THE
TEACHER'S INSTITUT E;
OR,
FAMILIAR HINTS
TO
YOUNG TEACHERS.
BY
WILLIAM B. FOWLE.
"Not as though I had attained, or were already peifect."
FIRST NEW  YORK EDITION.
,.,~;
A S. BARNES AND COMPANY, 
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. -  - 7    
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
A. S. BARNES & Co.,
1  the Clerk's Office of the Di, trict Court of the United States for tW
So ithern 1D strict of New York. 
PREFACE.
SINCE the revival of education in Massachusetts, and, I may justly
day, in the United States, in consequence of the establishment of our
Board of Education, several valuable treatises on the important
subject of Public Instruction have been published, and each in its
way has done good service to the great cause; but still, it seems to
me, there is room for the little volume which, perhaps, with more
zeal than discretion, I am about to " cast upon the waters."
When I was invited by the Secretary of the Board of Education to
take part in the instruction to be given at the Teachers' Institutes,
which he proposed to hold in different parts of the State, I was not
aware that my notions of the matter and manner of teaching were
so different from those which prevailed. When, however, at the
Institutes, some of the lessons which I had given at least a quarter
of a century ago were viewed as novelties, and listened to with
attention as unexpected as it was gratifying, I readily yielded to the
repeated suggestion that it might aid the cause of education to
publish such of my hints as could be written out, however inferior
they must necessarily be to the living lessons that I had given in
person.
Those lessons were all given without any book, and usually without
any notes; but this volume contains, I believe, a faithful sketch of
them, with three of the many lectures that I delivered, and such
additional remarks as occurred to me while the work was in progress.
It makes no claim to be a complete treatise on education, for I had
neither time nor inclination to attempt so high a task. It is no com pilation, however, but a familiar record of my own experience,
written in the midst of business, and with the printer at my heels, two disadvantages which those only can fuilly appreciate who have
been so incautious as to try a similar experiment.
Teachers' Institutes are assemblies of teachers, conveniied for the
purpose of receiving and imparting instruction in regard to the art of
teaching. They are, in fact, temporary Normal Schools, although,
of course, conducted with less system and less preparation.   Tiec
duty of calling them devolved upon the Secretary of the Board of
Education, and he was present several days at each of the ten that
were held in the autumns of 1845 and 1846, of which duty an
interesting report is given in his Ninth Annuial Report to the Board.
The exercises consisted mainly of lessons given by some experienced
teacher; of mutual instruction bv the members of the Institute; of
free discussions, in which the citizens, especially school-committee men, often took part; and of lectures by gentlemen who had paid
attention to the progress of public education in the State. Of course, 
PREFACE.
as far as possible, teachers and lecturers on all systems, and on all
educational subjects, were invited to teach and lecture, that the
young teachers might see and hear all that was abroad, and be able
to carry home many inventions that they would never, perhaps, have
wrought out in their almost isolated districts.  I spent a longer time
than any other teacher at these Institutes, and probably said and did
more than any other. I must, of course, have said many things
about which there is a difference of opinion in this community, for I
am accustomed to speak what I think, without asking whether the
thought is popular or not. It is my duty, therefore, to declare, that
neither the Board of Education, who honored me by the invitation,
nor their Secretary, is accountable for any sentiments I uttered at
the Institutes, and much less for any thing I have written in this
volume. The truth of the matter is, that, until it was published,
neither the Board nor its Secretary had any knowledge of the contents of this book, nor even of my intention to publish it.
IV 
Tr li I,
r'l.   I'I ---— RI      --  -iNST1TUi —
FAMIILIAR JITNTS
TO
YO-UNG TEA-CfIER~S.
BY
WILLIAM B. FOWLE.
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~~~'I ~       oll~'   NL\VV l1I.~)I'I'oN.
NEWV YOR~K:
PIJ1LIStli,I)  I'l-Y  A. S. -I~A.I'Nfi'S  &   Co.,
111&II11;~  II,' IAb fSP  
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0 R,
I t 
BLACKBOARDS.
IN this volume, no set lesson on the use of
blackboards is given, because the whole volume, from beginning to end, is a practical
lesson on the use of this indispensable part of
school apparatus.
II 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
READING.
THE first thing to be done is, in some way or other, to
make the child acquainted with the Alphabet.   Twenty years
ago, there was but one way of doing this.  The names of the
letters were taught in connection with their forms, and as the
teacher could only hear the child name the letters once or
twice in the forenoon or afternoon, a task which occupied five
or six minutes, the work was not usually accomplished in
less than three months, and it not unfrequently required six.
When we consider how little amusement there is in learning the Alphabet in this way, we cannot help wondering at the
patience of the little victims, and at the cruelty or awkwardness of the teacher, who cannot or does not invent some
method by which the entrance to the path of knowledge may
be made less painful to the little travellers.
We  are by no means certain that there is a better way
than to begin with teaching the names of the letters, but we
are certain that this may be done in many ways that will
engage the attention of the children, and be highly interesting
to them.
We have said that six months are sometimes consumed in
teaching a child the Alphabet; but this is a mistake,-the time
is consumed in idleness, and not in teaching.  If the child is
allowed ten minutes a day, and this is more than the average
allowance, the whole time allotted to a child in six months
will be less than twenty-two hours, that is, less than one
entire day. For, if the school is kept five days in a week,
the number of hours devoted to the child in twenty-six weeks,
or six months, will be only twenty-one hours and two thirds.
My custom was to give the child what minutes I could
spare, and then to employ some older child in giving as much
practice as the child desired.  The consequence was, that the
Alphabet was learned in a few weeks at furthest, but not, as 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
it is usually learned, by name only. Let me explain my
method more in detail, and illustrate it by an anecdote.
A year or two ago. I was unexpectedly detained in a village
of Massachusetts, and knowing no person, I naturally wandered
to the schoolhouse, where I am always sure to find a welcome.
There were three schools in the building, and, by accident, I
entered what was called the infant school. About sixty little
children were present, and by no means idle, for it would be
difficult to imagine a more busy scene. The teacher, a young
lady of prepossessing appearance, was in one corner of the
room, looking over the book of one of a small class, that was
reading to her. The noise of the other children obliged her
to place her ear close to the reader, and, of course, she could
not properly overlook the rest of the school. Nothing that 1
had ever seen could equal the irregularities that I beheld, and
had my life depended upon the effort, I could not have
avoided laughing at the novel scene of fun and frolic before
me. As soon as the teacher saw that a stranger was observ;ng her, she left her class, and came forward to meet  me.
She blushed, and was evidently embarrassed; and I said to
her, "You have a busy scene here."  "Indeed I have," said
she.  "I never taught till yesterday, and I am so distracted
that I must give up." I told her kindly that she was undertaking too much, for she should not attempt to teach until she
had  established something like order.  "But  the parents
expect me to teach every child twice a day," said she, "and
if I do not, I shall be censured.   But," asked she, "how can
I restore order amidst such confusion?"  "I should introduce
some general exercise," said I, " that will interest them all."
"But the greater part of them do not know any thing," said
she, "and how can they work together?"  "I will show you,"
said I, " if you will excuse the liberty I take." I then tapped
a few times gently on the desk, and all were silent. I kept
:n, and asked the children to tap as I did. They readily did so,
and soon kept good time, and were highly pleased. Then said
I, "Such of you as do not know the Alphabet, hold up your
hands!" They did not know what I meant; but when I
varied the question and said, "All who do not know the A, B,
C, hold up your hands "  so many hands went up that it
seemed as if some must have held up more than two. "Now,"
said I, " I wish all of you to go out, and stand before that
large black-board." Sixteen or seventeen went out, and stood
in that kind of confusion which Dr. Blair, I think, says is
8 
READING.
rather an element of the romantic than of the beautiful. I
took the chalk and drew a large semi-circle in front of the
board, drawing the chalk over such little feet as stood in the
way, and when I told them to toe the chalk, there was such an
eagerness to obey, that, for a minute or two, the whole class
looked like a squad of adult recruits at their first drill. This
movement attracted the attention of the rest of the pupils, and
kept them still, so that the wav was prepared for a lesson in
the Alphabet. 
I then printed a capital A on the board, and asked, "Does
any one know what letter this is? "    A! A! A!" said half
a dozen of them.   " Yes, that is the first letter,  said I, " and
its name is A.   Now let all say A."   "A! A! A!" said they,
in great confusion.   " Now," said I, " say A  all together,
when I knock on the board." They did so ten or fifteen
times.  "Now," said I, " which of you can make all A like
this on the board?  "..I can! I can! I can!" said several.  I
gave the chalk to one of the largest, and she made an A thus:
" Very well," said I, " but does not your A turn
up its toes more than mine does? "   " Yes, sir,"
said she, and rubbed both feet out, and tried to
make them better.   "Is not one leg longer than
the other? " said I. "0, yes, sir!" said she, and
rubbed off a portion of it.  "Very well," said I;
I see but one thing more. If you were sitting on that crossbar," said I, "would not you slide down to one side?"  "Yes,
sir," said she, and rubbing out the bar, she made another
that sloped as much to the right. When I asked if she would
not slide the other way, she tried again, and made the crossbar nearly horizontal.
" Very well, indeed!" said I.  "Now, cannot some  one
take the chalk and make another A as good as that?"  Half
a dozen came forward. I selected a little boy, who had never
learned a letter before, and who was the smallest child in
the class. He took the chalk and made a large A. straddling over the head  of the other, thus:
"s Bravely d6ne!" said I; " that is a fine
great A, but he is too large for the little
one to carry.  Can't you make him stand
by the side of the other?"  He gave.me
a knowing nod of assent, rubbed out the
great one, and made another as I directed.   I then called on
every one of the class in turn to make an A, and not one
)
9
\I 
THE TEACHERS' IliSTITUTE.
failed to do so, and every time a new A was made, the whole
class, at a signal given, called out, "A! A! A!" several times.
Then I proceeded to B; but, just then, a friend, who was
travelling in company with me, entered, and seeing that the
time was short, and the teacher quick to apprehend, I gave
over my lesson, and asked my friend to set the whole school
a singing. This exercise, of which the first line of the
Multiplication Table was the subject, suited them wonderfully,
and was continued several minutes. After a little familiar
talk with the teacher, who by this time was relieved, and
emboldened to question us, we departed. It is but justice for
me to add, that, several months afterwards, as I was passing
through that village, I looked in upon my young friend, and
found her in the midst of an orderly school, without any
fear of being disobeyed or distracted.
In teaching the alphabet, therefore, I should teach by
classes, if more than one was ignorant of the letters, and I
should require every letter to be made by every child. 1
should keep alive the interest of the child or the class by
talking about the letters, as if they were things or persons,
and thus I would impress upon the mind of the child, not only
the general form, but the peculiarities of every letter. Children taught in this way would never do what I have seen
done by many teachers; for, when I have attendedTeachers'
Institutes, which are conventions of teachers for mutual
instruction, I have repeatedly asked each teacher to print an
alphabet, and I have never failed to find some who formed
the letters J, N, S, Z, thus, -, -[, z, N.   In one Institute of
a hundred teachers, seven turned all these letters, and some
others, the wrong way. Had they taught the alphabet as I
propose, they would have learned as well as the children.
But I should not teach the whole alphabet before I began
to use it.  As soon as the child can make  several letters, I
keep them in a line at the top of the black-board; and, before
a new letter is added, I make all the class call the name of
each as I point at it. When they can make eight, and name
them, or even sooner, I begin to combine them into words.
Thus of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H,- I make BAD, and pronounce it, requiring them to pronounce it after me. Then I
ask them what BAD means; and, if a good instance occurs
to me, I tell them of some BAD boy or BAD girl, and give
them some caution or advice.  Then, to teach them the sound
of A, I tell them that, without the D, the word is prolounced BA; without B and D, it is A.   Then I require the
(
10 
READING.
whole class to pronounce BAD, then BA, then A., several
times, till the sound of A in BAD, and that of the B and
D, are well understood. Then I write the word BAD at the
top or side of the black-board, and proceed to form another
word, say BED.   This word must be pronounced, like the
former, several times; then without the D; without B and D;
and, finally, the sound of E alone must be given. Do not
hurry to a new word till the old one is familiar, every sound
of it.
Those who prefer to teach words before letters, or, with
them, will like this method, which seems to be free from the
objections that have been urged against the plan of teaching
whole words, without separating them into their elementary
letters and sounds.
To relieve the children, I would now give them some
advice about going to BED, or rising betimes. Perhaps I
should recommend a short prayer when they retire and rise,
and should tell them what a prayer is, and how it should be
made. A seed sown in this way may bear most precious
fruit. The teacher may thus form many words. But three
or four at a lesson will be enough; and at every new lesson,
every word that the teacher has formed at the previous lesson
must be formed by the children as a spelling lesson. The
children will then see the use of letters in the formation of
words, and will acquire some knowledge of what is called
their power as well as of their names and forms.
I have sometimes even attempted to analyze the words thus
formed, by spelling them by their powers or sounds, and not
by their names. Some intelligent children very readily learn
the powers in this way, and easily distinguish between the
name in the alphabet and the sound in the word. To enable
the teacher to do this, it may be convenient for him to have a
few words of instruction in regard to the powers of the letters,
and        I       subjoin them:
TABLE OF VOWEL SOUNDS.
Common School Speller.
1. A, as in Fate and in Pa-per,... pp.  13, 31, 84
the same as
AI  in Aid   and Rai-sin,. "  24, 45, 145
AY in Day  and Pay-ment,.. "            25, 47
EI  in Feint and Hei-nous,.. "            173
EY in They and Ey-ry,.. "         25,47
EA in Great and Steak,..  "  82,132
I I
r', 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Common School Speller.
pp.   14, 32, 85
."        22, 44
"  24, 46, 129
"        25, 47
"  23, 43, 104
"        80, 113
"             84
"            174
"             46
"             83
"             46
2. A, as in Fat, and in Hab-it,.....
3. A, as in All, and in Wa-ter,...
the same as
AU  in Daub       and Cau-cus,..
AW in Dawn        and Aw-ful,. 
4. A, as in Fast, and in Pa-pa,.
the same as
AH  in Ah!        and Se-lah,.
EA  in Heart      and Heark-en,.
AU  in Aunt       and Daunt-less,.
5. A, as in Care, and in Wel-fare,...
the same as
EA  in Bear       and For-swear, 
AI  in Air        and Re-pair,. 
1. E, as in Me, and in Sin-cere,,    
the same as
EE  in Beef        and A-greed,.
EA  in Pea         and Ap-peal,.
IE   in Field      and A-piece,.
EI  in Ei-ther   and Con-ceit,.
I    in Suite      and Police,.
2. E, as in Met, and in Pro-tect,...
the same as
AI  in Said       and A-gain, 
EA  in Head       and Heav-en,.
EI  in Heif-er,   and Foreign,.
IE   in Friend,                                      3
1. 1, as in Pine, and in Em-pire,...
the same as
Y    in Fly       and Re-ply,. 
IE   in Pie       and Be-lie,. 
IGH in Fight      and De-light,..
2. I, as in Pin, and in Di-rect,...
the same as
Y    in Lynx      and Sys-tem,.
EY  in Val-ley   and Tur-key,. 
AI  in Vil-lain   and Cap-tain,. 
IA  in Mar-riage and Par-lia-ment,
EI  in Mul-lein  and For-feit,..
UI  in Build      and Guilt-y,..
12
.. 16, 33, 86
.       11 25, 48, 129.
11 -26, 48, 130
. It 27, 50, 1-0
. 11 27, 50, 139
It 170
.       11 16, 34, 86
.       it 173
. if 82, 132
.        11 173
1. 173
17, 35, 87
. 23, 42, 95
27
56
18, 37, 88
11
1
4i
i &
I
42, 99, 120
43
174
174
173
82
i 4
i c
c c
c 4
i 
READING.
Common School Speller.
.    pp.   19, 38, 89
1. 0, as inr No, and in Pro-mote,..
the same as
OA  in Oak   and Char-coal,.
OE  min Toe   and Roe-buck,
OU  in Soul  and Poul-try,.
OW in Bowl  and Dis-own,.
2. 0, as in Not, and in A-dopt,..
the same as
A    in Swan and Watch-ful,
3. 0, as in Do, and in Im-prove,..
the same as
OO  in Cool  and Bal-loon,.
