these small schools are established, it would be worth while for a lecturer to attend successively by the week or month, to exhibit experiments with an apparatus, that need not be costly, and that would answer all the purposes of the most expensive instruments. Thus, preliminary lectures given quietly to a few pupils at once, when there is time and leisure to explain difficulties and answer questions, and to see and touch the subjects of experiment, will prepare young people to hear public lectures on natural history afterwards with advantage. The trials which have been made in some elementary schools, to introduce experiments in natural history, have proved, that these are peculiarly suited to the taste and capacities of children. But the very success of these trials, and the delight expressed by the pupils, alarmed some silly parents, who apprehended, that their children would never make any progress in the Latin grammar, if they were thus entertained with foolish experiments b And will it be believed, these sagacious parents threatened to take their children away from school, unless the pupils were again confined to their book-learning. All this folly arises from cowardice; but where a few examples of success in any new method have been given, people will be enthusiastically or fashionably eager, to follow that, which they dare not be the first to try...

Not only the intellectual, but the moral education, the temper and habits of young people, might be as well conducted in such schools, as in a happy private family.

These improvements in initiatory seminaries will conduce in the most certain and effectual manner to the im

provement of those of a higher class. The principal defect in the present system of our great schools is, that they devote too large a portion of time to Latin and Greek. It is true, that the attainment of classical literature is highly desirable ; but it should not, or rather it need not, be the exclusive object of boys during eight or nine years.

Much less time, judiciously managed, would give them an acquaintance with the classics sufficient for all useful purposes, and would make them as good scholars, as gentlemen or professional men need to be. It is not requisite, that every man should make Latin or Greek verses; therefore a knowledge of prosody beyond the structure of hexameter and pentameter verses is as worthless an acquisition, as any which folly or fashion has introduced amongst the higher classes of mankind. It must indeed be acknowledged, that there are some rare exceptions; but even party prejudice would allow, that the persons alluded to must have risen to eminence though they had never written sapphics or iambics. Though preceptors, parents, and the publick in general, may be convinced of the absurdity of making boys spend so much of life in learning what can be of no use to them; such are the difficulties of making any change in the ancient rules of great establishments, that masters themselves, however reasonable, dare not, and cannot make sudden alterations.

The only remedies that can be suggested might be, perhaps, to take those boys, who are not intended for professions in which deep scholarship is necessary, away from school before

they reach the highest classes, where prosody and Greek and Latin verses are required.

In the college of Dublin, where an admirable course of instruction has been long established, where this course is superintended by men of acknowledged learning and abilities, and pursued by students of uncommon industry, such is the force of example, and such the fear of appearing inferior in trifles to English universities, that much pains have been lately taken, to introduce the practice of writing Greek and Latin verses, and much solicitude has been shown about the prosody of the learned languages, without any attention being paid to the prosody of our own.

Boarding houses for the scholars at Eton and Westminster, which are at present mere lodging houses, might be kept by private tutors, who might, during the hours when the boys were not in their public classes, assist them in acquiring general literature, or such knowledge as might be advantageous for their respective professions.

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New schools, that are not restricted to any established routine, should give a fair trial to experiments in education, which afford a rational prospect of success. If nothing can be altered in the old schools, leave them as they are. stroy nothing-injure none-but let the publick try whether they cannot have something better. If the experiment do not succeed, the publick will be convinced, that they ought to acquiesce in the established methods of instruction, and parents

will send their children to the ancient seminaries with increased confidence. The Royal Institution in London, and the City Institution which has been lately established, are such unequivocal proofs of the liberality, the love for knowledge of all sorts, and the splendid munificence of Britain, that there is reason to suppose, any plans of improvement, which promise to be really useful, will be supported by the ́solid good sense and efficient spirit of the nation. Under the direction of an association of gentlemen, of which no professed schoolmaster should be a member, a number of schools for the instruction of youth might be established in the principal towns in the empire; and preparatory schools, under well-chosen masters, might be set up in places where there is sufficient demand for them: these schools should all be subordinate to the principal institution in London, by which means a unity of design might be carried on.

In the next class of schools, it should be the object, to give to all the pupils a certain portion of classical literature. How much this should be, must be decided by the professions, which the pupils are to follow. The methods of teaching the languages, and the preparation in the initiatory schools, might abridge considerably the time commonly devoted to these studies. The time thus saved might be usefully employed in giving all the boys some knowledge of natural history; and of general literature. They might read the biography of celebrated men in ancient and modern times, and from biography, by degrees, extend their knowledge to history. Priestley's biographical chart, or the far superior charts of le Sage, will give a view of the great men, who were contemporaries at different eras;

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but, in treating of modern history, small stress should be laid on that of the middle ages: a general sketch of the state of the world at the time, when certain great men flourished, will, by the interest their characters excite, be fixed in the minds of youth. The dates of the few great events of the history of empires, the periods of their prosperity and decline, should be fixed early in the mind; but none of inferior consequence should load the memory. No particular histories of Rome, Greece, France, or England, should be read till the pupils are familiarized with this outline of the history of the world. A general account of the principal discoveries and inventions in the arts and sciences should also be given, marking the state of the countries in which they were made, and pointing out their general influence on human happiness. Thus history will not be confined merely to a knowledge of wars and revolutions, but will comprise an acquaintance with the history of human nature, of governments, trades, manufactures, arts, and sciences. From time to time the pupils should be called upon, to give an account of what they have heard or read: they should be permitted to ask questions, where they have not fully understood the master's explanations: in short, they should be excited to converse on the subjects of their lessons, and this will fix them in their memory, and render their pursuit more interesting. The cultivation of the memory should at these times be attended to; and, according to the principles which have already been suggested, the pupils should be led to recollect by reasoning and analogy, not by mere technical methods. For instance, they should give reasons why an event was likely to have happened at a given time, from the state of manners, from preceding circumstances,