better than thlemselves.  Indeed,  if
they see anything betteri, they understand it so little, that
they think it must be a delusive appearance, and that ale
earnest view of any subject is extriavagance, or even insanity.  But I do not think so great a want of faith is very
common.
This is too long a letter, so good-by for the present. When
I think you are rested from this, I will write again.
AI.
LETTER III.
MY D)IeA!t ANNA, - Let me introduce you to my little
filmily. It consists of twenty children, some of whom have
been under my care for three years.  These latter are eight
in number, and firom nine to twelve years of age; then I
have six who are not seven years old, who knowv how to read
pretty well, but-who study no lessons more difficult than a
simple bit of poetry, the names of a few places on the map,
a list of words from the black-board of the parts of a flower,
or an interlined Latin fable, which I give them thus early,
because Latin is one of the elements of our language, and its
forms are so definite that it gives definiteness to ideas:. These
children print, write, draw firom outlined forms and blocks,
as well as firom their own fancies, and listen to all sorts of
information which I give them orally, and which they recount
to me'again when questioned. I tell a great many stories
over maps, which are, in my dominions, not only lines
running hither and thither with a few names interspersed,
but real mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas, which I clothe
with verdure, and people with all kinds of animate forms,
such as beasts, birds, fishes, and Willianm Tells, or other in
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
teresting individuals and  tribes.   I have a book, called
"Wonders of the World," which is my Aladdin's lamrnp, and
when I take it down, little hands are clapped and bright eyes
glisten.
But I must not forget to mention my other six, who are
sweet little buds of promise as one can well imagine; who
love to hear stories about all living thiings, from oysters up
through the more intelligent shell-fish that have heads as
well as a foot, to small pink pigs and their motheirs, butterflies, birds, dogs, horses, cows, and fellow-children; and to
learn that their stockings are made of wool that grew on the
back of a lamb, their shoes of the skin of a calf, their ribbons from the cocoons of a moth, the table of a tree, &c., &c.
These little people were committed to my keeping directly
out of their mothers' or their nurses' arms.   I am always
diffident about taking the place of the former, but rejoice to
rescue babes firom the care of the latter.
The first thing to be taught these, is how to live happily
with each other; the next, how to use language. It is not
necessary to wait till they can read before we begin this last
instruction. They love dearly to repeat the words of simple
poetry or of poetic prose, (Mrs. Barbauld is my classic for
babes,) and it is curious to see how synthetical are their first
mental operations, and how difficult they find it to disentangle
the words of a short sentence, which evidently has hitherto
been but one word of many syllables.  Names of things can
be made to stand forth distinctly before other words, because
the objects of the senses do; but when I first ask children of
three or four years old to make sentences and put in the and
and, their pleasure in recognizing the single word is even
greater, and they will amuse themselves a great deal with
the exercise, running to me to whisper, "just now I said
the;" or, " (",harley  said and."  If the printed word  is
pointed out at the same time, it is still more interesting,
because then it becomes an object of the senses, a real thing,
just as much as the book it is printed in.  You know I take
i26 
M4ORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
,he royal road to the attainment of this art, and tealch words
fi-rst, not letters.  I find this a much better as well as happier
way, for a word is a whole host of thoughts to a young child,
and three words in a row a whole gallery of pictures.  Bird,
nest, tree! If a child has ever played in a meadow, or even
in a garden, or sat on a grassy bank under the window, or
has seen pigeons fly down into a city street, what subject of
endless conversation does this combination of things present!
The book that contains such words, and perhaps a story, of
which they form a part, is itself an illuminated volume, and
is immediately invested with a charmn it cannot lose, for what
child (or man) was ever tired of thle thought of a bird, or a
tree, to say nothing of that more rare and mysterious object,
a nest?  The warbled song, the downy breast, the sheltering
wing, the snug retreat, have such an analogy with the mother's carol or lullaby, the brooding bosom, and the beloved
arms, a child's dearest home, that every sentiment is enlisted,
and a thousand things, never to be forgotten, may be said.
There is no need of pictures on such a page as this.  I well
remember the shining pages of my childhood's books,-  a lustre
never emitted by white paper alone. I doubt not the ancient
fancy of illuminating the works of great minds with gilded
and scarlet letters grew out of some such early association
with printed, or rather written thoughts; -for printing was
not known then.
I believe you do not approve of this method of teaching to
read; but I cannot help thinking a variety of experience like
mine would make you a convert to my mode.   I claim to
have discovered it, and the bright little six years old rogue,
upon whom I tried my first experiment, learned to read in
six weeks, and every word was an experience to him, for I
made up the lessons as we went on from day to day right
out of his little life.  He would scream with delight to see
what he called his words on the sheet upon which I daily
printed a new lesson. I have no doubt every name of a
thing looked to him like the thiing itself, for his imagination
127 
MORAL CULTUIJRE OF INFANCY.
was a very transmuting one.  You would  have  been as
amused at his antics over the word  " and " as I was.  I
only introduced such oysters of words occasionally into my
gallery of pictures, but he never forgot any such useful members of society, though I think he could not have made pictures of them. One great point is, that children are always
happy to read in this way; and to work their little brains
against their will, seems to me cruel. It is quite an effort
for them to learn to observe closely enough to distinguish
such small particulars even as words, with which they have
such vivid associations, and altogether an unnatural one to
learn arbitrary signs, to which nothing already known  can
be attached.  Until I was convinced that this was the best
method, I always found myself instinctively helping innocent
children along, through their first steps in leading, by means
which, at the time, I half thought were tricks, and unsafe in,
dulgences.  I feared that I was depriving them of some desirable and wholesome discipline, such as we often hear of
in our extreme youth firom nursery-mnaids, who tell stories
of parents who whip their children evely mnorning that they
may be good all day. But I will never again force helpless
little ones, of three or four years old, to learn the alphabet
and the abs, until every letter is interesting to them from the
position it holds in some symbolic word.
When letters are learned in the ordinary way, they are
often associated with some image, as a stands for apple, b for
boy, c for cat; and these associations may be so many hindrances (certainly in the case of the vowels) to the next
step in thie process, because they must all be unlearned before the letters can be applied to other words.  In our language there are so many silent letters in words, so many
sounds for each vowel, and the alphabetic sound of the colisonants is so different from their sound in words, that I do
not care how late the analysis is put off.
After a while, I string columns of little words togethler, inre
wvhich the vowel has the same sound, as cant, imal, paci, tttn,
128 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
and let tliese be the first spelling-lessons; but I prefer, even
to this mod(le, that otf letting children write from dictation the
words they are fhamniliar with on a page.   One dear little boy
came to school three months before hle wished to read, or to
look at a book, except fi)r the pictures.  At last he came into
the class without an invitation, and has learned very fast
and can read better than some children who have read
longer.  Hlie is a perfect little dumnpling, as gay and lhapp)y
as a larik all day, and I would  niot for the world make it a
task for him to use his brain, thus risking the diminution of
his rotundity.   He is as wise as a judge, though lie has not
lost his baby looks; and lie might be made to reason subtly
at an early ag,e I doubt not; but I hope all such powers
will be allowed to slumber peacefully as yet.  lie is in the
mean time leasiniug to read slowly; to print, to draw lhouses,
to repeat poetry, to sing soings about birds, bees, and lambs,
and to have as much  fun between these exercis(s as I can
furnish him  witlh, -thie latter in another  al)artment, of
course.   I have taken no pailis to teach him his letters.  I
have a great lepugnance to letters, with their many differelt
sounds, so puzzling to the brain; -but one day, fin(ditig, he
knew some of them, I pointed to g, and asked him if hlie knew
the name of it.  lie said "grass," which was the first word
in which lie lhad seen g.  So w lie first called " watei," for
the same reason.  I gave  hiin their sounds,  but not their
alphabetical names.  I was obliged to give him  two sounds
for g, one hard, one soit, and he soon knew all the consonants
-by their powers.   I hope hlie will not ask me anythling about
the vowels at present.*
* All these difficulties with which I wrestled so many years in my character of champion of childhood, are entirely solved and done away withl by
the more recently introduced mnethod, - introduced by authority of a distinguished philologist, of teaching the Italian alphabet, and always calling
c and y hard, as the old Romnans are supposed to have done.  T'his miode is
made practicable in the "First Nursery Reading-Book," and the last edition of the "Priimer of Reading and Drawing." Abundant experience showse
that reading taught in this way leaves nothing to be unlearned in English,
Ad o
129 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
I also cut out the words children first learn, as soon as
they can put together a few in short sentences, and let them
arrange them to correspond with the sentences in the book.
I have devoted one copy of my Primer to this purpose, and
keep the words thus separated, and pasted upon card-board,
for such use.
I know all children learn to read, and some children learni
rapidly, but I am always interested to know at what cost. It
is a very important question, I assure you. One may not
realize, at the time, the evils consequent upon the difficulties
first encountered. Tile actual injury to the brain stands first
among these. We grown people know the painful sensation
consequent upon too long and too fixed attention to one subject, even in the arrang,ing of piles of pamphlets which we
are endeavoring to classify. The brain whirls and expeiiences chills, and the whole body feels it. So with children,
when made to read too long, before the eye has learned to
discriminate words easily.  The child is told that it is naughty,
if it does not continue as long as the teachler's or the mothler's
patience holds out (as soon as that is exhausted, the lesson
is sure to be over). How false this is! A little child
should never be required to do aniything intellectual  as a
duty.   It should not be required even to love as a duty,
much less to think. Both should be made inevitable by the
interest inspired; its mental efforts should only be sports.
Its habits of self-control, its kindness, its affection, should be
cultivated, and this rather by example than by precept.
When mothers do not succeed in teaching their children  to
read, because they have not the resolution to force them to
it, they often say to me, "Do teach the child to read, it
will be a great resource;" I reply, if I think they will be
and teaches an analvsis of words into letters which contributes very muich
to the ease of the subsequent study of European languages, to which the
sounda of the letters of the Italian alphabet apply almost without an exception. Experience upon this subject has given me confidence in the general
rule of never teaching exceptions to anything until the rule is well uriderstood and mastered.
1;3c 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
ieve me, that their instincts have perhaps been wsiser than
thIeir understanding; but if I see that they are unreasonable,
I reply that I will try, reserving to myself the privilege of
trying just as much as I please, and no more.  I can general!y make the effort to read a voluntary one, if I do not find
any previous painful associations to do away.  If I do, I
wait patiently till I can replace them by others, and in the
mean time make books vocal of such enchanting things that
the desire will bubble up in the little nind, through all the
rubbish that has gathered over it. The pleasure of reading
together from a black-board, on which the letters should l)e
printed with great exactness and perfection of form, in order
to resemble those in the book, often gives this desire.
One little fellow, whose perceptive powers are sharper
than those of my dumpling, reflects upon himself more, and
although equally fat, appears, from a certain anxious expression on his face, to have had some trials. He says his sister
sometimes "hurts his feelings."  He thinks some words are
beautiful and " full of pictures."  He tells very small fibs,
such as "Mother says I must read those words, and those."
Do not suppose I let this fibbing pass. I make a great point
of not believing it, and of comparing it with truth, and of
proving to him that his mother knows nothing about it.
Another little darling, who cannot speak plain, says, "011Oh,
is'at feathers?  Why! is it feathers?   Oh, now tell me
where wings is!  Oh! is'at wings?  Oh! I want to kiss
00."
I hear these little ones read four or five times a day.
Tihe lesson occupies about fifteen minutes each time.  All
"study" together, as they call it.  I put my pointer on the
book of each in turn, making it a habit that they shall not
look off the book for the space of three minutes, perhaps,
during which each reads. They keep within a few sentences of each other, near enough to think they read together,
as I detain them long upon the repetition of all they know;
but I see vely clearly which will start off soon and outstrip
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MORAL CULTRURE OF INFANCY.
the rest. I say nothing of which reads the best, but sometimes Snake such remarks as, " L        will learn to read vely
fast, I think, he is so attentive."   This makes L       all the
more attentive, and helps the others to make the effort; for
with these four, to be able to read is the most charming of
prospects. I am determined that no touch of weariness shall
break the charm. In three months they will be able to readl
the two first stories in the Primel, which occupy about two
pages.  Their eyes will by that time become  so accustomed
to analyzing the looks of the words, that they will be able
to print themn without the book, and soon new words will be
learned very rapidly. I stave off the spelling as long as
possible, but you may be sure that these children will spell
well by and by.   I am convinced of this by experience,
for the next class above these in age have begun wvithin a
few weeks to write stories of their own, composing instead
of' copying them firom books, as they have done for two
years, and 1 am  myself quite astonislhed at their spielling.
They have never spelled a word they did not understand,
and their spelling in composition is better than that of some
children still older who learned to spell elsewhere, and who
hate spelling-books.
One of my exercises in thinking is to ask the cl-hildiren to
tell me the names of all the actions they can think of; and
to help them I say, for instance, " What can the bird do?"
"What can the fly do?"  " How  many  things cqn the fly
do?"   Another is to ask them what thlin,gs are made of, and
where they are found, "Are  they vegetables, or are they
from animals, or are they minerals?"  They are vastly entertained by this, and one little fellow became so much excited, and wearied himself so much with his investigations at
home, that his mother begged me to suspend the exercise for
a time.  Jeianiy's head is a little too big for his body; and
the look of research in his great eyes gives evidence of precocity, the thing of all others to be shunned.   His  mother
has put thick boots up)on  him  lately, and turned him out
132 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
into the snow, and he looks like a butterfly in boots, with his
ethereal head and spiritual orbs.
I have but one child under my care that I call a 1)rodigy;
and my influence has not yet been strong enough to cleecl
her ard(or as it ought to be checked.  She is sent to school
because she is happier at school than in the nursery, to
which rich people's children are so often banished.  (I never
intend to have a nursery in my house.) This child has been
with me three years, and is but six now. She might be
made one of those wonders of learning that occasionally astonish the world, if the plan of her education had nriot been
to supply as little food as possible for her cravings.   Fortunately she did not ask to read for a long time, but I have nriot
a scholar so perseveringly industrious, so absorbed in what
ever she is doing, so full of nervous energy.  She is as conscientious as she is intellectual.  I have never had to repeat
a request to her, or to subject her to a rule.  She always
sees and does the fitting and the lovely thing. Before she
learned to read she would sit for the hour together with a
book in hand, (upside down, perhaps,) and improvisate stories wonderful to hear, in whilch  the characters preserved
their individuality, and the descriptions of nature were as
vivid as those oT a poet of many years.  She was quite lost
to outward things while improvisatiug thus.  One day after
school, the maid who came for her not having arrived, she
thrlew herself on the floor, and began a story about a naughty
child.  I cannot now remember,ll the very words, for it
was a year ago; but the qualities of the heroine were a
combination of all the faults she knew anything about. If
people were ill, she always made a noise; she would shut
the door hard if' told that it would make people's heads ache.
She hid other people's things, and would not tell where she
had put them.  She was very cross to her little brother, and
often hurt the baby.  She cut valuable things with the scissors, tore up her books, and left the pieces of paper on the
parlor carpet.  One day it rained very hard, and her mothei
133 
MORAI, CULTURE OF INFANCY.
told her not to go out, lest she should take cold. She was
always disobedient, so she went up-stairs and put on a very
nice dress and her best bonnet, with blue ribbons, and thin
stockings and shoes, and nothing to keep herself warm, but
went out in the rain, and paddled and paddled about, and wet
her dress, and spoilt the blue ribbons on lihei bonnet; and
when she came in she was very, very sick indeed, and had i
dreadful fever, and people slammed the doors and made a
great noise, and she had dreadful, oh, dreadful pains in her
head and her side, and she could not eat or drink anything;
and  at last she  died and did not go to heaven!"   She
stopped, completely out of breath.  After a few moments'
pause, I said, "Oh, I am sorry for the poor little girl that
was punished so much. Was she so very naug,hty she could
not go to heaven?"
She made no reply for some time, and then recommenced
in a low, solemn voice: "When she was lying in her bed,
she was very sorry she had not obeyed her mother, and a
heavenly angel came down out of the heavenly sky and took
her up into heaven." After a short pause she burst out
again very energetically      Then how she ramped!  She
trampled on the clouds, and put her foot in the sun, moon,
and stars!"  I made no further  comment.  I rarely interrupted her utterances, for they never were addressed to
any one, and seldom indulged in, unless she thlought herself
alone. They were picturesque and symbolical, but never
vague.  The moral  was  always very apparent.  But  her
imagination sometimes clothes objects with a light of its own.
I was leading her up-stairs the other day, and as we stepped
into the hall, we saw a large spider running before us. She
dropped my hand and bounded forward, "Oh, you beautiful,
smiling creature!" was her exclamation.
Would not a bird have been her passport into paradise at
that moment?
Another of these children was walking in the mnall with
me one day, when the sun was shlining with an afternoon
134 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
light uponI the bare trees, over rather a dreary landscape of
snow and ice. " Oh, the trees look like golden twigs," said
mny little poetess, so full of joy that I could hardly hold her
This, dear A, is the
"time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth and every common sight,
To us do seem,
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream."
To return a moment to my little prodigy. When she
did not for a long time ask to read, she wished to print, and
it must have been this practice which gradually so accustomed her eye to the shapes of words, that when she suddenly conceived the desire to read, she remembered them
with marvellous rapidity. Everything else was abandoned
for the time, and in the course of two or three weeks she
could read very well. I had often seen her take up the
books which contained the stories she liked, and I supposed,
-at first, that she must have learned to read them herself in
some unaccountable way.   She  had often repeated such
stories fiom the book from beginning to end, word for word.
But I found it was not the case, - that she had never actually read them before.  However, I never could trace the
steps.  Spelling she does not find easy.  Even now, several
mnonths after she has been able to read currently, if; when
she comes to a new word, I propose to her to spell it, she
will mention the letters (I never taught her their names, but
she doubtless learned them while printing so industriously),
and then say again, "What is it?" as if that had not helped
her at all.  But she never forgets a word after it is once
told her. She joins in an exercise I firequently practise with
older scholars, of spelling a few lines of the reading lesson,
but she is not so ready as the others, although none read
better, and few as well. She now composes stories on the
slate instead of improvisating aloud so much; and I am surprised to find how many words she spells aright.  But I try
uo experiments upon her, as my plan is to clip her wings.
i 3'a 
MORAL Ct LTURIE OF INFANCY.
If she was enshrined in as rotund a body as some of the
other children, I might venture a little, but she already looks
too ethereal; -  one sees at a glance that the sword of her
fervent little spirit might easily be made to cut its sheath.
Children love to use their fingers, and I give them a slate
lwhen they come to school, and teach them to print, wLhich
accelerates the learning to read. I encourage them also to
draw firom beautiful outlines, from things they see in the
room, and also firom their own fancies.   I draw upon the
black-board before them, very slowly, giving directions fot
imitation. I never criticise their productions, whether sue
cessful or not. I often see a promise in the freedom of a
stroke, or in the child's appreciation of his own driawing,,
which an unpractised eye could scarcely detect. If a little
child brings mie a slate with three marks drawn upon it
which he calls a horse, or a dog, can I be so unsympathlizing
as to question it?  Perhaps I add ears, legs or a tail, and
my little disciple does not know the next moment whether
he or I completed the picture, but the next specimen of his
art will probably have at least one of these appendages.
I drew on the black-board to-day, a square house, with a
door in the middle of the front, a window on each side the
door, and one in each chamber over the parlors. Two chimneys surmounted the house, and the windows were divided
each into six panes of glass.  These things I mentioned as I
drew them. It was not many minutes before I was called to
look at two houses of four times the size of mine, with the
additional embellishments of stairs to go up into the chambers, one of the windows open (which I thought decidedly
the stroke of genius in this artist), smoke from the chimneys,
steps to the doors (my house had been left hanging in mid
air), pumps with individuals, I cannot call them men, suspended to their handles, and various other hieroglyphics
which I could not stay to hear explained.  These liminer,
are four years old, their faith in themselves and others yet
unshaken, and I should be the last one to suggest that stairs
could not be seen through the walls of a house, or that men
136 
MIORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
were inot lines and dots, or birds as large as houses, for I
llave known children to cry at such criticisms, and to be
quite checked in their artistic exploits by a laugh.
After such rude practice as this, the child, by imnpercep.
tible advances, begins at last to see things more as they are,
and then a little criticism is safe, but it must still be guarded,
sympathiziong, and helpful.  The next thing to be inculcated
after this is that objects must not be drawn just as they arce,
but only as they appear. I made this remark to a child of
seven to-day for the first time.   He had learned too much to
make similar mistakes to those of the little people lately mentioned, but in attempting to copy the drawing of a stool, hc
could not comprehend how the rungs that joined the legs of
the stool could be drawn so as to look right, because olnec of
them could not really be made to pass behind the leg.   I
pointed to a chair and told him to suppose he was drawing it
upon the wall near which it stood, for his paper represented
that wall, though for convenience sake it was laid fiat upon
the table.  I asked him if he could see the whole of the legs
farthest from him, and if the rungs of those legs did not pass
behind the front legs. He saw it clearly. Then I told him
we must draw things as they appeared, not as they reallywere. Nothing must be drawn which cannot be seen, althlough we know more is there than we can see without going
behind it.  He was delighted with this discovery.  Now he
understood about the rungs of the stool, and also why two
legs appeared longer than the other two.   The stool was finished intelligently, though not with elegance, and the paper
was sprinkled with attempts at various chairs which he could
see from his seat, some of which really looked as if one could
sit down in them, and not as if they were flattened out and
hanging against the wall.  Some of the legs would have gone
through the floor, to be sure, if they had been real chairs, in
order to afford a comfortable and even seat, but I saw that
the idea was seized, wllich was quite enough for mny unexacLing demands.  A child mnucl-h younger and less practised, drew
13 i 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY,
the same stool right, without a word from me, and probably
would be completely puzzled were I to give her the same
explanation, for art speaks to her without articulate voice.
I have one little girl with eyes which she seems scarcely yet
to have used. I took a great deal of pains to teachl her to
draw a little upon the black-board last winter, but if I drew
a perpendicular, she thought she imitated me by drawing a
horizontal line. I endeavored to wake up the love and perception of form by hanging upon the board various exquisitely shaped vases and leaves, but neither these nor rectangularforms aroused her imitative powers.. I never ceased to
make these trials, for I remembered that a genius in that
line once said to me, "the art of seeing must precede the art
of drawing."   During the long vacation she resided in the
country, and nature must have opened her eyes, for since
she came back to school (about two months ago), she has
actually been able to imitate quite intelligibly some of those
very forms, and prefers some of them to others. I assure
you I enjoy her imperfect performances far more than I do
the successful efforts of many others. A German friend gave
me a book the other day which promises to pour a flood of
light upon what I now look upon as my benighted efforts to
simplify to children the art of drawing.  It is the method of
a man of genius, discovered after much groping. He, too,
had wooden models made, and stood by them, and pointed
out to his pupils which part to draw first, as I have done, but
at last he has reduced the whole thing to a few lessons upon
some rectilinear blocks, a niche, a cylinder, a grindstone, and
a balL I am revelling in the perfect adaptation I see in it
to the end proposed, which is practical teaching of perspective without a word being said about vanishing points, aerial
perspective, or any of those technicalities which weary my
unmathematical brain, and which  I have faithfully administered to myself firom time to time.*
The work referred to, by Peter Schmid, of Berlin, was subsequently
translated, and published in the 6th vol. of the Common-School Journal,
138 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
To vary tli occupations of my cherubs, I let them write
Foster's prepared copies with a pencil, which helps very much
to regulate the motions of the hand, as there is a great interest felt in tracing each mark upon the blue line. They also
look at pictures in books and on the wall, where I hang all
the pretty things I can find, and tell me what is in them
and sometimes amuse themselves at a table of shells, where
I hear them recounting in low voices the histories I have
given them of these little tenants of the seas.  When  I kept
caterpillars, or rather raised butterflies, they  never were
tired of watching the chrysalides, hoping to see the expected
butterflies. After these came forth in their glory, we were
all poisoned by handling the cocoons, and since that experience of itching hands, and arms, and swollen eyes, I have
been afraid to venture upon that branch of natural history.
Shells are the most convenient natural objects for children
to handle. We talk over flowers often, and I teach the namres
of their different parts, and encourage the children to make
collections of leaves, and learn the names of their shapes,
preparatory to learning the art of analyzing them thoroughly.
For this purpose I have drawn all the shapes I can find
named in botanies, into a book, fromn which  I teach them
Flowers are bettel for teaching beauty than botany, to little
children, as they object particularly to tearing them to pieces.
I have not said one word about my little Robin, who stands
most of the time at the window watching the horses in the
stable opposite, the scene being often spiritualized by the
descent of a flight of pigeons, which he generally apprises us
of by a shout. Occasionally he turns round and sits down,
and watches inside proceedings, and when an interesting story
about living things is in progress, I sometimes find him
in my lap, or behind me in the chair I am sitting in. His
and afterwards in a pamphlet called the Cornmnon-School Drmaoing Mc.ster.
It is largely used in the public schools of Germany, and formed a new
era in Germany, in the teaching of Perspective Drawing, as truly as
Colburn's First Lessons formed a new era in the teachir.g of Mental Arithmetic here.
139 
140        MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
eyes are blue, an(d his long golden straight hair hangs down
from his tall forehead like a cleft banner of li,ght.  Robin
sill not look inside of a book yet.  He is like a caged bird
in the city where he is imprisoned in winter. In summer
he lives out of doors, and rides on horseback on his father's
knee, and holds the reins in driving. His mother says horses
niie the predominating idea, and als(i sentiment of his life, at
present, and this stable-peep into their city life is duly iecounted every day at home.  I often mourn over  my  lost
residence by the Common,  where the children who looked
out of window could see trees and a lovely landscape, but
you must not think I allow my scholars to be pent up five
hours in the house. Twice a day, I array them all, summer
and winter, and take them to our city paradise, which happily is very near.  There we actually see a squirrel once in
a while.  One day we saw a butterfly emerging  firom its
chrysalis, and always the sparkling water and waving trees.
And we have clear space and fresh air for half an hour.
If you will not tell, I will confess that I have sometimes
coasted down the least public side of Fox-hill with a babe
in my lap, and I find I have not forgotten how to slide, - an
accomplishment in which I excelled in my youth. In wet
weather, I put on some of the out-door garments, open a
window, and have a merry dance or play. The material for
the early cultivation I would give is all nature, and art taken
picturesquely. The nomenclatures of science are not for clildren, but its beauties and wonders are, and may be culled for
them by a skilful hand till they have had a peep at the wside
range of the universe.  I believe you think it best not to
open these store-houses until the mind is capable of compi-eiending them more fully, but I cannot think so, dear Annal.
Children's love of nature forbids me to think so.  I onct(
opened a little soul's eyes with a bunch of flowers.  It was
a child who lhad never been to school bef()i-e, but who  h,i(l
not been cultivated at home, because her iiiotlher had suffiere(i
from being over-educated, and wished to try the experiment 
MO')RAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
of nature, a,s she called it,- by which she meant, I perceived,
total neglect.  She had allowed her, therefoie, to grow up in
the nursery and in the care of servants, both of which I consider as far from nature's teachings as possible.
The child was afraid of me and of the children. She looked
at us for about three weeks with a fixed gaze as if we were
not living beings, but perhaps walking pictures, her features
only occasionally relaxing, I should rather say puckering intc
a woful wail, which expressed utter desolation and want of
comprehension of our natures. She was impervious to all
my blandishments, whlichl I lavished more bountifully than
usual to meet the case. When spoken to, she ainswered in
a monosyllable, or not at all. When she wanted anything,
she spoke one word to convey the idea, as a savage would,
(she was five years old), and these utterances were never
voluntary. She liked to sit close by her brother, who was
two years older than herself, and who treated her with great
tenderness and gentleness, thlough every manifestation fi'om
her was of the roughest kind.  1 was sure, however, that
I did not see the whole, for his manner of takipg her hand
and saying "little sister" was so peculiar, that I did not
doubt she was genial to him when not in this purgatory of
people.
One day I had a beautifil bunch of flowers firom a greenhouse on my table.  This child's grandfather owned a greenhouse, but perhaps she had never been allowed to handle the
flowers, which were altogether too precious for children, and
wild pinks and violets had not been accessible to her. I had
been trying many days in vain to interest her about a bee
of which I had a picture.   I had told her the bee made
honey out of flowers.  On that day I drew the tumbler that
contained these splendid denizens of the greenhouse to the
edge of the table, and said,  "Did you ever see a little bee making honey?"
"Did you ever go into the country in summer when the
grass is atll green?
.I ti 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
"No." - (I knew she had.)
Did you ever see pretty flowers growing?"
i'~ NO.")
"I will tell you how little bees make honey- did you
ever eat any honey?"
" Yes."
"They have a long hair sticking out of their heads, and
they put it in there, where that yellow dust is, and there
they find a little sweet drop that tastes like sugar, and they
carry it home, and put it into a little hole, and then they come
and get more, and carry that home, and they put that yellow
dust into a little pocket by the side of their little leg, and
by and by they get enough to make a great deal of honey."
" Do the bees make it all themselves?" said she, with a
brightening look (the first look of intelligence I had seen),
and at the same time making a plunge at the flowers.
"Yes," I said, and taking them out of the glass I put them
all into her hand, for I did nriot even know that she could
speak plain. She seized them eagerly, and without taking
her eyes from them went on volubly asking a great many
questions. I described the hive and how they all lived to-getlier, and told her God must have taught them how to
make honey, for they could not speak or understand anybody's words, and that if they wandered ever so far away
from their hive, they always knew the way back again.
She held the flowers all the rest of the morning.  When
school was done, I told her to put them into the glass, and
she should have them again in the afternoon.  As soon as
she returned, she very unceremoniously took possession of
them, - the first act of volition she had ever ventured upon
in my presence,- and nestling close to me asked me the
same questions she had asked before, over and over again, and
repeating them, and hearing my answers again and again,
whenever she could secure my attention. As long as the
flowers lasted, she seized upon them every day, and after
they were withered to all other eyes, they retained their
charm in hers.  I vaiied the lesson often, by telling her of
142 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
the silkworm, of the butterflies, and of many varieties of tile
bee family, and from that time a communication was established between us. She was never afraid of me any more;
liked to sit near me; and have my sympathy in all things,
provided I did not express it too openly. It was curious to
see such mauvaise honte in such a tiny thing, for she was
always reserved, and often relapsed into long silences, and
was wholly without enterprise in matters in which the other
children were very active, such as drawing, making blockhouses, and even playing. But I could catch her eye at ally
time by a story of any living thing, and she would sometimes surprise me by the intelligence of her questions.  For
a long time she could not learn to read, or rather would not.