W in Wax and Wil-ling, (W, consonant)
OU  in You   and Surtout,... "
4. 0, as in Nor, and in For-lorn,....
1. U, as in Cube, and in Re-buke,.
the same as
EW  in Few   and Sin-ew,.
EU  in Feud  and Neu-ter,.
UE  in Cue   and Im-bue,.
UI  in Juice  and Nui-sance,
2. U, as in Tub, and in A-dult,...
the same as
O    in Monk,  Li-on,    Fa-vor,
OU  in Touch, Coup-let, Pi-ous,.
A    in Vo-cal, Li-ar,    Or-gan,
E    in Her    and         Bar-ber,
I    in Sir     and        Na-dir,
3. U, as in Bull, and in Pul-pit,...
1. OU, as in Bound, and in De-vour,..
OW, as in Now,  and in Crowd-ed,..
2. 01, as in Oil, and in A-void,... "  30, 54, 132
OY, as in Boy, and in Em-ploy,... "            30, 54
TABLE OF CONSONANT SOUNDS
B,
C, (soft)
(hard)
and Cab.
and Mince.
and Zinc.
2
12
I 9
I I
It
t I
28, 52, 131.
29
29, 52
29, 52
i
I
I
4 c 20,39, 90
45
65
(i
i I
.. cc 28, 51
179
11 27, 50, 104
..         4 6 21, 40, 90
.. 27, 49
..    4 1                                                    81
..    61                                                     81
..          6 6 82
.    41 21, 41, 91
.    ti 57, 123
.    11            58, 126
.    Ic          105, 159
.    4 c                   108
.    11 59
II
II
i 9       3 1, 55
11 29, 53, 131
11 30, 5, 132
i
I
i
i
-1
in Bat
in Cent
in Cat
-.0 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
CH, (soft)        in Chin
(hard)       in Chasm
(like SH)   in Chaise
D,                in Dot
F,                in Fan
G,  (soft)        in Gin
(hard)       in Got
H,                in Hat
J,                in Jog
K,                in Kin
L,                in Lap
M                 in Man
N,                in Nut
(nasal)     in Tin-ker
P,                in Pig
Qu, (as KW)    in Quit
(as K)       in Ob-lique
R,  (rough)       in Rob
(smooth)    in Bare
S,  (hissing)    in Sun
(buzzing)   in Pins
SH,               in Shop
T,                in Ten
TH, (lisping)    in Thin
(humming) in This
V,                in Vest
W,  (as 00)    in Was
X,   (as CS)      in Wax
(as GZ)     in Ex-act
Y,  (as E long) in Yet
Z,                in Zed
(as ZH)    in A-zure
I
In using the preceding Tables, of course, there will be a
great variety of methods, and a skilful teacher will hardly
need any instruction. I shall content myself, therefore, with
iily a few general hints.
In attempting to teach the powers or sounds to mere begin ers, the first column only of vowel sounds should be used,
until the children are familiar with  them.   The  teachet
should first pronounce the sound, and require the class to
pronounce after him; and, if any teacher is in doubt as to
the precise souind of a letter, he may arrive at it by first pro
<~ I
14
and Patch.
and Conch.
and Ma-chitie.
and Bad.
and Chaff.
and Dodge.
and Dog.
and Hop.
and Judge.
and Sick.
and Felt.
and Ham.
and Bun.
and Un-cle.
and Hop.
and Quell.
and Li-quor.
and Fer-ry.
and Care-ful.
and Lisp.
and Was.
and Bush.
and Flat.
and Faith.
and With.
and Give.
and Wife.
and Text.
and Ex-ult.
and York.
and A-maze.
and Bra-zier. 
READING.
nouncing the word that contains the letter, say Fate, which
consists of three sounds only, viz., F, A, T, the E being
silent. Then let him drop the T, and pronounce F, A.
Finally, dropping the F, let him pronounce the A alone.
First drop what follows the vowel, then what precedes it, and
then pronounce the bare vowel sound.
In teaching the consonants and combinations, a similar rule
may be adopted. Pronounce the word Bat, for instance,
then drop the T, then drop the A, and give the B, which will
be found to be pronounced by the lips. Then pronounce
CAB;  omit the C and pronounce AB; then pronounce the
B. lo pronouncing the consonants, both columns of words
may be used.
Some have divided these consonant sounds into sub-vowels
and aspirates, the sound of the sub-vowels being heard, and
that of the aspirates being only a whisper or breathing. Of
this latter class are, F, H, K, P, S, T, SH, CH  soft, TH
sharp, and WH, which last is pronounced as if written HW,
which approaches the sound of HOO. A little practice will
make all these sounds very familiar. As it is very convenient to exhibit the tables to the class, and as the chalking
of them on the black-board requires more time and occupies
more space than the teacher can always spare, the author has
caused them to be printed in large type on a sheet, to be hung
up before the class.
After the pupils are familiar with the vowel and consonant
sounds, the teacher may proceed to expose the unlucky richness of our alphabet, which enables us to indicate the same
sound in a great variety of ways. This will lead him to
notice the second column of characters in the table of vowel
sounds, AI, AY, &c.
If our alphabet were what it ought to be, we should have
one character or letter to represent each sound used in conversation, and but one, so that it would be impossible to spell
a word with more than one set of characters; but, unfortunately, those who first wrote English, instead of inventing a
new alphabet adapted to the English language, used that
belonging to the Latin tongue, and did not do as well as they
might have done even with that. It so happens, therefore,
that several of the sounds of our language have no letter or
character to represent them, and some of the characters that
%Ne have are obliged to represent more than one sound.
Thus, in the table, the character A has at least five sounds,
15 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
and the first of them, viz., long A, may be represented by five
other characters, viz., Ai, Ay, Ei, Ey, and Ea. Short I may
be represented by six other characters, viz., Y short, Ey, Ai,
Ia, Ei and Ui.  The new method, called Phonography, if
written, and Phonotypy, if printed, proposes to correct this
evil, and to furnish one character for every sound, and to use
but one. This reform has been attempted several timnes
before, but without success; for, besides the want of skill in
forming the new characters, the educated class are reluctant
to learn a new alphabet, and to have the published literature
of our language become a dead letter. Whether the system
of Phonotypy now offered for acceptance will succeed any
better than its predecessors is doubtful; but, considering it
almost certain that, for many years, it will not succeed to any
considerable extent, I have prepared the tables of vowel and
consonant sounds so that, while presenting no obstacle to the
introduction of the new system, they will enable the teacher
to make his pupils more thoroughly acquainted with the
old.
It will be perceived that there are figures in the tables.
These refer to pages in the Common School Speller of the
author, where suitable lessons illustrating the sound may be
found all prepared to the teacher's hand. In fact, his whole
Spelling Book is but a practical lesson upon the tables, the
classification of the words being based upon the fundamental
sounds of the language, so that it is a comple system of Pronunciation as well as of Orthography. If it is used in the
school, the teacher has only to direct the children to the page,
and require them to spell and pronounce; but, if the teacher
alone has a copy of the Speller, he can chalk as many words
as he pleases in addition to those in the tables, until the class
have had sufficient practice.
After the child is acquainted with the alphabet and the
elementary sounds, the question arises, "How must he  be
taught to read?"  This is a question of some moment, and
one, at first sight, might be excused for thinking it a difficult
matter to answer it.  I am inclined, however, to think that,
with proper management, it is a very easy matter to make
children read well. I should lay it down, however, as a prerequisite, essential to success, that the teacher of reading
should be a good reader himself.
It has often been objected to this position, that children
have been taught to read well by instructors who were very
indifferent readers.   That children  have  learned to read
'16 
READING.
under such teachers I am willing to admit, because the fact is
evident; but that they have been taught by their masters, I
do not admit, for I consider it impossible for any person to
teach well what he does not understand. If a child has sometimes learned to read or write, or cipher or sing, under an
incompetent instructor, it has been, not because of the teacher,
but in spite of him, and the question is, not how much has he
learned, but how much more would he have learned had the
instructor been fully prepared to teach him.
Before the child reads, some attention should be paid to his
position. For a general rule, he should rest on the left foot,
which should be a little turned out, and the right heel should
be about opposite the middle of the left foot, and two or
three inches from it; a position not unlike that which the
dancing-masters call their second position. The book, unless
very heavy, should be held in the left hand, opposite the
chest, and never so high as to conceal the chin of the reader.
The reader should also be placed at a good distance from
the teacher, for it is desirable that he should read so as to be
heard across a common school-room, and few children will do
this, if placed near the teacher, for they naturally calculate to
make those whom  they address hear themn, and few children
read aloud, if reading in a low voice is sufficient to make the
teacher hear. If possible, the class should always stand
while reading, and so stand that the teacher can see the entire
person of every one, that he may watch their positions. At
one of the Teachers' Institutes, I required every teacher to
stand on a platform in full view of the others. It evidently
cost many of them a great effort, and more than half of them
had never been so exposed before.   One yocung femnale, who
had taught several summers, faltered at the first word she
uttered, then trembled, dropped her book to her side, and
burst into tears.   She then made for her seat, but I stopped
her, and encouraged her not to yield, but to do as she would
advise a pupil to do in similar circumstances. She rallied,
resolved, and in a minute or two read without further trouble.
When called on in turn again, she came forward, and read
with a sort of satisfaction at the victory she had obtained over
herself. But, some children have weak voices, and cannot
read so loud as their fellows.  The teacher must, therefore,
be careful to favor such voices, and, while he endeavors
gradually to strengthen them, he  must not rudely break ox
injure them by requiring too great an effort at first.
2*
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
I am persuaded that nothing but the incompetency of
teachers has led to the preparation of various series of reading
books, intended, as far as possible, to help the pupil to learn
independently of the master. Perhaps these books are doing
a good work by calling the attention of the teacher to what
he would otherwise neglect, but my experience satisfies me
that, if the teacher knows how to read, those aids in which
many school books abound, are worse than useless, because
positively injurious.
The competent teacher needs but two rules by which to be
guided in teaching his pupils to read. He must make them
understand what is to be read, and then require them to read
naturally. To expect a child to read what he does not
understand is unreasonable, and yet nothing is more common.
Until very lately, teachers were generally accustomed to pay
no attention to the explanation of such pieces as are found in
School Readers, and turned their attention almost entirely
to the pauses and the pronunciation; important points, to be
sure, but by no means the life-giving elements of good
reading.
The teacher should consult all the practical works on the
art of reading, but, as far as my observation goes, it is idle to
put marks and rules and directions, whether by words or
characters, into books intended to be read by children, for the
plain reason that they seldom or never use them. The chief
reading-book, when I was at school, was Scott's Lessons, and
this was furnished with from fifty to a hundred pages of what
were called Lessons in Elocution; but I never was required
to read a word of them, and they were never explained to me,
yet they cumbered the book, and increased its price one
quarter at least.  I am told by teachers that the same is the
case with more modern books.
The child should, for a general rule, see as few things in
school books, that he will not see in other books, as possible;
for, when he leaves school, and the helps are withdrawn, lIe.
will be the less able to go alone, the more he has trusted to
such aids. In conversation, children have' no such assistance,
and need none. They know what they say, and what they
mean, and the pauses, emphasis, and inflections, are made
without any effort, without any guide. To a great degree
this would be the case in reading, if they fully understood the
meaning of the piece, and the object of the writer.  Not
many months ago, I visited a primary school where the read
is 
READING.
ing was entirely artificial. A girl, about eight years old, read
a portion of a story which was chiefly dialogue, and she not
only read both parts of the dialogue in a monotone, but in a
monotone of the most unpleasant kind, for it was at the top
of a disagreeably shrill voice. When she had done, I too.
the book and read a portion of it just as she had done, and
when she and the whole class began to laugh, I, with  the
greatest gravity, asked them why they laughed.  "Do I not
read naturally? " said I.  "No, sir," said they.  "But, do I
not read as that little miss did?"  "Yes, sir," said they.
"Well, would not the little boy and his mother in the story
talk thus?" said I. "No, sir, they would laugh in each other's
faces if they did."  "Well," said I to the little girl who had
previously read, " let me hear you read it just as the mother
and boy would have spoken it." She did so, and not a pause
or inflection needed correction. Here was a fault of the
teacher, and not of the child. The teacher had allowed the
child, and probably her whole school, to read in this unnatural manner, and the children had been led to suppose that
reading and talking were different things altogether.
This fault, however, is not confined to schools. Most of
our public readers, especially clergymen, early acquire one
tone and manner for conversation, another for reading, especially for reading the Scriptures, and a third for prayer, without any thing of nature in either. I once made this remark
to a worthy clergyman, now living, who offended beyond any
man I ever knew in this respect, and his son-in-law at once
said, what I had not dared to say to him, "Thou art the
man." The venerable man could hardly believe it of himself, but the hint was not lost, for on the next Sabbath, he
prayed and read and preached in his natural voice, and the
people said he had never preached so well, though, not knowing the secret, they could not tell what the reason was, for
they had heard the same sermon at least once before. I
would, therefore, have the teacher a pattern worthy of imitation, in this matter of reading, and I would advise him to read
much to his pupils. When I was a teacher, I had one exercise, to which more than to any other method of reading, I
owed my success in this branch of instruction.   I was accustomed to open school every morning with the reading of a
portion of the Scriptures.   At first, I read and required the
pupils to listen, but this they did not always do.  Then I
required some one or more of them to read, but this failed to
19
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THE TEACHERS  INSTITUTE.
interest the rest. Then I read the verses alternately with
them, but this broke up the connection of the text, and often
produced a confusion of voices. At last I hit upon a plan
which I pursued for fifteen years with the happiest effects.  I
required all the pupils to stand and read, not with me, but
after me. I read as few words as the sense or the pauses
allowed; and then stopping, they read the same words, all
together, and, as nearly as possible, just as I had read them.
For instance, in reading the Sermon on the Mount, I stopped
at the bars, being careful to give the proper inflection of the
voice, and to see that the whole school, which usually num bered more than a hundred, did the same.
"And seeing the multitudes, I he went up into a moun tain; I and when he was set,  his disciples came unto him.
And  he opened his mouth   and. taught them,  saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, I for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. I Blessed are they that mourn, I for they shall be
comforted.  Blessed are  the meek, I for they shall inherit
the earth,"  &c.
By this method, all the pupils were engaged in reading, and
all were attentive. If I stopped to correct an error of pronunciation, it was noticed by all; if I stopped to explain the
meaning of any word or phrase, all were benefited; if 1
stopped to ask a question, every one was ready to answer;
finally, if I stopped to give any moral or religious instruction,
I was generally sure of a very attentive audience. By
requiring every pupil to read as I did, without regard to her
neighbors, the most perfect harmony was preserved, and any
error produced a discord, which was as easily detected as a
discord among a choir of singers.
This attention was of great advantage; but the quantity
read, and well read, was a great advantage also. In the
ordinary way, a school of a hundred pupils would only retd
a verse or two in an hour, but by thie process I propose, every
child reads a whole chapter in from five to ten minutes; a
difference of practice that cannot but be imnportant.  Indeed, I
was satisfied, after a short experiment, that, independent of
the advantage of the exercise in a religious point of view, the
pupils were actually advanced further by this method than
by all the other practice they obtained in their classes.
Another important good resulted from this exercise. It is
well known that many pious persons have a serious objection
to having the Bible read as a comio.n exercise in school, in
20 
READING.
consequence of the careless manner in which the exercise is
performed, the indifference of the children to' it, and the diminution of respect for the Scriptures, if not distaste for them,
which is the result of familiarity.
I cannot discuss the question, "Whether it is prudent to
use a part, and not the whole of the Bible in our schools? "
for, although some, whom I reverence, have expressed fears
lest the use of a selection of Scripture Lessons should lead
the young to think that the passages not selected are less valuable and important than those taken, still it is evident that
the practice of the whole Christian world is on the side of
selections.   What  is the liturgy of the Roman  Catholic
Church, the liturgy and psalter of the English Church and
of our Reformed Episcopal Church, but a selection? What
is the custom of our dissenting clergy, not one in a thousand
of whom reads the entire Scriptures in course from the
pulpit, but making and using a selection?  What, indeed, is
the practice of using the New Testament in Sunday and
secular schools, but using a part of the Bible because more
convenient, as well as more generally interesting to the
young? The fact is, that, whether a selection is used or not,
a selection is uniformly made by all teachers that read the
Scriptures in school; and who can hesitate between a selection made at leisure with great care, after much practice
in the reading of Scripture, and one made on the spur of the
moment, perhaps by one who neither respects the Bible, nor
can read it decently?
