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from the electrical companies alone there have been received donations exceeding in value $25,000. This is surely a definite proof that the work being done meets with the approval of all who are intimately connected with the advance of the professions. -The Schoolmaster, referring to Mr. Otto Salomon's book on Slojd, makes the following review which is worth perusing by those who wish to know what Slojd means:

"The great and increasing interest in the movement for rendering education more practical and for ensuring that none of the powers of mind or body shall remain undeveloped, that education shall not be wholly literary, but shall appeal to the whole being, has at length resulted in the publication of an authoritative manual by the Director of the Naas Seminarium himself. Educationists have long been asking the questionwhat is Slojd? and a full and complete answer is given here from the originator of the system and his immediate lieutenants. Whether Slojd will produce the varied moral results which is claimed for it by its devotees is somewhat problematical, but there can be little doubt that the methods here inculcated are capable of effecting important physical and mental benefits on pupils working under a capable teacher. Few persons will differ from the judgment of Herr Salomon that the trained teacher who has become a "Slojd" will be more successful in class-work than the skilled artizan who forsakes the bench for the classroom, although the latter may exhibit more technical dexterity. Sweden has earned the gratitude of Western Europe by evolving a series of drill exercises, and it is here shown that Slojd makes for the same end, and is, in fact, "applied gymnastics." harmonious physical development is only gained when the muscles of both sides of the body are equally exercised during the work, the author here rightly insists on certain tools being used with either the right or left hand, and even suggests a change from one to the other every half hour. The chapter on timber, consisting as it does of full notes on structure, changes, seasoning, decay, comparison of qualities and characteristics of different kinds of trees, is admirably written by one who has a thorough grasp of the subject from a practical knowledge. Tools are very fully described as to principles of construction, qualities, and methods of sharpening and use. It seems a slight defect in this chapter not to have described only English pattern planes, as the Swedish shapes are not known here, and it is unlikely that they will be introduced and supersede our present patterns. It would have been much better in a book intended for English readers and classes to have introduced

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only those tools which are seen everywhere in daily use, and which will in all probability have to be used in the work-room. Much controversy has arisen respecting the foremost place given to the knife" in Slojd work, but seeing that the system is intended only for children, and that a knife is one of the earliest treasures of a boy, we can see no reason why the first tool introduced to the Slojd pupil should not be the knife, nor why a boy should not learn its utmost "potentialities." Nearly a hundred exercises of a carefully graduated series are given in the final portion of the book by Herr Johansson, in which the learner is gently initiated into all the mysteries of this wood-craft, and eleven plates beautifully illustrate the chief positions of the body when the tools are being used, and also other points of interest. We earnestly recommend everyone interested in the subject to procure this book. It is a most complete exposition of the system.

-Education of a certain type is very general, but still there are vast masses of adult countrymen in China who can neither read nor write. There is a special literary or lettered class who alone know the literature of their country, to the study of which they devote their lives. Yearly examinations are held for literary degrees and honors, which are necessary as a passport to the public service; and in 1887, for the first time, mathematics was admitted with the Chinese classics among the subjects of the examinations. Recently, western literature and works of science have been introduced in translations, and schools for the propagation of western science and literature are continually on the increase.

-The great difficulty with which the government have to contend, says one of the English papers, is the apathy of the Irish people on the subject of education. The means of public education which exist and prosper in Ireland have been given to that country by the Imperial Parliament; and when all the conditions of the case are taken into account, it is difficult to conceive a fairer and more generous system of education than that constituted. The contribution from Imperial resources to the Board of Education in Ireland is proportionately much larger than that given in England or Scotland, and would, as Mr. Balfour has hinted, be still further increased were there any sign of a desire on the part of the people and the local authorities to do their part.

-Dr. Busby was asked how he contrived to keep all his preferments and the headmastership of Westminster School through the successive and turbulent reigns of Charles I., Oliver

Cromwell, Charles II. and James II. He replied, "The fathers govern the nation, the mothers govern the fathers, the boys govern the mothers, and I govern the boys."

-The memorable reign of Lady Jane Grey is said to have given rise to the phrase, "A nine days' wonder." Lady Jane was proclaimed Queen of England on July 10, 1553, four days after the death of Edward VI. After the lapse of a period of nine days, on July 19, she relinquished her title to the crown, thus terminating her reign in the short space of a week and a half. A noted English historian says: "Thus we come to the diary of that short and troubled reign, that, from its length, is said to have given rise to the now (1620) popular phrase, “A nine days' wonder."

-The McGill Normal School has opened under favorable auspices, there being about 120 students present, including those who are attending the classes on pedagogy as a supplement to their B.A. course at the McGill College. In the re-arrangement of the classes consequent on Prof. Parmelee's resignation, Miss Robins has taken charge of the classics, while Prof. Kneeland conducts the English subjects as well as the scientific branches hitherto supervised so acceptably by Dr. Reed and Professors Penhallow and Evans, namely, Botany, Chemistry and Physiology. The new building is rapidly approaching completion, and it is expected that the Government will at an early date provide the furniture which is to make it one of the most comfortable of our school buildings.

Literature, Historical Notes, etc.