Every new attempt at anything was begun  in tears and
despair, not from weakness, but from pride apparently.  Her
mother had begun to think it time to attend to her poor hidden soul a little; and after a long summer vacation which
she passed in the country, she came back to school with
pleasure and with a new face, and though always backward
in comparison with children who had had motherly intercourse, and been taught early to use their faculties, she
went steadily on. There was no competition to discourage
her, and she learned to read immediately when she once
wished to. None but mothers can do justice to little children. She sometimes made me think of your remark that
every child needs four mothers. But I think the two heaven-appointed parents will do, if they see their duties and
fulfil them.
To disarm your opposition about sending such little tots to
school, I assure you that many of my mothers tell me that
the transition from nursery life to my little community has
cured children of fretting and other ftults, and that they
repeat the occupations of the school-room in their hlcme
plays.- Read "Christian Nurture," by Dr. Bushnell.
143 
MOPIaAL CULTUiE OF INFANCY.
LETTER IV.
DEr.R A., -When I have a collection of children aiound
me to whomn I am  to teach things and morals, I always begin by making a simple statement of the footing on which I
wish we shall live together. Prevention is better than cure,
and much is gained with children, as with grown men, by
expecting fromn them the best and noblest action.
In a school or in a fanmily, I do not like any government
but self-government, yet I wish my scholars to know that I
often help the growth of the latter by interposing my authority when that of the inner law fails.  When  I commenced
iiy present school, I had such a conversation with the chil(Iren on the first day they were assembled, before there had
been time for any overt acts upon a lower principle than the
one I wished to inculcate.
Mly school consists of children belonging to one class in a
certain sense of the word, that is, to families of the highest
general cultivation amongst us, and what is still more important, to families in which there is a general if not well
digested belief in the divinity of human nature.   Yet there
is a great diversity in the influences upon  them.  Even
among people of the most liberal views there still lurks a
sediment of the feeling that there is a principle of evil as
well as of good in the human soul, and so people expect their
children to be naughty on that ground. Now I do not believe in this.  I think all evil is imperfection.  It is sometimes very bad imperfection, I allow, and I am sometimes
tempted to say poetically, though never literally, that it
iooks like innate depravity. But I do really believe in individual perfectibility, and that " circumstance, that unspiritual god and miscreator," is our great enemy.   Circumstance
is a very important personage in my calendar, and a perfect
Proteus in the shapes he takes, for hlie covers not only the
common surroundings we call circumstances, but organiza
I,-14 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
tion itself.  Perfection miiust be in the reach of every one ly
God's original design, and it is only mrnan's marling that hinders its progress, and that temporarily. I hope you have the
same instinct about this that I lhave. I can remember, even
when I was not ten years old, hearing some one very severely
cr'iticised, who I happened to know had had the worst of moral
educations, and I resented the criticism, not because the subject of it was any friend of mine, for it was a person in
whom I had no particular interest, but I remembei- the feelinlg was a sort of vindication of God's goodness, an assurance
that he would not judge that unfortunate person harshly or
unforgivingly, but that the misfortunes she had brought upon
herself, would teach her what her life at home had failed to
teach her. How often I have thought of that poor woman
in my life!
To go back to my school. I knew many of the families,
somne intimately enough to know the very peculiarities of
the children, others only enough to be able to anticipate the
little characters; others were perfect strangers, whom I was
yet to study. Many of them had never been to school before, and I knew enough of the usual method of governing
schools to be aware that the associations of those who had
been in such scenes, were  likely to be those of contention for
power, the memory of penalties, and a division of interests
between teachers and taught. Even at home some of these
children had been governed by fixed rules, instead of the
instincts of love, and had never been addressed as if they
lad any sense of right and wrong; others had been weakly
indulged, others mostly if not wholly neglected, and left to
the care of servants. One little boy and girl, children of
wealthy parents, scarcely saw their father from one month's
end to another, for he never rose till they went to school;
they dined at two and he at five, and before his dinner was
done, to which lie never returned till the last moment, these
little ones were put to bed. Even the elder children wiio
also went to school, saw him only at dinner, for hLis evenings
7
1 4.,! 
AMORAL CIJI,TIRPE OF INFANCY.
were usually spent in company, or at some club.  I holie
this is an extr(eme case.  I should say that the mother in this
family was an amiable woman, but not sufficiently like the
"near Providence" to counteract the effects of such fatherly
neglect.
There was one child, of truly religious and conscientious
parents, whose moral influence was null, except indirectly,
because they really believed that the human heart was oi,ig(inally depraved, and waited to be saved by special gra-ce
from God, irrespective of the conscience; and tlhis girl, who
was the oldest of my scholars, had less principle to work
upon than any one, and when I first spoke of the cultivation
of the mind as a religious duty, she told me very ingenuously
that it was the first time she had ever heard such a thought,
although she was considered quite remarkable at home for
her religious sensibility, and really prayed aloud sometimes
like a little seraph, in imitation of her truly devout parents;
but she was very untruthful.
A few of the children had been made to feel that every
human being has a conscience, which, when enlightened, will
guide him right. In these latter the work of growth had
already begun, and to them I looked for my allies in the
work I was about to undertake. I knew that the best I
could do would only come up to the standard that had ever
been held up before them.
I seated them all around me and began by telling them
how much I loved to keep school for little children, when
they were good. But children were not always good, and I
was glad to help them cure their little faults before they
grew to be great ones, Adwhich was the thing most to be
feared in the world.  1 hoped the good children here would
help me make the others better, if there were any naughty
ones. We must all be patient with naughty people, just as
God was. It took haughty people a long time to grow better
again. If each child would think about himself a moment,
he would remember that he did not always do perfectly
146 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
right; but God had given everybody a conscience which
was sometimes called "the voice of God within us," so every
one could improve who would listen to that. voice.
There was a right thing to be done in every place. In
school it would be necessary for all to keep good order, else
it would be impossible to study, where there were so many
persons; it was just as necessary too that all should be polite
and kind to each other, else there could be no happiness.
One unkind person could make all the rest uncomfortable.
After dwelling upon these points till all seemed to recognize their importance, I told them thatf some people kept
order in schools by rigid rules and penalties; for instance,
there would be a rule that every scholar who spoke aloud
should have a mark for bad conduct, every one that kept
order, a mark for good conduct; another rule would be, that
every lesson learned well should have a mark of approbation,
every lesson learned ill, a mark of disapprobation.   The
penalties for transgressing rules were floggings, bad reports
written for parents to see, keeping lag after school, &c. &c.
the recompense for good marks, either a good report, or a
present,- the handsomest prize beiiing given to the one who
learned lessons best.
But I did not wish to keep school thus. I had no respect
for people who did right only because they feared punislhment or hoped for a reward.   Such motives made people
selfish. I had known of children who would deny having done
something they had really done, and try to make a teacher
suppose some one else did it; and also of other children who
were sorry when some one else got the present. All these
things made people selfish, and tempted them to be false
We  should do right because it was right, whether it were to
bring us pleasure or pain.  It was the duty of all to improve
their faculties, because God had given them to us for that
purpose, and had put us into a beautiful world, and given us
parents and teachers to help us prepare for a long existence
147 
MORAL CUL,TURE OF INFANCY.
of which this life is but a small part, - a kind of school in
which we are educated for another world.
I wished to have but one rule in my school, and that was
the Golden Rule: "do unto others as you wish others to do
unto you."
The duty in school was to study well and to keep order,
that others might have a chance to study.  It would be
necessary for them all to respect  my arrangements, and
obey my wishes for the sake of this order, but they need not
think of prizes or marks, for I should give none.
I wished them to govern themselves.  This would make
it unnecessary for me to watch them all te time.  I should
soon learn who was worthy of being trusted.
Did they not like to be trusted?
They responded warmly to this.
Did they not like to do as they pleased?
There was, of course, but one answer to this question.
I told them none could be allowed to do that in school except those who pleased to do right, because it was my duty
to prevent them from disturbing each other, or from wastinig
their own time. But I hoped never to be obliged to punish
any one for doing wrong. I should make no rules at present,
and if I found all were polite, obliging, and industrious, I
should never need to make any; but if there were any in
school who did not obey conscience, and think about other
people's convenience, I should be obliged to make rules for
such.  I should put the names of such scholars on a paper,
and those children must live by my rules, because they had
none of their own.
I considered proper manners in school to be quietness, no
unnecessary speaking or mnoving about in study time, polite ness to evers one, ready obedience to my wishes and arrange mients, and i.dustrious habits of study.
I should now leave each one to make rules for himself in
his own mind; they might write them down if they pleased.
I should like to see what each one would think it right to do
148 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
in school.  They might imagine themselves keeping slchool,
and tell how they should govern it, and what they thought
the duties of scholars.
Some  of them  did this.   Their regulations were  very
strict, their requisitions very great. Those who were then
morally ready to apprehend my meaning,  have never swerved
since from the law laid down at that time.
But it was not long before several names were upon nay
list. For these I made specific rules, taking especial pains
to say that they were not to apply to such or such individuals.
If E      or L      or S,foi instance, should speak aloud
on a pressing occasion, I should not subject them to the penalty, because I knew their principles were good; that they
thought of the convenience of others, were studious, &c., &c.
I should excuse a particular instance of apparent disorder in
them until I had reason to think they were growing careless or thoughtless.
I made the same remark in regard to an occasional want
of success in a lesson.  I might perhaps have erred in judgment by giving too long a lesson.  I might find upon experiment that the mind was not prepared for a particular thing.
I should be inclined to think an industrious and conscientious
scholar did not feel well, rather than to suppose any want ot
faithfulness.   People must always be judged according to
their characters.
I assure you it was a great punishment to have one's name
upon my list.  These children saw the joys of liberty, and
that they could be secured only by doing right.  I never saw
any system of rewards or punishments have such a stimulating, moral or intellectual effect.
Some of my scholars were too young even to be bound
in all cases by this law of the general convenience, and these
I spoke of as children whose habits were to be formed gradually, and of whom this comprehension of the convenience of
others could not always be expected. I called upon tlhe rest
to help me keep them as quiet as would be consistent witli
1 49 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANC.'.
their good, and took it for granted that none would trouble
me by playing or interfering with them. There must, of
course, be exceptions to all rules.
There were many occasions of recurring to this conversa
tion, and of repeating its principles.   When any overt acts
of wrong-doing occurred, when new scholars came, I called
them around me to talk about the principles on which we'
must live and act. These conversations were always interesting to the children, and kept up the government of the
school. When I make rules and penalties for my delinquents,
I make the rules as simple as possible, and the penalties as
nearly like the natural consequences of wrong-doing as is
practicable. I never lose an opportunity of inculcating obedience to the inward law as the only sure guide of conduct,
and if one's eye is fixed upon this point, a thousand occasions
will offer themselves. How can any one who does not believe this inward law to be the only sure guide of conduct
govern children morally? I have a friend, quite a distinguishled teacher, who believes in original depravity, and that
conscience is not an unerring guide, and therefore that religious principle cannot be made to grow out of a child's colsciousness, but that it is an arbitrary gift of God; supervened
upon the human mind without reference to conscience. He
once asked me if there were any religious exercises in my
school; if I ever presented religions motives, and what they
were.  I told him I presented no other, that I made all duly
a matter of conscience, and that I never saw a child who did
not understand that motive. He said he had no doubt it was
the noblest way of treating the child, and brought out the
highest morality, but it was not religious education in his
opinion!  What  an admission! the noblest way, bringing
out the highest morality, and yet not religious education
His school is the constant scene of religious revivals, and by
his own admission the children are told not to keep company
with the children of' liberal Christians, or of those who go
to the theatre! I do not believe in a premature Christianity,
153 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
so taught as to be able to give an account of itself in early
youth.
I once visited an Infant Charity School, composed entirely
of children who were not likely to have any kind of instruction at home, so that whatever was taught in the school would
be likely to make quite an impression. After a pleasant little exercise in marching and singing, they were seated foir a
religious lesson. What do you think of the following as a
basis of Christian charity? - average age of the children,
eight.
What are the principles of Christianity?
To love one's neighbor and obey God, to believe in the
Bible and the salvation by Christ.
Who are the heathen?
They are people who never heard of the Christian religion,
and who cannot have salvation by Christ.
Name the heathen nations?
Indians, Hindoos, the people of Asia, Africa, and the
islands in the Pacific Ocean.
What is the difference between Christians and heathen?
Christians serve God, walk humbly, and love their neighbors like themselves. Heathens lie, steal, commit murder,
and are full of revenge.
Are all the people in Christendom true Christians?
No, only those who believe that God the Father took the
form of man and came down to the earth, preached, suffered,
and was crucified on the Cross.
What becomes of all who are not true Christians, and of
all the heathen?
They go into everlasting fire.
This was a rote-lesson which the children rattled off glibly.
Modifications of such lessons are given in schools where
revivals are considered religious proceedings. 
Is it not fearful to think that there is a child in. Christen
151 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
domi who is not instructed in the great fundamental truth lhat
God has planted in every human soul a principle of conscience
by which it can distinguish evil from good, and wlhich, if
obeyed, will save it, by some natural process alike applicable
to Christian or heathen?  The first principle to which a
child should be pointed is the principle of law in the humani
breast.  God has so made the human soul that this can be
taught to young children if one only knows  how  to do it.
If truly taught, we may safely trust that they can never so
judge the much-abused heathen.
One day when I was walking in the mall with my little
scholars, at recess, some of the children cried out to the
others that they must not run upon the banks, or the constable would fine them. The warning was not received in a
good spirit, and I perceived that the constable was not in
good repute among children.  I well rememibered the "tidymllan," as our servant called him, of my childish days, and the
apprehensions I used to entertain lest he shlould hook  me up
with his long pole into the gallery of the church, if I made
any noise duiing service time, and I saw that these children
thought it quite desirable to circumvent the constable, and
get as many runs upon the banks as could be snatched during his absence.
This was an opportunity not to be lost, and when we returned to the school-room, I asked why they supposed the
constable was ordered to let no one run upon the banks.
They were curious to hear a reason.  It had not occurred
to them, apparently, that there was any other reason than a
desire to trouble children.  I told them the history of the
Boston Common -  how much pains had been taken  ever
since the days of the Pilgrims (whom they know), to keep
it inviolate, in order that all the citizens mig,ht enjoy its
beauties and its advantages; how much money had been expended upon it; how it had been secured as a perpetual pos-:
session to all the citizens, and how every attempt to build even
very near it, had been resisted for fear of cutting off the fina
t52 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
prospect; that even the cows that used to pasture there, had
been turned away that the children of the city might play
there undisturbed.   I then told them  why by-laws  were
made to preserve the beauty of the banks, particularly just
after they were repaired and newly laid down with turf.
When they acknowledged that all this was reasonable, I
told them that laws were made for the good of society, and
that evely good citizen would respect such laws. Whoever
understood what law meant, that is, whoever knew the law
within themselves, would respect the laws of a country or a
city that were made for the good of all.  I thought my lesson was successful.
One  who has not been a great deal alone with the unsophisticated natures of children has little idea how early the
highest principles of action can be instilled into them.  It
does not need many words, as I well remember firom the few
indelibly written upon lmy mind by a religious mother, who
never comforted my timidity, which was excessive, by anytlhing but principles which my soul responded to: " Do right
always, and then you need not be aflraid of anytliing;" and,
Your Heavenly Father will take care of you, and will let
iiotliing, happen to you but what is fobr your good," coinpiised
the religious inculcations of my childhood, varied according
to circumstances. And when I first fully realized that Christ,
who was held up as a model, was " tempted like -is we are,"
my religious education was complete, except what practice
could give me.   The  imagination is as boundless in the
inmages it evokes as imagery itself; and no specific cuie for
fers of darkness and unmeasured danger can ever meet the
difficulty.  If a timid child cannot be taught that he is under
the eye of a tender and watchful Providence, his childhood
mnay be one long terror, as I have known to be the case. If
to this is to be added everlasting woe for wrong-doing, there
is no wonder that God must come down from  heaven to set
tilings right, and invent a scheme which will virtually anni.
Itilate his own original provisions
7*
I ") 3 
.Ai4      MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
Many of my children have been religiously educate(l inr
the right way, have been made to think of God as their
creator, benefactor, and preserver, and the author of all tile
beauties of nature that they see, and the powers they possess.  When I say " we must return good for evil as Clri-t
did, who was the most perfect being that ever lived," tli(,y
understand me as speaking of a principle which  they c,tii
apply diiectly to themselves; for I often add, " Christ said
things when he was very young that showed he  underst(ood
all about ri,ght and wrong, and in those years of his life
which we are not told anything about in the Bible, he must
always have obeyed his conscience, or he never could have
preached to others as he d d afterwards,"- for the only vital
use of Christ's life to others is to make his spirit of action
our own, and to believe that we can do likewise.
I have been led to think much of this in relation to children, by hearing my orthodox friend talk; for he is a very
conscientious man, and his admission that to address tl(
child's conscience was the noblest way of treating it, thllou,gh
not the canonical one, let in a world of light upon me touclting the unchristian condition of Christendorn.   How  can
truth prevail where the noblest appeal is not considered the
religious appeal?          Truly yours,
M.
LETTER V.
MY DlEAR ANNA, -  If you wish  to know the  practical
difficulties that arise out of my desire to inculcate self-government, and to keep my own out of sight as much as possible, I will tell you candidly that liberty is sometimes abused
in my school; but I have never repented of my principles,
and have learned not to be frigihtened by apparent failures,
fol 1 have never known an instance, where I have had an
opportunity to observe the result, in which my plan has not
inswered somewhat to nmy hopes. 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
And now I must tell you what are my hopes.   They are
ilot to make men and women of children, or to produce per fect consistency of action in youth.  They are to put the
mind in the right attitude so that the education of life will
bring forth the character harmoniously; and to make truth,
sincerity, kindly affections, and a conscientious  use of the
powers of the mind the prevailing characteristics. Sometimes I wait long for the datwning of this hope, but I cannot
despair of it as long as I believe in the soul. I do not mean
that I think the soul self-existent, independent of God, but
I believe it so created that it can right itself at last with du(
effort to realize Hlis presence in vital laws. To induce it
to make this effort is what education is designed to effect, is
it not?  I have had some children under my care who have
come to me deceitful, perverse, without delicacy of sensibility, self-conceited, puffed up with lofty notions of their own
importance and that of all who belonged to them; and these
characteristics so prominent and offensive that our inter-..
course was for a long time nothing  but war.   I had no o"portunity to express approbation or sympathy, bfor the object
with them was to defy or circumvent me, and to accomplislh
their lessons by trickery instead of honest application. These
fiults were constantly recurring, and I was often strongly
tempted to rid myself of the difficulty by declining to ke(p)
such scholars in school with others.  If my operations  had
necessarily been confined to one apartment, I should have
been obliged to do this sometimes, but in my father's house
I.1 had many facilities, and I felt it my duty, if possible, to do
what I could for such unfortunate children, as long as I was
sure that my influence, and not theirs, prevailed in the school.
I saw that vices were made apparent, of whose existence I
'ould have wished innocent children never to know, but I
knew it was impossible to sequester them wholly from such
contact, and perhaps it had better be under supervision and
thus possibly turned to account.   Sometimes  the beauty of
virtue is better seen by being contrasted with its opposite,
1515 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
Had not I a right to think the evil might be overruled for
good, since God permits evil (the negative of good) in his
world? To do this, however, requires the greatest vigilance,
and occasionally I have been obliged to suspend very much
the intellectual training of a school, to gain time to investigate its moral state, and the degree of evil influence that
might tend to counteract mine, for these interlopers among
the innocents sometimes had bright parts, and an activity
that never tired. The faults of such children often brought
them into direct collision with their companions whose peace
they invaded, and thus far I was aided by my scholars in
my discipline, though I have had cases where the outward
speciousness was only such as one would imagine to belong
to a matured person. I was obliged to take the greatest
pains, however, in order not to destroy the very germ of
delicacy (which yet bore no fruits), that my admonitions
should be in private, whenever no overt acts made it necessary for me to speak before others. In private I need not
speak in measured terms.
It is frightful to feel one's self so directly in contact with
the wrong-doing of a fellow-being, but at such times I lhave
laid open the heart as well as I was able, and showed the
characteristics in all their hideousness, taking it for granted
that the moral judgment was still alive.
A great man once said to me  that we had no second consciousness by which we could judge ourselves; and Burns,
you know, exclaims,
" 0 wad some power the giftie gie us
To see otursels as ithers see us! "
but I agree neither with the philosopher nor the poet, foi
conscience is that se(ond consciousness, which can be evoked
:f only the right conjurer speaks. I believe in no other
safeguard than that "voice of God within us" to which I
firmly believe no human being is always deaf.  But, dear
A-, what is so revolting as a bad child?  It seems an
156 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
anomaly in nature.  I depict no imagilinary characters to you.
I do not think I could imagine a bad child.  It must be seen
and known to be believed in.  I am always inclined to blame
the environment of such a child, but repeated instances that
I have known convince me that souls differ in quality, and
that it is unreasonable to expect the loveliest type of virtue
in all. I believe in the remedial power of education, not
that it can change the quality of the soul, but the character
of the individual. A boll, free spirit will not by education
be made delicate, but its boldness may be employed on worthy objects, and so of other traits.  Truth too can be shown
to be beautiful to some, but to others to be only manly, or
respectable.
I have known  children, who apparently had very little
sensibility, to be touched by the fact of never being uinnecessarily exposed to others.  T'his care awakened in them a
perception of delicacy. In one instance, I learned subsequently that reproof received thus in private made a great
impression, while that administ(ered at the moment of overt
acts of wrong-doing in the presence of the school made very
little, or only provoked defiance. I have sometimes had testimonies of affection from such naughty children, and have
feaied they only proved a want of sensibility, but this instance sh-owed nme that my  care and painstaking were appreciated where I least thought of it.  I have often realized
that I kept bad manifestations in check, though the frequent
outbreaks of such traits as want of truth, stratagem, attempts
at secret influence in the schlool, proofs of want of delicacy of taste and of conscience, made  me feel that all I
could do in the short period while my influence lasted, was
to hold up my testimony to good principles, and make  an
adherence to truth, and sincere and conscientious action in
every particular of life, - the central points round which all
other things must revolve. This I never lose an opportunity
of doing by dwelling upon it to others as well as to the
guilty.  In a small school like mine -yet large enough fo..
1.5 7 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
variety, -I am  in such close personal contact with all my
scholars, that the intimacy is nearly as great as in a family;
indeed, my personal intercourse with many of the children
includes more hours and more actual communication of mind
than takes place in some fhmilies.  It seems to me very important that schools should be of such a size that this may
be the case, if they are to be looked to as a means of moral,
as well as of intellectual culture; and if they are not, I coInceive them to be nurseries of as much evil as good, to say
the least. One of the most melancholy tl-hings in life, to me,
is seeing children get used to what is wriong, submitting to it
as a necessity of giowth; and a good school, where everything can be talked over, is an ilmmense check upon this.
Happily the world cannot spoil a good soul, but there are
degrees in goodness, and in moral strength, and even good
souls get tarnished by getting used to evil. I would put off
the day as long as possible. In cities, where nearly the
whole of youth is passed in schools, more regard should be
had to the moral part of the training.  Knowledge is dangerous power to the unconscientious, and every child should
and can be made to feel it.
In such deplorable instances as I have referred to, every
power within me has been taxed to the utmost to counteract
the evil tendencies that put forth their shoots in every direction. Sometimes a clearness of head that made it easy for
a chlild to see the bearings of tllhngs, or even an instinctive
affectionateness of disposition (not such as would stand the
test of opposition, however), have been the only foundations
of my hope.  These do not supply the place of tenderness
of conscience, but when one is endeavoring to help forward
that growth, a clear intellect is an important aid. A natural
obtuseness in both departments of the nature would make
one's efforts dail'k and groping indeed.
Now  when I thus confess how small has often been the
reward for my pains, you may smile at my credulity, but I
have'had some rewards in the midst of discouragements.  I
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY
dlid feel in one instance, before my schlolar was taken from
me,-  and she was taken away because her mother had not
the iiioiral courage to let her suffer the natural consequences
of her wrong-doing, at a crisis when I felt convinced it
might do her radical good,-  that she had a far-off glimpse
of iwhat character is; that the fine saying of Novalis, " character is a well-educated will," had dawned upon her mind;
fobr she could sometimes tell the truth against her own inteiest, and could bear the natural consequences of a fault,
occasionally, without flying into a passion.   My  "natural
consequences" were, privation from the society of her cornpanions when she had abused their faith and their peace, &c.
The child was willing herself to sit, for a whole term, in
another apartment, and not enter the school-room except for
a recitation, and to have no part in the plays of the school,
but her mother was not willing.
This child I could not call noble-minded, or generoushearted, or a lover of truth, or a self-governing being, but I
thought she had been able to discern glimpses of these characteristics in others whom she had wronged, and that had
given me hlope.  I was thankful that I had given her principles instead of penalties, and that I had had faith enough
to wait for the dawning of light within herself, without giving
her up or producing a false shine by addressing lower motives. She would have despised me at that moment, if I had
yielded to her mother's wish that I should reinstate her in
school before she had outlived her probation, which the child
and I had agreed to be the best discipline for her.  I am inclined to think she judged her mother  unfavorably at that
time, for she often came to see me afterward, to ask me if I
thought such and such things were right- things which she
evidently had heard discussed. She was but eleven, but she
had a wonderful power of writing symbolically. She once
wrote a legend in imitation of those of Spenser's "Faery
Queene," which showed great intellectual insight into the distinctions between right and wrong, and her sense of her own
159 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
ifaults was such that if anything closely resembling them was
read of in school, she would put her head under the table, as
if she knew and felt its application. The apparent attraction of my society to this child was very significant to me.
She would ask me the most subtle questions in morals, and
discourse as well as I could, so that I felt as if her knowledge of right and wrong, gained through the intellect, was
rather a hinderance than a help to her moral improvement
for she was guilty every day of malicious falsehoods. Her
envy of her companions was sickening to the heart, for
it made  her active  in injuring, them.   She  had  vanity
rather than ambition, for her desire to excel did not spur
her to any troublesome efforts, it only made her hate every
pursuit in which others excelled her, either by natural gift
or by conscientious, patient industry. At such times she
would throw her books across the room, and stamp upon the
floor like a little maniac.   Her unusual brilliancy of imagi
nation, unaccompanied by any sedative qualities, was one
explanation of her character.  Her wit and fancy gave her
great influence over her companions, by whom she was admired, or feared, or held in great aversion. She had a passionate attachment to one girl a little older than herself, who
was singularly lovely and delicate in mind and conscience;
but this passionate love alternated with fits of persecution,
arising wholly out of envy, so that I have known her friend,
who was strangely ftsciinated by her, to be ill for several
days, in consequence of painful scenes of its display.  This
little Italian soul, born under our cold skies, was almost a
fiend at eleven years old. Perhaps the intellectual insight
she possessed at that early age, will be useful to her at any
period of life when her moral nature shall be awakened. I
have known instances in which the latter slumbered in childhood, and was roused into vivid action later in life by cruslling and heart-scathing events, consequent  upon its early
torpor; and I should not be surprised if she should yet come
to me across the wastes of' life for sympathy and help; for
160 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
she knew I would fain have given her my tinme and strength
to awaken in her a love of excellence.  Such characters have
success in the world firom very unscrupulousness, till they
trample too proudly on the rights of others.  The  charms
they do possess, whether personal or mental, lure them on to
greater evils till they are thrown back suddenly into the
presence of eternal truth, and then what misery must ensue,
what a reckoning must come! Do such children of God
see wider and deeper into the eternal truth for having gone
astray?  I would fain think so; for in this universe of cornpensations we can only see that one for the lost heaven of
innocent childhood. Let those who have not such temptations mourn over, but not despise the erring!
I would aid many children to conquer temper by a near
penalty, or give courage to confess a fault by taking away
the apprehension of all other punishment than the natural
one of self-reproach, reflected  from  the mother-confessor;
but sometimes I see children who are afraid of nothing in
heaven or earth, the current of whose impertinence I can
indeed check for the moment; the bold, defying glance of
whose eye I can quell, but the coarse texture of whose mind
admits none of the more delicate influences.  A large generosity, or a great moral indignation or self-conquest, may be
comprehended by such children, but not a fine symrnpathy,
or a tender regret.
I have-had pupils with as violent passions, as determined
will, as much intellectual insight, and a temperament that
made every emotion as keen as the stroke of a Damascus
blade, but a sensibility that would respond to the gentlest
touch, and a conscience whose stings were like a sharp g,,ad.
This keenness of nature made childhood's experience like
that of a matured mind that had seen and felt the consequences of evil; and the gravity of age took the place of
the buoyancy of childhood. A word in season would bring
such a child to repentance and amendmrent too, for I think
iiothing of occasional backsliding,, where the desire of iran
161
I'll,, 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
provement  prevails.  Such  children are subject to abuse
of a peculiar kind, which they seldom escape. This quick
sensibility is too often called forth, and a morbid sensitiveness is produced which too often takes refuge in recklessness.  I have known such instances where the very words
"doing right" became hateful, when uttered by lips that
had invaded too often the sacred sensibility. Such vivid intellects are also apt to be exercised too strongly for the entertainment of others, and excited to undue activity by questions of morals which should not be urged thus early, if we
wish for a healthful development. The principle of selfgovernment is thus impaired, not strengthened. The trial
of strength ought to come later in life; and truthfulness
alone will save one who has such painful associations with
virtue. I am thinking now of a particular child whose peace
of mind I have seen thus disturbed fearfully, and to whom I
felt it my duty to secure as much tranquillity as the hours
he passed with me could contain, even if advancement in
literature must be sacrificed to that end.
I know nothing more painful than to see a child of delicate sensibility, and lively moral sense, growing hardened to
the wrong-doing of others, as it grows older, and even learning to expect it. I have seen this in more than one child,
and it has made me feel that there is a limit beyond which
we should not open the eyes of childhood. Let them live in
happy unconsciousness of all evil but that which is in themselves, as long as possible, and let the characters of others be
mysterious to them, rather than let them acquire the habit
of looking out for blemishes by hearing low motives attributed to others. I would never trace out evil in character
before children, except where refraining from doing so might
risk the injury of the moral sense.  We all know, I fear,
what it is to have our idols cast down, and our ideal desecrated and sad; bitter indeed is the wakening from our
dream of man-and-woman-worship; but we learn one thing
b)y dwelling upon the perfection of our ideal, and that is,
162 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
wf what we are capable.  No one can ever realize that who
has not worshipped  some fellow-mortal, at some time.  I
would not forget the passionate loves of my childhood for
anything I have yet realized in life.