It was my custom always to select a passage before I went
to school, and to study it and read it, until I could do some
measure of justice to it.  Then I read it to the class as well
as I could, and, by my manner, I found it very easy to impress
upon the minds of the children the same respect for the sacred
volume that I felt myself, and the importance of this early
reverence cannot be overestimated by the parent and the
instructor.
But the selection of suitable passages required inuch care,
and much time; and, in case it was necessary to skip any
portion, or turn to other passages of similar import, it was
attended with many disadvantages. I contrived to do this,
however, for many years, until, having gone through  the
Old and New  Testament several times, and marked those
portions that seemed to be best adapted to the instruction of
children of both sexes in the presence of each other, I at last
collected these passages into a small volume and printed
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
them.  As the division into chapters and verses is only use
ful for ready reference by students, and is of no use to children,
nay, is of great disadvantage to them, in consequence of the
increased difficulty of understanding the passage and reading
it correctly, I followed the plan of the Paragraph Bible.
The type used was better than is found in school Bibles and
testaments; the punctuation was more carefully attended to,
and the more emphatical words marked as usual by Italic
type.
As the selection was to be used in our common schools, the
text was given unaltered, with references to the chapters and
verses, but without any notes or commentary. An outline
of Old Testament History is given in the order of the com mon version, but the four evangelists are given in one con nected narrative, according to Townsend's chronological
arrangement. Then, as many beautiful passages are scattered
over the Old and New Testament, too short of themselves for
a reading lesson, but excellent for this purpose wLen classed
with other passages of similar import, one third of the book
consists of passages so selected, and arranged under various
heads, such as "Reverence for God," "Love to God  and
Man," "Heavenly Wisdom," " Sublimity of the Scriptures,"
&c.  This selection, called the BIBLE READER, has met with
much favor from teachers and clergymen, many of whom
have confessed to me that it produced, in their hands, all the
delightful effects that I have myself witnessed. As to the
fairness with which the selection has been made, I can only
say that it has met the approbation of every denomination of
Christians that use the Scriptures, and this is not to be
wondered'at, for the manuscript was subjected to the severest
scrutiny before it was put to the press.
Much has been said of the matter contained in school reading books, and a great mistake, I think, prevails on this subject.
The imperfect way in which reading has been taught, in so
far as little or no attempt has been made to explain the text,
has led many teachers and school committees to suppose that
the selections were above the colnprehension of children; but
I have never seen such a selection, and do not believe that
any such exists.
Another mistake is made by those who suppose that a book
is unfit for use because it has been in use so long. This
objection, in my opinion, will lie only against such books as
are brought down to the capacity of children, so that they
22 
READING.
need no study, no explanation. It seems to me that books
which are to be read more than once should be so constructed
that at every successive reading the master may have something new to explain, and the pupil something new to learn;
and, as the old book is new to new classes, and can be more
effectually taught the better it'can be read and explained by
the teacher, the older the book the better, if it was a good one
at first. It is a favorite noti6n of some excellent friends of
education that the reading lessons in our common schools
should be mainly selected with a view to the imparting of
useful knowledge, and the inculcation of virtuous sentiments.
To a certain degree this plan may be adopted, but in every
case in which it has been fully carried out, it has failed.  We
have had Peace Readers, Temperance Readers, Agricultural
Readers, Scientific Readers, Religious Readers, &c., &c., and
these one-idea books have contained much that is valuable; but
they have always failed to make good readers, in the highest
sense of the term good. Reading is an art, a glorious art,
which can no more be learned or taught from humdrum books
of science or from moral essays, than English composition can
be learned by the perusal of Murray's Grammar.
In Massachusetts and New York, the.legislature has provided a large supply of useful reading in the school libraries,
which have been established in the districts. The books thus
provided are no doubt intended to furnish the knowledge which
no school Reader, made or to be made, can supply to any considerable degree, while they enable the class books to be more
fully adapted to teach something more of reading than the mere
pronunciation of words, and the dull monotony, which are about
all that the reading of a scientific tract requires.  Books of
useful knowledge should be read, but not at school. The few
minutes devoted each day to reading, if spent only upon the
most suitable books, will hardly suffice to make good readers;
and it is with reading, as with spelling, if the necessary knowledge and practice are not obtained at school, there is but little
chance of their ever being obtained afterward. I think I have
never known a good reader who was contented to teach from
such books; and if good readers with poor tools can effect but
little, what can be expected when both the teacher and the tools
are bad?  All the popular books with which I am acquainted
contain a due proportion of moral and useful pieces, and when
two essays have equal merit as reading pieces, if one contains
more useful knowledge than the other, I should by all means
give it the preference; but the cultivation of the taste and of the
t'
23 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
imagination is as useful and as important as the acquisition
of knowledge, and any system of education that does not
recognize this truth must be greatly defective.
If I were to namne what I consider the great deficiency of
our best school books, I should say, the want of a just proportion
of dialogues.   These are best understood by children, are
read more naturally, and with more animation; and, as the
inflections of the voice are more various than in any other
class of compositions, they are peculiarly useful to the good
teacher. I had a variety of such books in my school library,
from which my pupils occasionally read, and in no other
exercise did they seem to take so much interest, or show their
power so distinctly. If possible, dialogues should be read by
as many pupils as there are characters, and each should read
his part without changing it, for in this way he enters better
into the spirit of the piece, and makes the sentiments his
own.
It is a misfortune that so few dialogues are to be found in
oui school books; and this deficiency, rather than any amnbition to be a writer, induced the author a few years ago to
publish a volume of Familiar Dialogues, that he had cornposed for the use of his pupils. He also published a small
book for beginners, called the Primary Reader, which had
the same object in view, and contains more dialogues and
lively pieces than any other book intended for the same class
of children. In schools where other books are used as textoooks, the teacher will do well to have one or two copies of
the Primary Reader and the Familiar Dialogues, in which
the child can read occasionally by way of reward, or for the
sake of variety  Besides the method of Scripture Reading that I have
described, I had various other methods, which I will endeavor
briefly to describe.
Before requiring a class to read the paragraphs consecutively, I sometimes selected a single paragraph, or short
piece, and let every member of the class read it in rotation.
After the first had read, I would call on such of the class as
had noticed any fault to hold up their hands. I then heard
their criticisms, one at a time, and made such remarks as
seemed necessary, especially such as explained the meaning
of the author. The next pupil then read, and was criticised
in the same manner, and so on through the class. My customni was to grant precedence to those who made important
24
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READING.
corrections, for I never saw any evil resulting from this practice that at all balanced the good produced by the earnest
attention it called forth.  Suppose the class to consist of A, B,
C, D, E, F, G. Let A read. If D holds up his hand and
points out any fault, he goes above A.   B, C,.iid E, do not
hold up their hands.  F  holds up his hap,, but he miscorlects, and in this case goes down one.   This check is necessary, or the teacher will be too much interrupted. The class
then stands thus, D, A, B, C, E, G, F. D reads next, and,
when called on, C and F raise their hands. C points out an
important error in pronunciation and goes to the head. F
detects a wrong inflection of the voice, and goes next to C.
The class then stands thus, C, F, D, A, B, E, G. Then C
reads, and A, B and E hold up hands. A makes a judicious correction and goes to the head.   B miscorrects once,
and once points out a real error, and he neither goes up nor
down.  E detects an error and goes next above C.  Then the
class stands thus, A, E, C, F, D, B, G.
It is unnecessary to go further, for the teacher must understand the process. Sometimes, instead of requiring each
pupil to read the same paragraph, I required each to take a
new passage. This mav seem to afford the pupils a more
equal chance, but I have generally found that, even when
they all read the same passage, they made as many faults
as we had time to correct, and before we left the paragraph,
it was better read and better understood than if it had only
been read once.
Another mode was to require each pupil to read the same
piece, without any correction by the class or by the teacher.
Then, after some general remarks upon the piece, its meaning, design, &c., I read the piece myself to the class.  This
method generally commands the full attention of the class
who should be called on promiscuously and not in the order
in which thev stand; but it is better calculated for reviewing,
where the object is not so much to teach, as to ascertain the
comparative ability of the readers.
A  third method';as to set a reading lesson, and require
the pupils to be prepared to give the meaning of every difficult
word, if the class were young; but, if older, they were also
required to give the sense intended by the author; to point
out figures of speech, and even to analyze all compound
words, or words having a prefix or affix in their composition.
T'he reading lesson affords the best opportunity for teaching
26 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
the meaning of words, and the skilful teacher will Improve
it. The too common method of learning pages of the dictionary, is almost useless, for there is nothing to fix the
definitions in the memory, and they are often variou. and
contradictory, and more unintelligible than the word i,, without them; but, in the reading lesson, where the word is correctly used, it may be accurately defined, and impressed
upon the memory by its association in the sentence. There
is no harm in requiring the pupil to spell the difficult words
as well as to define them, but the teacher must be careful not
to rely upon such a spelling lesson, except for review, for the
reading books will not contain half the words that the child
should be taught to spell; he will never know what he has
learned, and in what he is deficient.; and the entire absence
of system or classification will prevent him  from learning
what are the rules of English orthography. I have even
doubted whether the selection of words, which is placed at the
beginning of the lessons in some reading books, is not a positive evil, for it prevents the child, in a great measure, from
using his intellect, in ascertaining the meaning, and throws
him almost entirely upon his verbal memory, which will
probably fail him before he has learned the next lesson.
Another method which I sometimes used had often a very
good effect. I would read to the class, and occasionally mispronounce a word, place the emphasis wrong, or give a
wrong inflection. I would then call on the class for corrections, and generally they would be more on the alert, than if
the object were merely to discover an error of one of their
companions.
But, after all, the best thing a teacher can do, for his own
improvement and that of his pupils, is to read much to -them,
and as well as he can. He must study the lessons in the
textbook, and make his pupils understand them. The Bible
contains a prescription for good reading of more value than all
the slides, and accents, and other contrivances to make good
readers, that ever were invented.   I give the passage, and
commend it to the practice of teachers, even to the ope,tzng
of the book and the standing up.
Nehe:-iiah viii. 5.  "And Ezra opened the Book ill the
sight of all the people, and when he opened it, all the people
stood up. a  * ~      So they read  in the Book of the Law of
(God distinctly, and gave  the senise, and caused [the people] tc
ulnderstandl the reading."
26 
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SPELLING.
IT has been shown already that I should connect spelling
and reading with writing, from the very outset. As soon as
the child can pronounce the alphabet, on my plan, he will be
ar,le to write it, and then, as he advances, he must continue to
write all the spelling lessons, and as much of the reading leslons as time will admit.   But, as this method requires a better
knowledge of writing than is commonly found in our schools,
especially in the lowest classes, I shall endeavor to describe my
method of teaching the art of writing, by which I never failed
to make my pupils write any thing they could read, and write
it well too, though often less than five years of age.
On the wall, back of my desk, or in some other handy and
conspicuous place, I had a long and narrow black-board, ruled
in the manner described hereafter under the head of Writing.
The lines were slightly cut into the board before it was
painted, and though distinctly visible afterwards, they did not
disfigure any writing that was executed over them. Every
child had a slate ruled exactly like the black-board, and the
first copies set for the pupils were written before their eyes on
the board, and copied upon their slates. All my pupils could
print before they could write, but the transition to writing was
so easy, and done so early, that they seemed to write as fast
as they learned to read and spell and print.
I believe I was the first teacher in Boston that required
children of four years of age to write, and it often struck
visi',.s with wonder to see children at five, writing a good
hand, with great despatch, when it was a rare thing elsewhere
to find children seven years old able to read a word of manuscript, much less to write well, without a pattern, as all my
little pupils did.  It is less rare tc see little children writing
now-a-days, but, when, within a year, I have proposed to
teachers to require children of seven and eight to write their
spelling lessons, I have been told either that they could not
write, or that it would take them all day to write a lesson of
hif y words.   My pupils would write fifty words of four syllable- in less than twenty minutes, and write them well too.
i 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
The despatch acquired by thus writing on the slate, and the
free motion of the hand, were important points gained by this
method, preparatory to using the pen.
When the object was merely to teach writing to beginners,
my custom was to call the attention of the class to the blackboard, and then to say, " I wish you to draw a straight but
leaning line, from this line to this," suiting the action to the
word. Or, " I wish you to begin an O here and end it so,"
describing and demonstrating every step as I advanced. If
encouraged, I shall soon prepare boards, slates and books, and
a manual for instruction on this plan, and, therefore, shall
not be more particular, especially as my object now is to show
how spelling may be taught by writing, and not how writing
itself may be taught.
The author was glad to perceive that of the thousand
teachers whom he has met at Teachers' Institutes, nineteen
twentieths were tolerable penmen, and if those he saw are
not more than a fair specimen of the teachers of our district
schools, there is no reason in the world why every child, in
every school, should not be a good penman at a very early
age. The immense advantage of this acquisition to the children cannot be overrated, (far, besides the mechanical skill,
the child has a means of constant employment, which will
keep him out of idleness and mischief, and the teacher can
make this skill bear upon almost every exercise in other
branches of instruction. In Boston, for more than half a
century, writing was entirely separated from every other
branch except Arithmetic, to which it administers less aid,
perhaps, than to any other study; but, of late, one or two
other branches have been added to those taught in the writing
schools, although orthography, grammar and composition are
still taught in a separate room, by other teachers, who are
not required to teach penmanship. This separation of things
so nearly allied, has never been attempted in the district
schools out of Boston, and it is to be hoped it never will be
introduced there.
But, let us return to Orthography, and describe some of
the processes by which it may be connected with writing.
If the teacher is unacquainted with the use of monitors, or
is not allowed to use his better pupils as assistants, he may
require every class to write every word of the spelling lesson
upon the slate, on the lines that correspond to those on the
black-board, in which case, but few words can be written
28
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SPELLING. <
at a time. This is better, while the hand is forming, than to
require the whole lesson to be written in smaller letters, on that
side of the slate which is not ruled. If he cannot find time
to examine every slate, the mere writing of the words will be
of great service to the learners; but the active teacher will
contrive some way to examine every slate, and to mark the
errors. If the words are written in a large hand on the ruled
lines, he can. at a signal, have all the slates held up by the
pupils so that he can see them; or, if the desks are so constructed that he can pass behind the pupils, he can easily
walk around and correct them. But, if the teacher is allowed
to use his pupils as assistants in such matters as may safely
be taught by them, all the words may be dictated, and
promptly examined, without interruption to the teacher, who
may be otherwise engaged.
Suppose the teacher to have heard a recitation of one class,
and to have called out another, which is to recite to him. If
he wishes to keep those who are at their seats employed in
writing their spelling lessons, he can appoint one well-behaved
scholar to dictate the words from the spelling book, and to
inspect the slates, book in hand. My pupils were arranged in
rows, each row perhaps forming a class. Between each row
there was room for a person to pass. If there were several
classes, the monitor, as the assistant pupil was called, had a
mark in his spelling book at each of their lessons. He then
dictated the first word of the lesson to the highest class, by
spelling it distinctly. They began to write it, and he proceeded to the next row or class, and dictated a word of their
lesson by spelling it aloud. They began to write, and he
went to the next class, and so on. By the time he had dictated a word to the lowest class, the highest was ready for
another; he gave them one, and proceeded to the next as
before. As soon as they had written as many words as the
lines on the slate admitted, he walked behind and examined
the slates; or, he told each pupil to change slates with some
neighbor, or to compare slates; or, if there was not time for
this, he ordered all to clean slates at a signal given, and then
prepare to write another slate full.
It is a grievous evil that so few of our common district
schools have the seats so constructed that the teacher can get
at his pupils so as to inspect their work; and, where this evil
exists, the ingenuity of the teacher will be severely tried.
But, as I have said before, if the pupil writes the words
3*
29 
THE TEFACHERS INSTITUTE.
quietly from the book, or from the dictation of a monitor, he
will be greatly benefited, whether his work is examined or
not.  In many cases, the teacher will be able to direct this
exercise himself; and practice will enable him to overcome
many obstacles, which, at first, may seem insurmountable.