After a lingering and painful illness, Mr. Lowell died at Elmwood, his home in Cambridge, during the holiday months. To those who knew of his failing health his death was not unexpected; to the country at large it was a painful surprise. At the ripe age of seventy-two, with such honors as have been accorded to few men, universally respected and beloved, the most illustrious citizen of his country, Mr. Lowell's career was rounded to its close. The best blood of New England ran in his veins, and the best New England traditions were part of his heritage. Born in 1819 of a distinguished family, graduating from Harvard College in 1838, Mr. Lowell's poetic genius soon revealed itself; although, like many other successful literary men, he passed through a novitiate at the bar. His first volume of verse "A Year's Life," was published in 1841, and, although echoes of earlier poets are distinctly heard in it, it struck a new note

in English literature, and at once arrested attention. Another volume appeared in 1844, with distinct evidence of growth and still more marked promise. A year later, in "The Vision of Sir Launfall," Mr. Lowell gave his genius its first complete and harmonious expression, and the poem remains one of the most perfect and beautiful in our literature. His first prose work," Conversations on Some of the old Poets," was published in 1848. In the meantime his ardent nature and his deep love of liberty had drawn him into the anti-slavery agitation. In 1846 he had begun to contribute to the press satirical verses bearing on that great debate, and in 1848 the "Biglow Papers" surprised the country with the sense of a new power both in public life and in literature. He made several visits to Europe, continued to write and publish, and in 1855 was appointed to a professorship in Harvard College. Ten years later, at the close of the Civil War, he printed the second series of the Biglow Papers," and on the 21st of July in the same year he read at the Harvard commemoration services his magnificent "Commemoration Ode," which registered the high-water mark of poetical genius in this country.

THE SILLERY MISSION.*

[The conjunction of greatness and littleness, meanness and pride, is older than the days of the patriarchs; and such antiquated phenomena, displayed under a new form in the unreflecting, undisciplined mind of a savage, calls for no special wonder, but should rather be classed with the other enigmas of the human breast.-Parkman.]

The Vesper signal echoes through the glades,
As, cross in hand, the father wends his way,
To lead his flock beyond the wigwam shades,
Within God's house to sanctify the day.
The swarthy hunters, interrupting cares

Of after-chase, slow follow down the hill;

*The Sillery Mission was established in 1637, through the liberality of the Commander De Sillery, who, after acquiring an immense fortune in the diplomatic service of France, was induced to enter holy orders, and to devote all the energy of his mind and his wealth to the propagation of the faith amongst the aborigines of New France. Father Le Jeune had charge of the workmen, who were sent out from France at the expense of De Sillery; and in 1639, a permanent bequest was recorded in favor of the Mission by the Commander placing at interest a sum of twenty thousand livres.-J. M. Le Moine.

In 1643, the Sillery settlement was composed of between thirty-five and forty Indian families, who lived there the whole year around; other nomadic savages occasionally tarried at the settlement to procure food or to receive religious instruction. Catechism is taught to the children, and the smartest among them receive slight presents to encourage them. Every evening Father De Quen calls at every hut and summons the inmates to evening prayers at the chapel When the reverend father visits them each evening, during the prevalence of snow storms, he picks his way in the forest, lantern in hand, but sometimes losing his footing, he rolls down the hill.-Relations des Jesuits, 1643.

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Their helpmates meek, subdued in camp affairs,
Seek welcome respite, at their master's will.
The spirit of prayer they feebly comprehend,
Sincereless-trained to compass life's defence;
Yet priestcraft oft, the perverse will to bend,
Accepts the form of prayer for penitence.
The pious tones of him who reads their fate,
His offerings doled with undeceived regard,
Incentive teach what children learn elate,

That duty reverent-done invites reward.
And were they not but children of the womb
Of prehistoric twilight, mystery-bound,
When Gospel-dawn, truth-tinted, lit life's gloom,
To guide the soul its nearer depths to sound?
The birth-right of the teeming woods was theirs,
And all that unprogressive art e'er gained;
Theirs was the craft the higher ken impairs,

When instinct's edge is dulled by routine trained.
Their faith, inconstant as the chance of war,
Had for its only stay life's flitting joys:

Their paradise, some hunting ground afar,

Was but the sheen that through the glade deploys.
Their moral code, the imprint of their fate
Writ on tradition's page, did self exalt :
Their virtue was revenge, their valor hate,
Their highest hope a mere pursuit at fault.
And was there mien not index sad of hearts,
Fate-steeped in ill, dejected not subdued,-
Their souls but dens where passion's rudest arts
And covert plans found refuge to denude?
Did not ambition, cunning, and desire

In them a license undefined espouse?
Was not their glory but dishonor's hire
Howe'er the good or ill their ire did rouse?

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Such is the picture often drawn of life

When man seems but the slave of fate's behest-
When soul-growth, stunted by protracted strife
Of birth-throes fierce, is retrogressive pressed.

Yet prudish progress, that, with virtues torn,
Peeps 'tween the shreds its keenness to enhance,
Is oft the pride, whose unreflecting scorn
Detects a vice unvirtued by its glance.
Are hate and envy dead, by progress crushed,
Or but disguised by etiquette's veneer?
Are enmities and passion's outbursts hushed

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