Upon  the whole, if I find truth in a character, I pass
lightly over all other deficiencies. And even some forms
of falsehood do not discourage me. A child that is managed by strategem will almost inevitably become artful; but
a generous, confiding treatment, in which his honor is trusted, will probably bring him back to candor and simplicity.
I love to teach children to look upon and understand the
virtues of others, to excite their enthusiasm for fearless
truth, self-sacrifice, and long-suffering patience and kindness.
All the experience of my life is worked up into little stories.
When I say "once I knew, &c," I always chain attention.
I love to tell of one child I kniew when  very young, who
would never let another child communicate any secret, as
children take such pleasure in doing, without saying in answer to the question, "Will you never tell?"  "Nobody
but my mother."   This was her invariable answer, and liel
sturdiness through all manner of ridicule made a great imnpression upon me. We were inseparable companions, and
I remember nothing that bound me to her so strongly as
this uprightness. I adopted the same measure by her advice, and we doubtless escaped much evil in that way. She
went by the name of " Nobody But," but she had true moral
courage, and I used to resent, in her behalf, this nickname.  My loyalty to her generally saved me from even the
temptation of being asked.  This and other small heroes
and heroines are important mythological personages in my
school.
I have one scholar who was brought to me from a very
large school where no child could receive individual attention, and no subject of interest was either studied or talkedi
It)out.  Certain outward actions brought certain rewards ol
punishments.  The  principles of self-government and( coi
I cl,li 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
science were never addressed.  His mind, of fine natura;
powers, would have been starved all that time if hlie had not
had intellectual culture at home. When he came into my
school-room I could see that every association with such
scenes was wearisome and disgusting.  Before the studybell was rung, he would pour into my ear the whole history
of his life, his excursions among the mountains, the stories
told him by his travelled uncles, his knowledge of animals,
birds, flowers, and all in a childlike spirit of confidence ill
my interest and sympathy, which he caught from the other
children. But when the school-hlour came, a lassitude pervaded all his faculties, and even a spirit of opposition seemed to take possession of him. It was not the signal for many
pleasant things to happen, as with the rest, but for some
stupid effort to be made.   The memory of many thousand
spelling lessons, including countless words to which no idea
was attached in his mind, and of dull readings of the sanme
uninteresting sentences from the beginning to the end of the
year, and the adding, subtracting, and dividing of inexpressive numbers, came thronging thick upon him.   I learned the
facts from outside testimony, first suspecting them from their
effects.  It needed only to look at him to see them written
in his expressive face.
As soon as I saw clearly how it was, I determined that
my school-room should for a time be as much like the wild
woods as I could make it, consistently with due decorum;
that he should enjoy the sweets of liberty in certain ways,
while at the same time I would endeavor gently to substitute
for his previous associations with study, something more living. I soon saw that he evidently thought he was to do
pretty much as he pleased.   I did not al%ways check  him
when he walked to the window without any apparent object
but to enjoy the prospect in the street, though I sometimes
expressed surprise that he should do it when I had giv(li
him a lesson to learn. He saw no black marks expressive
of the youthful sins of looking up from his book, or treading
I (i4 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
on the toes of his neighlbors, though after a wliil( I gave himn
[ little table by hinmself, because he  had not self'control
tnough to refrain from such interference with others. I once
remarked to him that he was like those people whom society
put into the State-prison, because hlie violated social duties.
Only those could enjoy freedom who did not interfere with
others' rights and comforts. The taste for liberty soon spread
into other things. He did not like to study anything that
required an effort, and showed a great feeling of discouragement whenever anything new was required of him. He always said "can't," and often added in a half wihisper, "wont."
I did not yield to this, but insisted upon having my requisitions answered, partly because obedience must be the cardinal
virtue in school, and partly because I knew such despondency
would never be conquered unless by a sense of power to conquer difficulties. Much time and labor it cost me and him
to establish my authority in this respect, and to induce him
to begin to study a hard lesson.  After I had gained these
points, however, I gradually set aside those things to which
he had the most aversion, and which had no interest but one
borrowed firom a sense of duty, and thought it best to let him
choose more for himself. I could have done this earlier if
the aversion to certain mental efforts had not been accompanied with wilful resistance to my wishes, and a want of consideration for my duties. Many of the vile tricks of schoolboys, both in school and in play-hours, annoyed me and his
companions.
At last the reaction began to take place. He became in terested in Latin fables and natural history, and when  1
began to administer less interesting things in small doses, lihe
would bring his book to me  saying, "I can't tell how to get
this lesson," instead of " I shall never get this, and I am not
going to try."  When  I found he could adopt a suggestion
fir,m me as to the best way to conquer a difficulty, I could
send him into another room to pronounce French phrases
aloud, withlout the interruption of other recitations.  I had
1 6.5 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
no possible penalties for the recurrence of fits of idleness,
and when hle interrup ed othlers, I only expressed my surpr-ise
and regret that he should be so childish and selfish, and occasionally sent him home because hle was utterly disagreeable.
These faults seemed to be the result of a morbid activity
where healthful manifestations had been arbitrarily checked,
and not an evil disposition; for he really loved little childrel),
and was communicating and confiding to me before and after
school, quite courteous and polite to me as Miss P, but
wholly in opposition to the school-damre.  I always took pains
to appeal to him for his traveller's stories when they came in
appropriately to the geography lesson, or could illustrate in
any way what was read.  Sclhool began gradually to afford
him the same sort of pleasure he received from reading with
his mother, which was ailways agreeable, and lad stored lhis
mind with pleasant knowledge.  In morals as well as in lessons I did the same thing.  I called upon him to help me
take care of the little children when we walked, because I
saw he could do this with ease and pleasure.  As soon as
any other relation took the place of the school relation, all
things went on agreeably.  He  knew that I respected his
word, and that his story had due weilght in the scale when
I asked for various testimony in regard to any subject of
difference.
My object was, as you will perceive, to leave him to feel
the natural consequences of doing wrong, instead of fearing
any arbitrary punishment; being confident that the natural
sequence of things (that is, God's arrangements) would enlighten the mind as no mere penalty or mere precept coul(l
do. I often feel that I can see the prominent points in a case
like this, where a mother may not, owing to her position.
Neither do mothers know the faults of the school-room. I
give information of these, as they tell me the faults of the
nursery. Children that cry much in nurseries, seldom cry at
all in a school-room, where a pleasing variety occupies the
time, and a seed-grain of self-control is planted; and tenmp
1 66 
MORAL CULTU[RE OF INFANCY.
tations arise in the school-room,  where peculiar efforts and
sacrifices are called for, that do-not assail the child at home.
The mother of this boy could hardly be made to believe that
in school-hours neither his intellect nor his conscience acted,
because she knew they did at other times. It was as if a
spell bound him there.  In his previous school-life there had
been little but spelling-lessons, and what is called discipline,
which consists, as far as I can understand, (and I have inquired very particularly of those who advocate the system,)
of teaching as many uninteresting words as can be crowded
into the memory, especial care being taken to keep out of the
way all ideas. It was in such a conversation that the view
was advanced to which I have before alluded, that the less
interest, the more discipline of study. The advocate of such
a plan thought everything that was studied in youth was forgotten, be it what it might, therefore training (alias misery
and waste of time) was alone useful or desirable.   He instanced his own experience as a proof of this, and where it
was gently insinuated that perhaps if those forgotten geography lessons, Latin lessons, etc., had had any interest of their
own, such as associations with interesting people, or the
amusement of a story, they might have kept their place in
his mind, he rejected the idea entirely, showing, as the Puritans did when they persecuted the Quakers for doing the
very thing they had done, the evils of a bad education.   I
even ventured a little story, (that being a lively kind of argument I like to use,) of a little girl in my school, who, when
I was endeavoring to make her hear the thunder-music and
see the rainbow-tinted spray of Niagara Falls, exclaimed,
"Why, I never knew before that Niagara Falls was made of
water! "- but I found he could not be taught "out of the
uouth of babes and sucklings."
I could have told him, if I had not been discouraged, of
a dear little boy of my acquaintance, seven years old, whon
his mother wished to send to my school, but his more ambitious father chose to put him into the Latin Grammar-School,
I(.i 
1IORA[L CUL,TURE OF INFANCY.
(the very one of which this gentleman was usher whenr I
talked with him.)  His mother begged me to let him come
to me privately to learn with me the terrible Latin Grammarlesson of three pages, which was to be his first lesson in the
school, and the language.   So little Georgie and I had a
secret session every day for a long time, in which we got the
lesson together - I would hear him say it, and he would
hear me, and I endeavored to extract some hidden meaning
i'omn it for him, but althou,lgh I saved him firnom mrnany-a feruling, his hatred of school became so intense, fiom the impossibility he found of ever succeeding without penalty and suffering, that hlie actually broke down in spirits and health, and
was at last taken away and sent to a military school to save
lhis life. HIis mother and I knew why he failed, for he was
of delicate organization, easily frightened, and his sensibility,
which was keen and might have opened to him the beauties
of the universe, was  poisoned and  embittered  by unjust
sevelity and the fearful drill of that model school. Some of
my boys who have gone there after having learned to use
their faculties, have succeeded well, and found no difficulties
biht poor little George was taken firom what I call a spellingschool, and put into that tread-mill, as it proved to him. I
attribute a subsequent unhappy career to this mistake in his
education, but I hope something will yet evoke his originally
lovely nature.*
When one hears such views as these, and many others of
similar import that I could recount, one almost despairs of
ever seeing a whole man.  The fact that there is a grain of
truth in such heaps of falsehood, only increases the difficulty,
because that grain of truth prevents the recognition of that
mass of error.  My observation and experience are that, not
till things are intelligently learned do they begin to fertilize
the mind, or are they even sure to stay in it, and scarcely a
fine intellect will give you any other record of itself than that
the date of its improvement began at that era when either
* Since writing the above he has died untimely.
168 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
sflf-education or the wise teacher showed it the thread of
relation that runs throughi all things.  Not till at least one
lyiman fact has exemplified some spiritual law, does the intellect work intelligently, or begin to arrange its stores. Do
we not know some minds that are mere encyclopedias, which
imagination has never penetrated with its Ithuriel spear? If
such have moral sense in any fair proportion, they are liable
to become hopelessly miserable in this world of shadows because they can see nothing but the shadows.
I once knew a mother who was a beautiful type to me of
the spirit that should actuate the guardians of the young.
She looked upon a soul with such awe that it was not easy
for her to impose her authority upon her children, for might
there not be something in their natures superior to her own?
The possibility of this made her cautious in her requisitions,
lest she should nip some beautiful bud of promise in them.
I knew her when they were all young, and I saw that it was
not want of decision, but the fear of doing harm that often
a,rested her action.  The children were not always serene
and happy, and sometimes not obedient, for they had strong
wvills, and what is called a great deal of character. How
could there but be strong individuality in such a family?
There was no fixed pattern by which they were all to be
measured. But they reverenced her as she did them, for
she lived and acted simply and genuinely, and encompassed
them round about with her tenderness, practising daily those
virtues of devotion and self-denial which are demanded of
the mother of a large family, and never turning a deaf ear
to the wants of those less favored with earthly happiness
than herself.  She treated her children witi the respect one
human being owes to another, irrespective of age.  Yet she
did not commit the error we sometimes see of reasoning out
every point of duty with children, thus teaching them to
quibble and catch at words. She could check that while she
showed respect for their reasons.  She had that true lhumility which makles its possessors question every step of the
8
169 
'MORAL CULI,TURE OF INFANCY.
way in the path of duty, while they have a trusting faith that
there is something within them to answer to its calls.
She died suddenly, and then her influence, which many
might have doubted, appeared in a wonderful and beautiful
manner. Circumstances were such that no one was able to
take the proper care of the family for a month or two in the
ab)sence of the father.  The eldest children, two boys, one
fourteen, the other eleven, immediately took the place of theii
mother as a matter of course, assumed the personal care
which they had seen their mother take every day, of six little
brothers and sisters. arranging everything as their mother
had done, even in such minutia as placing the clothes in the
proper drawers, and washing and dressing the younger children, which the mother had never left to servants, although
the home was well supplied with them.  In a quiet and unostentatious manner a large establishment had been managed
by a superior mind so skilfully, that these boys found no difficulty in keeping everything in train till their father's return.
They had been inspired by their mother with a sense of order, propriety, and responsibility, for it was a peculiarity in
her that she rather acted than inculcated principles,  Ind
through their great and tender affection, which had been her
happiness in life, her characteristics flowed  naturally and
without a break into their lives. Such a mother should
every teacher be, especially of young children.
You need not tell me that mothers and teachers must be
wise as well as tender, courageous as well as reverential.
I know it well.  I can tell you of a young mnother who risked
an essential injury to her child (humanly speaking, for we
cannot injure the essence of another) by allowing him to
quibble upon subjects of right and wrong, and accepting his
excuses when he could found them upon any inadvertence
of hers. His mental motions were more rapid than hers,
and a morbid tenderness of conscience made her hesitate to
lay injunctions upon him, lest she might err in judgmtnent.
A natural tendency to subtlety and stratagem was thus fos
170
i 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
tered in him, and as he had not much imagination, there was
danger that he would become actually deceitful. He led an
innocent life compared with many boys of his age, for he was
kept very much out of harm's way, but I soon perceived the
pleasure he experienced from a successful trick of fun, and
that his great command over his nerves temnpted him to play
many such, which hlie could do with a grave face. I never
saw one that was not in itself innocent fun, and if they had
been practised as some children practise them, who will betray their agency the next moment from mere artlessness,
I should only have battled the point with him as I do with
others who play in school in study hours, (or rather half
hours.) But I saw that this was likely to become a deeper
evil, connected as it was with his habit of excusing himself,
finding flaws in my directions, and quibbling upon words.
It was too serious a matter for penalties of my device, designed as reminders, nor was I willing to enter the lists with
him and vanquish him by my superior sagacity, for this would
be only sharpening his tools.
I took a good opportunity one day to call what hlie did
mnean, and to tell him that I thought he was growing cunning,
which I was very sorry for, as that led to deception of all
sorts. It was very funny to pull another boy's hair, and
then look grave as if he knew nothing about it, which I had
often seen him do, but I could not laugh at fun, when it was
at the expense of truthfulness, though I enjoyed a good joke
as well as any one. It was wrong, too, for him to play when
I was looking, the other way, because it was cheating me and
setting a bad example to the other scholars. I liked to be
able to trust people's honor, and when I gave a direction,
and then went to the other side of the room to attend to
others, in the confidence that my wishes would be conscientiously regarded, I was disappointed and grieved to find that
I was cheated. I did not like to be obliged to watch people. I
could not respect any one I must watch, and I would not watch
him. If he would do wrong and teach others to d(lo so, 11e
171
::.1.::, 
172        MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
must sit entirely by himself.  As to himself, no one else
could cure him of h-is faults. If he was willing to grow deceitful, no one could help it; but if he had no honor, every
one must defend himself against him, and hlie could command
no respect from any one, nor have any of his own, which I
thought more precious than that of others.  What was a
person good for who could not have self-respect?  It was
a pleasant thing to make other people laugh, but if he could
allow another to bear the blame of it, and not speak up to
say he was the offender, I could not trust him even when
hlie did speak. I added, that I had long observed these
tricks of his, and had been sure they would at last lead to
meanness, and here was an instance of it just as I had
expected. I also reminded him of an occasion when I
saw him take an unfair advantage in play for the mere
pleasure of winning a little game, thus giving up his honor
for the enjoyment of a moment.   I hoped he would remember these instances and the danger to which he was exposing
himself. I would not dare to punish such faults, for I might
be suspicious of him when he did not deserve it, as I could
not always read his mind or be sure of his sincerity. The
punishment must be the one God had appointed for such
faults- and that was, a loss of integrity itself, the most dreadful of all punishments.
The child loved me and thought a great deal of my opinion. He did not wish the tears in his eyes to fall, and lie
swallowed them till his face flushed. I had spoken before
all the school, as it was a public offence not to be passed
over; for nothing is more attractive to children than the
wittiness of practical jokes, as I knew one child to confess
when asked which boys he liked best in a certain story,
"Oh the bad boys," said he, "I like the wittiness of them."
I afterwards took every opportunity to put this little fellow upon his honor, and often said, so that he might heat
it, that if any one wished to be fair and honorable, they
had better not indulge in what seemed very innocent full
...'- An- * 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
when  concealment  was necessary, for fear of learning tc
deceive. I often appealed to him for testimony, because J
knew he had accuracy of observation, and dwelt particularly
on such occasions upon my wish that he should tell me
all his own part in a transaction, very carefully, both good
and bad, for the sake of helping me to do justice, and urged
him not to be cowardly, or keep back anything for fear of
being blamed. Blame, I once told him, was one of our best
friends. The fear of it sometimes kept us from doing wrong
even when we had no better reason, and when we had done
wrong, it showed us to ourselves, just as we were, and waked
conscience up to its duty. Only cowards were afraid to tell
the truth against themselves. Yet I checked him whenever
lie told tales of others; which is a thing I always carefully
discriminate firom telling the truth when asked.  I checked
him also because one of his bad habits was to excuse himself,
and the temptation that assailed him was to throw the blame
on others.
In every way I could think of, I thus tried to show him
how his particular tendencies would lead him into falsehood,
which I assumed to be the greatest of faults.
After three years' continuance in my school, I assure you
there was not a child in it that I would more readily trust,
and though he always annoyed me with his playfillness, it
ceased to be tricky. I had frequent occasions to notice his
candor and to refer to his improvement. I never spoke to
him again before the school upon the subject of his mean
fault, but I kept it fresh in his own mind, and long after,
when I reproved another child for symptoms of the same
fault, I remarked that one of my scholars had once given
me the same cause to fear for his integrity, but he had
watched himself, and I was glad to say he had resisted
temptation and grown honorable and trustworthy. I saw
that he knew who I meant, but the others had forgotten
who it could be. I did not gratify their curiosity, of course.
I do not know that this boy is above temptation, but I
173 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
have had many proofs of his power to resist it; occasions
that brought him no glory, some of which I have recognized by such a remark as "how respectable honesty is," or
"how I like to see moral courage that fears nothing but
doing wrong." Sometimes I took no visible notice, for we
need not always praise well-doing. It is often both unnecessary and unwise, for where goodness is not wholly
spontaneous, it may be vitiated by love of approbation. It
is only perfect goodness, or such measure of that as mortals
may attain, that can always bear praise and grow only more
fervent for it.
Sometimes I leave one scholar to keep school while I go
into another room to hear a lesson, and then I require an
account of their stewardship. I am always careful to select
one whom all will concur in respecting and of whom they will
feel no jealousy when they are censured. I once left this boy
in charge, but after a short time he came and requested to be
released, because he felt as if it was like tale-bearing to tell
of his companions, and he did not feel sure that they would
be willing. I saw by this that he meant to be faithful;
indeed, it was not till after I had full confidence in him that
I ventured on so important a step. I presume he did not feel
as if I could say, as I had said of some others, "You know
would not find fault with you if he could help it, or if
his conscience did not require it of him."   There is no
point that must be managed with such delicacy as this of
discriminating between truth and falsehood.  Children live
so long in their ideal worlds, and are so much talked to
in symbols, that when they begin to deal more with realities
they must often be reminded to be accurate.  I would lead
them gently out of the creations of their imaginations when
this time comes, constantly reminding them that they must
tell things just as they are; and when they embellish their
statements, I go over them quietly, re-stating for them, and
leaving out all the marvellous additions.  Little  children
will iften quote their absent mothers' authority, when it is
'I 74 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
impossi')le that the circumstances can have been anticipated.
I always reply to this very decidedly, "Oh! no; mother
did not say so. She does not know anything about it; you
must not tell me so; that is saying what is not true, which is
very wrong."  If they persist, I say, "Very well; I will
write a little note to mother when you go home, and tell her
I am afraid her little child has said what is not true, shall
I? v This will generally bring out a confession. I do not
punish on such occasions, for there is no surer way of producing falsehood than by inspiring fear, but I try to produce
a little agony in the conscience and make a child very unhappy for the moment. This suffering can be referred to
afterwards, in private, and the danger pointed out of growing wicked, which I find the greatest instrument of awakening the inward monitor.
Some people object to allegories and fairy stories for
children, but I am never afraid of them if they are true to
nature, truly imaginative, or if the impossible is occasionally
caught a glimpse of. A fairy that comes out of a flower, is
an imaginary being that will never disturb the dreams or
deceive the intellect of a child. I always call such stories
poetry, and sometimes ask what they teach. If a teaching
use cannot be made of them, they are not written conscientiously and are not good food for the young. A child of
well cultivated im."gination will be likely to be more rather
than less truthful than others.  But I do not like ogres.   I
once had a set, alar, a child of eleven years, that had never
known the f;-xe of parents. She was a southern child,
whose pare,rs died in her infancy, and she was sent from
one boardit g-school to another, where she was made the
tool of uns,(rupulous girls to obtain their ends against authority. She told untruths always, even upon the most trivial
matters, as if she feared being circumvented, or giving any
handle to others by whom she mnight be blamed.   She was
;o subtle, that it was almost impossible to obtain a fact from
,er, although she lived in the family.   Her relations had
175 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
wholly neglected all personal care of her, and I found slhe
knew nothing whatever about them.   I learned  that her
parents were two very lovely young people, both of whom
died early of consumption, and she had an uncle who was
a bachelor and a very wealthy planter. He had been very
fobnd of his sister, and meant to take home this child and
make her his heiress as soon as she was old enough.   She
had the precocity of constitution and temperament common
to the southerners, but had no interest in life at all except
for present gratification.   It was difficult to interest her
in anythling, and I determined to try the experiment of
describing her parents and her uncle, and telling her of
her future prospects.   I saw when I was  talking to her
that she was much moved, but she did not wish me to
know it. During the several months she had been under
my care, I had never seen her off her guard, and she did
not mean to be now.   She said, "yes, I know," several
times, but in her emotion she had forgotten that she had told
me several times when I had asked her, that she had no
relations. As I went on speaking of the lovely character
of her mother, who died at her birth, I saw the color flash
and her lips quiver, but she would express no interest in
the matter in words, and I took no notice of her natural
emotions. But when I went on to speak of the uncle and
his beautiful home, his love for his sister, and for her, whom
he had never seen since her babyhood, and of his wish
that she should preside over his home when old enougli.
she fairly burst into tears; and when I drew her into my
arms she put her head on my bosom and gave way to violent sobbing. But still she was cautious in speaking, and I
did not convict her of having  concealed the truth.   She
was naturally very timid, and I had divined the cause of her
phase of falsehood.   She had been treated very cruelly,
and was afraid of human beings. After a while shle proposed to write to her uncle and tell him what she was
studying; but altl-hough I doubt hnot life l)ad a new inter
176 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
est to her, I could not tell what was the chara(teristic of
her interest, owiing to her great reserve. It might lhavec
been sordid, for she was very selfish; but she was soon
removed, and I had no opportunity of seeing her for many
years. I then found her still in the family of her guardian, to one of whose sons she was engaged, but I was
told there was no love, only speculation, at the foundation
of the young man's views, and the seeds of consumption,
inhlerited from her mother, had begun to ripen in her.  She
was brilliantly beautiful, and showed a great deal of feeling on seeing me, but died very soon after.   The  only
evidence I ever had of the existence of the moral sentiment in her wronged soul, was her fondness for another
child in my family, who was the soul of truth and love,
and who had divine patience with this her little tormentor,
whom she watched over and remonstrated with like a little
mother.  This companion, of just liei own lage, had had a
very remarkable moral training, consecrated forever by the
sufferings for conscience' sake of a very dear and gifted
mother, whose persecutions were known to her child, and no
one could know her, not even the most hardened or obtuse, without being affected by her. She was a little Christ
among other children, and so regarded by them, and I
always hoped that the poor little waif had through her a
glimpse of the Heaven into which she seemed to have no
passport.  At the time, I rejoiced for my little angel, when
her heart was relieved of such a charge, for certain natural graces as well as the condition of moral benighltment
of the little stranger had taken very deep hold of her; but
I think a reform might have been effected with suchl an
aid.   The  martyr's  child lived long enough to fulfil her
promise, and girew happy enough to blossom out into some
buds of lovely promise, intellectual as well as moral, and
then she went too, but could be no more an angel the other
side of the veil than she was on this.  How slighlt the barrim' sometimes seems to be, yet how impervious!  Was it
8*
177 
178        MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
the divine love in you which made you do that? was her
mother's form of reproof, always remembered.
Is there any danger of inspiring a child with too great
self-reliance, by directing it to the immutable law of God
in its own breast as a guide of conduct? It has been wisely
said that we know of the moral nature of God only what
the moral sentiment teaches us, and that the visible world
and revelation only confirm what this sentiment gives plimarily. - We know that the sentiment of reverence may be
directed to objects unworthy the homage of the soul. In
the fluctuations of human opinion there may be a higher ol
lower view of God's nature. He may be looked upon as all
justice without mercy, or as mnercy without justice, or as a
union of both, according to the enlightenment of the intellect, but we can cultivate. in every child a reverence for
God's voice in conscience, an allegiance to God as goodness
itself, or as a Father, ready to forgive us when we repent,
and to help our efforts.  The human being may  by turns
worship God as a Father, as a power, or as law; and salvation, or the redemption of the soul firom evil, does not depend upon the form of belief, but upon the allegiance to that
something higher which is a law to it.  I do not say that it
is not important what the form is, for we know that there is
all the difference in the world between the savage's worship
of his fetish, and the Christian's of his God, but the savage
may be more loyal to the small glimmer of truth represented
by his fetish, than many a so-called Christian is to his more
advanced conception of Deity. Therefore it is loyalty of
soul which is to be cultivated, and that is done through conscience.
I know no higher motive to be given to a child or to a
man, than that the more he obeys the voice of conscience,
the more tender it becomes; and the nmore he cultivates his
intellect the greater will be its expansion; and no fear that
either can entertain is so salutary as the fear of losing the
delicacy of the conscience, or the power of increasing insight, 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
(Ofer no secondary motives, but as high a view as we can
give of the primal one, not judging for our fellow-man, or
even child, what it is ready to receive, for either may be
capable of receiving more than we can give.
This does not interfere with bringing the consequences of
wrong-doing into immediate view, which is in fact all that
we do when we punish judiciously. If a child is selfish lihe
is thrust aside by those who have the power to do it. This
is a direct natural consequence, quite as much so as that
the selfishness grows by indulgence, but weak  children ill
a school or in a family must not venture to thrust aside Ian
offender.   I must therefore come to their assistance.
I have one child in my school who has so little power of
self-control, that I am obliged to be very peremptory with
him every day.  It would not be sufficient for me to say,
"You trouble others so that they do not like to have you sit
near them," and wait for that truth to influence him. I
must put him in a seat by himself, and show him that he is
not to approach others now, and that he must make an immediate effort to gain a better social position.  If anything
comes into his head, he seems utterly incapable of refraining
from the utterance of it, even in the midst of a recitation, or
be it ever so irrelevant to the matter in hand. Hie wishes to
tell anecdotes of which he is reminded by something read or
recited.  If I tell him he must not take up the time, hle is
so earnest to go on, that often I cannot stop him without
walking him out of the room. Then I tell him that since
he has no power of self-control, he must stay there till I call
him; or I allow him to return on condition that he does not
open his mouth even to read or to recite. I impose this
privation to teachl him self-control, the want of which will
make him annoying to every one.  He pours forth many
sensible remarks and more good feelings, but the law (;f
adaptation  seems  wanting.  He  has sensibility and  coascience, and a general desire to do right. If not approved,
he is afflicted; if he does not succeed in his undertakings,
179 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
he cries with grief, cries aloud often, though a huge boy of
nine years old, -a little giant in form and strength. He
generally seems to tell the truth, though he is weak, and
yields easily to the temptation of gaining his ends. But if
he cannot remember easily, he lashes himself into lhysterics.
He has quick perceptive powers, but little power of reasoiiing. My aim is to show him the connection between his
faults and his sufferings; to let the latter be felt to be the
w%hip that scourges his faults -  not himself; for there is no
fair proportion between the constant punishment he brings
upon himself and his wilfill wrongdoing. I am afraid lihe
will always be a trial to his friends. He is one of my least
hopeful cases, because not well gifted. I am afraid there is
a germ somewhere that the sun has not yet shone upon
that some tile that is now weighing down his brain must
be lifted before mortal man can help him. You remember
the story of Descartes, who was an idiot till his skull was
cracked, when suddenly the brain expanded, and the fissure
never closing, he became a great man. Perhaps my obtuse
boy will get some friendly blow, mental or physical, that will
let in the light. His mother turned him out into the street
to amuse himself, because she could not manage him. If she
had not, perhaps I should already have turned him back
upon her hands, for he really is the greatest trouble I have.
My hope for him is that maturity and experience will teachl
him what others cannot. This is often the case.
Another little fellow appears to have no natural perception of the rights of others.  He does not understand the
sentiment of obedience, as many lively children do.   If I
keep my eye fixed upon him, he does not do the things I
positively forbid him to do, but he is the very prince of mischief, and I am obliged to watch him narrowly lest lhe turn
inkstands upside down, and go to such like extremes. In
sonme cases I merely follow my instincts, and this is such an
one. I feel as if I were to put principle into this child because I have it myself; much as the magnetist imposes his
180
4 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
will upon his patient by exercising it forcibly. I find myself looking at him  much more than I talk to himn, not al
ways reprovingly, never stealthily, but steadily and gravely.
I do not like to govern, but I am not afraid of children, as
some people are. My nerves can bear their crying, if they
do not cry with pain, and they soon learn that they gain
nothing from me by it.  They do not put me out of temper,
or exhaust my patience, or my perseverance; but the determined will, the ever-springing gayety, the wild spirits that
tire most people, are a constant source of pleasure and cxlilaration to me.  It seems to me so unnatural that childhood
should be naughlty, that if they are obstinate I am very apt
to think it the fault of some still more obstinate grown person, who has turned a stout heart into a wilful one by unwise
opposition; and I love to set myself to disarming the stubborn will, leaving it only resolute.  If they are false, I feel
as if their faith had been broken, or their fears excited, and
I love to show them the beauty of truth, or inspire them with
moral courage. If they are passionate, I love to calm them
down, and give them the pleasure of tranquillity, and the joys
of self-conquest,- not "breaking their spirits," but sympathizing with their ardor while I check its excesses; for enthlusiasm is aboon of which I would not deprive humanity.