By thus writing the word, the eye as well a.  the ear is
trained, and a child thus taught is in little danger cf exhibit ing that common phenomenon of correctly spelling even the
hardest words orally, and of misspelling the most common
words when called upon to write them. Every teacher
knows that children unaccustomed to write do this, and yet
how few have applied the only remedy!
In oral spelling, or in written, of course it is important
what words are spelled, and in what order they are presented
to the child.  A  few years ago, at a convention of teachers
and friends of education in Berkshire County, it was unan imously voted to be the opinion of the convention that, for
twenty or more years, spelling had been retrograding in our
schools.  There can be no doubt of this fact; but as I have
endeavored to account for it in the Lecture on Memory that
forms a part of this volume, I shall not enlarge upon the sub ject here any further than to remark, that, in my visits to the
Teachers' Institutes of New York and Massachusetts, I have
uniformly found the young teachers more deficient in spelling
.han in any other branch of study, and I rarely found one
who had been educated to write words, and to require his
pupils to do so..
Very soon after I became a teacher, I felt the necessity of
a spelling book that should present the words of our language
so classed and arranged, that, without knowing it, the pupil
should become acquainted with the rules of English orthography and pronunciation; and, by the aid of association,
should have the form of words indelibly impressed upon his
memory.   Although oppressed with labor, I then prepared a
small  spelling book,  called  the  Improved  Guide,  whi(th
answered my purpose better than any other, and which, a few
years ago, when I had  more  leisure and experience, was
enlarged into my "Common SchooZ Speller."  This Improved
Spelling Book has met with a reception unexampled, I think,
in this country, for the annual sale, only the third year after
its publication, exceeded 40,000 copies.
In the selection of words for the Speller, great care was
taken not to admit any that were unsuitable in any respect,
'N — -
30 
SPELLING.
and yet the vocabulary is intended to contain all.words that
a well educated young gentleman should be acquainted with,
and able to spell. To explain the classification, I know not
that it will be unfair to say that there is as much difference
between this and other spelling books as between order and
confusion.  In other spelling books, to be sure, there is a sort
of order, but it is rarely calculated to aid the eye or the memory of the pupil. Some definition spelling books, as they are
called, place the words alphabetically, as they are placed in
dictionaries, but in such books the words are no more classed
than are the buildings in a long street that happen to be consecutively numbered. Such an arrangement may enable the
child to find a word easily, but it affords him no aid in learning to spell.
In other spelling books, the words are arranged according
to the number of syllables they contain, but such words are
no more classed than the lower animals would be if arranged
according to their different sizes, when the real differences of
form and structure are disregarded.
In the best spelling books, those which are the most popular, the words are placed very promiscuously; but the authors
seem to think they have rendered a strict classification
unnecessary, because they have placed over each word some
accent, figure, or other mark, referring to a key, where the
pronunciation  is explained.  But, who  does  not see that
words so situated and marked are no more classed than the
scattered plants of a flower-garden that happen to be labelled.
The difference between my spelling book and such as I have
described may be illustrated by a very familiar comparison.
Every one probably has seen what in Massachusetts is called
a General Muster, when all the troops of a brigade are
assembled on a spacious field for review and exercise. Before
they are called to order, the members of the various companies, wearing different uniforms, are intermixed in such a
manner that the spectators can form no idea of the number of
companies, to say nothing of getting acquainted with each
individual soldier. It is true that each soldier wears a knapsack on which the spectator may read the name of the coImpany, and perhaps of the regiment, to which he belongs; but,
even with this aid, he can have but a confused idea of the
number and variety of the troops. Let the drum then call to
order, ard the line be formed, and one glance will enable the
spectator to judge of every particular relating to the troops
31 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
But it has been objected to my book that where the words
are so exactly classed, it is difficult to distinguish one from
another of the same class, and, therefore, it seems better to
have them in confusion. When they are learning to spell,
it is said, if they can spell one word of the class they can
spell all the rest too easily, and they will not be likely to
distinguish between the words, because they look so mnuch
alike. Now, if the objection have any force, it will lie
against classification in every science, as well as against the
classification of words. Linneus owes his immortality to the
fact that, when the various plants and animals were running
all over creation with labels on their backs, like the words in
a " promiscuously arranged" spelling book, he disco iered their
points of resemblance, classed them, and enabled his successors to learn in one year what before was the work of a
life. Because two varieties of the helix, or snail, very nearly
resemble each other, shall we put an oyster between them to
set them off? Or, because two roses resemble each other very
nearly, shall we place a sunflower between them?  We shall,
if this objection has any force.  It must be a mistake, then, to
suppose that it is not safer to examine words that resemble
each other side by side, where only the point of difference
needs to be noticed, than to examine them apart from each
other, independently, in which case it is necessary to observe
every peculiarity of every word.- those in which they agree
as well as those in which they differ.
In the year 1S41, the Secretary of the Massachusetts
Board of Education delivered a lecture on the subject of
spelling books, and having fallen accidentally upon my old
one, " The Improved Guide," he made the following remarlks
which are entitled to more weight than common notices of
books, because I had not sent him the book, and had neve.
spoken to him, or seen him.
"When," says Mr. Mann, " reading has become easy, and
it is expedient to carry forward the orthography of the languago
faster than it is possible to comprehend the meaning of all itr
words, a spelling book, constructed according to the law ot
association, should be put into the hands of the pupil
Although this idea has been acted upon to some extent before
yet the only spelling book with which I am acquainted that
carries it out fully is one prepared bv Mr. Fowle, of Boston.
A few specimens from the book will give an intelligible view
of its p]an." After giving the specimens, Mr. Mann adds
32 
SPEL,ING.
"Now, it would seem to need no argument to prove that a
child will master twenty pages of words arranged in this way
more  easily than he will a single page of words  classed
according to the number of syllables, and the place of the
accent, irrespective of their formation; -where a and eigh, e
and eo, i and igh, o and eau, u and ew, with countless other
combinations, have respectively the same sound, and are
jumbled together after the similitude of chaos.  On such lessons as these, scholars will very rarely spell wrong. They
can go through the book twenty times while they would go
through a common spelling book once; and each time will
rivet the association; that is, it will make an ally of the most
unconquerable force of habit. A connection will be established
between the general idea of the word and its component letters,
which it will be nearly impossible to dissolve." After more
remarks in the same strain, this sagacious observer, as if anticipating the objection under consideration, says, after having
recommended the frequent spelling and writing also of the
words thus classed, "It will be well, as a testing or experimental exercise, to put out words from the different tables
promiscuously, in order to determine whether or not it may
be necessary to drill the pupils longer upon it." And what
is this but saying, that spelling should be taught by the well
classed spelling book, and all the chaotic ones should be used
only by way of review?
To show that this matter is not overstated, let us take a
fair example from one of our popular spelling books, and
it is hoped that this will not be deemed invidious, since the
object is only to show the operation of the two plans. In one
of them, then, I find the following column of words, printed
just as I give them.
The child has been told in the introduction that letters in
Italic are not to be sounded, and the figures refer the child
to the key which is printed over the lesson. Let it be recollected that the child always studies the lesson before he hears
the words pronounced by the teacher; and with no other aid
than the figures, and the Italic letters, how will he succeed in
finding the pronunciation of the several words?  and how
much will the variety aid him. in remembering how to spell
them?
33
I 
TIE TEACHERS' INSTITTYTE.
1  2  3   4   5        1   4   8   9
late far fall hat wad- mete met her they            6 7    s        1   4  7
do look love - mute (ut full
4
stretch
dutck
Jug
tr ack
think
stamp
5
blotch
job
stop
lmock
scoff
song 
odd
notch
spot
6
shoe
This lesson contains one hundred words, and in the Com mon School Speller, instead of being together, they are dis tributed into at least twenty-seven classes thus:
Class 5, p. 17.
file
Class 6, p. 18.
prick
thick
trim
ringo
spring
sink
think
mist
quit
Class 7, p. 19.
ode
hold
slope
34
1 4 8  10           1 3 5
time tin sir piqlie -tone for not
I 1 4
new -dry hymn.
I
fuse
free
goad
grade
gross
gyre
haze
heave
juice
leap
lease
leave
lieu
plight
prune
quail
rue
sprue
4
melt
frank
prick
rank
thick
ring
mist
swell
sap
sprinolet
quit
stead
pledge
trim
sink
plant
thrush
I
strain
teal
teat
trail
trow
type
- blain
chore
cease
fleer
jeer
ode
queer
scoe
stain
I
broaue
I
twain
I
fay
poach
2
barm
blanch
blast
charge
clasp
gant
grant
grasp
lance
rasp
slant
staff
vast
6
two
.i
join
boil
I
yeast
bleach
blight
load
hold
lean
yield
seize
spear
file
slope
cane
great
Class 1, P. 13.
grade
haze
Class 21 p. 14.
track
stamp
rank
frank
plant
sap
Class 4, p. 15.
pledge
swell
melt
let
stretch
chore
store
gross
Class 8, p. 20.
job
mock
odd'
scoff
song
stop
spot
blotch
notch
Class 9, 1. 21.
fu SC 
I
SPELLING.
Class  18, p. 25.
fay
Class 19, p. 25.
jeer
fleer
fre e
queer
L1ass 33, p. 30.
boil
join
Class 35, p. 31.
prune
Class 39, p. 56.
-blight
plight
Class 53, p. 81.
rue
sprued
Class 11, p. 23.
type
gyre*
Class 13, p. 23.
barm*
charge
* * * o
staff
lance
blanch
gantr
slant
grant
clasp
rasp
grasp
blast
vast
Class 20, p. 26.
bleach
teal
lean 
leap
spear
cease
lease
yeast
heave
leave
teat*
Class 22, p. 27
yield
....
great
Class 82, p. 175.
brogue
Class 85, p. 183.
lieu
Class 15, p. 24.
trail
quail
blain
strain
stain
twain
Class 2.7, p. 28.
goad
load
poach
Class 28, p. 29.
trow
Gant, barm, gyre, teat, and sprue, and one or two others,
are not admitted into the Common School Speller; and Rue is
not placed, as here, under  long u.  The other words  are
classed by their chief characteristics, and numbered and paged
according to the classes of the C. S. Speller, in which they
may be found, with all the other words that resemble them and
have the same characteristics.
Now, in classing the 14,000 words of the Common Schoo!
I
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Class 10, p. 21.
duck
dug
thrush
II
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f
Class 54, p. 82.
juice
Class 55, p. 82.
stead
seize
Class 86, P. ISS.
cane
two
shoe 
ii
TH.E TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Speller, it was only necessary to form 87 classes; and yet the
above lesson of only a hundred words contains nearly one third
of all the classes needed, and, of course, the hundred words
must be as well mixed up as any child of chaos can desire.
I have already provided for the writing of every word in
the spelling book, in the order of the spelling book; but there
is another exercise in orthography, to which I would now ask
attention.  After writing the words  of the book, detached
fromn all definitions, the children must be taught to use the
words in sentences, and for this purpose I have prepared a
book, called, "The Companion to Spelling Books, in which
the Orthography and Meaning of many thousand words, niost
liable to be misspelled and misused, are impressed upon the
memory by a series of exercises to be written by the pupil."
In this little book is one exercise, or more, adapted to every
lesson in the Common School Speller. All the words of the
Speller are not introduced into the sentences; but every word
that is liable to be misspelled, or that needs to be explained,
may be found there, defined, or correctly used, which is often
the best kind of definition.
Every teacher has felt the need of some exercise for children,
who are sitting idle, after having learned the next lesson they
are to recite, or from indisposition to study. As the lessons
of the Companion are all numbered, and of moderate length
the teacher can prevent the pupils from ever being able to say
with truth, that they have nothing to do.  He can even prevent the necessity of their interrupting him by asking what
they shall do next, for he has only to say to them,
"When you have no set lesson to occupy your mind, write
the lessons of the Companion in their order, neatly and correctly, and place them where I can see them and correct them
at may leisure." If the pupil cannot be trusted, he must be
required to write a certain number of the lessons every day,
or every week; and the teacher, by keeping a record of what
he corrects, or by requiring the pupil to show up what he has
written, may easily see that the required number has been
written. Hereafter, under the head of Neatness, I shall give
some directions in regard to the writing and preservation of
such exercises; but now the object is to show he many
adlvantages of these written exercises in orthography.
A few specimens of the lessons will enable me better to
show their various uses.
I
36
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SPELLING.
LESSON LX.
CLASS 20. -   Trords with EA like long E.
Treecle is another name for molasses. Some careless
speekers use the word learning for teeching. A weazel is a
long-bodied animal, smaller than a cat.  The  teazle is a
prickly plant, used to raise a nap on cloth. That deeler has
a meager supply of goods. The heeling art has various
theories. Be not squeemish or over-nice in small matters.
Bissextile, or leepyear, is every fourth year. It was a drearey
road for a wearey traveller. His old beever hat looked greazy.
Bo.4ee is usually called black tea.  He was  impeeched, or
accused of treason. Do not misleed the simple.
LESSON XCIII.
CLAss 47, continued, to show the irregularities of words
formed from monosyllables ending in LL.
She was handsome, and, what is better, good allso. Allmost every person has some redeeming quality.  It is alltogether wrong to tease ill-tempered persons. He is skillful,
and expeditious withall.  The debt was paid by i7nstallments,
or portions. The steeple above the bellfry was blown down.
Those we love are allways wellcome. A willfull child must
be subdued.   He came not to destroy but to fullfill the law.
The fullfllment of that prophecy is at hand.   "My  word
shall distill like the dew," saith the Lord.
I
LESSON C.
CLASS 50. -  Tords beginning with WH, which are too often
pronounced badly, as if the H were silent.
Wet the wetstone before you sharpen the knife.  The wig
party are not called so because they wear wigs. I wist not
how to play the popular game of wist.  Wile you live practice no dishonest wiles. He is not a wit the better for his wit.
The sot wines when his wine is spent. Who can tell wether
the weather will be fair?  Tw7ither must it be carried that it
may not wither?   Wen will the surgeons remove that wen?
Were were they placed?   Witch of the witches was called
Hecate?
4 -
37 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
LESSON CCXCVI.
CLASS 86.-  FVords misused, there being two or more words
pronounced alike, but spelled differently.
The cession of a court in England is called the ass'zes. It
is impolite to make a noise with one's chops in eating. A
choir of paper contains twenty-four sheets.  There is no chole,
to his coat.  We  are bound to life by many chords or ti(s.
A sion of one tree was engrafted on the stock of another.
Citizens are sometimes familiarly called sits. When a witness is wanted, he is sited, or summoned to appear. Reading
fine  print always  injures the site.  Impressions  of birds'
clause have been found on rocks in Massachusetts.
LESSON CCCVIII.
CLASS S6, continued.
He was the last of the profits. Quean Elizabeth was a
vain woman. John Adams died at Quinsy. A good horse
will mind the rain. Reign is vapor condensed by cold. The
Romans raised the walls of Jerusalem to the ground. No
man could raze the dead unless God were with hfih. Some
one wraps at the door. The jewel was rapt in cotton. The
rising generation reed too much and think too little. "' But
little he'11 wreck," or care, "if they'11 let him sleep on." It
is base to reek vengeance an a helpless foe.
It will be seen that the sentences are correctly written, so
far as grammar, punctuation, capitals, &c., are concerned; but
one word, to which the attention of the pupil is particularly
called, is misspelled. He will know this word by its being
printed in Italic type.  The exercise, then, is, in fact, an introduction to composition, as well as to orthography, and I
always found that such of my pupils as had written a course
of these exercises, were acquainted with the mechanical part
of composition, and rarely erred in those small matters of
which even teachers are very neglectful.
