ing his children. He will often have to say, “I perceive you do not quite understand that passage; read it again." Then he will require definitions of the leading words, their synonymes and their opposites; then perhaps he will have the sentence analysed or paraphrased; and after this, he will thoroughly explain every incidental allulusion, whether geographical, historical, or biographical, which may be involved in the passage. All this, it may be, must be done before that which is read can be thoroughly understood; and he knows, (to return to the point whence we set out,) that until it is understood it can never be properly read.

INTERROGATION. Intimately connected with the point which I have been urging, is the practice of interrogation; the object of which, when rightly conducted, is two-fold: first, to ascertain satisfactorily that ideas, in distinction from mere words, are received by the pupil; and, secondly, to afford opportunities for the communication of incidental instruction.

There is no way in which the correctness or incorrectness of a child's ideas on any subject can be so effectually ascertained, as by proposing a series of questions; their extent and bearing being determined, for the most part, by the answers received. A teacher who has not been in the habit of doing this, can form no adequate notion

of the amount of ignorance and misapprehension which this ploughshare of the mind will turn up.

as. possible, be

Now there are two methods in which a tendency to misconceive the meaning of words may be met; and both must, as far brought to bear upon the evil. The first is,VISIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS. Wherever the subject will admit of it, there is nothing equal to this kind of explanation. You will recollect an observation made some paragraphs back, "the eye remembers;" it might also be said, (although of course comparatively and subject to exception,) the eye makes no mistakes. A child has a very different, a much more perfect idea of that which it sees, than it can have of any thing which is incapable of being perceived by the senses; its conceptions are generally vague and indistinct.

Among the subjects which admit most easily of being explained by objects of sight, might be mentioned the various branches of natural history, and the physical sciences generally. In some of these the object itself can be called in, and in others detached portions of it. In the absence.of the object itself, or any part of it, a model, a graphic representation, an outline, or a diagram, will suffice; but something of the kind must, if possible, be presented. Hence the importance of schools being provided with specimens of as many different things as possible, and of children being

taught to cultivate habits of observation and inquiry. It is in many respects of the highest importance to teach children to discern the most minute differences and resemblances in objects which they can examine; the eye, the ear, the touch, the taste, the smell, should all be educated, by exercise on a great variety of objects. If the perceptive faculties be not carefully culti'vated, it is impossible that the conceptions of a child can be either ready or accurate.

An example of the striking effect of specimens in aiding the imagination, is thus related by an eye-witness. "When a delegation of one of the most savage of the western tribes, a few years since, passed through Philadelphia, they were invited to visit the museum. Finding therein many of their quadruped acquaintance, with various implements of their own warfare, and a vast number of objects before unknown to them, they were naturally much delighted with the celebrated establishment, and expressed (as far as an Indian ever deigns to express it) their admiration of the novel spectacle. Divers ejaculations, and some obscure signs of relaxed gravity, were occasionally observable during their progress through the rooms, until they came to that part of the hall where the skeleton of the huge mastodon' stood all at once revealed to their bewildered senses. The awe which seemed to come over them now deprived their tongues of utterance,

and held their eyes fixed in the direction of the vast black bony structure, as if it had been an object of adoration. Such, it was said, their tribe are in the habit of regarding the mammoth; and as it had all their lives before been merely a creature of the imagination, or seen only in detached portions, its real bulk and proportions had probably never before been adequately conceived."

There will, however, sometimes be found matters of science, which we can neither bring before the eye, nor explain to the comprehension of a child, and these he must be taught to receive on the evidence of testimony. It is important to guard the youthful mind against that contracted habit of thinking and reasoning, which makes its own knowledge and extent of observation the standard of probability. It was under the influence of this narrow and skeptical spirit that Mr. Hume maintained, that a miracle being contrary to experience, could not be established by any human testimony. And it was with equal reason and propriety that the king of Siam, when informed by a foreigner at his court, that in some parts of Europe, at certain seasons of the year, water became so solid that an elephant might walk over it, told the narrator, without much ceremony, that he lied. In many cases, however, in the absence of ocular demonstration, it is possible to adopt an analogous fact or principle; and, wherever this can be done in the way of illustration, it is of

course highly desirable. Had it happened that any one at the court of Siam had been acquainted with the properties of heat, and capable of performing the requisite experiments, the unbelief of his majesty might easily have been removed, and his confidence in testimony fully restored.

But besides this mode of illustration, it is sometimes necessary to carry out to a considerable extent, the practice of accustoming the pupil to separate the prefixes and affixes of words, and to trace the root through other combinations. Let me, however, in connection with this subject, earnestly warn you against pushing this kind of investigation too far. I have known some teachers, partly perhaps from vanity, and partly from ignorance, make themselves exceedingly ridiculous by attempting to meddle with Latin and Greek roots, before they were at all acquainted with either of these languages. To a certain, but very limited extent, this may be done with safety; beyond that limitation, the practice is manifestly absurd, and sure to lead all parties into error. The best advice that can be given to a young teacher on this subject probably is this," So long as you are unacquainted with Latin and Greek, confine your etymological researches to the simplest examples that are given in elementary books prepared for this purpose; when you have mastered these languages, you may go as far as you please."