If they are phlegmatic, commonly called stupid, I love to
find some subject or object of interest that will startle them
into animation; if timid and easily discouraged, I can give
them the pleasures of success by offering only practicable
tasks; if self-conceited, I can point out to them the kingdoms
of knowledge yet to he conquered. I often quote the words
of Linnoeus, who once said it would take him all his life to
learn thoroughly what was under his own hand, and what
was this compared with the universe!
I believe I enjoy the youngest of my tribe most, before they
know evil or are accustomed to hear of it with composure;
when the wanton killing of a bird, or even of a spider, excites
their weeping indignation; when the creations of their own
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
falcies are as real to them as the things before their bodily
eyes; and tit(y do not question if the bird in the story
speaks, or the stars sing. One may then imagine that
they may be among the few who love to the end with unbroken faith, who never lose their primitive innocence, but
grow as the tree grows, whose leaves, when the early firost
niips them, turn to scales to protect their sister growthls,
adding to the final perfection of the whole, not arresting its
beautiful and symmetrical progress, neither withering in the
bud, nor throwing out gnarled branches to the light and(l
heat that would falim warm and smile upon them.  I would
not pin these little inheritors of the earth to one seat, or always check the wild burst of delight, or the ringing lau,lgh.
I even like to have the older children hear it occasionally,
and recognize it with a smile as I do, for they have already
begun to remember happiness, alas! as if it had alleady begun its fligllt. They have laughed when it was not sympathized with, been reproved for loving fun, and deprived
of innocent sports because they were not convenient to
others. I like to keep up their sympathies with the spontaneous activity and pure imaginations of these babes. It
is out of order for a little child that catches my eye to run
across the room to say, "Oh, may I come and see'oo'ittle
while?" but I cannot but nod assent, and he will come and
scramble into my lap, where he is no sooner fairly settled
and hugged than he will scramble down again and go back
to his slate or his window.  If he nestles up into his sister's
chair, while she is studying, I put my finger on my lips, but let
her put her arm round him and keep him till he is tired. This
little sunbeam begins to wish to draw on the slate, and the
little sister of seven years takes the greatest interest in what
he does, as if expecting some angelic exploit of the pencil.
But thlough I wish to have self-government in my scholars
instead of my own, dear Anna, do not for a mnoment mistake
me.  I consider obedience an essential ingredient of order,
and order I regard as "heaven's first law."  Indeed I have
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
sent away one scholar of whom I have spoken a little way
back, beca,ise I could not command  his obedience; and my
autho]'ity must not be questioned, although I do not obtrude
it. No human being can be good or happy who cannot obey;
and those parents do the best thing for their children, who
successfully cultivate the sentiment.  For, if it is the sentiment, it will acknowledge all lawful authority.  When it is
merely a practice gained through fear, there is generally no
sentiment in it.  The child who will not eat the bit of cake
offered in its mother's absence, because she has refused to
let him  have it before,-  and I have known many such,is truly the obedient child.  Children not only respect most
but love best those whom they cheerfully obey.   A  child
that obeys a judicious and affectionate mother, or teacher,
will often, in the midst of its opposition and wilfulness, acknowledge that the power which rules him is a beneficent
power. If I did not think that a pretty good child would
feel that I was in the right very soon after a conflict of wills,
I should suspect myself of having given some evidence of
love of power or want of good temper.   I would not restrain
in expression of honest indignation, or strong disapprobation,
if the offence deserved it; but any impatience of temper, or
any personal feeling, except that of sorrow, is a crime in this
relation.  It may not be in a mother's or teacher's power to
be always wise, judicious, or intellectually ready for an occasion; but the virtue of patience is lawfully demanded of
them at the tribunal of conscience always. Corporal punishment I have nothing to do with, for though I know it is
necessary in some extreme cases, I prefer that parents should
exercise that function.  No person that hlas a less vital interest in a child than a parent, should inflict it; and though
as a prin-ciple of government I consider it brutalizing, there
are instances in which I have felt it to be a holy ac(t, and in
which I have known the child to respect it, and to feel hurt
for its parent rather than for itself'. But my own influence,
to be secure and useful, must be wholly moral and intellec
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
tual.  I often tell children that I must inform their parenits
whlen I find them impervious to any influence of mine; and
when, as has sometimes been the ease, they have begged
me not to do it, because they should be whipped, I have said
that " perhaps that was the very best possible thing that could
be done, and if a parent thought it necessary to whip his
child, it must be because he truly loved him, and thought it
right to do what must be to himself a painful thing: such a
reason must not deter me fiom doing my duty.   I should
not act according to my conscience if I concealed anything
friom parents, for they are the guardians God has appointed
over children, and I should do wrong to prevent them from
knowing everything that I knew, that would help them make
their children good."
I cannot provide for those exceptional cases illustrated to
me by a little new scholar I once had, who was very refiactory.  I said to him, "don't you wish to be good, Lewis?"
"No," he cried out in a distressed voice. He was only six
years old, but this seemed to be a new case, so I put my
arm affectionately round him and said, "What does it meaii
to be good, Lewis?"  He raised his tearful eyes to me and
gasped out "ter be whipped!"   I never saw a look of
greater infantile woe; but I soon taught him that that was
not what I meant by "being good."
I know one mother who has a family of excitable children,
which she treats wholly on hygienic principles. If they are
out of temper, she administers nauseous doses of medicine,
and such has been her power over their consciences that she
can make them grateful to God for such blessings as ipecacuanha and epsom salts, even when she is holding the spoon
to their mouths.  This is a filct within my knowledge; and
it was the first thing I knew that set my thoughts upon the
track, which has led me to a firm conviction that half the ills
of temper and perversity may be traced to physical causes;
for her instinct proved to be a correct one. Her children
were honorable and affectionate, but irritable, and this was
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
owing, to an unhappy inheritance of physical structure, incompatible with serenity till counteracted by judicious treatment. One of those wise physicians, who sometimes adorn
the profession, was her aid and counsellor.   " Her children
rise up and call her blessed," and bless her too.
LETTER VI.
DDEAR ANNA,-  I have just heard  that you think of
changing your original plan, and becoming a governess.  At
the risk of being impertinent, I must give you the warning
of experience against this course. I know the voice of experience is not an unerring one, because circumstances differ
almost infinitely, but I think the relation of governess an unnatural one, and also that the disadvantages of home education, given  exclusively, far overbalance its advantages.
Mark me, I say given exclusively, for I think the early education should always be domestic.  I would  have every
mother set apart from all the other duties of life to attend to
her children, and be qualified to give them the rudiments of
not only moral but intellectual training. I know only one
mother who has done this absolutely and with all the requisite surroundings, though I know many who would be glad
to do it. Perhaps I should say I know only one father who
has made it possible. Doubtless there are some fathers who
would be glad to have it-done, with whom the mothers are
not ready to eooperate. I could branch off here, and tell all
I think about parents not having the right views of their
parental duties, but that would take me still farther back,
to the subject of being married on the right principles, which
I have been led to reflect much upon, as I have circulated
through the families of my friends, particularly of those who
have from time to time put their children into my clharge. 1
speak it with diffidence, but I see many families in which the
children are regarded in the light of annoyances rather tlhan
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MORAL CULTIJRE OF INFANCY.
of blessings; consequently they are penned up in nurseries;
put to bed by servants, fed by them, washed and dressed by
thein, excused by them, falsely entertained by them, in fact
educated by them, until they are old enough to be quiet ins
matis of the parlor, when they are allowed to be present to
lister. to conversations about the last new fashion, or comments upon the party of last night and that of the night to
come.  I have known the mothers of children under  my
care, to promise a sick child she would not go out in the
evening, in order to quiet her querulous complaints of her
nurse or attendant, and then to break the promise as soon as
the child fell asleep, confiding in its mother's sincerity. This
is an extreme case, but it is not so raie for mothers to send
their children to bed under the care of servants, instead of
leaving the pleasant fireside to make the most of that giacious hour when the heart of the child is most likely to unfold to the tender parent, and to utter its repentant confession
or fervent little prayer.
But this is wandering a little from the point. I begin to
think I indulge in too many digressions; but my vocation
leads me into such observations and reflections.
I know there is much to be said on both sides of this question. I should give you the sum of my opinion, if I should
say that after the age has arrived at which children are ordinarily sent to school, an alternation of the home and the
school education is the best mode. Here experience raises
her voice again; for the best educations I have known, all
other things being equal, have been in two families where
this has been done. In one of these, the watchful eye of the
mother saw the very moment in which the home influence
was becolming too exclusive and oppressive, and also when the
school influence became scattering to the mind from too much
c(ompanionshlip, or when ambition took the place of love of
knowledge and excellence.  The school intercourse was occasionally broken in upon by months of home life, when the
mother devoted herself as companion in study and recrea
186 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
tion, and kept alive her daughters' sympathy with her in her
(ldomnestic duties. I have often seen the mere school-life kill
out this sympathy with mothers and younger members of
the family, and foreign influences quite counteract the parental ones.
My own favorite mode of education would be to send
children to school after they have been well trained in imagination and self control at home, at the age when the social
feeling seeks variety, and can receive least injury from indiscriminate contact; and when arrived at the age when too
much companionship becomes dangerous, to call the girls
back to the home influences, and let them there pursue, with.
judicious assistance, or even a chosen companion, the studies
best adapted to the peculiarities of character, the mother
ever keeping herself the chosen confidant, and making herself a willing sacrifice, instead of allowing the social tendencies of her daughters to expend themselves on frivolous or
unworthy companions. Mothers are too apt to indulge their
own ease, and allow their children to firequent, alone, scenes
of amusement over which parents should always preside. I
have known marriage relations to be formed and cemented
by daughters so neglected, before parents knew even the
fact of acquaintanceship.
I know how difficult is such practice as I would recommnend, in our present state of society; but one can hardly
help following out one's imaginings of perfect circumstances,
and fancying all the good that might accrue in such millenniums.  It was very sensibly reinirked to nme a little while
since, by one to whom  I was speaking of my ideal of education for girls, that we can rarely begin and go on with them
according to any one system; for they are brought to us in
all stages of development, most frequently, alas, without
any.  You will please always to understand me as if everything went on right from the beginning.
To return to your present plans. I think I must have
learnt this rambling habit which so often leads my pen off
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
the track, when roving the woods and fields ill my extreme
youth, now resting by the side of the arrowy river of my
favorite valley, where the "sweet waters meet," or floating
with you down the placid Charles at the winds' and the
tides' sweet will.
I anticipate what you will tell me of the advantages
under which you enter upon the career of a governess. I
expect a glowing description of your new life, because I
know how you love and admire those friiends; but that
will make no difference in my views. I too have a friend
with whom I agree upon the subject of education; a motlhei
whose experience and wisdom have aided me much, and
whose spirit has presided over my school-room as a sort
of tutelary genius, into whose family I should be willing tc
go and give all the aid I could furnish for the furtherance
of her plans, (her own book-knowledge not being equal to
mine,) if she constituted the whole influence in her own
family. There would be a perfect cooperation between us
two, the intercourse of years having prepared the way foi
it. But her husband is not as wise as she is, and I would
not therefore venture. Yours may be a peculiar case of
sympathy with both parents, but let us look upon it in a
general way.
We will suppose a good family, and that the parents are
conscientious, and have a-general confidence in the judgment
and acquirements of the governess. But if the nmother is a
person of decided views, and fixed in her own opinions, and
the father also, you might immediately find insuperable difficulties. You would not like to exert any influence opposed
to the parental, however injudicious you might deeIn that to
be.  You would not like to take sides with either parent.
They might, by amicable discussion, modify each othler's
views, so as to do just right by their children; while the in.
fluence of another, thrown into either scale, would produce
dissatisfaction. In your school-room, on the contrary, you
can be perfectly independent of either, and without standing
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MORAI, CULTURIE OF INFANCY.
in the attitude of opposition, or running the risk of encroaching upon the rights of a parent, you can know just as
much and just as little as you please of the difference of
views; and having your scholar in a new scene, and subjeeted to different influences, you may be able fully to carry
out your own views, without exciting the jealousy of parents.
This is the only way to avoid such collisions as I dread, and
which seem to me almost inevitable in such a union as that
of parent and teacher in the same family.  As an independent teacher, your opinions may be expressed with the utmost
freedom; for I would have no tampering with truth. But
few mothers are humble or wise enough to be willing to be
criticised at home when it comes to the point. Then in my
opinion such an inmate spoils a family, which should be a
sacred circle where none intrude. I myself have had the
whole care of children in a family, moral and intellectual,
but no one but the parents ought to have had it. It set up
an authority that was more respected than that of the parent.
I have also, in another instance, had the sympathy and confidence of one parent, and the jealous watchfulness of the
other, who would not listen to the suggestions of a third person.  I have also seen children who knewmore of truth than
their parents, and who knew that I knew it; and I would
never Aigain put myself in that position.  I have seen the
wounded vanity of otherwise good mothers baffle the best
intentions and wisest action on the part of a governess;
and even sadder cases, where conscience itself must have
been sacrificed to keep the peace. No individual should
ever step between parents and children, and point out the
errors of the former.  Principles alone should do this; nothing less sacred should intervene.  In my school-room, I can
dwell upon principles forever, and apply them to the cases
in hand as closely and as skuilfuly as I please, and keep cleai
of personalities, if I find them baneful. If one is in the
family, this seems to me scarcely  possible.  Often when  I
speak of a wrong action, be it the wanton killing of a bird,
189 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
or the indulgence of an evil passion, children say to me, "My
fathter does that sometimes," and even add, "I wish he would
not."   This moral judgment is inevitable; it must come
sooner or later, and the sooner the child defines the line 1) 
his own observations and reflections the better, but it must
often pass without comment.  I should be soITy to be obligxe
to be silent upon any point of righlt and wArong, because there
are sinners at my elbow. In a school-room, which is a separate world within the great woirld,- connected with it, yet
severed from it, - principles may reign triumphant.  In a
family, persons prevail more or less, and this is one of my
chief reasons for objecting to an exclusively private education.  Special modes of thought and standards of action are
imposed by example and habit; and where there is no vaiiety of views presented for comparison, minds cannot easily
expand, still less choose the best of several good ways. I
have seen the victims of private education perpetuate family
faults, and in later life left standing alone in the world, knowing little of its interests, and having no sympathy fiom without. I have seen morbid sensibility thus nourished into
insanity itself.
But you must tell me the result of your experiment.  It
dashes my hopes of any brilliant discoveries. I much question whether, under the most favorable circumstances, you
will find yourself able to satisfy yourself and others too.
Those friends who love you so much will perhaps be unwilling to make demands upon you; and this will make you anxious to do all you can imagine them to desire. This is the
worst of all slaveries- to be in a situation where one is not
sure of all that is demanded, and where delicacy forbids the
free expression of wishes. In most cases, too great requisitions are made upon the time and thoughts of a governess.
There should be a rigid arrangement in regard to hours and
services, leaving the time which is not employed in instruction wholly firee, independent, and solitary, if desired.  For
a time you will be willing to give all your waking hours to
190 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
your employment, and( feel that you cannot do enoug,l to
serve a fi'iend; but real teachiing is an immense tax up!,n
the mind and the health; and you have duties to yoursielf,
the neglect of which will at last unfit you for the proper fulfilment of the very engagement you have entered into.  Your
own qualities of character may clash with those of the ftimily, and you cannot be supposed to have the touchstone to
their peculiarities, that members of the same family have,an innate and fibrous knowledge, as it were, of the springs
of each other's action, and the associations that govern these
springs. I have never seen a more painful tyranny exercised than that over a governess in one instance; not a
palpable tyranny that could be rebelled against and openly
thrown off, but a total ignorance of another's wants and
rights, that made the whole life a bondage.  The lady wiio
presides believes sincerely that she offers a happy home and
easy duties to one whose whole time and thoughts are taxed
in such a manner that she cannot feel at liberty to dispose
of an hour, although many are actually left unoccupied by
accident. This is an extraordinary instance of selfishness, I
acknowledge, but it generally taints the relation, more ol
less.  I have but one counsel to give to such sufferers.  Sac.
rifice everything but independence, but preserve that inviolate; for without it one can neither be truthful nor capable of
improvement. We never should allow ourselves to be in a
responsible situation where we cannot express our opinions
for fear of giving offence.  There is enough of that servile
fear in our common intercourse with our fellow-beings. Let
us keep ourselves out of temptation while our daily prayer
is that God may not lead us into it.
I am prepared for a theoretic refutation of all my positions, but shall probably be very self-opinionated till you
have lived through this experience, as I have done.
Yours, affectionately,
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MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
LETTER VII.
MY DEAR ANNA, - I am somewhat reconciled to your
being in a less independent situation than I wished for you,
by learning that you are, after all, in a school.room of your
own, surrounded by children educated thus far under various
influences. The range of ages in your little company appears to me rather too unequal; but I have such confidence
in your resources, that I will not forebode failure. I only
liope you will not be distracted by too various calls. In my
own experience, I was obliged to relinquish oldelr and more
advanced pupils in favor of younger ones, because I found
the proper attention to the two classes incompatible, and in
my own case my heart was with the little ones.  You are
better fitted to cope with older children, because your force
of will is superior to mine.
I rejoice in your lovely surroundings. I once kept school
near a gurgling brook, whose banks were ornamented with
wild flowers, and the room was always redolent of perfumes,
and garlanded with clematis and other flowers in their season.  Not only chlildren's heads, but mine, were wreathed with
them; and many a lesson was given and learned under the
trees, and on the grassy turf, golden with buttercups and
dandelions. But now a few feet of sky, and a glimpse of
verdant back-yards from one window, is all I can boast of
when housed. I am blessed with the proximity of Boston Common, through which I daily wander with my little flock, and
many of my children have country summers to remember,vacations at least. Cities are unnatural places for the young.
All childhood should be passed in the country, and in afterlife its memories can be pitted against the evils the grownup must bear in pursuit of certain social privileges.
I feel modest about describing my lessons, now you actually have your classes before you, and are sounding certain depths to meet the occasion. I wonder if you will
begin with creation, as a friend I could name told me she
192 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
did(, when first mneeting face to face a little disciple, her first
tml11)il.
I am glad you do not begin with a large schllool. In many
schools that I have visited, I have seen that the teachers
were  overpowered by numbers.  This is apt to necessitate
-no, not necessitate, for that cannot be necessary which is
wrong, -but it is apt to introduce the motive of emulation,
as a part of the machinery. Emulation is a passion - I
call it an evil propensity, so strongly imnplanted in the natural
constitution of man, that it needs no fostering.  It should be
checked and restrained like any appetite, so that its only
function may be the desire to emulate noble deeds, but never
to be degraded into competition for praise or honors. One
of the mothers of my chlildren thinks it is a very useful ally
to induce childien to study hard spelling-lessons; but I assure  her it cannot be made to play into my spelling-lessons,
whichl are natural growths out of reading-lessons.   No, I
l)lnish that evil spirit fiom my dominions, and endeavor to
teachl my scholars to have a deep interest in " each othler's"
progress instead of wishing to rise upon the ruin of others.
I have a device which answers all the purpose of a healthful
stimulus, and insures some of the lawful rewards of industry.
In my present school, where the children are all under
twelve, I made one class in arithmetic, including all who
could count tlheir fingers and thumbs, and, arranging them in
the order of ages, be(gan with the youngest, asking the questions in Colburn's first lessons in arithmetic, and saying that
I should take the first section and let each one go through
with it before I went farther.  When  the youngest missed a
question, I marked the numnber of it with her name, and began at the beginning with the next in order.  Some of them
soon missed, others went straight throughl without a mistake.
I simply said to the first one who did this, "You may return
to your seat and occupy yourself quietly in any way you
please every day at this hour until this lesson is over."'
The lesson was to continue half an hour.
193 
MORAL CULTIJURE OF INFANCY.
Those who did not go straight through, remained and took
another turn after each had tried.
I had seen the pleasing effect of this mode of hearing a
recitation practised upon older scholars, and knew  that its
charms would gradually unfold to these little ones.
The first section was accomplished by all that first day.
But I gradually took longer and longer portions; and soon
the pleasure of getting through, and having the disposal of
little times thus gained, was very animating.  I liked the
effect much better than that I heard described by a distin
guishled German mathematician, who told me that his father.
who was a soldier, had a triangle of wood made, very sharp
at the edges, on whiclh he obliged him to kneel while lie
studied his arithmetic lessons.  The effect was very stimulat.
img to his mathematical faculties, and thotughl he hated his
fatther at the time (a consequence I thought more of thain he
appeared to), he attributed to it a remarkable power, second
only to Sir Isaac Newton's (who could think a train of matlhematical thoughts consecutively for twenty minutes), of thinking his mathematical thoughts consecutively fifteen minutes.
My little people were so delighted with their leisure, thus
gained, that they voluntarily studied their lessons beforehand (which I did not require), and soon I was obliged to(
set off the older portion into a separate class, who went on
with the mental arithmetic very rapidly, while the younger
ones, who recited on the same plan, and enjoyed themselves
in the same way, were more deliberate. I followed the same
plan with  "Fowle's Geographical Questions on the Maps,"
which is a very nice book for children's use. It makes them
very thoroughly acquainted with maps.   My favorite geogiaphy lessons (and the favorite lessons of my sclholars too),
are oral; and I now have a course of lectures delivered on
.a certain day in the week by the children, which would
amuse you, I am sure. I put my work-table on one end of
the long writing-table, and my little lecturers stand behind i.
in turn, sometimes with a written lecture, sometimes with
194 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
only a wand to point at maps or pictures, - and give their
little lectures. One little fellow of eight would talk all the
afternoon over a map if I would let him, telling stories of
countries which he has heard of from me or others. Another
is very fond of natural history, and her little lectures are
about insects, and birds, &c.  Indeed, these are their chief
topics, - geography and animal life.
In arithmetic I also have many other exercises, such as
arranging beans in certain numerical forms; and on the
black-board I teach numeration in a simple way. I use
Shaw's box of arithmetical blocks to teach the philosophy of
carrying tens, and I think it admirable. I also have Holbrook's frame of balls. All these devices help to make processes clear.   I find a very great difference in children in
regard to arithmetic.  I have had one scholar whlo never
could go (she died at fifteen) beyond a certain section in "Colburn's Mental Arithmetic."  She reached that after repeated
trials; for when I found her grounded at any special point,
I always turned back and let her review, and in that way
she would gain a little at every repeated trial. This child
found geometry easier than numbers, and mastered "Grund's
Plane Geometry."   She could also write out a reminiscence
of Dr. Channing's sermons, or remember anything interesting in history, natural history, or anything of an ethical
character. I also had one gifted little scholar who could
not learn to spell accurately; but she drew with great power
and beauty, -with "an eye that no teaching could give,"
as was said of her by a fine artist.  These discrepancies in
talent are very curious. Phrenological philosophy alone explains them.*
* Since these letters were written, the St. William's school established
ill Edinburgh by George Combe, Esq., and in which that distinguished
man taught personally during the latter years of his life, has proved colnclusively that th PIhrenological philosophy is a fine basis for education.
The principle there practised is, to cultivate assiduously those faculties
which were found naturally deficient in the pupils; thus aiming to make
whole men out of what otherwise would have been but fragments of men
195 
MORAL CIJI,TUIRE OF INFANCY.
Having thus disposed of geography and aritlhmetic, in the
last of which I doubt not your  nmathematical faculty will
strike out something anew, you will expect me to describe my
modes of teaching language, as you know that to be my personal hobby.  I think I might hlave other hobbies if I knew
more.  But I do think the teaching of language covers a
great deal of ground, bringing into play, as it certainly does,
so many faculties.
The first thing to be aimed at in language is, that it shall
be clearly understood.  It is not necessary to go out of one's
own language to teachli etymology.  I take such words as
funny, kindly, sweetly, and ask firom what words those are
derived.
"What does fiulnny mean?"  The answer will be, "Full of
fun, or " Something that has fun in it."  " What is kindly?
Full of kindness."  "What does aglieeal)le mean?"  " Something we like," said a little boy one day in answer to this
(questioln.
"Does every one like the same thlings?" said I.
" No."
"Then something may be agreeable to you that is not
agreeable to me."
" Yes."
"Can you think now what the word agreeable is made
from?"
He could not think.
"A thing agrees with something in me that does not agree
with something in you, perhaps. I do not like the perfume
of a narcissus. It does not agree with my sense of smell,
but it agrees with some people's sense of smell."
He was pleased with this, and saw that agree was the word
"From what is lively made? " I asked.
He hesitated.
"What does it mean?" said I.
"Oh, lively, why it means very lively I
Can a table be lively?"
-1 96 
MIORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
"No, it must be something that is alive.   Oh, I know
now - alive is the word."
"What is alive made from?"
"Living," he answered.
"All these words are made firom the name of something.'
This brought him to the word life, and then he sprang up
and clapped his hands and whirled round.
I do not always check these natural gymnastics.
Such lessons as these I am teased for continually. Those
who have studied I can carry still farther in derivation. I
sometimes reverse the process and ask for all the words that
are made from life, action, &c.
Often when I give the children their slates to amuse themselves a little while, they bring me lists of words made on
this principle of analysis; and I assure you that when I read
to them, I am never allowed to pass by a word that is not
understood. Several times when I have deliberately pronounced a very long word that I expected to be questioned
upon, it has brought half a dozen of my little audience to
their feet.
I was very fond, when a child, of listening to lessons upon
figures of speech, given in my mothler's school; and was
quite expert in hunting up metaphors, tropes, hyperboles,
and personifications. So I impart the same pleasure. Thie
spiritual applications of words is pleasantly educed out of
their sensuous qualities, also.  "The sweet apple," and "the
sweet child," are equally significant; and it is well to trace
back words thus figuratively used to their original meaning
in the sensuous world, for they are felt to be more significant
when thus verified. It leads to sound thinking. There are
so many poetical expressions inll common parlance, that it is
very easy to put children upon this track.
I have lately set up a little class in thinking, preliminary
to giving some  idea of the construction of sentences.  1
do not attempt to teach grammiar technically to slich little
people as mine; but I contrive to induct it into them by
191 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
eritain devices, not wholly original, for they are recorded in
the "Record of a School."  Allow me to repeat the drilling
with which I began.
I called them around me one day to have a new lesson,
which is always joyfully acceded to by these little lovers of
new things, and nothing pleases them better than to be set
to thinking.
I asked them if they knew what their five senses were.
Not one had ever heard those words used together, apparently.
I enumerated; sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste.
Several individuals jumped up, whirled round, and sat
down again.  I then asked each in turn to name some object, and tell me
by which of their senses they could perceive it; and by how
many?
This they did readily again and again. They could see,
and smell, and touch, and taste a rose, but they could not
Itear it. So of other things.
I then said, "I have a thought; do you know what it is?"
"No."
"Cannot you see, or hear, or smell, or touch, or taste my
thought?"
"4 No.,,
" Now each one of you think of some object, but do not
speak till I ask you for your thought."
"Can you see your thought?"
Some answered "No," others "Yes."
I asked each in turn for their thoughts. They were a bird,
a house, a horse, &c., all visible objects.
I said, "All these things can be seen when they are before
you; but can you see the thought?"
Some answered " Yes" to this, which I found meant that
they could see the image of the thing in the mind; others
said " No."
"Call you see your thinking?"
198 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
"No."
"Can you not send your thoughts out into the country,
where you have sometimes taken a ride?"
Yes."
"Can you see, smell, hear, taste, or touch your mind?"
" No."
"But is not mind a real thing? Have not you a mind that
you think with?"
"Yes."
"There are some real things, then, beside those we can
see, hear, smell, taste, and touch?"
" Yes."
"What other things beside your mind? "
No one answered.
"Have you any love?"
This brought many to their feet, with a shouted "Yes."
"Any happiness?"
Yes."
Goodness?"
" Yes."
"Naughtiness?"
Yes."
"Is truth in the mind, or outside of it where we can see
it?"
"In the mind."
I then took Mrs. Barbauld's hymns, in the first of which
occur the words reason, kindness, heart, life, beside the
names of many objects of the senses, and made two columnns
on the black-board, in which I put down respectively, as they
were mentioned, all the names of objects, both of the senses
and of the mind. To the latter list I added the words God
and soul, by the direction of the children, upon asking them
if they could think of any more such words.
I then made the same discrimination between actions of
the body and actions of the mind, which they followed very
well, sometimes confounding the two, as oldelr philosophers
do.
199 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANICT.
I endeavored to give them the idea that things which they
see, hear, &c., exist both in the mind and out of it.  This I
could do by asking them if the person who made  the first
chair did not think of it first.  Was it not in his mind before
lie could make it? So everything in the world existed il
God's mind before he made it.
I then asked, "Which column of words gives the names
of real things?"
They all said the objects of the senses were the real things.
"Can they not be broken up, or burnt, or worn out?"
Yes."
"Can  the soul, or love, or goodness, or  happiness, be
broken,'or burnt up, or worn outs"
"No."
"Which are the things that last forever, then, -  these
objects of your senses, or these objects of your mind?"
"The objects of the mind."
"Does your goodness always last?"
"Where does it go to when you are not good?"
Nobody knew.
"Can you have it again when you wish to?"
"Yes."
"Who do you think keeps it for you?"
"God."
"That is what we mean when we pray to God to help us
to be good."
All seemed to understand this.
Then we find," I said, "that the real things that last forever are in the mind?"
Yes."
"Do our bodies last foirever?"
No.' 
"Do we live forever?"
"Yes."
",Yes, our souls are the real thin,gs."
:00 
MORAL  CULTIJUREF  OF  INF'ANCY.
Tllis was elough foi  one lesson.  Another  day I  aske(
abouit tle qualities of thlings,'and added a column for such
words as green, white, pretty, &e.  These are the main
classes, and I shall go on by degriees to words expressive of
relations, and to words that are substituted for the names of
persons and things which are pronouns.   The children are
very fond( of making lists of words of this sort, and often
bring them to me, divided off into their respective columns.
I have put the whole school, except the babes, into this
class; and of those iwho know how to read well I have made
a Latin class.  For this I use the interlined translation of
"2 ]sop's Fables," which  IMr. G --  T - first imported into
this country.  I began with a line of a fable committed to
memory, with the Englishl words beneath them. It is not
only good for spelling to begin Latin early, but it gives precision to thinking, if used ariglit.  After learning one fable,
by degrees, I let the children vocabularize the words by putting the names of things into one column, the names of actions into another, as in the analysis of Einglish; and this
has given them quite a vocabulary of Latin, firom which we
often make lessons in derivation.  Putting the nouns into a
columni soon showed the modifications of termination, and
then I explained the difference between that languag,e and
ours in that respect, and showed themr how few small words
were used in Latin.  They have also studied the indicative
inode of the verb amo, and have learned to substitute other
verbs in the various tenses.  But I confine them at present
chiefly to committing to memory the fables.