But it has been objected to these lessons, that the spelling
of wor is incorrectly may corrupt the. eye of the child, which
should never see any thing but what is as perfect as it can be
made. I have known teachers to object to these lessons on
thlis account, who had always been accustomed to. the use of
MNlurray's Exercises in false gramlimar, without perceiving any
i
38
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SPELLING.
danger from the practice'  There is no danger.  The  exercise is only a test of the accuracy of the eye, which sees the
word correctly spelled a thousand times, and then sees it
incorrectly spelled but once.  The word, if ingeniously misspelled, may for a moment puzzle the learner, but then he
settles the question on the spot, and writes the word correctly,
to fix it in his mind's eye. What is more common than this
mode of teaching?  If I draw a circle to test the eye of my
pupil, will he lose the correct idea of a circle because some
portion of my curves are irregular?  If I pronounce a word
badly, or give a wrong inflection of the voice, to try the ear
of my pupils, do I destroy the power of his ear correctly to
distinguish sounds? I have even heard this misspelling of a
word, once in a lifetime, complained of by teachers, who
relished the letters of Jack Downing, and similar works,
where false orthography runs throtfugh the whole volume, and
who yet made no complaint of the pernicious influence of
such examples.
I have said that no danger is to be apprehended from the
misspelling of a word once in this manner, and I speak from
experience. The lessons of the Companion, or similar ones,
were used in my school for more than twenty years, and I hope
the teachers whom I have had the happiness to meet at the
several Institutes, will pardon me if I say that the want of
such an exercise, in my opinion, was the chief reason of their
appearing to such disadvantage. They lacked that critical
discernment which my pupils acquired by writing these
exercises themselves, and afterwards correcting the exercises
of their fellows; an operation which I shall presently explain.
But, one fact of every day occurrence settles this question, I
think, beyond any doubt. Those who have any experience
in printir g, know that the most excellent spellers in the world
are what are called proof readers, that is, persons whose
business it is to read the first impressions from types, before
the book is given to the public. I never knew an author,
whether a teacher or not, who was not indebted to those men
for many corrections that he had overlooked.   If such alnmost
perfect skill is acquired by the constant search for errors, it is
clear that no harm can arise from a word's being misspelled
once in the course of a whole book, in which, except in that
one instance, it is always correctly spelled.
But, says the teacher, I have no time to correct such exercises.  I pity the teacher who says this, and am half inclined
39 
THE TEACHER. INSTITUTE.
to ask him, "If it will take longer to correct an exercise than
to correct the pupil for the idleness or mischief that it might
prevent? " But he must find time to correct a few for his
own benefit; and, when he is quick at the work, and as sharp
in detecting errors as a good teacher ought to be, he may
easily procure assistance in the following way. After a few
good scholars have written through the book, or even before
they have completed the course, a new class may begin. Let
these give their exercises to the teacher, who may pass them
over to one of the few whom  he can trust to correct them.
When this one has done his best, let him pass them to a
second, and he to a third, till the whole have inspected them,
and exercised their skill in making corrections, and then, let
them be returned to the writer. These inspectors, who are
in fact "proof readers," will be benefited as much as the
writer; especially if, occasionally, the teacher gives the exer cises a final examination, to see how thorough his assistants
have been in their inspection.
The best way to use the Companion is, to require every
pupil to have the book and write the lessons in course; but,
if the parents are too poor to get the book for their children, a
case which, I am inclined to think, never exists in this happy
country, or, if they think they are too poor, let the teacher get
one book, and dictate a lesson from it, or write one on the
black-board every day; or, let some monitor write it for him,
and then let such of the pupils as please, copy and correct it.
If the teacher cannot afford to buy one book for the benefit of
his school, let him send to me, and I will give him one - and
a word of advice into the bargain. I am sick of the constant
complaint of teachers that they cannot persuade the parents or
the committees to furnish the necessary books or apparatus for
their schools; for, I believe that, if the teacher is active, and
in earnest, the parents and committees will be so, and he may
get almost every thing he asks for.  Several young teachers
have told me that they had changed their minds in this
respect, for, as soon as they satisfied the committee of the
utility of a globe, or an outline map, or a new book, a way
was always opened to obtain it. Let my young friends try
the experiment, and not complain until they are sure that the
fault is not their awn.  Of old, parents, though evil, " knew
how to give good gifts to their children," and parents, now-a
days, surely are not less liberal and indulgent.
As it regards oral spelling, I need not say much.  My
II
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SPELLING.
mrnethod in the classes was to put out the word as it should be
pronounced, and not, as is the custom of some, improperly
pronounced, to indicate the letters that may not have their
name sound in the word. The whole class pronounce after
me, to make them attentive and to show that the word is
understood. Then the first of the class spells the word, and if
he spells correctly, well; but, if incorrectly, the next tries, and
if he spells correctly, he goes above the other, who, instead
of having a new word, is required to spell the word by which
he lost his place. A new word is then given; the whole class
pr)nounce it, and the third scholar spells it. If four, or five,
or a dozen miss it, he who spells, goes up, and all who go
down, separately spell the word they have missed. A new
word is then given to the next that has not tried, and so on.
I know it will be objected to this method that it introduces
rank or precedence, which many think worse than ignorance;
but I never saw any evil arising from it, and its effect upon
the attention and industry of the class is more than a balance
for any imaginary evil that is said to proceed from it. This
method enables the teacher to compel each child to take an
equal share in the recitation; it enables complete class-lists of
recitations to be kept; it saves the teacher the trouble, which
is not trifling, of saying which shall answer; and it saves
about one third of the time allotted to the lesson. The usual
method of requiring him who misses a word to take a new
one, always seemed to me  unfair and unprofitable; -unfair,
because it brings more new words to one pupil than to another,
and this, too, when he is perhaps a little flurried by having
missed; -unprofitable, because, until he who has missed a
word spells it, you are not sure that he can spell it, and is
benefited by having lost his place. My custom was to mark
every word that was missed with a pencil, and then to put
those words all out again at the end of the lesson, when I
required them to be spelled simultaneously by the whole
class.
Of this simultaneous spelling, or spelling in concert, I made
great use. Before music was introduced into schools, this
exercise and the saying of the multiplication table were my
substitutes. To these I frequently resorted, if I wished to
restore order or to cheer up the scholars. As words that had
been missed were marked in my spelling book, I generally
selected them, and, in the course of a term, many thousand
himportant words would be speVed by way of amusement.
4*
41
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
One custom was this.  However the pupils were engaged, if
I sounded my whistle, all business was instantly suspended,
perfect silence reigned, and all looked to me, for no one else
was ever allowed to whistle, the bell being the ordinary instrument for giving signals.  I then put out a few words to be
spelled by all, and the pitch of my voice always regulated theirs.
In this way I would carry them, by degrees, from a low whisper to the loudest shout; then from one extreme to the other,
omitting the intermediate sounds.   Sometimes, in the midst
of a word that they were spelling, I would sound the whistle;
and as this meant that all should instantly stop, every one
was careful to be attentive, lest he should spell a syllable
alone after the rest had stopped.   This may be called play
but it was useful play, and when it was over, the children
went on with their work more cheerfully and with renewed
vigctor.
I have often been asked whether I required my pupils, in
spelling words, to pronounce the syllables separately. I never
did, because it was of doubtful utility, and caused a great loss
of time.   I required a distinct pause after each syllable, but,
as the syllables, if separate, would often be pronounced differently from what they would be in the word, I was satisfied
with the correct pronunciation of the word, before and after
spelling it.  This was my custom before phonography had
led to a more careful attention to the powers of letters; before
any one dreamed of spelling by the power or sound, and not
by the name of letters; and before any attempt was made to
teach words before letters.  If I taught spelling by the sound,
as some now propose, I should certainly pronounce each
syllable separately, but not, if the letters to be pronounced are
called by their names.
Before leaving the subject of spelling, allow me to allude to
one use that I made of the spelling book, which may be common to other teachers, but which has not fallen under mv
observation.   When the words are arranged as in the Com
mon School Speller, I know no better way to impress the
rules and peculiarities of English pronunciation upon the
learner's mind than to require him to read the lessons, that is,
to pronounce every word of a lesson with care. Suppose, for
instance, he had a fault of pronouncing words beginning with
WH, as if there were no H, -a very common fault with us
Yankees,-I should take him to the 50th class, which contains
all the words beginning with WH, and I should make him
42
I
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I
I
i
I 
SPELLING.
pronounce them all in succession distinctly. If his fault was
dropping the G at the end of words, I should turn to the
64th class, where, in giving directions for adding in,g to verbs
ending in E, some hundreds of examples are collected, the
reaiding of which distinctly will perhaps entirely correct the
fault.  So with words ending in ent and ence, usually mispronouticed bnt and utnce; the 52d class contains them all, aind
affords abundant materials for practice. I have already shown,
under the head of Reading, that the Common School Speller
contains the very tables that are necessary to enable the pupil
to practise upon the fundamental sounds of the language.
One way of imparting interest to spelling lessons was
common when I was young, but I do not hear much of it
now.  The boys of a class were accustomned to choose sides,
and spell against each other. Those who object to giving
precedence in classes will probably object to this kind of
excitement also, but this would not deter me from occasionally
resorting to it.  I have seen such spelling matches produce
some hard thoughts, but I do not believe this is a necessary
consequence of the competition, for I never saw it among my
own pupils in the course of twenty years. Before commencing,
let certain rules be agreed upon. Mine were, as nearly as I
can recollect, the following:
1. The lesson should be given before the sides were chosen.
2. The words should be spelled in some certain order, as,
from beginning to end, from end to beginning, from right to
left across the columns, or from left to right, so as to prevent
any selection.
3. The word should be pronounced  but once, unless the
first speller requires it before he spells.
4. No speller should try twice.
5. If any speller prompts another, it must count one
against his side.
6. If a pupil misspells, the pupil corresponding to himn on
the other side must try; if he spells correctly, it counts one
for his side.  If he spells incorrectly, the next on the other
side tries, and if he gets right, he saves his side only, and
neither party gaiiin.
Matches of this sort are almost the only thing respecting
my school days that I recollect with pleasure, and to the
interest I took in them, probably, I owe the fact, that I was a
good speller when I left school, although extremely ignorant
of every thing but spelling.
At the end of every term, I was accustomed to review all
43
I
i -
i
I 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
my classes in every branch, and to re-class the pupils. My
method of reviewing in orthography was this.  I selected about
one hundred words from various parts of the spelling book,
and without letting any pupil know the words I had selected,
I required every child to spell every one of them, where the
others could not hear her. As I could not hear them all
myself, I employed, as assistants, the best of those who had
spelled to me, and I never had any reason to suppose that they
were not as faithful to their trust as I was to mine. The
number that each missed was recorded, and the new classifi cation was based upon this, and upon the class lists, in which
the spelling of each scholar from day to day was recorded.
In every other branch also, in reviewing the pupils, I always
gave the same questions to every one, taking care, of course,
that no one should hear another answer, nor know what the
questions were before he was called on to answer.
The exercise of spelling, in some form or other, was never
dropped in my school, even by the most advanced scholars.
Every one was reviewed at the end of every term, and if
there was any appearance of relapse, the pupil was obliged to
spend more time than usual upon this exercise the ensuing
quarter. Once, while I was reviewing my classes in this way,
a young lady, aged sixteen or seventeen, who had received
the highest honors of the public schools, and had so won the
reg,ard of her late teacher, that he was at great pains to
recommend her to my particular attention, presented herself
to be admitted as a pupil, for the purpose offinishing her education, as the common expression is. My children were
taking a recess; and, being idle, I asked her if she would not
like to amuse herself by spelling the sixth words that I had
selected for the review of my scholars. She readily acquiesced, and missed thirty-two of the sixty. Lest she should
feel mortified, I made light of it, and merely remarked that I
supposed she had not practised much of late, and if she
would like to revive her knowledge, I could let her teach a
small class when she was not engaged in the higher studies
which she wished to pursue. She made no objection, and
went home, but, not coming again, I asked her cousin why
she was absent, and was informed that she was not coming
any more, for her mother did not wish her to go to a school
where they did nothing but spell! My fidelity cost me a
pupil, and I soon afterwards heard of her having entered
another school, where, of course, she could "finish her education"     without learning how to spell.
44
.1
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t
I
lt 
A R I T H M E T I C.
ARITHMETIC is the all-absorbing study in the public schools
of Massachusetts, and(, probably, in those of every other state.
As far as my observation goes, it occupies more of the time
of our children thanii all other branches united.  It is easy to
see that the cause of this is the prevailing notion, that success in business depends upon skill in arithmetic. The
thoroughness with which this branch is taught, is by no
means commensurate with the importance unfortunately
attached to it. Too mach attention has evidently been paid
to the higher parts of arithmetic, to the neglect of the very
elements. One experiment that I made at every Teachers'
Institute will show what I mean. So many of the teachers
who led in the exercises of the Institutes, excelled in arithmetic and preferred to teach it, that I rarely touched upon it
except to ascertain whether my fears were well founded,
and in every instance they proved to be so.
One would think that nothing in the world could be easier
than for a pupil to add up a single column of figures, and
yet, in no instance have half the teachers of an Institute, on
an  average, been able  to add  correctly a  column  that
amounted to over two hundred. Sometimes, not one fifth of
them could do it, taking as much time as they pleased.
They could extract a cube root, or perform a difficult problem
in the rule of proportion, but they had never tried a long
column of figures, and they were unable to master one. It
rarely happened that those who added it correctly, did so
with any thing Iike despatch. Ten or fifteen minutes was
the time I usually allowed for the addition of such a column, but
I usually added and proved it, that is, I began at the bottom and
added it up, and then began at the top and added downward,
in less than one minute. Many of these young teachers
were better mathematicians than I, but I had attended more
to the elements, and they more to the advanced rules. Of a
thousand teachers, 1 found but one that brought up the sum
correctly added before I had proved mine, and she did so but
once.  This first experiment led me to try further, and although
a larger proportion performed correctly a common sum min
45 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
addition, say, six columns of six figures each, and common
sums in subtraction, multiplication and division, still, it was
evident that they had not sufficiently practised these sinmple
rules to do them with such despatch as I had been accustomed to see in my school, where, under monitors, the pupils
had at least a hundred times the practice that children ever
get under the master, in a school on the common plan.
I early saw that the use of books was unfavorable to
despatch, and I made it a rule not to let a child cipher from a
book, until she was very quick, and very accurate, in what
are called the ground rules of arithmetic. My manner of
teaching  these rules may have had something peculiar in it,
but it was rather the amount of practice than the method,
which gave my pupils a degree of speed and accuracy that
sometimes  astonished  strangers.  I recollect that once  an
awkward teacher, from a neighboring state, visited my school,
and as he had published an arithmetic and felt strong in this
branch, he asked me to show him an exercise in it. I called
out a class of about twenty, and gave them a sum in simple
multiplication of which the multiplier was S.  They did the
operation so quickly, that my visitor thought there was some
trick in it, and he asked if I would allow him to set them a
sum. He began to dictate, and to write his figures on the
black-board, wvhich was so turned that the pupils could not see
it; but, his operations were so slow that the class grew impatient. He told them, at last, to multiply by 9, and, before he
had multiplied the first twvo figures, some held out the sum to
him and asked if it was right.  " Stop a minute!" said he.
As their numbers increased around him, "Stop a minute!
stand away!" said he, knocking the misses with his elbows,
"you put me out!" I beckoned to the]n to form a line, and
wvait patiently. When he had done, he examined their slates
and pronounced them all wrong, and he was evidently
pleased at this result.  But, one of them instantly went to his
sum on the black-board, and returned, saying that she
believed the error was in his sum. He went over it again,
and, after a long time, discovered that it was so. I asked
him to try them again, but he declined, and most ungraciously
added  that "the  girls bothered him."  They would have
done ten such sums to his one, and made their figures ten
times as well as his were made.  He was the author of an
arithmetic, notwithstanding, and had taught for several years.
I do not consider that arithmetic is my forte, but the atteil
46
I
I
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i
i
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ARITHMETIC.
tion with which the few lessons I gave were received by my
young friends at the Institutes, leads me to say a few words
upon the elementary rules.
In adding a single column, say the following, which I place
horizontally to save room, but the figures of which are to be
added as if placed in one vertical column,  I found that the
pupils had various methods. Let the column be 8, 9, 6, 7,
9,8, S, 9,6, S,9, 9, S8,6,7,7,9, 9, S, S, 7,9,8,9, 7,7,,
9, 8, 4, 9, 7.
Some cut the column into five or six parts, added the parts
separately, and then added together their several sumins.