Dr. Follenii thinks it well to teach German very early also,
which gives the Teutonic element to our language; but I
have not done this in my present school, because the diffi.ult- of the German lettelr is such a puzzle to little brains
French I only teach them colloquially as yet; for the sight
of French words confuses spelling very much with little children. It is well to exercise their organs in pronouncing the
words; and all my chiildren can say many things in French.
9*
201 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
By and by I shall show them the words, if they stay with  ne
till they are ready for them. All these exercises of mind, if
not made fatiguing by too long continuance at one time, are
perennially interesting to children. The new life and vigor
a little hard thinking imparts to them makes one almost a
convert to a theory lately set forth by one of our contemporaries, that the scholar and thinker should be the longest lived
man. I believe it will be found true, if the brain be healthily,
not morbidly worked.  I love to see the eye fixed in thought
for a moment, even in a very young child: but I would have
in the next moment a jump or a run, or a laugh; and these
generally alternate with thinking, if nature is left fiee. I
am jealous of one moment's weariness at this age. I speak
particularly now of very young children, who are only too
willing to think, not of the wilful, playful rogues whom it is
hard to fix one moment, because they would have no work,
but all play.  There is a great difference, however, in children of all ages, and I would be careful of them all.  Force
and vigor are so essential to health of mind, as well as of
body, that I would secure those first to every child.
I once had a very bright boy of four in my school, who
had a very remarkable memory.  He would learn a verse of
poetry by my repeating it once, and learned to read with marvellous rapidity.  It was almost alarming; but I took care
not to stimulate him in any way.   He was suddenly seized
with a violent influenza, and did not return to school for two
months.   When he returned, hlie had not only forgotten all
he had learned, but never showed the same aptitude again.
In a year afterwards lie had not caught up with those first
few months. This taught me never to urge a child to exertion while suffering from a cold; and my attention having
thus been directed to the point, I have often observed how
that malady dulls the action of the faculties.
I haste one dear little scholar now, only too willing to exert her mind; and if I see that anything seems difficult to
iher earnest spirit, I advise her at once to put it aside; for the
'20L, 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
tearful eyes tell me plainly that there is no need of urgency
on my part, and that the danger is in too great persistence
of the will for duty's sake.  If it is necessary to explain tllhe
matter to others, I do not hesitate to say that that little
scholar studies too hard for her health, and I do not wish her
to be fatigued. It is necessary for her peace of mind to say as
much as this, and the others only see more clearly what I
wish them to see, that I measure them by the effort they
make, not by the results they achieve. The same persistence
of will and earnestness of spirit sometimes produces a violent
shock of feeling in this child, if she is arrested in any of her
purposes, even of play; but a gentle steadiness on my part
soon brings the repentant little head on my bosom.
I often wish I knew how much moral and mental effort I
ought to require of children, to keep the soul in full play and
never encroach upon nature, which adjusts the balances so
happily in her own way, when not constrained.  I have to
fall back upon my instincts for this, as the mother undouLbtedly does. This adjustment has been very happ)ily and wisely made in the case of Laura Bridgeman, one proof of lwhicli
is, that an obstacle in her path is only met as a joyful occasion for some new effort. If she finds a stumbling-block in
her way, instead of falling over it, or being discouraged by
it, she dances round it, and apparently hails it as a new proof
of the power within her to conquer all things. If her thread
gets tangled when she is sewing, she laughs and adjusts it.
Giant Despair would in vain tempt her, but would try again
to hang himself, as when, in olde(n time, Truth and Holiness
together escaped from his clutches. Principles, when known
to her, seem to be imperative; and cut off as she is from the
deceptive senses, she recognizes only the power within lherself, which laughs at the defiance of insolent brute matter.
It was the plan of her education that she should not be told
otf God's existence till she gave indication of some idea of
H-iia;  but in some way or other she became possessed of
that name for the existence of absolute power and goodness
203 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
(we do not know yet how far that embodiment of the idea
was intuitive); and she already refers all thiings to His
agency.  One suggestion pointing towards that idea would
necessarily fructify in such a mind as hers, and immediately
she would have a name for the law within her which she
obeys so wonderfillly in conscience, and exemplifies so reinarkably in her intellectual operations.  She answers to me
the question which I have heard asked, "Whence do the
intuitions of the inind come?"
lBut I must go back to my little family once more. These
children are quite expert printers, and have followed their
fancies very much as to what they printed; as, favorite stories or scraps of poetry, for I did not wish the process to betome tedious. One day I let each dictate to me a short
story, which I wrote down as they dictated; and while  they
were fill of delight I proposed that they should write stories
themselves, instead of copying them. This they subsequently
varied with writing what they could remember of my readings to them; so now I amn overvwlelmned with comnpositions
of all sorts, and often very good ones.  I have always thotught
it well for children to write t good deal, and I have never
found any difficulty in making them like to do it.  When  I
read or tell them anythiing I wish  them to write, I often
put leading words on the  black-board, to suggest thle  order of tihe  story, or the description; orl, to spell difficult
words.  One child writes funny stories, and laughs herself
as she writes; another gives descriptions of natural scenery,
in the midst of which her characters find themselves. One
writes about wolves and other horrors.  I have  a variety
of pictures hangirng on the walls, and I sometimes propose
that they should write stories about them.  These vwriting.s
are all printed with lead pencil, or on the slate, because
the mechanical difficulty of writing script with the pen makes
it tedious to children.
I shall look impatiently for your account of your proceed
ings.  I believe I have told you  the principal things J on
204 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
deavor to teach, but it is impossible to describe all the occasions on whichl one canl  minister to the inquiring minds
of children. I suppose many persons would think I give
too much time to playing and singing, but I do  not often
invite people into my school, for my ideas of order are different firom the ordinary one of sitting still and not speaking. I am perfectly content as long as the lifting of my
finger or the tinklling of my little bell will reduce  my subjects to order.
I forgot to mention that one day in the week we resolve
ourselves into a sculptor's studio. I seat the children around
one of the long tables and let them model in clay. They
make  miniature  vases, and  even faces, and  who  knows
but what some genius may  be developed? *   Paper  cutting is also one of my arts.   It teachles forms as well as
drawing, and some of these children cut very decent birds and
other animals. Sometimes I draw for them to cut, and I
have shown them the properties of a circle by cutting one
and dividing it up into angles, acute and obtuse, and teaclhing them to put them together again.   I was much  pleased
myself when I first understoodl the relation of angles to a
circle, and find that other children also enjoy it.  I let themn
play with the Chinese puzzle  also, which exercises  their
inventive faculties. t
If all teachers loved to play with children as well as I do,
* One of these children subsequently evinced much talent for the plastic art, which she traced back to this opportunity. She always kept it
up, and gave fair promise of accomplishing something in this department
of art.
t Several years after these letters were written, the Rev. Thomas HIill
issued a series of cards containing geometrical figures  composed of triangles of different sizes.  They were very useful in aiding the developae,it of the mathematical facultv in a private family, and might be used
with advantage in tlie present Kindergarten-schools, whose success forever settles the question of the manner in which young children should be
taught.  The above letters exemplify the blind grop)ings of a true child.
.over after that which has now been so beautifully developed by observa
tion and genius tunited.
205 
MORAL CULTURE OF INFANCY.
I think they would discover what I think I have; that chlildren need superintendence in their plays to defend them
against each other.   The only danger is, that the older
person may lead too much, and not sufficiently follow the
leading of the children. When children do work at anything, they should be taught to do it accurately and well;
but a concentrated effort should be very short. I hope
everything, as I told you, from your discoveries in this
charming science, of which I am never tired, I am never
weary of talking about my little flock, and all the little flocks
I have from time to time presided over.  The last always
seems to me the most interesting; especially the younger
ones. A new little being just waking up to a consciousness
of the world environing it, is a new study to me always,
one of which I never tire, as I am very apt to do of older
people. When you have taught a few years, we will compare notes again.
Very affectionately yours,
206
M, 
SONGS.
I. Lord's Prayer.
-*                                   tIn<L-By__ I 
OrFte,oi' —  - -                                T             O   F4     w  I hv  art, Thy nam he __llow -e;
6Our Father, who in heaven art, Thy name be hallow - ed; Tshy
0-' —-" —-4   ----—... —' —-4 —- -          -     -' —
-                                       T. —— # -O-I — -  _
will as'tis  n heaven e done, Let thy dear kingdom come; Gie
will as'tis -—.n heaven be done, Let thy dear kingdom come; Give
i-01                            to              i —--
_"b=;-__:>__;__:_::___-_                                 "_,
us  this day our  daily  bread, Our trespass - es  forgive,   As
_I. ~.~_,_,,_~~_ _ -0-1 — ~ — -                   --- - - Em
we~~~        - frve — -      O   t           w     r
we  forgive   the trespass- es  Of those who injure   us.   De
liver us from doing wrong; 0, lead us from temptation's snare; For
thine the kingdom and the power, And glo - ry ev - er - more.
II. The Fishes.
----- -- -- ad-..-.- -.-b- -~- — id
Happy  the  fish - es   now appear,         Sporting in
wa - ter   bright and  clear; Now swimming,   now diving,
above be, -..._  Now_ the _aesr_, _an t  eylb
aboye, be- low; Now they are straight, and now they all bow.
I 
SONGS.
III. Brotherly Loye.
1. How de- lightful'tis to  see    Lit tie children who a - gree;
Who from every  thing ab - stain,  That will give each oth-er   pain;
- -'-,4,4 —~~- I H-'- _ — __, __..~ — - -e -a   
0, how  lovely'tis to  see       Lit-tle children  who  a - gree.
2.                                   4.
Angry words they never speak,        When at home, at school, at play,
Promises they never break;           They are cheerful, blithe, and gay;
Unkind looks they never show;        Always trying to increase
Love sits smiling on each brow.      Human pleasmue, social peace.
0, how lovely, &c.
5.
3.                   If we for each other care,
They are one in heart and mind;    All each other's burdens bear,
Courteous, pitiful, and kind;        Soon the human race will be
Willing others to forgive,           Like one happy family.
And. make happy all who live.              0, how lovely, &c.
IV.  AT THE BEGINNING AND CLOSE OF PLAY, IS SUNG:
Front to back we march a - way, Let us all go out to play.
F_ ont t b_a we  _-   mr__ a —        _wyNw -,ill have dnu.la
.....#f-#,-l- =-, —,...,-,: -:iH  -~ — -::-t1:
I -9   Front to back we march a- way, Now we all have done our play.
V.  The  Pigeon House.
of m o _ _ -
~   P'2.,= >-F~            --— I:: —~-'-F — ~-~-    — ~    We   o -pen  the  pigeon house a - gain, And set all- the
___ap7'- - -  -.  a- 
hap - py  fiutt'rers free; They fly  o'er the fields and  grassy
2 
SO N G S.;
:               — _ —— i        --—'-lp                 — t
plain, D-light - ed with  joyous   lib - er - ty;  And when they re
_y_  _~_ _~,;_ q~_ -- -~-  -~- -~          -U- -4   -::~
tull from their merry flight, We shut up the house and bidl'em good night
turn from their merry flight, We shut up the house,-andbhid'em good night.
VI. The Cuckoo.
.9I__,_~r_~   -. _~.~___._-                                    __ —
Cuckoo, cuckoo,  cuckoo;  The cuckoo calls the children, cuc
koo,  cuckoo,  cuckoo,        Let  us  all  call him  to   us, cuc
:~__ _ —._:c —-__,x;:-oc_
koo,cuckoo,cuckoo; Yes, yes, the cuckoo  is   alone to-day, cuc
_~ ~.......-4 —-4....~ --    -- S-~-t —~=       -— o    —...- -Z-Do —>o_S                #_o_S_,_             ___
koo, cuckoo,  cuckoo;  Yes, yes,  he wants to   join our  merry
play, cuckoo,  cuckoo,  cuckoo;   You have not been calling your
friends in vain, We now  can play all  to-geth - er   a - gain, cuc
koo, cuckoo, Dear l —-it - tle child, cuckoo, cuckoo, dear child.
koo, cuckoo, Dear lit - tie child, cuckoo, cuckoo, dear child.
8 
SONGS.
VII. The Peasant.
_
peasant, W                                      i k_-o-  o -r
peasanWo    yok             — w  - -T   m  1 —an- -            -ar a
peasant,Would youknow how does the peasant) Sow his barley and
T___    =t               — "- o-   —,                          T h 
w-e-at-?oo-'    -—: s-              -epaatF —:  -- -H- - -  - -- ewheat? Look,'tis so,  so does the peasant, Look,'tis so, so does the
pst,  oo't is so, s- de t pa-at S- hby
p    nt, L       i i so   so de  te p t,   -    h                        and
peasant, Look,'tis so, so does the peasant, Sow his barley and
-a-a~ —— o    r —0t^t^
I D.         Ni    I-.. ---  --                     — T
w_ _et — a        _ aaaaa_.a_                        la_  l          - 
wheat.  La   la   la   la   la   la   la  la  la  la   la   la la  la
la l la   la l.  a- -a -— ll-la!l
+-e S__e~q_ _#_#_ _ _                _*_S-P — - r - S    _|L   ___i~~p _ -            ____.i            -_..I_ _-r
la la la la  la la la la  la la la la  la  la  la la.
2 Would you know how does the peasant
Reap his barley and wheat?
Look,'tis so, so does the peasant
Reap his barley and wheat. La, la, la, &c.
3 Would you know how does the peasant
Thrash his barley and wheat?
Look,'tis so, so does the peasant
Thrash his barley and wheat. La, la, la, &c.
4 Would you know how does the peasant
Sift his barley and wheat?
Look,'tis so, so does the peasant
Sift his barley and wheat. La, la, la, &c.
5 Would you know how rests the peasant
When his labor is done?
Look,'tis so, so rests the peasant
When his labor is done. La, la, la, &c.
6 Would you know how plays the peasant,
When his labor is done?
Look,'tis so, so plays the peasant,
When his labor is done. La, la, la, &c.
4 
SONGS.
VIII. The Sawyer.
Let us now be- gin our sawing; Forwards, backwards,
Fe --   _, E-  - i —# T-_'~-._:
__    A_ -         -         -     t-    _,    _
let,us now be - gin our sawing; Forwards, backwards,
pushing, drawing, S —-wing, sawing wood in two; Little pieces, —  
pushing, drawing, Sawing, sawing wood in two; Little pieces,
-=_ _-_ —- -—: —-_____-___
big. ger   pie - ces, See saw,  see saw,  see saw,  see!
Let us now leave off our sawing,
Rest awhile in pretty playing,
Playing, playing, playing so;
Playing, playing, playing, playing,
Till'tis time to saw again.
IX. The Cooper.
I am a cooper, and barrels I bind; And on my
br       p- -— e  ratio  I  find; But   appy      
brow )erspi - ration I find; But happy andt Ier 
always am found,While with my big hammer I pace all a
_round,  around,   around,   a    round,    round, round,round.
round, around,   around,   a - round,           round, round, round.
~ 
SONGS
X. The Wheel-barrow.
Come, take your barrow, neighborJohn, The clock strikes six, weComne, take your barrow., neighbor John, The clock strikes six, we
_m _.       _   _    _ _r si n- n i
:must-   be  gone; The birds are   sn  - _    I         _    b-o-,
I.#        _    _Z -    -     I io  1,    b      _= 
mhust  be  gone; The birds are   sin~g -ing  in   the  bower, The
_      _ _               _- — T__  _   _  _p _-         -    -
bees  are   bu      sy  on t   he flower; Come, take your  bar - row, -
bees  are,bu - sy  on   the flower; Come, take,your  bar - roiv,
let us go, And call up - on our neighbor Joe; We've much to
i-1                        i —— i- -=.   — ~- i^ t -O --  -  --  It- 
j~~~~~~o:: ~ ~ ~       #-   -'' -.      -  -       -
— >                          H-H- -.       -
let  us  go, And call up - on our neighbor Joe; We've much to
__ _ _     z.__ y_       _ y_J_-_  _   _ ___       +
do, and time flies on,-Make haste, make-haste, we must -be gone.
-           R        ---       -_ -            -_ _  - ~-,-, S _
do, and time flies on,- Make haste, make ~haste, we must be gone.
XI. The Clappers.
___               _ _ _                ___ __.
The clappers  in  the    cornmill move gently   up  and
_-oi         __ w,__               -#   te gie           _ s
__, -~-q~-~., #    _ -— ~. —~ —I-.-~ —~-4-i-,_- __-!
r   -_ —o —o o —— ~ —-t-,-,_....                    ___..
down, The wa - ter gives them motion; What heav - y sounds, Clip,
t-                       p- — ~    Sq
-— AI    a —-'  -      a-   ---
cla-p-  -c — 
clap,    clip  clap,    clip   clap,
6
I
-,O.                   - ilo    
-, _ —-                                      EC_
-       0- -      ~
-, -cli_ _p,.
clip clap, clip clap, 
SO N GS 
XII. & XIII. Windmill and Water-wheel.
See -                             -windm   — how she osh   t-hewind so briskl
:: —:-: =E —-....!
e::-,:                            —: —-t    See the windmill, how shegoes,While the wind so briskly
-blows; Always  turning  freely  round, Never  i -- d-e is she found.
blows; Alwrays turning freely round, Never i - dle is.she found.
Or, XIII.   See the UVATER-WHEEL, how she goes,
While the water freely flows, &c.
XIV. The Pendulum.
See  it  run,  see  it  run, See the clock  straight pendulum
Se;~e it run, sere it ru~n, Seethe~clock'sstraghtpendulum'
Move its long arm here and there,- Not  across,   not in  the square;
Stroke by stroke, both there and back, Always tic, and always tac,
tic, tac,    tic,  tac,    tic, tac,    tic,  tac,   Clock be  steady,
not  un - ru - ly, Pray  the  right time  tell   me    tru - ly  For
3'     3                  3,
~~~~ ~-.                         _    __ _+. —. _~.
eat  - ing,    for       sleeping,       for    work and    play,   O
tel e heprprima.   I                   f-my                  he
tell' me   the  proper   time  ev'-rv   day.    If.my    life   ir
7 
SONGS.
._ W__~.__      _,__~           i-_ - ~ —— l-~!-   -____-_   Ii
_,-' -~-~L ~ — W —- -_.      _.~ -_ i —~ ——.- _-  +     -  ------- _ -
or - der be, Health and peace will dwell with me. Lit - tle arm go
Lthere-and ack,Al_  _-       y t_ a__ a l was t tc -_c_
there and back, Always tic and always tac, tic, tac, tac.
XV. The Rovers.
v.....~-+ —~ _                    _                     _ - -  t
We  like to  go   a -roving,   From place to place  a -
:-l-ffi-X —fi-U -'-                           -U —-- -— ~ —e — 4 moving, For wandering is such sweet employ, It fills our hearts with
qui -et joy.    Wander,  we'll  wander,  We hear the warblers
.-~ — _.3. —t.*-Nt-;%-~-E-~-.0-, —-,-~-_,.,
_  ___    __:_ _.             _ _             __.; H     _H
singing, The  air with  music   ringing; We hear ~e sheep cry
~_,,_S___;          __ ~.__*,  _~.X@_         l_: _..~,,-.
bah! We hear  the  sweet bees humming,  We  see th3 large flies
'-_,,ll_             ___.-  - U- — ~ - - -4 —
com - ing, See, see, they fly  a - way!  Wander, we'll wander,
an -der, we'll wan -der, The flocks move on so -te     
wan-. de, w.' wan.-~ der,Tefocks m~o,.e on so,%%' 1    ~.ha
$ 
SONGS.
fields are  dressed so   neat - ly,   All   flowers smell so  sweet.
l;Come, wander, we'll wander, wander, we'll wa nde.
ly; Come, wander,   we'll wander,          wander,  we'll wander.
XVI.  The Weathercock.
Like   the  weath- er - cock  I'm  going,  When  the
storm - y    wind  is   blowing;   While    to  East and
-W ——'-m t —unIt —e  3 —— "-pita leann.
West I'm turning,  I    the  com-pass points am learning.
XVII. The Bees.
-- -~-~.........~ —  ~-..-    0 —
The bees are   flying  and hum - ming, Why are  they all
i —-~....~ — -c-0 — -~-..            -4- -$i- -n-t_~-i-  - -e      ~~__ _~_:_ _ _~..:~_ _....~ _                          -
~-'.    S        t;;;; -* L- -*-# —-,,,,,,,  r
corn - ing?   Honey   they  do seek,  Honey    they  do seek.
Hum hum hu hum hum hu  m u hum hum,  Hum hum hum hum hum hum huI hum.
Take care, beware, the drone is there; Take care, beware, the drone is thliere
lu 
SONGS.
XVIII. The Ring.
>s > + —++ 7- g __  _ # —- - 1 Hw
-0-                -U       Equal   treading,  e - qual stepping, We dance and sing all
_-.__    _>______                       *               _J_
.-  1"'    -....>__R 
~~~~~~~~-o
in   a  ring; All round we dance and sing. La, la, la,  la, la,  la,
'T —Io.~11    — t-:;Ft""-S-.Xt —EL~-;=-lE-~-~-..1 —u...1_~.~.
.. l_a la    la a a a-,-  a,.,,  i 
la. la. la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
XIX. The Hares.
Hare  in  the  hollow, sit - ting still; Poor hare, are you  ill,,
tatyou  cannotjumpandsprig,ju —     mp andsprig,ju —mp an —d spring.
that you cannot jump and spring, jumip and spring, jump and Spring.
I2. ~3.
.. Hare now be cheerful,
Jump and spring;
All danger is past.
aIare now spring, jump and spring,
Jump and spring, jump and spring.
2.
Hare now be careful, 
Sit quite still,
The hunter is near;
Dogs are running down the hill,
Sit quite still, sit quite still.
XX. The Little Master of Gymnastics.
Look  at  lit- tle   Al - bert, He's hap- py   and glad;
ot- AI-, __ h_ ha                               just =:ae
Lo  at   j    tIF  Al -           - b t      - — tma
- _   ->    1.  v o_ —    -      --   do    -4-  - ---
Look at   lit - tle  Al1- bert, what  he  has  just madle.
li) 
ea
-Z
.s
04,  
CATALOGUE OF
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL.
THE FIRST GIFT.
The Balls.
Aim:  to teach color (primary: re(d,
blue, yellow, and secondary or mixed:
purple, green, orange), direction (forward and backward, right and left,
up and down); to train the eye; and
to exercise the hands, arms, and feet
in various plays.
No. 1.   A set of six  worsted                        (      
balls, of the rainbow or standard
kinderglrten colors, with strings.  In /...
a wooden  box  with cross-beam for
hanging the balls.  With Directions
(Froebel's First Gift for Babies),$0.75.
No. 2. A set of the six balls, loose, without box, $0.50.
Directions for the use of the First Gift are contained in The K/ndergarten Guide, Number One.  In paper, $0.35.
THIE SECOND GIFT.
Sphere, Cylinder, and Cube.
Aim: to teach form and to direct the attention of the child to the
similarity  and dissimilarity existing between different  objects.   This is
done. by pointing out, explaining, and counting the sides, corners, and
edges of the cube; by showing that the sphere, the cylinder, and the cube
differ from one anotheri in their several properties on account of their difference of shape; by pointing out that the apparent form of the sphere is
unchanged, however looked at, but that the apparent forms of both the
cube and the cylinder vary according to the point from which they are
viewed.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
r
,     (,                r
k. 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
,  P         ~c        I I
IC 
S          ~,
No. 1 1. A set consisting of a sphere,
a cylinder, and two cubes —neatly
made of wood and provided with the necessary staples, holes, and strings. In
a wooden box with  ross-beams for hang
ing the forms, $0.60.
Directions for the use of the
Second Gift ire contained in The Kinderqarten Guide, Number One. In paper, $0.35.
THE THIIRD GIFT.
Froebel's First Bttilding Box.
Aim: to illustrate form and number, and also to give the first ideas
of fractions, symnmetry, etc.
No. 21 A large cube (2X2X2 inches) equally divided into 8 small
cubes (each containing 1 cubic inch).  In a wooden box, $0.20.
Diagrams and Directions for the use of the Third Gift are con   tained iii The Kindergarten Guide, Number Two.   In paper,  $0.70
and, separately, in the special reprint therefrom:
Thie Third G;ft. In paper, $0.30.
4
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New.York
2
B.
/l
I/, I
0
p
I 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
THE FOURTI  GIFT.
Froebel's Second Building Box.
The aim of the Fourth Gift is similar to that of the Third; but it gives
rise to the observation of similarity and  dissimilarity, and  allows a very
varied and interesting application in the production of forms of knowledge
(or mathematical forms), of beauty (or symmetry), and of lfe.
No. 31. A large cube (2X2X2 inches) divided into 8 equal oblong
blocks (each 2X1X2 inches).  In a wooden box, $0.20.
Diagrams  and Directions  for the  use of the Fourth Gift are
contained in The Akndergarten Guide, Number Two.   In paper,  $0.70
and, separately, in the special reprint therefrom:
The Fourth Gift. In paper, $0.30.
i,  j11 #4)
THE FIFTII GIFT.
Froebel's Third Building Box.
This is a continuation of, and a complement
to, the Third Gift; it admits of a more extended
application than the Third and Fourth.  /
No. 41. A large cube (3X3X3 inches) dil
vided into 21 whole cubes (each containing 1 cubic 
inch), 6 half and 12 q?tarter cubes. In a wooden
box, $0.40. 
Diagrams and Directions for the use of the Fifth Gift are contained in The Kindergarten Guide, Number Two.   In paper, $0.70
and, separately, in the special reprint therefrom:
The Fifth Gift. In paper, $0 30.
E. Steiger,  25 Park Place, New  York
3 
4           STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
TIIE FIFTH GIFT B.
The Child's Fifth Building Box.
No. 46. A  large cube  (3X3X3 inches), as a combination of the Second
and the Fifthl Gifts, divided into 12 cubes (each 1X1XI inch), 8 add(litional
cubes from each of which one corner is removed corresponding in size to
one quarter of a cylinder; 6 cylinders (each IXI Xl inch) divided into hall
cylinders, and 3 cubes (each 1X1X1 inch) divided diagonally intoquarter
cubes. In a wooden box, $0.60.
No. 47.  Diagrams for the use of the Fifth Gift B.  In wrapper, $0.50.
THE SIXTH GIFT.
Flroebel's Fourth Building Box.
7     ~. l I"
. This is a continuation of, and a complement
to, the Fourth Gift; it admits of a very extended
application.
No. 51.   A   large   cube   (3X3X3
inches)  divided  into  18 whole oblong
blocks (each -2 X 1 X 2 inches), 3 similar
blocks divided lengthwise into 6  (each
X 2 X 2 inches), and 6 divided breadthwise into 12 (eich    Xi X 1 inch).  In
a wooden box, $0.40.
Diagrams and Directions  for
Dsing the Sixth Gift a re c   ontained in
The lindergarten Guide, Number Two.
In paper,  $0.70
and, separately, in the special reprint therefrom:
The Sixth Gift.  In paper, $0.30.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
THIE SEVENTH GIFT.
Thte Tablets.
This Gift consists of quadrangular and  triangular  tablets, of wood,
differently colored, and finely polished.
These tablets as well as the preceding Gifts
are designed for instruction in shifting or lreversing the composition of forms, and combining
them. Heretofore, the child h:id to do with sotids
only, but by means of the tablets the plane surfaces are represented.
No. 61.  Eight squares (1 X I inch)-red and
white.  In a wooden box, $0.30.
No. 66.  Four large right-angled isosceles triangles.  In a
wooden box, $0.25.
No. 71. Sixteen (small) riglht-angled isosceles triangles -
red and green. In a wooden box, $0.30.
AdiuL-                                 *,Ila(iIIIII
r\IlIIIIIIII~7(dIIL~<
AlI/4\\\\AA
F~~~~~~~~11. Steiger, 25 Park Plae,    1 1N:-lle w York
]E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New YorkI
5 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 76. Thirty-two isosceles
triangles- red and green. In                 l
awooden box, $0.40.
No. 81.. Fifty-four isosceles triangles-red and green.  In a wooden
box, $0.50.
No. 86.  Nine large equilateral triangles-yellow and purple.  In
a wooden box, $0.30.
No. 91. Fifty-fouiir (small) equilateral triangles - yellow and
purple. In a wooden box, $0.50.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
6
:   A
c   >F   Si     >~~~' 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL        p'
No. 96.    Fifty- six
right-angled sealene triangles -
orange and blue. In a
wooden box, $0.60.
No. 101. Sixty-four obtuse - angled
triangles-indigo and blue. In a wooden
box, $0.60.
Diagrams  and Directions for the use of the Seventh  Gift  are
contained in The KindergardeA Gauide, Number'I'hree.  In p)aper, $0.50.
No. 111. Froebel's KindergartenL Occupations for the
Family,  No. 11 and 12 (Tablet-laying).  In a  p.aper box,  with
chromo-lithographed cover, $1 50.
This Double Box contains 12 squares, 32 right-angled isosceles,  16 equilateral, 24 right-angled scalene, and 16 obtuse-angled thiangles, 554 Designs,
aud Instructions.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
I
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL 
8           STIE'   IDRATNMTRA
TttE EIGIITII GIFT.
The Connected Slat.
This Gift represents the embodied edge of the figure, it is the outline
form of the plane of which, owing to the breadth of the single slats, it is
still a considerable part.  It consists of ten slats about 4 inches long anid 
inch wide, each overlapping the next one att the end, and fastened to it by a
rivet, so that all can be folded up or unfolded, and moved  iato different
forms, geometrical or symmetrical, or into representations of objects.
No. 121.  A set of 10 connected slats, each 4 inches, altogether 40 inches,
long, with the indication of meter, decimeter, and centimeter on the other
side, $0.20.
Diagrams and Directions for the use of the Eighth Gift are con    tained( in The Kindergarten Guide, Number Four.  In paper, $0.70
and, separately, in the special reprint therefrom:
The Eighth Gift. In paper, $0.30.
THE NINTIH GIFT.
The Disconnected Slat.
Wooden slats of
varying length, width,
and texture are used
for  interlacing,   and
thereby producing -n
almost inexhaustible
variety of forms.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
. I —
11
8
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
r —,,
- -10 ---- 
~~SEGE' KIDRGRE  MATERIAL
No. 131.  Fifty woode             n
long, 3 inch wide, $0.20.
No. 132.   Fifty  wooden
long, 4 inch wide, $0.20.
Diagrams and Directions for
the use of the Ninth Gift are contained in The Kinderyarten Guide,
Number Four.  In paper, $0.70
and, separately, in the special reprint
therefrom:
The Ninth Gift. In paper, $0.30.
No. 141.  Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the Family.
No. 7. Plaiting (Slat - interlacing). In a paper box, with chromo-lithographed cover, $0.75.
This Box contains 30 slats, 9 inches long, -3 inch wide; 30 slats, 6 inches
long, 4 inch wide, 93 Designs, and Instructions..
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
9
STEIGERIS KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
slats, 9 inches
,NW
,lats, 6 inches
- - 14 
10          STEICER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
TllE TENTli GIFT.
The Sticks.
This Gift consists of wooden sticks of various length and one-tenth inch
thick.
The sticks, like most of the preceding Gifts, are intended to teach
numerical proportion and variety of fon~, they represe~it the embodied
straight line, and are an excellent preparation for Drawing and other occiipations.
No. 151.  A package containing 500 sticks, 1 inch long, $0.12.
No. 156.  A package containing 500 sticks, 2 inches long, $0.12
J~~. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL         11
No. 161. A package containing 500 sticks, 3 inches long, $0.15.
No. 1 66. A package containing 500 sticks, 4 inches long, $0.15.
No. 1 71.  A package containing 500 sticks,  5 inches long,  $0.15.
No. 176.  A  package
contaLinil)g 500 assorted
sticks (150 one inch, 200
two  inches,  50  three
inches,  50 four inches,
50 five inches long), $0.25                                     -
No. 181. A package
containing 250 sticks, 13
inches long, $0.30.  
KEndergarten Guide,
Number Four. In
paper, $0.65
and, separately, in       "i
the  special  reprint'
therefrom:
The Tenth Gift. In
paper, $0.30.
No. 191. Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the
Family.   No.]   Stick-laying.   In a paper bux, with ch:omo-lithographed cover, $0.75.
This Box contains 500 assorted sticks, 1, 2, 3, 4, and  5 inches long,
respectively, 265 Designs, and Instructions.
THE ELEVENTI-I GIFT.
The Rings.
This Gift consists of whole and half wile rings, of various diameter.
The rings are intended, like the sticks, to teach form and proportion;
they represent the embodietl curved line.
No. 201.   A box containing 20
whole and(  40 half rings, of 2
inches diameter, $0.40.
No. 206.   A box containing 20
whole and 40 half rings, of 1X
inch diameter, $0.40.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
11 
12         STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 211. A box containing 20
whole and 40 half rings, of v inch
diameter, $0.35.
No. 216. A box containing 20
whole and 40 half rings each of 2, 1~,
and v inch diameter (altogether 60
whole and 120 half rings), $0.75.
Diagrams:  Steiger's Designs
for Ring-laying.   12 plates, in
wrapper, $0.30.
No. 221. Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for
the  Family.    No. 8. (Ringlaying.) Iii a paper box, with
chromo-lithographed cover, $0.75.
(
This Box contains 10 whole and 20 half rings each of 2, 1~, and I incb
diameter, 107 Designs, and Instructions.
THiE TWELFTH GIFT.
The TbIread.
(Material, Diagrams, and Insiructions are in preparation.)
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
12 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL  13~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE THIRTENTIH GIFT.
The Point.
(Material, Diagrams, and Instructions are in preparation.)
TiE OCCUPATIONS.
XIV. Perforating (Pricking).
( I'art of the material for the following Occupation may be used for this, and
vice versa.)
No. 251.   A package containing 25 leaves
of paper, 81 X 11 inches, ruled ill quarter
inch squares, on one side, $0.25.
No. 2,54. One quire Perfo)rating-Paper,
17 X 22 inches, ruled in quarter-inch
squares, on one side, $0.75.
No. 261.   A package containing 25 leaves
of paper, 81 X 11 inches, ruled in one-sixthinch squares, on one side, $0.25.
No. 264. One quire Perforating-Paper,
17 X 22 inches, ruled in one-sixth-inch
squares, on one side, $0.75.
No. 266.   A  package containg 25 leaves
inches, net $0.12.
No. 267.  One quire heavy white paper, 17
No. 271. A Perforating-Needle, with long handle, $0.05.
f_.       r.  P......, —-,
No. 272. One dozen Pelforating-Needles, with long handles, $0.50.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
STEICERIS KIND.ERGARTEN MATERIAL
13
I
of heavy white paper, 812 X 11 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 2 76.  A  Perforating-Needle, with short handle, $0.05.
No. 2 7 7. Onedozen Perforating-Needles, with short handles, $0.50.
No. 281.  One Perforating-Cushion, 5A X 7' inches, $0.15.
No. 282. One dozen Perforating-Cushions, $1.50.
Diagrams:  Steiger's Designs for Perforating.  12 plates, in wrap    per, $0.30.
No. 291. Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the
Fanily.   No. 3.  Perforating (Pricking).   In a paper box, with
chlromo-lithographed cover, $0.75.
This Box contains 2
Perforating, - Needles, 1
Perforating-Cushion,  10
leaves of paper ruled in
quarter-inch squares, 10
leaves of heavy  white
paper,  93 Designs, and
Instructiows.
XV. Sewing (Embroidering).
(Part of the material of the preceding Occupation may be used for this, and
vice versa.)
I                          iii
No. 301. A package containing 25 leaves of card-board, 4 X 5i inches,
ruled in quarter-inch squares, on one side, net $0.15.
No. 302. A package containing 25 leaves of card - board, 7 X 9 inches,
ruled in quarter-inch squares, on one side, net $0.25.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
14 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 305. One sheet of white card-board, 22 X 28 inches, plain, net $0.10.
No. 306. One sheet of colored card-board, 22 X 28 inches, net $0.10.
No. 307. One sheet of white card-board, 22 X 28 inches, ruled in quarterinch squares, net $0.20.
No. 311.   A package containing 12 leaves of fine white  card-board, 5- X 7
inches, net $0.15.
No. 314. Ons sheet of fine white card-board, 22 X 28 inches, net $0.12.
No. 321. A package containing 25 leaves of thick blotting-paper, 5' X 9
inches, net $0.12.
No. 324.  A package containing  50  leaves  (7 X  11          H                  C_
inches) of thin white  paper
for sketching, net $0.15.
No. 331.  One dozenWorsted-N              e edles,                          assoi ted thickn e s s e s.    In                               wrapper, net $ 0.12.
N      o.   3 3 2.                                  One dozen Worsted- Needles,   either No.4                           or 23,  
etc.  In wrapper, net $0.12.
No. 341.  A package containing Worsted of 12 different  colors, and  3 WorstedNeedles, net $0.20.
No. 343.    A  package containing Worsted  of 24 different colors, and
6 Worstcd-Needles, net $0.40.
No. 345. One ounce of Worsted of any color. In wrapper, net $0.20 to
$0.25.
No. 346. A package containing Embroidering-Silk of 12 different colors,
and 3 Needles, net $0.35.
No. 348. A package containing Embroidering-Silk of 24 different colors,
and 6 Needles, net $0.70.
No. 350. A bunch containing 25 strands of Embroidering-Silk, of any
color. In wrapper, net $0.35 to $0.40.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
15 
16~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I —.~ TIIIE... KINEGRE  MAER
Steiger's Large Embroidering Pictures, each package containing 12 plates,
6 X 8 inches, in wrapper:
No. 361. Number one. Miscellaneous objects-easy, $0.35.
No. 362.  Number Two.  Miscellameous objects-easy,  $0.35.
No. 363.  NumberTllree. Miscellaneous objects -- easy, $0.35
No. 364.  Number Foul. Miiscellstneous objects -- less easy,
$0.35.
No. 365. Number Five. Miscellaneous objects- less easy,
$0.35.
No. 366.  Number  Six.   Miscellaneous  objects - less easy,
$0.35.
No. 367.  Number Seven. Miscellaneous objects- less easy,
$0.35.
celLeuI o                               I l
Number Eight.   Miscellaneous objects-less easy, $0.35.
Number Nine.  Miscellaneous objects-rather difficult, $0.35.
Number Ten.  Miscellaneous ol)jects-rather difficult, $0.35.
N umber Eleven.   Miscellaneous objects-rather difficult, $0.35.
Number Twelve.   Miscellaneous objects-rather difficult, $0.35.
Numnber Thlirteen.  Animals.  $0.35.
Number Fourteen.  Animals.  $0.35.
Numbcr Fifteen.  Bir(ls.  $0 35.
Number Sixteen.  Birds.  $0.35.
Number Seventeen.  Flowers and Fruits. $0.35.
Number Eighteen. Flowers and Fruits.  $0.35.
Number Nineteen. Scripture Texts.  $0.35.
Number Twenty.  Scripture Texts.  $0.35.
Steiger's Small Embroidering Pictures, each package containing 12 plates,
4 X 5 inches, in wrapper;
No. 391.   Number  One.   Miscellaneous objects. $0.25.
No. 392.   Number  Two.   Miscellaneous objects.  $0.25.
No. 393.   Number Three.   Miscellaneous objects.  $0.25.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
16
STEI'GER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 368.
N,). 369.
No. 370.
No. 3 7 I.No. 372.
No. 373.
No. 374.
No. 375.
No. 376.
No. 377.
No. 378.
No. 379.
No. 380. 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 394. Number
Four. Miscellaneous
objects.  $0.25.
No. 395.  Number
Five.  Miscellaneous
objects.  $0.25.
No. 396.  Number
Six.    Miscellaneous
objects.  $0.25.
Diagrams:
Steiger's Designss
forEmbroider in g.
12  plates, i n
wrapper, $0.30.
No. 401. Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the
Family. No. 5. Embroidering. In a paper box, with chromolithographed cover, $0.75.
This Box contains Worsted of 12 different colors, 3 Worsted-Needles,
1 Perforating-Needle, 10 pieces of fine board, ruled on one side, one piece of
blotting-paper, 10 leaves of white paper, 136 Designs, and Instructions.
XVI. Net-work Drawing.
No. 411. One Kindergarten slate (imported, No. 4), 6' X 8A inches, grooved
in quarter-inch squares, on one side, net $0.25.
No. 412.  One Kindergarten slate(imported, No. 6), 7A X 10 inches, grooved
in quarter-inch squares, on one side, net $0.30.
No. 413.  One Kindergarten slate (imported, No. 9), 9 X 12 inches, grooved
in quarter-inch squares, on one side, net $0.35.
No. 414. One Kindergarten slate (imported, No.12),10 X 132 inches, grooved
in quarter-inch squares, on one side, net $0.45.
No. 423. One Patent Wire-bound Kindergarten slate, 6' X 10 inches,
grooved in quarter-inch squares, on one side, $0.20.
E. Steiger, 2.   Park Place,.          ork
-    E.  Steiger, 26 Park Place, il9W  York
1I7
-_
I _ 
STEIGER'S KINDERCARTEN MATERIAL
No. 424. One Patent Wire-bound Kindergarte:l slate, 7 X 11 inches,
grooved in quarter-inch squares, on one side, $0.20.
No. 425.   One Patent Wire-bound Kindergarten slate,  8 9 12  inches,
grooved ill quarter-inch squares, on one side, $0.25.
No. 426. One Patent Wire-bound Kindergarten slate, 9 X 13 inches,
grooved in quarter-inch squares, on one side, $0.30.
No. 431. One dozen Slate pencils, net $0.12.
No. 432. One hundred Slate pencils, in box, net $0.85.
No. 441.   One dozen Kindergarten Drawing-books, each with 12 leaves,
7 X 82 inches, ruled in quarter-inch squares, on both sides, net $0.70.
No. 443.   One quire Kindergarten Drawing-paper, 14 X 17 inches, ruled
in quartcr-inch squares, on both sides, net $0.40.
No. 446. One dozen Kindergarten Drawing-books, each with 12 leaves.
7 X 82 inches, ruled in one-sixth-inch squares, on both sides, net $0.70.
No 448.   One quire Kindergarten Drawing-paper, 14 X 17 inches, ruled in
one-sixth-inch squatres, on both sides, net $0.40.
No. 450.  One dozen leaves Kindergarten Drawing-paper, 11 X 14 inches,
ruled diagonally in quarter-inchl equilateral triangles, $0.50.
No. 461. One dozen common Lead pencils, net $0.25.
No. 462. One dozen fine Lead pencils, net $0.75.
Diagrams:  Steiger's Designs for 2Vet-work Drawing.  12 plates, in
wrapper, $0.30.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
18 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
K. FROEBEL. Elements of Designing on the Developing System for
Enementary School Classes, andfor Families.  4 Parts, each containing 24
pages ruled in squares, with designs and space for copying, and for the
compositions, combinations, and inventions of the pupil.
Part One.   Straight
Lines and their combi    nations.  (Is at present
out of print.)
Part Two.   Straight
Lines and their combi    nations, $0.35.
No~~~~~~:z. 47. Free'/    _ 
Part Three.   Straight                     -1._
Lines and their combi-;~
nations, $0.3 5.
Part  Four.   Circles -_
and Curved Lin                       es, ande
their   combina           tions,
$0.35.
No. 471.  Froebel's
Kindergarten  Occupations  for  the
Family.  No. 2. et- 
workh Drawing. In a
paper  box,  with  chromolithographed cover, $0.75.
This Box contains a Slate grooved in quarter-inch squares, on one side,
3 Slate pencils, 93 Designs, and Instructions.
XVII. Painting.
(Material, Instructions, etc., are in preparation. )
XVIII.  Mat-plaiting (Weaving, Braiding).
Strips of colored paper'are, by means of a steel or wooden needle of
peculiar construction, woven into another (differently colored) leaf of paper,
which is cut into strips throughout its entire surface, except that a margin
is left at each end to keep the strips in their places. A vXery great variety
of designs is thus produced, and the inventive powers of teacher and pupil
are constantly stimulated.
No. 501.    One  dozen  Weaving-Mats,  7 X 7 inches, slits one half inch
apart, black and white; strips one half inch wide, red. $0.15.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
19 
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STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. s32.   One dozen  Weaving- Mats,  7 X 7", slits i", black and white;
strips i, secondary colors (purple, green, and orange).  $0.15.
No. 533.   One  dozen Weaving- Mats, 7 X  7", slits I", tertiary colors,
tints and shades; stripsl-", tertiary colors, tints and shades.  $0.15.
No. 543.   One  dozen  Weaving - Mats, 7 X 7", slits a", tertiary colors, tints
and shades; strips e", tertiary colors, tints and shades. $0.15.
No. 551.   One  dozen Weaving-Mats,  7 X  7", slits one wide  (X"), one
narrow (4"), alternately, wthite and black; strips one wide (4"), one narrow
(4") alternately, red. $0.15.
No. 552.   One dozen
Weaving-Mats,  7 X 7",
slits 1 wide (4"), 1 nlarrow  (4"),  alternately,
white and black; strimps 1
wide (A"), 1 narrow (4")
alternately, blue. $0.15.
No.  553.   One dozen
Weaving-Mats,  7 X  7",
slits 1 wide (i"), 1 narrow   (4"),  alternately,
white and black; strips 1 wi. le (4"), 1 narrow'   (4"), alternately, yellow.  $0.15
No. 561.  One dozen Weaving-lats, 7 X 7", slits 1 wide (4") and 2 narrow
(each -4"), alternately, white and black; strips cut to match, purple.   $0.15
No. 562.  One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 7", slits 1 wide (i") and 2 narrow
(each I"),alternately, white and black; strips cutto match, green.  $0.15.
No. 563. One dozen
Weaving-Matts, 7 X  7",
slits 1 wside (4") and 2
narrow (each 4"), alternately, white and black;
strips  cut  to  match,
orange.  $0.15.
No.  571.   One dozen
Weaving - MAats, 7 X 7",
slits 1 wide (4") and 3
narrow (each 4"), alternately, white aind black;
strips cut to match, red. $0.15.
No. 572. One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 7", slits 1 wide (4") and 3 narrow
(each 4"), alternately, white and b'ack; strips cut to match, blue. $0.15.
No. 573.  One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 7", slits 1 wide (4") an(l 3 niarrow
(each 4"), alternately, white and black; strips cut to match, yellow. $0 15.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
21 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 574. One dozen Weaving-Mats,
7 X 7", slits 1 wide (4") and 3 narrow
(each 4"), alternately, white a     nd black;  
strips cut to match, purple.  $0.15.
No. 575. OnedozenWeaving-MAats,
7 X 7", slits 1 wide (i'*)'and 3 narrow
(each i"),alternately,  white and black; 
strips (lit to match, green.  $0.15. 
No. 5 7 6.  One dozen Weaving-Mats, 
7 X 7", slits 1 wide (i") and 3 narrow                 -
(each "), alternately, white and black; 
strips cut to match, orange. $0.15.
No. 581.   One dozen Weaving-Mats,
7 X7", the 2 central slits one  inch        - 
apart, the distance between  t      he others
gradually  narrowing  towards  both
sides, so that the first and the last
slits are only one quarter inch apart
from the next before, tertiary colors, tints, and shades; strips cut to match,
black and white.   $0 15.
No. 583.1 One dozen Weaving-Mats,  7 X 7", the 2 central slits i" apart,
the distance between the others gradually narrowing towards both sides, so
thatt the first and the last slits
are only 4"1 apart from the next
before, light-blue; strips cut to
match, bronze. $0.15.
No. 586. OnedozenWeavingMats, 7 X 7", the 2 central slits
4" apart, the others gradually
widening towards the sides, so
that the first and the last slits
are  each 1" apart from  the
next before, tertiaryco]ors, tints
and shades; strips cut to match,
black and white. $0.15.
No. 588. OnedozenWeavingMAits, 7 X 7", the 2 central slits
I" apart, the others gradually
widening towards the sides, so
that the first and the last slits
are each i" apart from the next
before,   pink;   strips cut  to
match, bronze.  $0.15.
E.  Steiger,  25 P
22 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 601.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X  5", slits i" apart, primary and
secondary colors (red, blue, yellow, purple, green, orange); strips i", black and
white.  $0.15.
No. 611.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5" slits i", primary colors (red,
blue, yellow); strips 1", black and white.  $0.15.
No. 612.   One dozen Weaving-Mats,  7 X  5", slits A", secondary colors
(purple, green, orange); strips 1", black and white.  $0.15.
No. 613.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits i", tertiary colors,  tints
and shades; strips matching slits in cut and colors.   $0.15.
No. 621. One dozen
Weaving- Mats, 7 X 5",
slits i", primary and secondary colors (red, blte,
yellow, purple, green, and
orange);  strips 4", black
and white. $0.15.
No. 622. One dozen
Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5",
slits 4", tertiary colors,
tints and shades; strips
matching slits in cut and
colors.   $0.15.
No. 623. One dozen
Weaving - Mats, 7 X 5",
slits 4", tints and shades,
black and white; strips
matching slits in cut and
colors.   $0.15.
No. 631. One dozen
Weaving - Mats, 7 X 5",
slits A", primary colors
(red, blue, yellow); strips
i", black and white. $0.15.
No.  632.   One  dozen
matching slits in cut and  -  -
- 0
(purple, green, and orange); strips i", black and white. $0.15.
No.  633.    One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits  ", tertiary colors, tints
and shades; strips matching slits in cut and colors. $0.15.
No. 641.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits -s", primary and secondary colors; strips matching slits in cut and colors.  $0.15.
No. 642.    One  dozen Weaving-Mats,  7X 5", slits 8", tertiary colors,
tints and shades; strips matching slits in cut and colors. $0.15.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
23
id,
Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits secondary colors 
STEICER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 652.  One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7X 5", slitsIl", tertiary colors, tints
and shades; strips matching slits in cut and colors. $0.15.
No. 661.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits, wide (i") and narrow
(i"), alternately, primary colors (red, blue, yellow); strips cut to match,
black and white. $0.15.
No. 663. One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits wide (.z") and narrow
(3"), alternately, white; strips cut to match, red. $0.15.
No. 664.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits wide  (i") and narrow
(1"), alternately, white strips cut to match, blue.  $0.15.
No. 665.  One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits wide (]") and narrow
(1'), alternately, white; strips cut to match, yellow.  $0.15.
No. 671.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits 1 wide (-") and 2 narrow
(each a") alternately, black; strips cut to match, purple.  $0.15.
No. 672.  One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7X 5", slits I wide (-3'2) and 2 narrow
(each,") alternately, black; strips cut to match, green. $0.15.
No. 673.   One  dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X  5", slits 1 wide  (2") and 2
narrow (each."), alternately, black; strips cut to match, orange. $0.15.
No. 675.   One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits 1 wide (]")and 2 narrow (each 8"), alternately, secondary colors (purple, green, orange); strips
cut to match, black and white. $0.15.
E. Steiger,  25 Park Place, New  York
-~~~~~~~
-    -~~~~~
24 
STEICER'S KINDERGAR\N MATERIAL vl
No.  681.    One   dozen
Weavitg-Mats, 7 X 5", slits
1 wide (i") and 3 narrow 
(each i"), alternately, primary and secondary colors;
strips cut to match, black
and white.  $0.15.
No. 683.        One   dozen
Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits
1 wide  (i") and 3 narrow
(each i"), alternately, tertiary colors, tints and shades;
strips matching slits in cut
and colors.  $0.15.
No. 685.        One  dozen
Weaving-Mats, 7 X 5", slits
1 wide (i") and 3 narrow
(each i"), alternately, red; strips cut to match, purple.  $0.15.
No. 687. One dozen Weaving-Mats, 7X5", slits 1 wide (i") and 3 narrow
(each s"), alternately, purple; strips cut to match, green. $0.15.
No. 688. One dozen
Weaving-Mats, 7X5",
slits 1 wide (i") and 3
narrow (each I"), alternately, green; strips
cut to match, orange.
$0.15.
No. 701. One dozen
Weaving-Mats, 5X5",
slits A", red; strips A"
wide, white and blue.
$0.15.
No. 706. Onedozen
Weaving-Mats, 5X5",
slits A", blue; strips
A" wide, white and red.
$0.15.
!
NOTE.-WeaviangMats dffering in                                I          I
or colors from those
enumerated above, including such as may require gold, silver, or other uncom.
mon kinds ofpaper, will be prepared to order at moderate rates.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
II
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STE-fCER'S' KINDERCARTEN MA'RERIAL
25 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
No. 758.  Steiger's Samples of Weaving-Mats, Cuts and Colors, net $0.10.
No. 761.  One dozen wo, Weaving-Needles, 11i" long.  $0.40.
No. 762.  One dozen woo.,i Weaving-Needles, 8" long.  $0.30.
No. 765.  One Patent Steel Weaving-Needle.  $0.10.
No. 766. One dozen Patent Steel Weaving-Needles. $1.00.
No. 771.  A package containing material for book-marks;  trips  wide.
$0.10.
No. 772.  A package containing material for book-marks; strips 4" wide.
$0.10.
No. 773.   A package containing material for book-marks; strips i" wide.
$0.10.
Diagrams: Steiger's Designs for Weaving (Braiding). 12 plates,
in wralpper, $0.30.
No. 791. Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the
Family. No. 4. Weaving (Braiding). In a paper box, with
chromo-lithographed cover, $0 75.
This Box contains 1 Steel Weaving-Needle, 20 mats of assorted colors
and widths, with corresponding strips, 165 Designs, aill Instructions.
XIX. Paper-interlacing (Intertwining).
Paper strips of various colors, lengths, and widths, folded lengthwise,
are used to represent a. variety of geometrical as well as fancy forms, by
plaiting them according to certain rules.
No. 801.   A  package
containing   100  paper
strips of different lengths, 
widths, and colors. $0.15.       -
No. 804L.    A package
cotitaining   10u0  paper
strips, white and ol,.red, 
10" long  and I" wide.
$0.15.
No. 805. A package containing 100 paper strips, white and colored, 10"
long aind -" wide. $0.15.
Diagrams: Steiger's Designs for Intertwining. 12 plates, in wrapper,
$0.30.
No. 811. Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the
Fanily.   No. 9. (Intertwining.)  In a paper box, with chromolithograpthed cover, $0.75.
This box contains 100 paper strips, white and colored, 55 Designs, and
Instructions.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
26 
STEIGCER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
XX. Paper-foldingq.
The material for paper-folding consists of square, rectangular, and triangular pieces, with which variously shaped objects are formed, and the
elements of geometry are taught in a practical manner.   The variety is
endless and prepares the pupil for many similar and useful manual performances in practical life.
No. 821.   A package containing 100 leaves 
of strong white paper, 4" square.  $0.15.
No. 822.  A package containing 100 leaves 
of colored paper, 4" square.  $0.15.
No. 824.   A package containing 100 leaves
of colored paper, 4 X 2".  $0.10. 
No. 828.   A package containing 100l leaves
of white paper- equilateral triangles, sides
4" loll'.  $0 20.
No. 830.   A package containing 100 leaves
of colored paper-equilateral tiangles, sides  C
4" long. $0.20.
No. 833. A wooden Paper-Folder. net $0.15.
No. 834.   One dozen wooden Paper-Folders.  net $1.50.
Diagrams for Paper-folding. $0.75.
XXI.   Paper - cutting, Paper - mounting, and
Silhouetting.
Squares or triangles of paper are fol(led, cut according to certain rules,
and formed into figures. The child's inclination for using the scissors is here
so ingeniously turned to account as to produce very gratifying results.
No. 840. A package containing 100 leaves of
strong white paper, 4" square, $0.15. 
No. 842.   A pack"ge containing 100 l-aves of
colored paper, 4" square, $0.15. 
No. 843.  A  package containing 100 leaves cf.i
glazed pa'per (aissorted colors), 4" square, $0.20.
No. 844.  A package containing 100 leaves of white and colored paper, 4"
square.  $0.15.
No. 845.    A paclkae containing 100 leaves of glazed paper,  white and
colored, 4" square. $0.20.
No. 851.   A  pair of scissors with rounded  blades, for paper-cutting, net
$0.40.
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
27 
STEICER'S KINDEROARTEN MATERIAL          29
No. 890.   A  package  containing  500 sticks,  5"               C
long, $0.15.
No. 891.  A package containing 500 sticks, assorted 
lengths, $0.25.
No. 892.   A  package containing 250 sticks, 13"
long, $0.30.
No. 896. A package
containil)g 100 p)icces of
wire, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5"
long, assorted, $0.20
Diagrams:  Stei   ger's Designs for Cork;
or  Peas  IVorI'.  12            -
plates,   in  wrapper, 
$0 30.
No. 900. Froebel's 
Kindergartein Occupations' for the   -
Family. No. 9.(Cork
or Peas Work.) Ili
a paper box, with chromo-                                 s       g 
lithographed cover, $0.75.  
This Box contains 60
cork cnbes, 60 pieces of
wire, 1, 2, 3, and 4" long,    ]~.     f
assorted, 1 Piercing-Pin, 
108 Designs, and Instruc- 
tions.
XXIII. Card - board Work.
(Ma-terial, Designs, etc., are in preparation. )
XXIV. Modeling.
No. 921.   One pound Mod(leling-Wax, in a tin box, net $1.25.
No. 926.  Twenty pounds of Spring's Modeling-Clay (dry), in a wooden
box, net $1.25.
No, 931.   A wooden Modeling,Knife, common kind, $0.10.
No. 932. A wooden Modelinrg-Knife, superior qnality, $0.20.
No. 935.  A wooden Modeling-Board, $0.10.
Designs for Modeling, $0.75.
No.951.  Steiger's Sample Cards of Work thatmay be produced by the 11
Boxes Pioebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the Family, Nos. 1-12, net $0.75.
-. Steiger, 25 Park Place,!ew  York
29
.STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL 
STEIOR'S KINDEROARTEN MATERIAL          29
No. 890.   A  package  containing  500 sticks,  5"
long, $0.15.
No. 891.  A package containing 500 sticks, assorted
lengths, $0.25.
No. 892. A package containing 250 sticks, 13"1
long, $0.30.
No. 896. A package
containilng 100 pieces of
wire, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5"
long, assorted, $0.20
Diagrams:  Stei   ger's Designs fcr Cork;
or  Peas  IVork.  12:
plates,   in  wrapper,
$0 30.
No. 900. Froebel's  
Kindergarteil Oc-  
cupations' for  thle                  [:_
Family No. 9.(Cork 
or Peas Work.) Il
a paper box, with chromo- 
lithographed cover, $0.75.  
This Box contains 60
cork cubes, 60 pieces of
wire, 1, 2, 3, and 4" long, 
assorted, 1 Piercing-Pin, 
108 Designs, and Instructions.
,-.o
. ]          fI.~~~~~,~
XXIII. Card - board Worn.
(Mlaterial, Designs, etc., are in preparation.  )
XXIV.  Modeling.
No. 921.   One pound iMo(leling-Wax, in a tin box, net $1.25.
No. 926.   Twenty poulnds of Spring's Modeling-Clay (dry), in a wooden
box, net $1.25.
No, 931. A wooden Modeling.Knife, commoln kind, $0.10.
No. 932.  A wooden Modelinrg-Kniife, superior qnality, $0.20.
No. 935.  A wooden Modeling-Board, $0.10.
Designs for Modeling, $0.75.
No. 951.   Steiger's Sample Cards of Work that may be produced by the 11
Boxes B'oebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the Family, Nos. 1-12, net $0.75.
I. Steiger, 25 Park Place, new Yorlk
'STEIGCER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
29 
STEIGER'S KINDERGARTEN MATERIAL
FURNITURE, etc.
Kindergarten Tables, 22" high, with cover grooved in one-inch
squares, nicely finished and varnished.
No. 961.  A Kindergarten Table for one child, 20" wide, 30" long, net
$3.00.
No. 962.   A  Kindergarten Table like No. 961, except that for the sake of
economy and convenience in shipping the legs and frames can be screwed off,
net $3 00.
Larger Tables will be made to order.
Ol-clotl  Covering, with dark ground, 45" wide, marked off in one    inch squares, (. net $0.60 per -running foot.
(This Coveringi mlry be used to fit ordinary tables temporarily for
Kindergarten purposes.)
Kindergarten Cihairs ~(  net $0.90 - or more, for superior quality.
Boxing for Tables and Chlairs must be charged extra.
No. 981.   Steiger's Kindergarten  Citest.  Number One.
No. 982.  Steiger's Kinderfqarten  Chest.  Number Two.