Some, as I dictated the figures, added each pair and set them
down. Thus, when I said S and 9, they set down 17; 6 and
7=13, which they set down under 17, and so on. Others,
as I dictated the figures, set all the S's by themselves, all the
9's by themselves, and so with the other figures, and  then
said, 11 times 9 are 99; 10 times S are S0;  7 times 7 are
49; 3 times 6 are IS, and once 4 is 4. Then they had to add
the several sumns to find the total, 250. One marked the tens
thus. He took the S, and 2 from the 9, and made a dot; then
he took the remaining 7 of the 9 with 3 from the 6, and made
another dot; the remaining 3 and the next 7 making 10, he
made a third dot.  When he had finished, he counted his dots,
and found 25 tens. Finally, another divided the column
into tens, but made no dots.   He  said thus, dividing the
figures as he went, 8 and 2 are 10, and 7 are 17, and 3 are
20, and 3 are 23, and 7 are 30, and so on.
When I told them that I had no such aids, they wondered;
but the fact was, I had practised so much with my pupils that
it was with addition as with the multiplication table; when
asked how many are 6 times 7, I never calculate, for 42 is so
connected with 6 times 7, that no calculation is necessary.
So, when one figure follows another, I know what the amount
must be, and make  no calculation.  I suggested, however,
the following plan to the teachers, and, afterwards, their
increased despatch showed that it was of some  service to
them.  I placed ten or twelve 9's in a column, and said, "If
I add ten to 9 what is the unit figure of the product?" 9
said they, of course.  "Well, if 9 and  10 give. 9, 9 and 9
will give one less than 9, viz., S. So 9 and S will give two
le,,s than 9, vlz., 7; and 9 and 7 will give three less than 9.
viz., 6. As every one, therefore, knows what any number
with 10 will make, let him drop I for 9, 2 for S, 3 for 7, and
47 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
he will readily find what he wants. Thus, in adding the col umn first given. say 8 and 10 would be 18, and, therefore, 8
and 9 will be one less, or 17 + 6  are 23-+7 are 30 + 9  are
39+ 10 would be 49, 8 being 2 less, makes 47-two less
than 7 will bring 5, and the next 8 added to 47 makes 55.
The next 9 gives, not 65, but 64, and 6 are 70, and so on.
There is no trouble with figures under 7, nor, indeed, with
7 itself.  To show how figures increase by the addition of 9,
8 or 7, they should be exercised oni columns all nines, or all
eights, or all sevens.
Of all the methods of proving a sum in addition, I have
never found any equal to adding the figures in a direction
contrary to that first used.  If the pupil begins at the bottom,
he should prove the sum by beginning at the top; for this
entirely changes the combinations, and the child will not be so
likely to run into the same error again, as he will if he goes
twice in the same direction.
Another point in which children are generally deficient is
numeration. I never set the sums for children, nor allowed
them to copy from books, but always dictated the sum to be
added, and required the children to write as I dictated, all
together, if they used slates, and in turn if they stood before
the black-board. I recollect once, that, after I had dictated a
sum to the highest class in a school, and few or none had set
it down correctly, the teacher, evidently distressed at their
failure, said, " How could you mistake so, scholars, after I
have shown you so many times! How often I have written
such sums on the black-board, and told you how to read
them!" I mildly whispered to him that the fault lay, I
feared, in his having written the sums, instead of requiring
the pupils to write them.
As soon as a child began to count, she began to write figures; just as she began to make letters, the moment she began
to learn them. At the top of the black-board, I chalked, or
painted, the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, as well as possible, and if the child was at a loss, she could look to the
copy; if she made a bad figure, I rubbed it out, and pointed
to the copy. It was no uncommon thing at the Institutes for
me to be obliged to ask the young teachers what their figures
were made for. If teachers do thus, what can be expected
from their pupils?
The child begins to count his fingers, beans, marbles, or
other objects, before he is required to write the figures, but as
48 
ARITHMETIC.
soon as he can write 1 and 2, he is required to add these
together, and, if very small, he may mark against the figure
as many units or ones as it represents, thus:
1.
2.
3..
4....
10..........
As soon as the column amounts to ten or over, let the teacher
ask, how many tens and how many units are in the amount,
and teach the pupil how to set the units under the column,
and the tens on their left hand. He needs not to add tens
until he has become expert in adding units; but when it is
necessary for him to learn numeration, let it be taught in this
way. Write on the black-board as follows:
Millions.  Thousands.
I. o           o
0  0 0,       0 0  0,
Units.
To
000
&O
a) 0 
EP.
O n O.
Now give the child a single column that shall amount to
more than ten. Let him set down the amount on the side of
the slate. Suppose it to be 18, then ask of what is 1S composed? One ten and eight units. What is the one ten composed of? Ten units. Then there are S units and 1 ten of
units. See me write them under units of units, and tens of
units. Give another column of figures, and do the same with
the amount. Then, place so many sums under each other
that they will amount to over a hundred. Suppose the sum
to stand thus:
6
49 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Millions.  Thousands.   Units.
I —I
o          0          0
(1      ()0        C,0
rn E       cn. C D P.2
0 0,   0 0 0,   000
3
4
5
6
18
19
2 7
35
46
145
Ask the pupil now to add the column of units, and when she
finds the amount, let her set it down in full on the side of her
slate or black-board. Ask how many units and how many
tens it contains, and let her set the units down, as she has
been taught to do. Tell her she may put the tens under the
other tens, or she may count them where they stand, and
say, 3 tens and 4 tens, and 3 more tens, and 2 tens, and 1 ten,
and 1 more ten, are 14 tens. Let her set down the 14 tens,
as in the above sum, and then ask under what head does the
1 come. Perhaps she can tell how many 14 tens are, viz.,
1 hundred and 4 tens.
Ask how many units or single ones make 10? How many
tens make 100?  In one hundred are how many tens?  In
fourteen how many units? What do the 1, 4, 5 stand for?
To impress this decimal increase upon the mind, then take
a large square piece of paper and say, This paper we will
call a hundred. How many tens are in it? Let us cut it
into ten tens then. When it is so cut, take one of the pieces,
and say this ten contains how many units? Well, let us cut
it into ten units. The child will see the proportion between
units, tens and hundreds, but he will see it more distinctly,
if the teacher cuts up several hundreds in this way, and then
60
i 
ARITHMETIC.
lays them in piles to be added as if they were figures.
us suppose such a sum to be composed thus:
Hundreds.           Tens.
0000
0000
or 188
* -  00:: 0....
0      O 0.*.*
*  000:::::::....
0 9     000....
Have a few spare tens and hundreds, and then ask the child
to count the unit-pieces of paper.   When  he says 23, ask
him how fnany tens are in 23? If he says 2 tens and 3
units, ask him to change some of his units with you for tennieces, and then ask him to lay the two ten-pieces on the
other tens, leaving the three remaining units in a pile. Then
let him count the ten-pieces, and when he says there are 22,
ask him how many of them make a hundred-piece, and exchange hundred-pieces with him. Tell himn to lay the two
ten-pieces that remain, in the tens' place, and to lay the two
hundred-pieces with the other hundreds. Then let him count
the hundreds, and say how many there are. Ask him then
to express the hundreds, tens and units, in figures, viz., 723.
Let him add several times in this way, and express the
amount, or even write the whole sum in figures. When
expert at this, give him the following:
Thousands.
O  
0          0
~ C) 0
o 0 0, 000
Units.
&o
a) 0 C)
DEEP
0 ~. 
245
568
379
457
2 4 5
5 6 i8
3 7 9
4 5 7
1,  649
He can set down the units. and the tens as oefore. When
51
Let
Units.
or 257
or 278 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
he comes to the hundreds, tell him to set the 6 under the
hundreds, and the ten of hundreds, making one thousand,
must go into the next family, under units of thousands.
Then take a piece of paper ten times as big Es a 100 piece,
and call it a 1000 piece, that the child may see the tenfold
increase of numbers towards the left.
By this time, he will understand the basis of numeration,
and a m6re expeditious course may be tried as follows.
Write the nine zeros, and place them in families as before,
Millions. Thousands. Units.
0 0 0, 0 0 0, 0 0 0
then ask how many figures must there be to reach to hundreds?  How many to units of thousands? to units of millions? Write various sums under the zeros, and ask the
children to read them. Introduce many zeros into the sums
you write, and teach the pupil, that, if no other figure is to
be placed under any zero, the place must never be left vacant,
but filled with a zero. After the pupil reads easily any number you write, not exceeding millions, give him the chalk,
and dictate, at first, as follows: Write three hundred and nine
units! Write, in the line below, three hundred and nine
thousands! Watch for the zeros to be put under the units,
and then say, Write three hundred and nine millions! He will
see that it is just as easy to write millions as units, if he
recollects to place them aright.
If then you wish to dictate a number of sums to be afterwards added, write the nine zeros as before, and dictate the
following sums, waiting, after you have named the millions
till they are written down by the pupil, and then giving the
thousands, and waiting till they are written, before you give
the units.
000,000,000
306,460,099
87,087,807
960,096,906
9,009,090
90,600,006
756,000,010
7,007,007
70,070,070
700,700,700
52
/
i
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I 
ARITHMETIC.
8,808,080
67,068,000
964,064
7,907
89,000,089
When the pupil can write the above sums without mistake,
the zeros may be removed from over the sum, and he may
be exercised without them; but the teacher must be rigid in
requiring the figures to be separated into families, and in
requiring zeros to be inserted where no other figures come.
If the pupil is told to write eight hundred and four thousand,
and seventy-nine units, and writes them thus, 80479, the
teacher must tell him to mark off his figures  nto families, and
ask him if 800 thousands are in the thousands' place. Or, he
may ask how many figures does it take to make hundreds of
thousands?
Many of the teachers whom I met at the Institutes, had evidently been accustomed to copy sums from books, and unaccustomed to write from dictation. The consequence was that
they missed in addition, not because they did not add correctly,
but because the sums that I dictated were incorrectly written
down. All the subsequent rules must be made practical
exercises in numeration, so that the place of every figure
shall be as distinctly marked in the pupil's mind, as if it were
written there.
When a large class are engaged in ciphering, and are
allowed to bring up the answer as soon as it is found, there
will be confusion unless something like the following rule is
observed. Let me give the rule by showing how I mrnanaged
in such cases.
Suppose the class contains fifty pupils.  I dictate a sum for
each to do on his'slate.  I always do it, and prove it, before
any of the class bring it up; but, if the teacher cannot do this,
the pupils must be required to form a line, those who  do it
first beinor nearest to the teacher.  It is better that they should
wait for him than for him to prepare the answer beforehand,
for he needs the practic(e, and should compel himself to take
it.  As soon as he is sure that his sum is right, he must look
At the first slate; if right number it 1, if wrcn{r make a w, but
say nothing.   Then look at the rest, numbering those that
are right in their order, and marking  all that are wrong
w rithl w.d
53
5* 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
The teacher must also say how long he will wait for
answers, and he must encourage those who do the sum wrong
to try again. No one, after joining the line to show up, must
make or alter a figure, and, if known to do so, he must go
behind all that are in the line. This any honest pupil will
do, if he detects an error while waiting for examination.
When the whole fifty have shown their slates, or when the
allotted time has expired, if 20 is the last number that has the
correct answer, the teacher must tell all who did the sum
incorrectly, that is, all who are not numbered, to call themselves 21. Let every scholar then write the number he has
obtained on one corner of his slate, and keep it there.
Give a new sum, and mark the slates in the same manner,
and let each pupil record the number he gets now, under the
former number. When the lesson is over, let each pupil add
up the numbers he has obtained, and let the teacher record
the aggregate of each pupil on a list of names kept for tihe
purpose. If he allows precedence to be taken in the class,
the pupil whose aggregate is the least may stand first, and
the rest according to their numbers.  If the teacher needs to
use his pupils as assistants, his class list of these exercises
will show him the most capable.
To be lmore particular.  Suppose the class consists of ten
pupils, named A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J. The least
aggregate of any one's numbers must be as many as the
number of sums done, for he cannot be less than 1. Let the
teacher then begin at the lowest number, say S, if eight sunis
were done, and let him call every number, from S onward,
till all are placed. Suppose the pupils have been numbered
as follows:
I.
9.
10.
8.
9.
10.
7.
9.
10.
1st trial
2   "c
3   "
4        24
5   "
6   "
7 cc
8   "
12. 22. 23. 50. 55. 52. 25. 64. 72. 65
54
A.
2.
1.
2.
2.
1.
I.
2.
1.
B.
4.
3.
3.
4.
2.
2.
1.
3.
c.
1.
4.
5.
1.
3.
4.
3.
2.
D
7
8
6
7
s
5
4
5
E
8
5
7
5
6.
9
7
8
F
5
6
4
6
5
10
10
6
G.
3.
2.
I.
3.
4.
3.
5.
4.
H
10
7
9
10
7
6
8
7
i
6
9
10
8
9
8
6
9 
ARITHMETIC.
'rhe Teachers' Class List then should be ruled as follows,
and the record of the above lesson would stand as in the first
column below.
A.   111112111211121111121= 1141 No. l]
B.   12 13  1l 2 15 1211 l 2  3  3 I    1241        12
C.   1314131314133 4 I4ll     1 =321    13
D.   151214151614141317141=1441                     14
E.   171716161518161716151=1631                     16
F.   16187171311018  6 1 51 7 1=1671                1i7
G.   141515141119151512 61 =1461                    15
H.   Is18161101s11015110 9 1 8 110 I1=  1,841       18
I.   110191919 191  61711019181= 1861               19 
J.   1911018110181719 18 110 91=1881                110
If the class have ten such trials in the course of the term,
and the above columns represent the result of each trial, then
the aggregate at the right hand shows the relative rank of the
class at the end of the term. I kept such a class list in
every branch that was taught in the school, and could at any
moment tell the relative standing of every pupil, and select
the best assistant in any branch where one was wanted.
When the children are ciphering on the black-board, there
are various ways of keeping them at work. I will try to
describe a few of them. Suppose the class to consist of six,
and the exercise to be in addition. I first dictate one line of
a sum to each pupil, as follows:
3,746,3S9,467
8,079,688,0S9
7,680,895,496
9,009,900,090
7,568,785,687
8,687,768,686
515
253
The  pupils stand in a semicircle around the board,  the
65 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
teacher or monitor standing on the left, the head of the class
being always on the right.
FIRST METHOD.
Let the first child begin, and say aloud, "6 and 7 are 13."
Let the next child say, "and 6 are 19;" the next, "and 9
are 28;" and the next, "and 7 are 35." The next sets down
5, and, if the children are very young, he sets a small 3 under
the 5, as a guide to the next, who says, "3 tens carried to S
tens make 11."  Then the head begins again, and says, " 11
and S are 19;" the next says, "and 9 are 2S;" the next,
" and   are 37;" the next, "and S are 45;" the next, "and 6
are 51'  The next sets down 1 in the tens place, and puts a
5 un';r it. The next says, " 5 hundreds carried to 6 hundreds make 11 hundreds;" the next says, "and 6 are 17;"
and so on until the sum is finished.
As soon as possible, the habit of placing the number to be
carried under the figure to be set down, must be dropped;
for the children will be more attentive if they have no such
aid.
If any one mistakes in the addition, let the next try, and go
up, if precedence is allowed in the classes, but do not require
the child who goes down to take a new number until his turn
comes round again, for this will double his share of the
work.
SECOND METHOD.
If precedence is not taken, let the teacher call on the pupils,
not in course, to add, as in the former case, and ignorance of
whose turn comes next will keep all attentive. This course
gives the teacher much  more trouble, however, and  takes
much more time.
THIRD METHOD.
Instead of saying 6 and 7 are 13, and 6 are 19, and 9 are
28, and 7 are 35, set down 5 and carry 3-  let the first child
say, 13; the next, 19; the next, 28; the next, 35. Let the
next set down 5, and the next, taking the next column, say
11; the next 19; the next 28; and so on to the end.
FOURTH METHOD.
Let the first pupil, or one designated by the teacher, add
the whole first column silently, and, only telling the amount
56
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ARITHMETIC.
aloud, let him set down 5.  Let another take the second
column, and, declaring the amount aloud, let him set down 1.
Let a third take the third column, and declare, and set down;
and so on to the end.
FIFTH METHOD.