No. 983.   Steiger's Kindergarten  Chest.  Number Threc.
No. 984. Steiger's Kindergarten Chest. Number Four.
NOT I C E.
The foregoing Catalogue supersedes all lists previously issued; upon
comparison a considerable reduction in the price of most of the
articles mentioned will be noticed, which increased manufacturing facilities
have enabled me to make.
The designation by numbers (No.) of the several articles in this
Catalogue is an arl)itrary one, and is made  for the purpose of enabling cus. tomers to be precise in ordering.
However extensive this Catalogue, it comprises only a part of my stock
of Kindergarten Gifts, Occupation Material, Furniture,  etc.  Many kindred articles atre on hand, and new  additions are
continual.dly being produced as fast as circumstances permit to carry out my
plans and desires of promoting whatever tends to the development  and
popularization of the Kindergarten System.
An enlarged edition of the present Catalogue is
already in preparation; it will be issued shortly, and sent free to all persons
desiring to receive it.
E. Steiger.
October, 1878.
30 
Froebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the Family
are intended to inculcate manual skill, artistic taste, a ready appreciation
of results, and, consequently, a love of learning and application.
8.  Perforating (Pricking).
-For Girls and Boys  2 Perforat:ng-Needles, 1 Perforating-Cushion, 1 Package of
10 leaves of paper, ruled in
squares on one side, 1 Package
of 10 leaves of heavy white paper, 93 Designs on 12 plates, and
Instructions.       Price $0.75.
Des.igned to advance the child
still fiirther in art-instrituction,
ad(l to create afacntltyforfree7had di-awig and the prodtctionl of artistic a)td beautiful
fbrms.-The objects thus made
may be used for various pur          -
poses in the househtold.
.... These Occupations are particularly adapted to family use, and are
invaluable in directing the early
training of the yotng mind.  The
price of these Occupations is moderate, liut, whatever their cost, they
will be found to afford a pleasure
and instruction to the child which
money cannot buy.
(Christian Statesman.)
.... We know of nothing ever gotten up so simple, and yet so useful,
to occupy the attention of little children and keep them amused and
out of mischief, as these beautiful
boxes....    (zThze Gospel Banner.)
4.  Weaving  (Braiding or
Hat-plaiting).
-For Girls and Boys  1 Steel Weaving-Needle, 20
flats  of assorted  colors and
widths,   with   corresponding
strips, 75 Designs on 12 plates,
and Instructions.    Price $0.75
D)esigned to teach neatness,
and accuracy and thus to convey
a knowledge of the pa-oper conb)inration of colors. —The objects
thus made may be preserved
and used as bookmarks, and in
various other ways
]. Steiger, wew YorIe 
Frebel's Kindergrten-Occupations for the Family.
The design of these Boxes is to provide children of 3 years and over
with instructive and  quiet amusement, and  to quicken tA'cir intellect
without wearying the brain.
i. Stick-laying.
-Por Boys a:dGiris  500 assorted Sticks, 1, 2, 3,,,
and 5 inches long, respectively,
285 Designs on 12 plates, and
Instructions.       Price $0.75.
Designed to teaclt correctness
of form., thle elements cf numerical and geomet)rical rroportions and to arouse t!te inventive fJaculties.
.... We hardly see how anything
could be more attractive, though
the price is surprisingly low.  Regarded only as toys, they cannot
fail to ren.der most effective assistance in engaging the attention of
the little ones, and keeping them
busy, contented, and quiet.   But
they add to that the far higher
service of inculcating manual skill,
artistic taste, and the love of study
and application, without tears for
the pupil or wearisomeness to the
instructor.... ( 7he Cultivator and
Country Genteinan 
2. Net-work Drawing.
-For Boys and Girin  1 Slate, Gi by 8i inches,
grooved, o:1 one side, in squares
(i inch wide);witli narrow frame,
rounded  corners, 3 slate pencils, 94 Designs on 12 plates, and
Instructions.        Price $0.75.
Designed to teach th7e fi)st
prieiiples of drawing and a tinstruction, t) train, eye and
hand in, a systematic but pro
gressice mannecr, and to develop
the intellect.
....Our children are delighted with,; 
these gifts and find in them all in.
finite source of anlut,semen,t, to say "
nothing of the valuable instruction
which  they  are  receiving.   with    A
scarcely any effort on their part. 
(Maine Farmer.).... N 
~. Eteis.r, Viow YorlK 
FPrbel's Kindergarten Occupation s for the Family
are designed to train children's minds through apparent play and rem
ation, while they are the means of producing little presents.
5. Embroidering.
-For Girl- and Boys  Worsted, of 12 different colors, and 3 Worsted-Needles, 1
Perforating-Needle, 10 pieces of
Bristol Board, 1 piece of Blotting
Paper, 10 leaves of white paper,
136 Designs on 12 plates, and
Instructions.        Price $0.7 5.
Designed to teach the elements':?/of f(intc.i-wo)-k, to coinvey cor- -'<
reet ideas as to number    aind 
form, aitd to stiz fu-tlher edu-;_ _
cate the eye in thle selectios (ted 
combii(ition of colors.-  T/I de 
objects produced (lite those oft ~!i
most of tlte other Occ7Ipatios )
look pretty, and may be used as 
presents.
6.  Cork- (or Peas-) Work.
-For Boy3 and Girls  60 Cork Cubes, CO pieces of
Wire, 1, 2, 3, and 4 inchles long,
respectively, 1 Piercing - Pin,
.108 Designs on 12 plates, and
Instructions.        Price $0.75
Designed to insttruct in the
propo-tions of geomet,-ic(l figures awd int the productioi of
outlines of solids aT d of refid
objects, while teachitg also accracy of nmelasurerneait and the
elements of 2perspective, etc.
7. Plaiting 
(Slat-interlacing).
-For Girls and Boys  30 Wooden Slats, 9 inches
long by i inch wide, and 30
Slats, 6 inches long by, inch 
wide, 93 Designs on 12 plates,
and Instructions.   Price $0.75. 
De.*gqn-d to teach precision 
and Nicety of adjtstnwet, to 
i)stritct in geometrical  fo-m, 
and to stimulate the inzvention
of fancyfigures.
S. Steiger, Wew York.
",7
AtI I', 
Frcebel's Kindergarten Occupations for the Family
afford the best possible means of preparing children for school; they render
instruction easy and entertaining without requiring constant direction.
8.  Ring-laying.
-For Boys and Girls  10 Rings and 20 Half Rings
each, of 2 inches, 14 inch, and
] inch diameter, 107 Designs,
and Instructions.    Price $0.75.
Designed to teach the elements
of forIn?, as applied to curv ed
and symmetrical figu?-es, and to
lead to an artistic developme?nt
of tUe cur-ve-thie line of beauty.
9.  Paper-intertwiiiing.
-For Girls and Boys  100 Strips of Paper, white
and colored, 55 Designs, and Instructions.          Price $0.75.
P)esigned  to  teacht the first
pri,,ci.cs of the art of deco?-atic:?, th, e st,,',?/ cof angles, anid the
comnbination of colors.
o10.  Paper-cutting.
-For  Girls and Boys  1 Pair of Scissors, with rounded blades, 100 leaves of Paper,
white and colored, 10 leaves of
Ultramarine Paper, 96 Designs,
and Instructions.   Price $0.75.
Designed t~ teach the relation
of con?plex forms, the p?odnction? of artistic decor-ation7s. and
theprooper use of scissors.
11 and 12.  Tablet-laying.
-For Boys and Girls  100 Tablets of wood, colored
and  finely  polished (squares
and right-angled isosceles, equilateral, right- angled scalene,
and  obtuse-angled  triangles),.
With 524 Designs.
A Double Box, price $1 ro-0.
J)De,.igncd to instrw?ct i?n geometrical forms, theii rela'ioand adaptation, to each othelre,
and, also, to teach the law of
oppo.sites ond ca,7p.arisons, and
to stimulate intvention.
I., Steiger, isew Y>ork. 
October, 1878.
KINDERGA.RTEN PUBLIC.,TIONS.
Mrs. PEdw. Berry and Aladame Michaelis. J
60 Kindergaten Songs and Games. Wiah
Music.           Paper, $0.5U; cloth $0.O0
-   Kindergarten Songs and Games. Second
Series.  With Music.          Paper, $0.5J;
cloth, $0.9J
J. F. Borschitzky.  Kindergarten- Lieder,
wita German and.ngis,'t Words.  (!ontain   ing ite 33 Songs in tonge's  Guide. Arranged
w.thl aa Acoompan meau  o0. Second V(iCa          e
anl Piano/rtie L/uidance (ad lib.). $3.50
*Ezra S. Clarr. Child Culture. An Address.
Paper, $0.05
James Currie.  The Principles and Practice
of Ear'y an, Infant Schlool Educ                  ation, with
an Appendix of Infant Sc,'hool Hymns, and
S,pngs witit appropriate melodies. Cloth $2.00
*AdolfDouai. Ti e Kindergasrten. A Manual
for- tie Introduc,tion of lia-ebe4's System of
Primary Eluczlioat into Public Schlools, and
for t,'le Use of Mothers and Private Teac,ers.
With 16 lithographe,l plates.  Cloth, $1.00
(Introduction. To Teachers.-Kindergarteni
Games with 20 Songs, tilh  text mii English
and Germiian. —Gymnn.stic Exercises, witil 4
Songs, the text in  English and German.
M  ntal Exercises.-Chlild-like Songs, 23, tho
t ext  in          E0ng lish    and German. -Child-li;e
Poetry without sonig.-4 Picces in English,
x9 in ELnglishl and German on opposite patfes,
2 in G:rman.-Chiid-like Tales, 12 in Engllsh
and (;e rm an          on  opposi te pats.-Th e  play of
Draw         ing accordin g' to F:CEBgL'S Syste)n.)
Hu1.  Elm.  Spiel und Arbeit. Unterhalte-nde
Besclaftigung en und anregende Spiele far die
Kinderstube.  Zur Fsrderung d        es SchPnh  e its-,
Tilitig.'ceits- un'l Ordnungs-Sinnes, sowie zur
Gew jhnung an Arbeit und Ausdauer- deut  scher Kindzr, nach Frobel'schzen Grundsatzen
bearbeitet. Wxth 580 illutstrat.ons and 83
plates.        Paper, $1.70; boards, $1.90
*Fraxbel's Kinderga%rten Occupations for thie
Famnily. Each in an elegant and strong
Paper Box, containing Material, Desigug.
and Instruction3.                   ( $0.75
1. Stick-.Laying. - 2. Nret-work Drawing.
-3. Perforatin3 (Pricking). — 4. Weaving
(Braiding).- 5. Embroider-ing. - 6. Cork or
Peis Worlc. - 7. Plaiting Inter-lacinq Slats).
-8. Ring-layin3.-9. Intertwining  Ptper. 10. Cutting Paper. - 11 andr 12. Tablet-lay ing (Double Box, for $1.50).
(Other Numlbers will follow shortly.)
-' (Steig,er's  Sample  Cards of Work
that may be produced by means of, or
from, the material. etc.. of the Frcebel?s
Kindergarten Ocecupations for the
Family. Nos. 1-12, net $0.75)
- E3. stetger, 25  Parl
Ilriedricla  Froesael. Gesammelte padagogische
Scit'tften. Herausgei,ebea yon WiuE:.
LANo.u 2 vols. in 3 divisions.
ilaper, $9.60
Separately:
I.  1. Aus Irosebel's Leben und ernstem Stre      be.,. Autobiog)-apltie und kleinerc Sc/triiften.
iV,th Portrait.              laper, $2.95
I.  2. Ideen l,'joebel's fber  die Jlenschen      er-ziehung, und Auf.4ize verschiedenen In     alts.  Wita J plates.         Paper,  $3.35
II.  Die P~,dagogilk des  Kindergartens.   Ge     danken'. 1,'Jceben's iibe) das,Spiel und die
Spielgegenstancte des Kindes. With 4 pp.
o~' Musc and L6 plates.     Paper, $3.35.
.Fr. Froebetl.  Manual pratique des jardins
d'enfants, ai lI'usage des istiltutrices et des me
res de fJamil,e, coiipo,6 sur res documents alle   mands par J. E. JAcoBs el Ame. la bas onne
de MARENHOLIZ - BUELOW.   With  85 en   gravings and several pages of Music.
Eaper, $:.20
Fr. Froebel.  Mlutter- und Klise Lieder. Dich   tung und Bilder- zur edlin lfl g, ases Kind   heitiebens.  Ein FamitienbOucl. WitA Etch   ings, Text, and Music. Nev edit'on.
aloards, $4.70
*Karl  Froebel.  Elements of Designing on
the Developing System, for Etementary School
Ciasses and for Famlites.  4 Parts, each
containing  24 pages  ruled  in squares,
with designs and space for copying.
Eaca part, i paper, $0.35
Parts 1, 2, 3.  Str.aight,inecs and  their
Comlbinations.- Part 4. Cir4lcs anl Curved
Lines, and their Combinations.  Eacli page
of the given Examp'es is followed lby a blaxk
page for the Compositions, Combinations, or
Invenitions of the pupil.
Georqe Gill.  Calistihenic Songs. Iilustrated.
Suitoblie for Public and Privato Schools,
and the Nursery, contain.ng Pie es  for
Diversion and Recreation.  Boards, $J.50
George Gill.  Movement Plays and Action
Songs.                         Boards $0.50
*Goldammer-Reffelt.  Die E;nordnung des
Kindergartens in  dos Schulwesen der Ge yeinde.  Nach  H. GOLDAMMER  mnit, RiEick sicht auf amerikajnisch  Ve,~-haltnisse dar  gestellt von HiERMANN REFFELT.
Paper, $0.15
W.  N'. lrtailman.  Kindergarten Cu'tu,'e in
the Family and Kinderqarten:  A complete
Sketch of Froebel's Siistem of Early Educa tion, adapted to X mericen Institutions.  For
the use of Mothers and Teachers.  Illus
trated.                         Cloth, $0.75 
KINDERGARTEN PUBLICATIONS
Alex.  Bruno Hanschmann.  Friedrich, Kindergarten Tracts (STEIGER'S).
'ro-ebel. Die Entwicklung seiner Er-ziehungs  idee in seinem Leben.  Nach authentiscien,   7. Kindergarten.  (From the NV. Y. WeeMy
Quellen dargestelit.           Paper, $z.95   fribune.)                        50for $0.10
A. B. Heanschmcmn.  Die Handarbeit in    8. A  Day in the Kindergarten of Fraulein
der Kieabensclule.  Drei Abhandlungen fiber  Held at IVashua, N. H.              50 for $0.10
die Verbindung des Kindergartens und der    9.  The Kindergarten.  (An Address by Miss
praktiochen Arbeit mit der Lernschule.  Mit  S.E. 1  LOW.)                       50 for $0.20
eineet Beitrage von A. CLAUSON-HAAS.            10.  The Medical Profession recommend the
Paper, $0.45  Kinderga-ten.                      50 for $0.03
*A. B. HUanschmann. Das System des Kin-    11. The Christmas Kindergarten.  (A Letter
de,giartens nach l'ri-bel.  Fuir Miltter und  by the Rev. J. S.'1 RAVELLI.)     50 for $0.10
Kixtderga~rtnerin~nen. Illustrated.
K ereirtnerinnen. Illustrated.   $1     12.  lhe Rose Window.            50 for $0.10
Paper, $0 15 1
ELenore  eerwart.   An Abstract of Les-    13  A few [Fords to Mothers on Froebel's First
L?7leonor,e Jffeer'cart,.  An Abstract of Les- Giftfo~r Babies. 50 for $0.20
son; ort tie Kiudergarten System given to the GftforBabtes                       0or $0.20
senior Students of the Training College Stock-   14. Friedrich Prcebel's Developing System of
well.                          Paper, $0.50  Education. (A Lecttlre bly KARL FRCniEL )
Eleonore Heerwart.  Musiefor the Kinder-                                           50 for $0.20
garien,  Hymns, Songs, and Gam?nes, for use    15. Frebel's Kindergarten Education  espe  in the Kindergartle, tlre Family, and the In-  cially necessary in O-rphtan Asylums and similar
fant School, collected and arranged. Limp  Institutions where there are no natural Mothers.
cloth $1.25  (Account of a visit to the New York Found.ing
Eteonore Heerwart and Hannah R         dley   Asylum by  ELIZABETH P. PEABODY.)
Painting for  Children.  In 3 Part s.  A                                        50 for $0.10
Course progressively arranged according    16.  Kindergarten  und  Charakterbildung.
to Friedrich Froebel's Kindergarten-Sys-  (Vortrag von ANGELIKA HARTMANN.)
tem, for use at home or in the Kinder-                                          50 for $0.20
garten.  Part. 1. 12 plates, colored.           17. The Kindergarten connected with the Pub                                raper, $0.50  lic Schools at St.Louis, Mo. (Py W  T. HARRIss.)
The same. Exercise Book. Part I. 12 plates                                        50 for $0.10
Paper, $0.25    18. The Genesis of F1rebelism.  50 for $0.,5
*Heinrich Rloffmann. Kindergar-ten Toys, One copy of each of the above Tracts will
and how to use them.  A practical Explana- be sent gratis on application; additional supply
tion of the first six GiJfs of Froebel's Kinde-  for distribution firnished in quantities of 5o or
garten.  Illustrated.          Paper, $0.20  more copies, at the low prices stated.
*,fames Huqhes. The Kindergarten; its Place    Packets of complete Sets of the Ix8 Tracts
and Purpose. An Addres.    Paper, $0.05  will be mailed upon  receipt of 6 Cents per
Kindergarten Action.Songs and Marches, for  Packet.
Infant Schools.  With Music in the sol-fa  *Aug. Koehler. Kindergarten Education.  Notation.  First Series.        Paper, $0.20    Part First.  The Kindergarten as a Separate
*Thie Kindergarten engrafved on the American    and  Independent  Educational Institution.
Public Sc/,ool System.  Extracts from Offi-   Part Second. The Child and its Education.  cial Reports on the Public Kindergartens        Tile Means of Education and their Applica.
in St. Louis, Mo.              Paper, $0.05   lion.                                In press.
*Der Kindergarten in Amerika.  Entstehung,  *Aug. Koehler. Die neue Erziehung. Grund  Wesen, Bedeutung und Erziehungsmittel des    zOge der padagogischen Ideen Proebel's und
Fr,ebel'schen Systenms and seine Anwendung    deren A4nwendung in Familie, Kindergarten
auf hiesige Verhailtnisse.  Filr Eltern, Leh-    und Schule.        Paper, gilt edges, $0.15
rer und Kinderireunde kurz dargestellt.    Attq,-Rt Korhiter.  Die Bewegungsspiele des
Pap r, $0.15    Kindergartens.  Illustrated.  Paper, $1.70
KindergartenTracts (STEIGER'S), 18Numbers.  Aug. Koehler.  Die Praxis des Kindergar.
No.1. What is the purpose of Kindergarten    tens.  Tieoretisch-praktische Anleitung zum
Education?                 50 copies for $0.10    Gebrauche der Pro,sebel'schen Erziehatngs- und
2. Was ist der Zweck  der Kindergarten-    Bildungsmittel in Haus, Kindeigarten und
Erziehung?                        50 for $0.05    Schule. 3 vols.  Illustrated.  lIaper, $5.70
3. What isa Kindergarten? or Froebel's Sys-         Separately:
tern of Educalion briefly explained. 50 for $0.10   I. Einleitung. -Die Sinies., Glieder-und
4. Was ist ein Kindergai-ten? Kurze Darstel-    Korperu-bungcn. -  Die Bewegungsspiele. -
lung des Frebel'scAen Systems.   50 for $0.10    Die Bille. -  Kugel, Walze und Wurfel. -
5. Froebel and the Kindergarten.System. (Fx-    Die getheilten Wfzfel.  With 22 plates.
tract from a Lecture by Prof. Jos. PAYN;E.)                                      Paper, $1.90
50 for $0.20     II. Beschaftigung mit fiacdhen-, linien- und
6. What I think of Kindergartens.  (From    punktartigen Stoffen. -  Mit form- und gethe Herald of Health.)            50 for $0.10   staltlosen Gegenstanden.- Masik.- GechicJ
B. Steiger, 5;VrU'lace, Now York 
KINDERGARTEN
tenerz,hlen,  Lernen von SprEchn  und Gebo ten.-  tytanzen-  und Thierpfiege als Erzieh ungsmittel. W,th 40 plat es.    Paper, $1.90
HI. Der Kindergarten als eine far sich be steriende  Erziehungsanstalt. - Das Kind und
seine Erziehung. - Die Erziehungsnittel und
ihre An wendung. -Vo  n der Ein$ ichtung unl
Leitung des Kindergartens.-Dey- Kinderga -.
ten in Beziehung nach Aussen. With 2 plates.
Paper, $1.$0
*Mzfaria Ki.ates.Boelte. The Kindergarten
and the Mission oJ'                                            LtVonan; my Experience
as Trainer of Kindergarten- Teachers in this
Country.  Au Address.           Paper, $0.05
*M,trita lcraus-Boelte and John Kratis.
T,e Ki ndergart e n Gui de:  An  Illustrat ed
Hand-Book designed for the Self-Inst-uction
of Kinder-g2)rtneirs, Mothers,'anl Nurses.
The Kindergarten Guide is issued in 11
Numb         ers, viz.:
No. 1. The First a nd Se cond Gifts. With 50
illustrations.      Paper, $0.35; cloth, $0.65
2. The Tdird, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Girls.
Wit           h 497 illustr               ations. Paper, $0.70;
cloth, $l.00
3. Thte Sevent.t Gift (The Tablets). With 551
illustrations.      Paper, $0.50; cloth, $S.80
4. Thle Connected Slat, The Disconnected Si at,
or Slat-interlacing,  Stick- laying.  With  509
illustrations.       Paper, $0.70; cloth $1.00
5. Ring-laying, Thread-game, the Point. With
many illustrations.
6. Perforating, Sewing. With many illustrations.
7. Drawing, Painting. With many illustrations.
8. Mat-plaiting, Paper-interlacing. With
many illustrations.
9. Paper-folding, Paper-cutting, and Papermounting, Silhouetting. With many illustrations.
10. Peas or Cork Work, Card-board Work,fModeling. With many illustrations.
11. Stories, Music, Games,  Conversational
Lessons, Discipline, Care of Plants andAnitmals,
dc. With music and illustrations.
The first 4 Numbers of the Kinder  garten Guide are now (October 1878) ready;
the-rest will be issued as soon possible.
, This is a book for every family, and
for every teacher. - Miss E. P. PEABODY
writes in regard to it: HoWe like the
Manual very much, and my sister (Mrs.
MANN) says,' since it is impossible for
Mrs. KnAus to teach all the children in
the United States herself, the next best
thing for her to do is certainly to give
these precise and full directions to
others.' We are indeed delighted with
your minuteness, thoroughness, and
clearness of direction. Your book is cer'taiuly far in advance of any Guide we
have yet seen."
*,Alnm L. Kri-ege. Rhymes and Tales for
the Kindergarten and Nursery. Collected and
revised. With introductory remarks on the
value and mode of telling stories to chil  dren. Paper, $0.50; cloth, gilt edges, $1.00
3E. Steiger, 25 Parl
PUBLICATIONS
*epIatilda H. Kriege.  The Child, its Nature
and Relations.  An Elucidation of Fraibel's
Principles of Education.  A free rendering
of the German of the Baroness MAERNHOLTZ  BUELOW.               Cloth, gilt top, $1.00O
(The New Edutc..tion.-The tlhild's Being.
-Its Relation to Nature, Mlan, and God.   -
The Child's Man,festations. -        Ttle Child's
Edlucation. -Frrebe!'s " Mother's Cis,eting
Songs " — Funiaamental Foirms.-  Reading.)
*lfatilda H. Krieqe. Friedrich Frcebel. A
biographical Sketchy. With portrait.
Paper, $0.25; cloth, $0.50
*t. F.  F Lord. How to influence Little C,ildi en.
ALecture.                      Paper, $0.08
TB. Kiodr  Marenholtz - Biilow.  The NVew
Education  by WVork, according  to Frcebet's
MAlethod.   Translate 1 by  Mrs.  HORACE
MANN, with the assistance of LEOPOLD
NOA.                            Clotl, $i.00
NB. von Marenlioltz-BUlow.  Reminiscences
of Friedrich l'rabel. Translated by  Mrs.
HORACE MANN.  With a Sketc'h of the Life
of Friedrich Fraebel by EMILY SHIRREFF.
Cloth, $1.50
HUenrietta Noa. Plays for the Kindengarten.
Mus'.c by Ch. J. Richter. (The Text of the
19 plays is in both English and German.)
Stiff cover, $, 33
* Joseph Paynie. Froebel and the Kindergar  ten System of Elementary Instr-uctb n.
Paper, $0.15
*Joseph Payne. Pestalozzi; the Influence of
the Irinciples and lPractice on Elementary
Education. A Lecture. Paper, $0.05
*Jhoseph Payne.  Tie Science and  Art of
Educ~,tion (a Lecture), and Pr-inciples of th'e
Science of Education, as exhibited in the Pl;e  nomena founded on the unfolding of a Young
Clhild's Powers under the Influence of Nat  ural Circumstances.           Paper, $0.15;
cloth, $0.40
*E,lizabeth P. Peabody. Guide to the Kin  dergarten and  Intermediate Class.  And
Moral Culture of Infancy. By MARY MANANN.
Revised Edition.               Cloth. $1.25
(Kindergarten. -What is it?- Rooms, etc.
- Music.- Plays, Gymnastics, and Dancing.
- The Kindergartner.- Kindergarten Occu  pations.- Moral and Religious Exercises.  Object Lessons. - Geometry. - Reading.  Grammar and Languages. - Geography.  The Secret of Power. - Moral Culture of In  fancy. - Songs.)
*Eis.cabeth P. Peabody.  Thle Identification
of the Artisan and Artist the proper object of
American Education Illustrated by a Lect  ure of Cardinal WISEMAN, on the Relation
of the Arts of Design with the Ar ts of Itoduc  tion. With an Essay on FR(EBEL'S Reform
of Primary Education.         Paper, $0.20
*El izabeth P. Peabody.  Education ofthe
r   Kindergartner. A Lecture.   Paper, $0.25
*Elizabeth P. Peabody.          T.e Nursery.
A Lecture.                     Paper, $0.25 
KINDERGARTEN PUBLICATIONS
*Elizabetlh P. Peabody and Mary Mann.
iAfter Kindergarten-  tViat?  A Primer inf
R      eading  and Wr iting                  for the Intermediate
Class an d Prim      ary Schools       generally.
Boards, roan lack, $0.45
The Auth ors say  at the  en d of this book:
"We  claim          that t   he foregoing nethod of
teaching children to read English, according,I
to the phonographic classification of words,
is the  les   t for their minds;  because  it gives
scientific method and appreciation of law as
their practical experience.
Even if it did put off the date of learning
to  read till child        agre a are seven years old, so
much  t       he  bett er: becau se that will leave
time      for the h ealthy   and co mplete  dA velop  ment of esenses, tnlersta ndng, and expres  sion, suc     h as constitutes the Kindergarten -
education, where  doing precedes analysis,
and mental synthesis; prel aring them to use
written or printed words intelligently, after
they have been made living things by their
meaning. Nevertheless, for the last thirty
years, ehildren of four, five, and six, have
been tam,ht on this method, which is a more
rapid one than any of the ingenious contriv  ances b~y which children's memories are
crammed with words, that prevent the nat  ural development of their minds.
Whenl, by our ]'rimer, they have learned
to know words at sight, they can take a
story-b,ook, or Monroe's Readers, and will
immediately learn to read with expression."
"We are glad to see the plan of quite over  turning the accepted methods of spelling is
not encouraged. The methods adopted and
the style of instruction ought to malke this
primer and going to school a great delight to
every child."      (The Publishers' Weekly.)
Plays find Songs for Kindergar-ten and Family.
Collected and revised by a Kindergartner.
Paper, $O.5J
Kerns. Poescee. Die Ball- und Tuirnspiele F,.
Fr-cebel's.  Fur  iYaus, Kindergarten  usual
Schule bearbettet. Illustrated: Paper, $0.85
Johanne.s and Bertha Ronge. A practical
Guide to the English Kindergarten,.for the
use of Mothers, Governesses, and Infant  Teachers, being an exposition of Freebe,'s
System of Infant-Teaching, accompanied with
a great variety of Instructive and Amusing
Games, and Industrial and Gymnaslic Exer —
cises. With nullmerous Songs set to Music
and arranged for the Exercises. With 71
lithographic plales.            Cloth, $2.10
Constant  Sehoebe.  40 ausgewahlie Be?t e gungs.,piele des Kindergartens zunachst ffr
den hcuslichen Gebraucbl. Zweistimmig ge  setzt und mit leichter Clanierbegleitung
versehen.. Paper, $0.C5
*Bmily Shiipreff.   The Claim of  FacebeZ's
,,System to be called "T'he z,ew Education."
Paper, $0.05
Emily,Shirrelf. Thte Kindergarten. Print
ciples of b'robel's System, and their Bearing
on the Education of Women. Also, Remarkes on
tUe higher Education of I Vomcn. Cloth, $1.25
JE. Steiger, 25 ]Par]
*Steiger's Designs for Stick-laying.
Afr.in e   12 plates in wrapper,  $0.30
*Steiger's Designs Jobr Network Drawing.
12 plates in wrapper,  $0.30
*Steiger's Designs for Perforating (Ptricking).
12 plates in wrapper,  $0.30
*SteSger's Designs for  Weaving (Braiding).
12 plates in wrapper, $0.30
*Steiger-s Designs for Embroidering.
12 plates in wrapper, $).30
*Steiger's Designs for Cork or Peas Work.
12 plates in wrapper, $0.10
*Steige'.'s Designs for Plaiting (Interlacing
Slats).        12 plates in wrapper, $0.30
* Steiger-s Designs for Ring- laying.
12 plates in wrapper,  $0.30
*Steiger's Designs for Intertwining Paper.
12 plates in wrapper, $0.30
*Steiger's Designs for Cutting Paper.
12 plates in wrapper,  $0.30
*Steiger's Designs for Tablet-laying.
43 plates in wrapper, $0.60
bJohn Strachan.   What is Play?  Its bear  ing upon Education and Traintng.  A phys  iological Inquiry.             Paper, $0.50
EEd. Wiebe,  The Songs, Music, and Movement
Plays of itae Kindergarten.  With Text in
English and German                     $2.25
Thie Kindergarten  Iffessenwjer.