This method is called the silent method, and is useful when
the teacher is engaged with a class, and wishes to keep the
rest employed so as not to be interrupted by their noise.
The monitor stands with a sponge. The first pupil adds
the first column silently, and sets down the result without
saying a word. If correct, the monitor nods assent; if wrong,
he rubs out the figure and says n.othing(r. The next child
then writes the amount as he made it; if right, it stands; if
wrong, the monitor erases it.  Not a word is spoken.  If,
when one has missed, the next is not ready to write, those
below him who are ready, hold up the right hand, and the
monitor points to the next highest to go to the board, and, if
right, to go above both the one who missed, and the one, or
more, that were not ready to correct him.
SIXTH METHOD.
This is the most animating, and resembles the fifth method,
except that each pupil is furnished with a piece of chalk, and
is at liberty to go and write down the amount of the column
as fast as he can add it up.  As this leads to great activity
and a lively competition, the monitor or teacher must be very
expert in the exercise, prompt in erasing errors, and careful
to see fair play.  If the pupils are seated in front of the
board, no one should be allowed to write the amount of a column unless he goes from his seat to do it. Of course, after
writing a figure, right or wrong, the pupil must take his seat
before he tries again. If there are no seats for the pupils, so
much the better. Let a semicircle be chalked in front of the
board, and let the rule be that no one not toning the circle,
shall be allowed to write. Of course, every one that writes
on the board goes to his place before he tries again.
If the teacher wishes to know how many columns are
added by each scholar, he has only to lay a few counters
under the board, and let each pupil who adds correctly, take
one, and keep what he gets till the end of the lesson, when
the number obtained by each may be recorded, and the rank
of each assigned, if it be the custom of the school.   Some
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
times, when the scholars are very quick at figures, several
will rush towards the board at a time, and the master or monitor being, of course, very active, the scene is very interesting,
and faintly resembles the scenes in the Scotch schoolrooms,
so graphically described by Mr. Mann and others.
In describing these methods, I have confined myself to
addition, but the teacher will perceive that the other rules
may be taught in the same manner, and it is unnecessary for
me to give any examples. I do not know that these methods
are peculiar to me. They are some of the many that I practised years ago, for I always endeavored to have a variety ot
methods, that the interest of the pupils might never flag.  I
even went so far as, once or twice a year, to alter the position
of the seats, which were movable. My own desk, too, was
wheeled by turns to every side of the schoolroom, and in
this way all the interest excited by a new schoolroom was
kept up in an old one. While thus shifting about, wve once
tried what is supposed to be a new plan, that of placing the
teacher's desk behind the children, and after a fair experiment, I gave it up as having few benefits and many  disadvantages.
In teaching Subtraction, I had very little, probably, that is
not now common in the schools. The only method that I
have not seen in any school is the following, which I learned
from a German, twenty years ago. Suppose I am required
to take the lower line of the following sum from the upper.
706,145,832
73,854,735
In teaching on the old plan I used  to say, " Take  5 units
from 2 units I can't.    Borrow  1 ten from the 3 tens, and
turn it into units, and add them to the 2 units, and say 5
units from the 12 units leave 7 units. Then, as I borrowed
1 ten and did not take it, the upper 3 is 1 more than it ought
to he, and adding 1 to the 3 below and calling it 4, will be
thile same as if I changed the upper 3 into a 2 and let the
lower 3 stand as it is. One Icarry* then to the lower 3
* I use the term carry, but it is an incorrect term, because I really carry
nothing from one figure to the next. When a column of units amounts to
ten, I set down the units and really carry the tens to the column of tens; but,
in subtraction, the operation is.giving or s,pposin?, rather than carrying.
I have used the word sum also For operation, example, problem, &c., because
the word is short and well understood, but its true meanting is amount.
5S
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ARITHMIETIC.
makes 4 of it, and I say,. Take 4 tens from 3 tens I can't.,
I borrow 1 hundred from the S hundreds, and, as 1 hundred is 10 tens, I add the 10 tens to the 3 tens, and say 4 tens
from 13 tens leave 9 tens. Set 9 under the 3, and, as before,
call the 7, 8, because when you borrowed 1 hundred from
the S you did not take it away.  It will be then S hundreds
from S hundreds leave no hundreds; set down zero under the
7, and proceed to the thousands place," and so on.
If the teacher pleases, he can occasionally allow the pupil,
when he borrows 1, to take it from the upper figure and
chance it. But this is often a more intricate operation than
that I have described; for if the next upper place is occupied
by a zero, nothing can be borrowed, and the next must be
asked for a loan. Thus, in subtracting 1 unit from 1 thousand, the operation is as follows:
1000
1
Take 1 unit from no units, I cannot. Borrow 1 ten from no
tens, I cannot. Borrow 1 unit fronm no. hundreds, I cannot.
Borrow 1 unit from 1 thousand units I can; and this brings us
to the starting point again, so that, after borrowing like a
loafer, I am no better off than when I began. Still it is well
to borrow, and alter a few sums, to show what is meant by
carrying.
3,461,034
896,458
2,564,576
By the old method of carrying, the sum would stand as above;
but, if, when I borrowed from the upper figures, I had taken
what I borrowed, the upper line would stand thus after the
operation.
2,350,924
896,458
2,564,576
The upper line is so altered by this process that it cannot
be recognized; and, as the figures now stand, the sum cannot be proved in the old way, by adding the smaller sum and
the remainder together to equal the larger sum. It is often
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
useful and necessary to preserve the figures of the larger sum,
and it causes some trouble to restore them  after the above
transformation.
The German method to which I have alluded, does subtraction by addition.
3,461,034
896,458
In doing the above sum, I say to the first pupil, 8 and how
many make 14?  6, he says, and sets 6 under the 8.  As in
addition, with which the child is acquainted, 1 must be
carried for 14. Then say, 1 carried to 5 makes 6, and 6
and how many make 13? 7, says the child. Then set 7
under the 5, and carry 1 to the 4, saying, 1 and 4 are 5, and
5 and how many make 10? 5, says the child.  Then set 5
under the 4, carry 1 to the 6, and so continue till the work is
completed. As, at last, 1 will be carried to the vacant place
of millions, the question will be, 1 and how many make 3?
Set down the 2, and the sum is done.
My pupils have more readily fallen into this method than
into the old one, and one method of applying it is very
popular, especially in the silent exercise on the black-board.
Suppose I am worth 375,484 dollars, and owe to several persons the following sums:   38,654 dollars;  87,263 dollars;
74,269 dollars; 69,745 dollars; and 80.676 dollars; required
how much I shall have left after paying these debts.
375,484 Minuend.
38,654)
87,268
74,269  Subtrahend.
69,745
80,676
$24,872 Remainder.
I begin with the right hand column, and say, 6, 11, 20, 28,
32, and 2 make 34.. I add as many tens as will make the top
sum more than the amount of the column, and then what I
must add to make the sums equal is what I must set under
the column.  Carry, as in addition, one for every ten.  The
first column amounting to 32, I borrow three tens and call the
(30
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ARITHMETIC.
4 over the column 34, and, of course, the column of 32 needs
2 to make it 34.
Then I carry 3, and say, 3, 10, 14, 20, 26, 31, and 7 are
38; set down 7, and carry 3;- and so on to the end.
The Germans, I am told, carry this method of Subtraction
into Long Division also, and as it is a good exercise of the
arithmetical memory, I will give a specimen.
7948 ) 54607.6845 ( 68,706
6919.6
5612.8
492.45
1557
I say 6 times 8 are 48, and 9 are 57.  1 set the 9 under the
7, and go on, remembering that I have 5 to carry. 6 times 4
are 24, and 5 to carry are 29, and 1' makes 30.  Set down  1
and carry 3. 6 times 9 are 54, and 3 to carry are 57, and 9
are 66. Set down 9 and carry 6. 6 times 7 are 42, and 6 to
carry are 4S, and 6 are 54. Set down 6. 6919 is the
remainder after the multiplication and subtraction. Then
bring down the 6, and multiply by 8, &c. This method saves
the making of 20 figures.  The dots are used merely to show
what figures are brought down.
It was the custom of my classes to do twentv or thirtv sums
in Subtraction in half anl hour, and the difference between this
amount of practice and that I obtained when at school, is
somewhat remarkable. My teacher was so aged that, to my
boyish mind, he divided the whole course of time with Methuselah.  He wore a white wig, on the back of which the boys
sometimes lodged chips and quill-tops. His vest was long,
with pocket flaps that half covered his thighs. He wore
breeches, white stockings, and shoes with large buckles. I
never heard a word against his character, for he had none,
and was so harmless that I can almost forgive the School
Committee of Boston, who kept him in office a quarter of a
century after he had become unable to do the duties of a
master of this double-headed school of about 500 boys and
girls. No boy had a printed Arithmetic, but, every other day,
a sum or two was set in each manuscript, to be ciphered on
the slate, shown up, and, if right, cop ed into the manuscript.
6
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Two sums were all that were allowed in Subtraction, and
this number was probably as many as the good man could set
for each boy. This ciphering occupied two hours, or rather
consumed two, and the other hour was employed in writing
one page in a copy-book. Once, when I had done my two
sums in Subtraction, and set them in my book, and been idle
an hour, I ventured to go to the master's desk and ask him to
be so good as to set me another sum. His amazement at iny
audacity was equal to that of the almshouse steward when
the half-starved Oliver Twist "asked for more."  He looked
at me, twitched my manuscript towards him, and said, guttua
rally,  Eh! you gnarly wretch, you are never satisfied!"  1
had never made such a request before, nor did I ever make
another afterwards. On the black-board, which was unknown
in those days, a pupil may now get more practice in one hour
than I got in one month.
In teaching Multiplication, I had no method that I have not
seen in good schools of the present day. The Table was
taught usually before the child began to cipher, for it was said
and sung by the whole school for recreation, and the little
children caught it from the older pupils before they were
required to use it If, however, a new scholar wished to
learn it, she practised multiplying by 2 on the black-board till
she knew the line; then.she took 3 times until this was familiar. She was required too to rule 144 squares upon her slate,
or on paper, and make Table after Table for herself without
any guide or assistance.
It may be of use, however, for the child to know that he
may begin to multiply on the left as well as on the right, and
that Multiplication may be made Addition. Thus, if I wish
to find 8 times 9678, I may do it in the old'way from right to
left:
or       9678
S
77,424
64
560
4800
72000
77,424
62
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8 
ARITHMETIC.
Or I may do it from left to right, thus:
9,678
8
72,000
4,800
560
64
77,424
I say 8 times 9 thousand are 72 thousand, and I set down
the whole amount. Then 8 times 6 hundred are 48 hundred,
and set down the whole. 8 times 7 tens are 56 tens; and &
times 8 units are 64 units.  There is clearly a loss of time in
this manner, but to a beginner it may communicate a clear
idea of the contracted form in which the operation is usually
performed.
Finally, the child may write the sum eight times, and add
the sums together.
In Division the children must be required, at first certainly.
if not always, to explain the common method by a process like
the following:
6)674,352
112,392.
600,000
70,000
14,000
2300
550
12
100,000
10,000
2,000
300
90
2
1l12,392
That is, instead of saying 6 is contained in 6 once, let the pupil say, 6 is contained in 6 hundred thousand 1 hundred thousand times. 6 is contained in 7 ten thousands 1 ten thousand
times, and 1 ten thousand over. 1 ten thousand is 10 unit
thousands, and 4 more unit thousands make 14 unit thousands,
in which 6 is contained 2 thousand timnes, and 2 unit thousands
over. 2 thousands are 20 hundreds, and 3 are 23 hundreds,
in which 6 is contained 300 times and 5 hundreds over. 5
hundreds are 50 tens, and 5 are 55 tens, id which 6 is con
63
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
tained 9 tens of times and 1 ten over. 1 ten is ten units, and
2 units are 12 units, in which 6 is contained 2 units times.
I always found Long Division a more difficult operation to
children than any other portion of the elementary rules, and
some of my methods of explaining it may not be useless to
young teachers, who should try to have more ways than one.
One way was to do Short Division long fashion, to show
that there is no difference in the manner, but only in the
difficulty of carrying the remainders in the mind. Thus the
sum first explained:
6) 674,352
112,392
if done at length, and not in the mind, will appear thus
6) 674,352 ( 112,392 or thus: -  6) 674,352 ( 112,392
6                               600,000
7                               74,352
6                               60,000
14                              14,352
12                              12,000
23                              2,352
18                              1,S800
55                              552
54                              540
12                              12
12                               12
But the child soon learns how to multiply and subtract, and
is only puzzled to know how many times the divisor will
go, as the old term was, that is, how many times it is contained in the dividend, or a portion of the dividend. The
rule for this is so simple that I should not waste a word on it,
had I not discovered at the Institutes, that many young teachers have no rule but to try till the remainder comes less than
the divisor.  Let us take the following rule, viz.: "If the
figures of the divisor amount to more than an equal number of
figures in the dividend, one more figure of the dividend must
be taken   Then see how many times the first figure of the
64
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ARITHMETIC.
livisor is contained in the first two of the dividend, and this
will generally'give the right number of times for the whole
sum, if the second figure of the divisor is less than 5.  If it is
more than 5, suppose the first figure of the divisor to be one
more than it is, and then see how many times the supposed
figure is contained in the first two of the dividend. Let us
try this rule.
First with the 2d figure less than 5.
L) 88469687( 14056
6294 * * -
25529
25176
35368
31470
38987
37764
1223
6 is in 8, once.
6 is in 25, 4 times.
6 is in 3 no times.
6 is in 35, 5 times.
6 is in 38, 6 times.
Next with the 2d figure more than 5.
7846 ) 60298749 ( 7685
8 in 60, 7 times.    54922".
53767
8 in 53, 6 times.     47076
66914
8 in 66, 8 times.      62768
-41469
8 in 41, 5 times.       39230
2239
This rule will not always succeed so invariably, but it will
always come so near that the true number can be seen with~
out further guessing.
The teacher, however, may always be certain, if,'when he
has any doubt of the rule, he multiplies the two first figures
-       t6*
65 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
of the divisor to see whether what he has to carry viii
exceed the figures in the dividend. For example, take the
following.
657489 ) 6473291476 ( 9
The  second figure being neither more nor less than  5, it
will not do to rely upon calling the first 7 or 6. 6 would be
contained in 64, 10 times, and 7 would be contained 9 times.
Is 9 right? Multiply the 6 and 5 of the divisor by 9, in the
mind, and see if it exceeds the 647 of the dividend. 585
being less, the probability is that the whole 6 figures of the
divisor will go into the first 7 figures of the dividend. Again,
try the following:
89694) 8109687876 (
Call 8, 9, and will it be contained 9 times in 81? The
answer is, certainly; because, if 9 is contained, any number
less than 9, even 8 T9, must be. But suppose the sum were
89694) 8,009,687,876 ( 8
will 9 be contained 9 times, or only S times, in the 80? Try
the first two figures by 9. Nine times 89 are 801, which is
more than the eight huhdred of the dividend, and you may be
sure 9 is too many, and 8 just enough.
A few dozen sums done by the class on a black-board, will
make quite small pupils familiar with this rule, and will save
them from a deal of trouble
The pupils must at first be taught what to call the figures
of the quotient.  For instance, when they find, as in the last
example, that 89,694 is contained 8 times in 800968, the
question must be settled whether the 8 in the quotient is 8
units, 8 tens, 8 hundreds, or what it is. The rule is easy;
the 8 is whatever the last figure of that portion of the dividend used to produce it is. 800968 is used; and the first
figure of the quotient is the same as the right hand 8, and
this is tens of thousands. The pupil may then know that the
quotient must contain five figures, or it cannot be right. I
have sometimes required the pupil, in such cases, to set down
zeros at the right hand of the first figure in the quotient, and
rub them out and supply others as the sum proceeded. This
will prevent his omitting to place zeros in the quotient when
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ARITHMETIC.
a figure has been brought down to the previous remainder;
and the amount is not great enough to contain the divisor.
89694) 8,009,687,876
717 552
834167
807246
269218
269082
13676
89,300 times.
The only other point of arithmetic to which I shall call the
attention of the young teacher, is a method of explaining what
are called Compound Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and
Division. I once passed one of my classes, and found the monitor playing, as I supposed, instead of teaching her class in
Compound Division. On inquiry, however, I found that she
had been unable to make the class fully comprehend the operation, and she had adopted a plan not unlike that I have proposed for showing the increase of figures from right to left in
decimal arithmetic.