Edeited by ELIZABETH P. PEABODY.
New Series, Vol. I. (1877.) 6 DoubleNumbers.
(January to December.)               net $1.00
A. Douai's Series of
RATIONAL READERS,
combining the Principles of  PESTALOZZIX'S
and FRE:BEL'S Systems of Education.-With
a systematic classification of English words,
by which their Pronunciation, Orthography,
and Etymology, may be readily taught wlhout the use of any new signs.
*I.  The Rational 1'hlonetic Reader. An  Introduction to the beries of Rational Readers.                            Boards, $0.20
*II.  The Rational First Reader.  For  Phonetic and Elocutional Instruction.
Boards, $0.30
*II lI.  The Rational Second Reader. For Phonetic, Eloculional, Etymological, and Grammatical Instruction.            Boards,  $0.50
*IV.  Thle Rational Third Reader.  For Instruction in the  Laws of Pronunciation,
Grammar, and Elocution.         Boards, $0.t0
*V. A Reform of the Common English Branches
of Instruction.  Manual introductory to, and
explanatory of, the Series of IRational Reade rs.                           Boards, $0.30
A very complete  assortment of other
nKindergarten  Literature  is on  hand.
Catalogues forwarded free on application.
Wok Place,'e York.
i 
STEIGER'S German Series.
AHN'S German Primer.   Edited by W.
GRAUER&T. Boards $0.45.
AHN'S  German  Reading  Charts.   25
Plates with Hand-book for Teachers. By
Dr. P. HEENN.  $1.00
The same.  The 25 Plates mounted on 13
boards. $4.50.-Varnished $6.00.
AHN'S German Script Charts.  4'Plates
mounted on 4 boards, varnished $1.25.
AHN'S First German Book.  By Dr. P.
HENN. (Exercises in Reading, Writing,
Spelling, Translation, and Conversation.
Printed in bold type and containing a very
large amount  of German  Script.   De signed for the lowest two grades.) Boards
$0.25.
HIN'S Second German Book.  By Dr. P.
HENS: (Exercises in Writing, Reading,
Translation, and Conversation. Contain  ing much German Script. With Paradigms
and Vocabularies.) Boards $0.45, Half
Roan $0.60.
These two books together form:
iHN'S Rudiments of the German Lan  guage. By Dr. P. HENN. (With Vocabu  laries. Edition of 1878.) First Course.
Boards $0.65, Half Roan $0.80.
German  Psonouncing  Vocabulary to
the First Course of AHN'S Rudiments
of the German Language.  Gratis.
i     This Vocabulary facilitates the study
of German without a teacher. 
Key to AHN'S Rudiments of the Germnan
Language. By Dr. P. HENN.  Bds. $0.25.
AHN'S Third German Book.  By Dr. P. 
HENN. Boards $0.45, Half Roan $0.60.
Key to AHN'S Third German Book. By
Dr. P. HENN. Boards $0.25.
AHN'S Fourth German Book.  By Dr.
P. HENN. Boards $0.60; Half Roan $0.80.
Key to AHN'S Fourth German Book.
By Dr. P. HENN. Boards $0.25
AHN'S Rudiments of the German Lan  gAmage. By Dr. P. HENN. Second Course.
(This        contains AHN-HENN's Third and
FouIrth        German Books together.) Boards
$1.00,                         Half Roan $1.25.
AHNIS Complete Meth od  of the German
Language.  By Dr. P. HENN,  (AHN  HENN'S First, Second,   Third,  and
Fo,trti   German    Books  together.)
Strongly bound in Half ERoan $1.75.
AITN'S Synopsis of German Grammar.
By Dr. P. HENN. Boards $0.60, Half
Roan $0.80.
AHN'S Fir.st German Reader. With Notes
and Vocabulary. By Dr. P. HENN. Boards
$0.60, Half Roan $0.80.
Else same. With Foot-notes and Vocabulary.
Boards $0.60, Half Roan $0.80.
AHN'S  Second  German Refer. With
Notes and Vocabulary.  By Dr. P. HENN.
Boards $1.00, Half Roan $i.20.
The same.  With  Foot-notes and Vocabu lary. Boards $1.00, Half Roan $1.20.
Key to same. Boards $0.50.
AHN'S Rudiments of the Gernan Lan  gucage. (Edition of 1870.) Boards $0.35.
AHN'S Method of Learning  the  Ger  man Language. Revised by GUSTAvRe
FISCHER. First Course, Boards $0.50. Sec ond Course, Boards $0.50. Both Courses
bound together, Half Roan $1.00.
Key to same. Boards $0.30.
AHN'S Neu- Practical and Easy Method
of Learning the Germana  Language.
With Pronunciation by J. C. OEHLSCHLAE GER. Edition of 1873. First Course. (Prac  tical Part.) Boards $0.60. Second Course.
(Theoretical Part.)  Boards  $0.40. Both
together, Boards $1.00, Half Roan $1.25.
AHN'S  First  German   Reader.  With
Notes by W. GRAUERT. Boards $0.50. _
Second  German Reader.  With Notes
and Vocabulary by W. GRAUERT. Boards
$0.70.-The two Readers bound together,
Half Roan $1.20.
Key to AHN-GRAUERT'S First German
Reader.   Boards  $0.30; - to Second
German Reader, Boards  $0.35.
AHN'S German Handwriting.With Notes
by W.  GRAUERT. Boards  $0.40.
AHN'S Manual of German C onversation.
Revis d by W. GRAUERT. Cloth $1.00.
AHN - Ce     HLSC HLEG ER'S   Pr onouncing
M     ethod  of t he  G    erm a n L anguage.
Designed for Instruction in Schools, and
for   Private  Stu dy. (Edition of  1878. ) First
Part: Exercises, Reader, and Vocabulary.
Boards $0.80, Half Roan, $1.00; Second
Part: Gynopsis of German Gr ammar. Boards
$0.40, Half Roan  $0.60; Bot h  Par ts bound
together, Boards  $1.10, Half  Roa n  $1.40.
Kej to AHN - (EHLSCHLrEGER'S  Pro  nouxncing Method of the Germa   n Lan  guage. (Edition of 1878.) Boards 0.40.
GRAUERT'S Manual of the German
Language. First Part, Boards      $0.40;
Second Part, Boards $0.40. Both  t ogether.
Boards  $0.70, Half Roan  $0.90.
REFFELT'S First Book for School  and
House. With Vocabulary. Boards $0.30.
REFFELT'S Second Book for School and
House. With:Vocabulary. Boards $0.50.
SCHLEGEL'S Germtan Grainmmar for Be  ginners. Half Roan $1.25.
SCHLEGEL'S  First  Classical  German
Reader. With Notes and Vocabulary.
Half Roan $1.00. - Second Classical
German Reader. With Notes and Voca  bulary. Half Roan $1.50.
The several Keys above enumerated will be supplied only
upon the direct application of a teacher to the publisher,
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, New York
I
i
Key to same. Boards $0.30. 
tt a
ba  <~'ber r3t 
the glass          the physician
e{fe ber nb bie o fe ber it"rft
the knife      the sand       the rose     the prince
ber    r    a rti    bie e fCbi te    t)or 
the plate           thereon               the history                before
biee                 ber q,e1                  id 1)abe      tuir 
biefe                bie o"et                 bn raft        ir cibt
biem                 ba or                   er at         fie aben
bie~ci:               bie b'rc
ber dirt              ber Otu              lieqen                   e1eq en
bie irtCti           bie tjiC           treffen        trf       qetroffen
8am1e Of Type uuod in the AJIN-KENN  Cbi~rs 
STEIGER'S Freench Series.
AI:IiS  French  Primer.  By Dr. P. HENN.  Boards $0.25.  (Great care has been
bestowed upon the typographical execution of this little book, the perplexing
difficulty of the silent letters being alleviated by the use of distinguishing
~~1{~~ and hairline type)
AHN'., French Reading  Charts.   20 Plates with Hand-book for Teachers.  By
Dr. P. HERs. $1.00. (These Wall Charts are printed in very large type, the silent
letters being shown by  ~0)~               type cut expressly for the purpose.)
The same. The 20 Plates mounted on 10 boards. $3.75.
The same. Mounted on 10 boards and varnished. $5.00.
(AHN'S French Primer and French Reading Charts may be ad     vantageously used as an introductory course to any French Grammar.)
AHN'S Practical and Easy Method of Learning the French Lan guage. By Dr. P. HENN. First Course. (Comprising a fundamental Treatise on
French Pronunciation, French and English Exercises, Paradigms, and Vocabularies.)
Boards $0.40.
Key to same.  Boards $0.25.
AHiS Practical and Easy Method of Learning the French Lan guage. By Dr. P. HENN. Second Course. (Comprising a Series of French and English
Exercises, Conversations, Elements of French Gramnmar with Index, and full Vocab ularies.) Boards $0.60.
Key to same. Boards $0.25.
AH1S Practical and Easy Method of Learning the French Lan guage. By Dr. P. HENN. First and Second Course, bound together. Half Roan $1.00.
AH19s  First French Reader.  With Foot-notes and Vocabulary. By Dr. P. HENN.
Boards $0.60, Half Roan $0.80.
AHN'S First French  Reader.   With Notes and Vocabulary.  By  Dr. P. HEss.
Boards $0.60, Half Roan $0.80.
These two editions of one and the same book differ solely in the typographical
arrangement of Text and Notes. In the latter the Notes are given separately on the
pages following the 75 pieces of Text; in the former each page has at its bottom exactly
so much of the Notes as is needed to explain the French Text above. In respect to
Vocabulary, etc., both editions are alike.
Keyt to AHIWS First French Reader. By Dr. P. HENN. Boards $0.30.
AH1WS Second French Reader. With Foot-notes and Vocabulary. By Dr. P. HENN.
Boards $0.80; Half Roan $1.00.
AHI'S Second French Reader. With Notes and Vocabulary. By Dr. P. HENN.
Boards $0.80; Half Roan $1.00.
Key to AHN'S Second French Reader. By Dr. P. HxER. Boards $0.40.
AH1S Manual of French Conversation. In press.
AHNS French Letter-writer. With examples of commercial correspondence,
business-forms, and book-keeping. In press.
Collegiate Course.
C. A. SCELEGEL. A French Grammar. For beginners. Half Roan $1.50.
C. A. SCHLEGEL. A Classical French Reader. With Notes and Vocabulary.
Half Roan $1.20.
The several keys above enumerated tvill be supplied only upon
the direct application of a teacher to the publisher,
E. Steiger, 25 Park Place, Ne York 
STEIGER's French Series.
C          C~    CA         ii c~Th six Thtcur~~
i-lest-si-zlieu-res
it is six o'clock
L'heure a soixante minutes.       Ce fruit  est  mflr.
The hour  has sixty    minutes.   This  fruit is  ripe.'
je parlais, I spoke,      nous parlious, ~ve spoke,
tu par]ais, thou spokest, vous parllez,?/OU spoke,
iiparlait, he spoke,      ils parlalent, they spoke.
141.The relative quol is used in the sense of what (thing), or that
(thing) which, but not otherwise than after a preposition; if a nominative or
an accusative is required, ce qui or CC que is used instead; as:
SSmpie of Type used in the AHN-1IE~ ~renc~ Coi~r~ 
Poor text-books come in here for their share of blame.
Small text.books containing only the essentials of the su~ects &amp;eated of, only those
-     parts that have t~ in them, that can not be eliminated without leaving the subject
imperject, are rare.  It takes a brave man, and one merciless towards himself, to
make a small, simple, but thorough text-book.  Such books we mUst have,,f we
use text-books at all."
This observation which is from President CHADBoURNE'S
A~ldress on "Waste in Ejucation," defines precisely the principles on which the
A ThY- HEi\&amp;Y German anJ Frenclt Text-books,
from first to last, have been constructed.
The ll5C of these Text-books results in 1) a saving of
outlay for books: the prices ai'e very moderate;-2) a saving of ti~ne and needless trouble to both teacher and
pupil: the reat progress of the latter is rapid, while the
teacI~er's task is rendered very light; - 3) a saving in
teachers' salaries: with these books e'-en tI~e regular
American teachers, graduates of our Normal. Schools, can
without difficulty conduct classes in German and French,
where for~nerly teachers of foreign birth were required at
an extra expense; -4) a marked gain in sound, practicat knowledge of Gei'man and French, sufficient for the
requirements of business life.
The following will speak for itself:
To the Board of Education:              DETROIT, Sept. 9th, 1878.
GENTLEMEN - In obedience to instructions moved by Inspector Roberts, I
respectfully submit the following opinion as to the merits of Ann's text-books of
French and German:
I prefer AnN's method, because it introduces tile learner to language before it
discourages him with the complicated difficulties of technical grammar.  This
method has reason and nature on its side, and is growing in favor among progressive educators.  In`s book, this method seems to be reversed, and the young
learner is precipitated at once into the intricacies of grammar.
The exercises in the AnN books seem to me to be far more practical and satisfactor than those given by -.
Te exercises in AnN's books in letter-writing, business forms, advertisements,
German script, etc., are very valuable.  These matters are almost entirely omitted
in     5 books.
For these and other reasons I decidedly prefer the Ann series.
Very respectfully
- -T, M. B. SILL, Sup't. of Schoots.
In conseqnence of this report the AHN-llENN Text-books
were, almost nuanimously, adopted for use in the Detroit schools
That the opinion of other Superintendents and of practical
teachers coincides with the above, is shown by the very extensive introduction of these books into public and
private sc~ols, after a careful examination. 
Steiger's Educational Bureau
has been established for the purpose of assisting Teachers and Kinderga~
ners in their efforts to obtain positions, saviJtg them, however, the usua~
"reg1~tration fee" and the perce~~tage upon their salaries which it is the
cu~tom to pay - when engaged - to the Agent or person through whom
the position has been secured.
The organization of this Educational Bureau which has been welcorned most cordially, is but another step in the series of services which
it is NIr. Steiger's desire to render in behalf of the interest of Education,
and while he takes pleasure in thus freely offering his aid, he feels confident, on the other hand, that his endeavors will be appreciated; that
he will be saved, at least, unnecessary Jabor, and that neither his own
nor his assistants' time will be occupied in attending to persond calls.
A clearly-written statement setting forth what is desired by, and what
are the qualifications of, Applicants is, in most eases, of more real value
than a personal interview and a verbal application.
The App]ication Forms (with transcripts of testimonials and photographs attached) are filed in the Office of Steiqer's Educationat
Bt~rea~~ and Principals of Educational Institutions, upon calling, are
given access to these files, after an inspection of which they will be able to
make their selection, to enter into direct communication with Applicants,
and to conclude arrangements with them - without incurring any monetary obligation to Mr. Steiger.
On the other hand, Principals residing at a distance, who cannot personally inspect the files, should indicate upon the Blank Forms, furnished
for that purpose, what they expect from the Assistant they wish to engage.
Reference will then be made to the files, and the names of such Applicants
as seem best suited for the position, will be sent to the Principal, who is
thus placed in direct communication with vailable Teachers, and can effect
the desired arrangement without other intervention.
In consequence of the extensive information in regard to nearly all
the Schools and Educational Institutions of this country, and of Canada,
as well as the Universities and the principal High, Special, and Private
Schools of Europe, which is in the possession of this Bureau - in the
form of circulars, catalogues, and special particulars - Mr. Steiger is
e~abled to off~r advice respecting the choice of Schools for the education
of children or others.
Parents and Guardians who wish to avail themselves of the facilities
offered by this Bureau for the selection of a Tutor or Governess for
home instruction, wffl be accommodated in the same manner as Principals.
The Blank Forms furnished should be carefu]ly filled out with a distinct
statement of the qualfl~'cations which are considered necessary, and the
nature of the services desired.  Upon the receipt of such application
Mr. Steiger will examine the files of the Bureau, and communicate a
select list of names to each inquirer.  The concluding arrangement will,
however, be left entirely to the Parents or Guardians themselves.
~ Stei~er~ 25 Park Place, New Vo~~ 
ST~IG~R'S CATALOGU~S
enumerated hereafter, are intended, on the one hand, to keep the public informed
of what he has in stock i~ the various departments of literature; of books, tbere~
fore, which are usually on hand, and can be at once supplied.  On the other~hand,
these Catalogues serve as a guide to the best publications in their special branches
of llterature, and anch as are most serviceable in this country.
These Catalogues, having now reached a considerable number, and be~g con
tinnally made more comprehensive by additions and revisions, can, for the future,
as a rnle, be sent only on receipt of the snbjoined nominal prices, which simply'
cover in part the expenses of prodnction and the' prepayment of postage.
1~. BTEIe~a's restlval G~ta1o~uo.  11. STEInER'S ~ibiioflieea Glot
4 List ot German Books and Fine         Illustrat~d         ti~a. Part IlL  The Germen Lenguage ena
Works more especially adapted for        presents.   Literature. A Catalogue of the best Books for
,~Classics, Romances, Novels,        Tales, Poems,   the study of the German Language (for Germans
Autholugies, Dramatic Works, Fine         Editions    and Americans), the History of German Litera fth illustrations, and the choicest   productions tare, Poetry, etc.                   (5 Cents.)
the Departments of History,      Geography, Nat-                    12. German Dialects. A Cata.
iral Sciences, Philosophy,       Esthetics, Fed a- logue of more than 500 Publications, represent.
-`ogy. History of Literature and the  Art of Poet-    ing all of the Dialects spoken in the German
i'y, Mosic. and Art Literature,  Protestant Theol-        Empire and  neighboring  German-speaking
~y, Encyclopiedias and       Dictionaries, Commer-  countries. Together with Maps, Descriptions of
lal Science, Works for the higher   culture of the     tend ana ~eepte, aad Guide-Books ol Germany.
`~male sex, Books on Housekeeping,        Cookery,                                        IGrans.)
fld Domestic Economy, Humorous         Literature,                 13. STEInER's ~c1entific ~1brary.
to.) 240 pages.                        (15 Cents.)      Part L A Systematized Catalogue of Ger,aen
1 a. SrEioEa's 1)'estival                Gatalouc.     Books and Periodicals in the Departments of
First Divisioa. (Classics, Romances, Nova a, etc.,       ~aturet Sciences, Methematles, MiUterp enS
Poems, Anthologies, Dramatic         Works, -cheap  Cowmerctet iScience. With Index.    (5 Cents.)
`uveniles, and Kindergarten        Literature.) 72                   14. STEInER's ~Iedieal ~lbrary.
0-ages.                                 (5 Cents.)         Part L  A Catalogue of German Books and
2. ~lbrary of                    Fiction. A Cata-     Periodicals in the Departments ol Medicine,
ogue of select Romances, Novels,      and Tales by    Pharmacy, and Veterinary Science. With Index~
German authors, and the better class    of similar                                      (6 Cents.)
foreign Works in German   translations. (5 Cents.)                   15. STEzOEB's ~ibrary of Gliem 3. STEieEa's Gata~o~ue                    of Ger-                 istry and Pliarmac.Part I. ACatanan Picture-Hooks and Ju- alogne of German Books and  eriodicals in the
~eniles. Classified according to the age of Deariments of Chemistry and Pharmacy. With
hilfiren. New Edition.        (4 Cents.) In cx.                     (3 Cents.)
16.  STEIGEE's Teclino1o~ica1 ~i
4.  STEiGEB's  Tlieo1o~ica1  ~i  brary. A Catalogue of German Books and
brary. A Systematized Catalogue of German Periodicals in the Department of Technology.
Publications in the Departments of Protestant With Index.                       (4 Cents.)
Theology.                                   (5 Cents.)        1~ STEInER's ~ibrary  of ~n 5.  STEIGEE's Pliilosopliical ~i-   ineerin~.  A Catalogue of German
brary. A Systematized Catalogue ol German  onks and Periodicals in the Departments of
Publications in the Departments of Philosophy Engsneering, Mechanics, Architecture, Mining,
and ~fhettes.                 (4 Cents.) etc. With Index.                                  (4 Cents.)
6.  S~siuta's  Pedago~ica1  ~i    1Sa. STEIGEE's ~ibrary of Arbrary. Part L A Systematized Catalogue cliitecture. Part I. A Catalogue of Gerof German Publications on the Theory of Educe- man Publications in the various Departments ol
tion and Inetrnction.                (4 Cents.) Architecture,  JfaneIicraJt,  Work-menship, and
~.  STEinER's Illustrated  Gata- other cognate Branches. To which are added
io~ue of Kinder~arten Git'ts Lists of Contents, Descriptive Notices, and Reand Occupation Material, to- views. With Index of Suhiec~Eatter of all Pubgether with a List of Kindergal-tee Literature, lications enumerated, German-English and Enin German, English, and French.      (Gratis.) glish-German. With Additions.      (6 Cents.)
~. Svii~nsa's Descriptive ~chool    1 St. A short List ol American and Britic~
Hook Gatalo~ue. A List of Ednca~ Publications on Architecture, Art, Ornamentee
tionat Pettications; with Notes, Specimen pages, tion, etc., together with a List ol American,
Reviews, etc.                 (Gratis) British, and French Periodicals in the Depar~
9a. STEinER's Hibliotheca Glot- meats of Architecture, Art, Engineering, Techtica. Part L  First Division. A Catalogue of nolo y, etc.                         (Gratis.)
I}ictionaries, Grammars, Readers, Rxpmltors, A     STEInER's Farmer's ~ibrary.
etc., of (mostly) Modern Languages, except En-   Syste~matized Cataliigue of German Books and
li-hand German. First Division: Abenaki to" Periodicals in the Departments of Agriculture,
~e,brew                                                      Horticulture, Domestic Economy, Forestry, etc.
-                        (5 Cezits.)                                  (4 Cents.)
95- STEInER's Ilibliotheca Glot-   20.  STEInER's  Historico - Geotica. Part L  Second Division.    (In press.) wraphical ~ibrary. A Catalogue ol
10. STEInER's Hibliotheca Glot- German Books, Maps, and Periodicals in the Detica. Part It. A Catalogue of Dicthn~aries, partmeats of History, Geography, and allied SciGrammars, Readers, Expecitors, etc., of the En- eaces. With Index.                (6 Cents.)
llsh Language,  in Ea~i~  Czech, Danish,   21. STEInER'S L~aw ~lbrary. PartL
atch, Fr each, German,?taiia'n, Polish, Porta- A Catalogue of German Books and Periodicals In
guess, Rassian, Spanish, Swedish, and Tarkish. the Departments of Jurlsprudeaci, Polities, Stee
(3 Cenis.) iisiios, etc, With Inde~ -                      (5 CentL) 
E  STEICER'S CATALOCUES
22.   Art and Musie. A Systema- Catalogue of Arnerlcan,Britlsh,GerrnanFrencb,
iized    Catalogue of the best German Books and    and other Foreign Publications (exciusiveof
Periodicals in the Departments of Painffn~,        Text-books). 8vo.                (10 Cents.)
~calpture, ArciLitectare, Artindustry, MusIc, etc.  3~  Tlie Periodical ~iter
(3 Cents.)    ature of tlie United ~tates of
23.                   STETOER's ~ibrary of Gym-   America. With Index and Appendices. By
nastics. A Systematized Catalogue of Ger-          B. Sv~ioaa. Svo. Cloth.             ($1.00)
man   publications on the several kinds of Gpm-       [This Catalogue enumerates about 8,300 Fenail fez;  together with a List of ~ong and Glee   riodical Publications, and the Index of SobjectBooks.                                (Gratis.)    Matters is given in English, German, Dutch,
24.                STEToER'S Tlieatrical Gata-    French, Italian, and Spanish.]           -
lo~ue. A Catalogue of the best Plays in the         39  STEsOER'S Glassiflod Gata
German Language, selected from the dramatic lo~ue of American, Hrltlsh,
Literature of Germany, France, England, Spain,  German, and ~rencli Periodetc. [About 2,600 pieces.]           (5 Cents.)  icals, in the Departments of Medical Sciencez,
25.  STESOER'S ~iterarische Dc-  Cli em is Ir y, and Pharmacp-~atural Sciencesriclite. A Bulletin of new German Pub lice-  Archilecture, Enpineeflag, Matliematici, etc.liens. [Issued since 1873, partly as a continua-  -Feclinelepp, Commerce, Finance, etc.-Agriculf
tion of STEiGER'S Litererisciter Menatibericlst.]  are, Demeitfc JIconomp, Arts, Sports, Faihiens,
(Nos 1 to 121, 35 Cents.)  etc. [This is a List of about 1,200 of the best Fe 26.  Gata1o~ue of ~. ~tei-  riodicals in the above-named Special Depart er'sGerinan Glrculatin~ ~~~ ments.] Svo.                     (Gratis.)
rary.With Additions.        (5 Cents.)   40. STEIGER's I)escriptive Gat~
2~.  STEJOER's Gata1o~ue of Pe- lo~ue of ~cientific, Technoriodicals.  A Systeniatized enumeratiiin 19~ical, and ~stherl8secia~ Peof tlie Periodical Publications of German Litera- riodicais  publishei n  tlie
tore. With an Appendix: Works issued in Parts.  United l',,tates ofAsnerica. With
(5 Cents.) Index of Subject-Matters in English, German,
2~. STElOER's Gatalo~ue esf Ger- and French. Svo.              (Gratis.)
m~Ln Dooks at reduced Prices.   41. ~ecimen of an Attempt
(Gratis.) ata   ata1o~ue  of ()ri~ina1
~ An elegant Patent Self- Binder, large  American -Do()ks.  With Index ol
enough to hold the majority of the above-named Subject-Matters. By B. STEiGEE. Svo. (Gratis.)
Catalogues (which are in lImo), may be had   A List of leading American, Britisli, German,
for $1.00.                                 and Frencti I~e1i~ious and Tlie31.   STEIcER's Illustrated i)e- o1o~ica1 Magazines and PascrltiveGataio~ue  &lt;)f pers.
G3(ses,TeHurians,~aps, and                                      (Gratis.)
~ducat~ona1 Apparatus. ivo.   A List of American, Britisli, German, and
(Gratis.)  PrencliM~azinei and Papori in he Departments
3 Ia.  American Terrestrial and Celeitiet of ~aw, nuance,   nsurance,
Glesbes, Itelief Maps, Teiiu- ~tatistics, etc.                  (Gratis.)
rians, etc. Svo.                 (Gratis.)   A List of Gileap Pictures. (Gratis.)
31 b. Kinder~arten Publica-  An Illustrated List of PreisbePs ~intie~ns, Superior Text-books for Ilie stud p of  (~ er arten Occupations ffsr
German, ~rencli, Arithmetic, theamily.          (Gratis.)
Text-books for German Scliooli, etc. 8vo. (Gratis.)   Guide through ~. ~teiger's
32.  STEIGER's Pedagogicai ~i- ~tock of German Dooks. An
brary.  Part IL Education enil General  Aipliabetical Index of about 800 Departments and
Pkilolegp, to pettier witti Works of Refeicuce, Teecli- Specialties of which works are on hand. German
ers' Hend~booki, etc.  A Classified Descriptive and English.    (Gratis.)
Other Lists of Books are in preparation.- Catalogues of Second-hand Books
in all Languages and Departments are sent gre Iii on application.
A very ricli Collection of Bibliographical ~Iaterial, combined with wide.spread
connections, enable the subscriber to give prompt information in reply to most in quiries touching the literary productions of all countries of the Globe.
He begs cave to State that be is now supplying with foreign books and other
publi' atious the U. S. DePartments at Washington - PsAblic Libras'ies - Colleges
and oth~r Bducational Institutions-Booksellers all over the country, and Private
Book-buyers generally.
While E. STEIGER'S ~ock of German Books and Periodicals is Ihe largest
in this rountry, enabling hi~ to fill most orders immediately, his facilities for the
prompt importatioa Cf whatever may not be on hand, are unsurpassed, and his
terms are as favorable as possible.
Books, Maps, Charts, etc., specially imported by order and for the use of any
library, or society incorporated for philosophical, literary, or rel:~gious purposes or
for the encoirragement of the fine arts, or 1 y order anti for the use of any seminary
of learning, school, or college, free of duty, at low rates.
-     ~. STEIGER,  25 Park Place, NEW YO~K, 
Paris, 1878.
In consideration of the importance to the community of the incessant
and increasing endeavor on the part of every citizen to show progress in
his special sphere of useful labor, Mr. Steiger takes pleasure in stating
that he has been awarded a Medal by the Class Jury of the Paris Exposition of 1878, for his Exhibit of Educational and Eibliographical
Publications, Kindergarten Material and J3ooks, and Terrestrial and Celestial Globes.
1n addition to this, the Jury has since reported (on September 14th) the
award of a second Medal to ~Th. Steiger ~)r his contribution to the
United States Educational Exhibit, and has made express mention of the
Gyclopwdia of Educatioi~ Text-Eooks and Apparatus for
Primary Instruction, Kindergarten Material, and Globes.
These awards confirna and repeat the verdicts of the Jurors at the
Vienna Exhibition in regard to the Text-Books for the study of
German and French; of the Jurors at the Philadelphia Exhibition
respecting the Kindergarten Material and Books; and of the Jurors
both at Vienna and Philadelphia concerning the
Terrestn'al and Celestial Globes,
which are, in fact, the only American Globes that  received
Medals at the International Exhibitions of Paris, in 1867   Vienna, in
1873; Philadelphia, in 1876; and, again, of Paris, in 1878.
Recognizing in these repeated and special distinctions, and in the
sincere and substantial appreciation of practical educators, an acknowledgment of his labors, Mr. Steiger will continue his efforts in ~he cause of
National Education with a view to increase its facilities and to disseminate
and perpetuate its results.
September 16th, 1878. 
E.  Steiger,
Publisher,
Bookseller,
and Importe~r
25 Park Place,
~ew York
would hereby call attention to his extensive stock and
unsurpassed facilities for supplying
Books for Educational Institutions,
Terrestrial and Celestial Globes,
Kindergarten Material, etc.
Information and Catalogues promptly furnished.
Office of
The cyctopwaia of Education,
The Year-Book of Education,
Steiger's Educationat I)irectory,
Steiger's Educational Bureau.
~   Steiger's Educational Eureau is accommodating Teachers
and Kindergartners ~ ith positions, Schools and Colleges with
Teachers and Professors, rarents and Guardians with Tutors and
Governesses, or information concerning suitable Educational 1nstitutio~
- all without charge to any party.
x~x"~~~)                         --
~  Murray Street
7/7,:,,~-` ~` &mdash;-`           - ~    Fran o~ S~
\::::::),{tt;$~ 0 N)?:? ~`~~/~ //%7~
~ Park Place
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7                        4
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~
Barclay Street,/,