She had taken large square pieces of paper which she
called pounds. She had cut some of these into 20 pieces
called shillings; some of the shillings into 12 parts called
pence, and some of the pence into 4 parts called farthings.
She had then chalked a sum on the black-board thus:
X.      s.        d.       q.
2)3.       15.      6.       2
1.     17.       8.       3
and she had placed 3 of the pieces representing pounds in
one pile, 15 of the shilling pieces in another pile, 6 of the
penny pieces in another, and 2 of the farthing pieces on
the right of the other piles. Then she had begun to divide
by 2, and had placed 1 pound piece under the 3. The
pound piece that remained she cut up into 20 pieces, and
added them to the 15.  Then she placed 17 of the pieces
under the shilling place. The odd shilling she cut into 12
penny pieces, which she added to the 5, making 17. Then
she divided by 2, putting 8 pieces in the pence place. The
odd penny she carried to farthings by cutting it up, and then
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THE TEACHERS!NSTITUTE.
dividing the 6 farthings by 2, she placed three farthing
pieces in their proper order.
She then performed the same sum on the black-board, and
compared the results. This was done by a monitor under
fourteen years of age, who had never seen or heard of any
such method of explanation; and it may well put to shame
some teachers who have ventured to say that monitors cannot
teach. I saw at once the simplicity of the illustration and
immediately had suitable pieces of pasteboard prepared, not
only to illustrate Compound Division, but Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Reduction ascending and descending,
as the two operations are called. I had also a set of blocks
to explain solid or cubic measure.
All such apparatus the teacher can get without expense, if
he is as expert at whittling as a Yankee ought to be to uphold
the national character.
MENTAL ARITHMETIC.
In Mental Arithmetic I did less at the Institutes than in
written arithmetic, for the reason that other teachers preferred
to devote themselves to arithmetic, and to me all branches
were equally agreeable. It was my custom very early to
introduce my pupils to this study, because it afforded relief to
their minds, and, oftentimes, quiet and innocent amusement.
It is hardly necessary for me to explain at large my course
with beginners; for the Child's Arithmetic contains my plan,
and has been recommended to teachets by Mr. Palmer in his
Teacher's Manual, and by the authors of the School and
Schoolmaster. The leading feature of the plan is the constant
illustration of every elementary principle by the use of sensible objects. It contains full exercise for children from three
to seven years of age, and, although primarily intended to be
an introduction to Colburn's First Lessons, it is well fitted to
After the child is familiar with this little book, he will be
prepared to relish those more advanced; and, in teaching
these, the same system of illustration must be continued,
whether the book provides for it or not.  If the pupil has
been properly taught the Child's Arithmetic, he will have a
clear idea of the elements of calculation, will be accustomed 
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ARITHMETIC.
to reason clearly, and to exercise his mind without distraction
upon more difficult problems. By all means, oblige him to
perform the calculations mentally, and without the aid of the
book. It is not many years since a convention of teachers, in
one of the counties of this state, were astonished at the
unreasonableness of a gentleman, who required them to close
their books, and to keep them closed, while he proposed a
question for them to solve.
I shall not describe the various methods pursued by
myself or others in teaching mental arithmetic, but shall
content myself with giving an example or two as I have seen
them performed by my friend William Clough, one of the most
thorough teachers of this beautiful science that I have ever
known, who lately taught one of our State Norma] Schools,
and is now Principal of an Academy at St. Charles, in the
State of Missouri.
The  peculiarity  of his method  of teaching is, that he
requires the reason of every step to be more distinctly stated
than usual, and he is careful to introduce many incidental
questions that arise during the solution.
Suppose, then, the question to be the first in  Colburn's
First Lessons, p. 81, Letter B.  "Four fifths of fifteen is six
tenths of how many thirds of twenty-one?"
The pupil says," Two and 7 thirds of 21;" and then proves
the answer as follows: "One fifth of 15 is 3;-four fifths of
15 are four times as much, and 4 times 3 are 12.-If 12 be
six tenths of some number, one sixth of 12 must be one
tenth of the same number, because one tenth of any number
is one sixth of 6 tenths of that number.   One sixth of 12 is
2, and 2 is the tenth of ten times 2, which is 20.-One third
of 21 is 7, and 7 is contained  in 20 two afid six sevenths
times. Therefore, 4 fifths of 15 is 6 tenths of two and six
sevenths thirds of 21."
Among the incidental questions asked would, perhaps, be
the following.  "You say -1 of 15 is 3,-how do you know
this? " or, " Can you prove this? " The pupil says, "A fifth of
15 is fifteen times as much as a fifth of 1,' 15 times one
fifth of 1 is 15 fifths of 1;-5 fifths of 1 make 1; and if 5
fifths of 1 make 1, 15 fifths of 1 will make as many ones as
5 fifths of one are contained times in 15 fifths of 1-5 fifths
of 1 are contained in 15 fifths of 1 three times; therefore, one
fifth of 15 is 3."
Again, "You say 2 is the tenth of 10 times 2; how do you
69 
THE TEACHIERS' INSTITUTE.
know this? " The pupil replies, " 2 is the same as one time
2, and one time 2 is the tenth of 10 times 2; therefore, 2 is
the tenth of 10 times 2."
This is an abstract question, and I am not sure that it is
the best I could have selected; I will endeavor, therefore, to
give an example of what Colburn terms a concrete question.
First Lessons, page 78, Question 19.
2. If 4 men can do a piece of work in 8 days, how many
men would it take to do the same work in 4 days?
The pupil says, " 8 men;-for if 4 men can do the work in
8 days, it will take S times as many men to do it in 1 day,
because 1 day is an eighth of 8 days, and the less the number
of days the more men it will require to do the work. One
eighth of the number of days takes 8 times the number of
men.  8 times 4 men are 32 men; therefore, if 4 men can do
a piece of work in 8 days, it will take 32 men to do the same
work in one day. If 1 day require 32 men to do the work, 4
days will require one fourth as many men to do the same
work, because the more days there are, the fewer men will
be required;-4 times the number of days will require one
fourth the number of men; - one fourth of 32 men is 8 men:
-therefore, if 4 men  can do a piece of work in 8 days, it
will take 8 men to do the work in 4 days."
3. Page  102, Question 39.  "A  man bought six sevenths
of a cask of raisins for five dollars; what was the whole cask
worth? "
The pupil says, " Five dollars and five sixths of a dollar."
If the man bought six sevenths of a cask for 5 dollars, he
bought one seventh of a cask of raisins for one sixth of five
dollars, or for one sixth as much; because, one seventh of a
cask is one sixth of six sevenths of the cask, and the less the
quantity of raisins he bought, the less the money they cost;
or, the less the number of sevenths of a cask he bought, the
less the number of dollars they cost, —    of the quantity of
raisins, - of the money they cost-i of 5 dollars is  - of 1
dollar,-therefore, if a man bought 6 of a cask of raisins for
5 dollars, he bought + of the cask for 5 of a dollar.  If he
bought + of a cask for ~ of a dollar, he bought + of a whole
cask for seven times as much. because the greater the quantity of raisins he bought, the more money they cost. 7 times 5
sixths of a dollar are 35 sixths of a dollar, which is equal to 5
dollars and ~ of a dollar. Therefore, if a man bought - of a
cask of raisins for 5 dollars, the whole cask was worth 5 dollars and 5 of a dollar.
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ARITHMETIC.
The incidental questions might be, "How  do you  know
that 1 of 5 dollars is 6 of 1 dollar?  How do you know that
35 sixths of a dollar are equal to $5 and  - of a dollar?"
4. Page 103, Question 46.  "12 is - of what number?"
The pupil says, "84. If 12 be 7 of some number, I of 12
must be ~ of the number, because - of any number is I of 7
of that number; + of 12 is -Y- of 1-if  7- of 1 be 1 of
some number, 5, or the whole of that number, must be 5 times
as much-5 tires 12 sevenths are 60 sevenths, which is
equal to S- therefore, 12 is 7 of S-."   Several incidental or
review questions would also be put.
5th. Page 105, Question 13.  How  many yards of cloth
that is three quarters wide are equal to 7 yards of cloth that
is five quarters wide?"  The pupil says " 11  yards.  If 5
quarters width require 7 yards in length, 1 quarter wide will
require 5 times as many yards in length; -because 1 quarter
wide is I of 5 quarters wide, and the less the width the
greater the length —5 of the width, 5 times the length-5
times 7 yards are 35 yards;-therefore, if 5 quarters wide
require 7 yards in length, 1 quarter wide will require  35
yards in length; if 1 quarter wide require 35 yards in length,
3 quarters wide will require i of that length, because  the
greater the width, the less the length,-3 times the width, i
the length;- I of 35 yards is 11-i yards;-therefore, 112
i   yards of cloth that is 3 quarters wide are equal to 7 yards
that is 5 quarters wide."
This must suffice for arithmetic; and I shall say nothing
of algebra, because I did not teach it at the Institutes, and, in
my  opinion, it ought never to be taught in the common
schools. I shall never forget one occasion when some of Mr.
Clough's pupils, who had never studied algebra, but who had
been well instructed in Colburn's First Lessons, had a contest
with some young teachers who had studied algebra, Tower's
Intellectual Algebra furnishing the problems. The arithme ticians solved the questions by arithmetic in one fourth of the
time required  by the algebraists, and, except in quadratic
equations, this disparity was kept up with ease. If it fell within
the scope of this volume, I should more at large consider the
popular error of introducing algebra into common schools of
boys, and the all but folly of teaching it, in any school, to
girls. I do not call in question the ability of the females to
learn algebra, but the utility, and, of course, the policy, of
teaching theii what they will never use.
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THE TEACHERS'  [NSrITUTE.
Let me add that if any young teacher wishes to see arith.
metic, algebra, and mathematics taught as they should be
taught, he cannot do better than to visit either of our normal
schools; for, so different is the manner of teaching at these
schools from the manner prevalent in the districts, that one
who has often visited them can tell a normal pupil, by his
management, about as readily as he can tell a veteran from a
raw recruit.
Besides the usual method of proposing the question to the
whole class, waiting a reasonable time, and then selecting
some pupil to give the answer, and explain the process by
which he arrived at it, I had another method, which, on some
occasions, was very useful.
Every pupil was furnished with a slip of paper, about four
inches by one.   The question was given distinctly to the
whole class; each scholar set the answer at the top of her slip
of paper, and brought it, and laid it upon my book. If the
answer was right, it was numbered from one onward;  if
wrong, I marked w against it, and she could try again, if
there was time. To prevent confusion, only one showed her
paper at a time, the rest forming a line, and giving up in turn.
If any failed to get right, they were all numbered alike, the
next after the last who gave the answer correctly. Nothing
but the answer was allowed to be written on the paper.
At the end of the lesson, the pupil's name was written at
the bottom of her answers, and the slip of paper furnished
materials for the class record. In this way, every child had
to do the work; and if any one who did not answer correctly requested an explanation, I designated some one who
had obtained a number, to explain,-and sometimes several
were called on, until some one made the process intelligible
to the pupil who called for the explanation.   This method I
used much for practice, after a principle had been explained.
Every pupil stood during the lesson; and as all were obliged
to walk, the exercise afforded relief after confinement at anv
lesson that did not admit of such locomotion.  If I do not
forget it, I shall hereafter have more to say on the utility of
standing and moving, as far as it can be done without con
fusion, during recitations.
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WRI T ING.
WHEN I first became a teacher, writing was an affair alto  gether different fromn what it is now. Metallic pens had not
been introduced, and more than half the business of a writing  master was the making and mending of pens.  After enduring
this task one week, seeing that it made a slave of me, I called
about twenty of the best pupils around me, furnished each
with a knife, if he or she had none, and then made several
pens before their eyes, explaining every part of the process.
Then, each took a quill and cut just as fast as I did, waiting
at every step to have the work inspected.  When  the pens
were made, I tried each one, pointed out its defects to the
whole class, and then showed them how to mnend it. I then
promised a reward to every pupil who made his own pens for
a week; and that they might have practice, I told them I
should never make another pen for any of them.  I never had
occasion to make one afterwards; but, from that time forward,
I had pupils enough who could make as good pens as I could,
and who made for the smaller children, and for their families
at home.
Once, at least, in a term, I instituted a reward for the best
pen. Let it not be supposed, however, that I selected one pen
and gave a prize only to that; I could not be guilty of such
injustice. My rule in this exercise, and in all others, was to
reward all in proportion to their deserts.  If there were ten
bests, all fared alike, and the poorest, if at all deserving, had
all that he deserved. If in any district school the goosequill
is still used, I recommend to the teacher to try a similar course:
and, if there is no other way to supply knives, let him buy
two or three, and keep them to lend for this purpose, and for
no other.
The course of teaching that I had adopted led me to see, at
an early stage, that I must make every pupil learn to write,
and that I could do this better, and in much less time, if I
qualified myself to teach them. To compel myself to practise,
I set all the copies for a long time, and never used what are
called copperplate slips. When some of my pupils became
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T,i t  TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
good writers, I obligeu them to set copies for the beginners,
but, to the last, I always set all the copies for my best writers
and assistants, and inspected all the copies set by the assistants.  The only system of penmanship that I used was the
very simple one to which I have alluded under the head of
Spelling, and this I shall now attempt to explain somewhat
more in detail.
Right against the wall, bak-of my desk, and in full view
of the whole scho,ol w —aong black-board, about ten feet by
eighteen inches, ruled like the specimen that follows:
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The lines were cut into the board before it was painted, and,
although the board was used constantly for seventeen years.
the lines wbre sufficiently distinct to the last, and the board
needed to be repainted only two or three times, and this work
I did myself.  I mention this fact, not to imply that my patrons
were unwilling to pay for the painting, but because I put on a
better coat than the painter would have done.  I have often
been told by young teachers that they should like black-boards,
but the committee would not procure any.  I have no respect
for such teachers, for one who cannot get a wide board, and
plane it, and paint it, has not ingenuity enough to be intrusted
with a school. Besides, I do not believe there is a town in
Massachusetts whose carpenters and painters are so mean
that they will not aid the district teacher in getting up as many
black-boards as he wants. While I was teaching at some of
the Institutes, I showed the teachers how to paint diagraims
on cloth, and whbn I found the village painter, and ts;  him
what I wanted, and why I wanted, brushes, pots and paints
were  placed at my disposal, and, in every case, coinpen,ation
was refitsecl.  The charge that commnittees will not fiurish
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black-boards cannot be well founded, except, perhaps, in cases
where the committee have no confidence in the ability of the
teacher to make any good use of them. But I maintain that
the teacher, if he is fit to teach, is independent of the committee in regard to black-boards, and can make them himself
without much trouble or expense.
Get a long black-board, then, and rule it as I have directed.
The carpenters have a tool made on purpose to cut the lines
into the board, but if such a tool cannot be obtained, the lines
may be ruled with a chalk-line, and scratched in with a saw,
or cut in with a penknife. They may be painted white on
a black ground, but the writing never looks so well over white
lines.
After the board is prepared, let every child have a slate, and
let every slate be ruled exactly like the board. The teacher
can do the ruling with a dull penknife or any sharp pointed
iron. The marlks, after a day or two's use, will not mar the
writing, and, as only one side of the slate is ruled, work that
does not require ruling may be done on the other. Three or
four sets of lines can be marked on the slate, and the pattern
just given is about the best in regard to size.
The distance between the lines 1 and 2 and S and 9 correspond, but the space between 2 and 3 is less than that between
7 and 8. 2 marks the height and S the depth to which letters
not looped may go, and 1 and 9 mark the space in which the
loop must be made. The five lines are for the body of the
letters.
I cannot describe in ten pages what I could show on the
black-board in ten minutes, but I must not entirely omit the
directions for shaping and joining letters. Let the small
letters be made  first.  Suppose a class of beginners to be
before me, with their slates before them, and their pencils
sharpened, and long, or else thrust into a tin handle or a
goosequill, to make them so. Let the pencil be held properly
at first, and much trouble will be saved in subsequent lessons.
It is difficult to describe the proper manner of holding a pen,
although it may be shown in a moment. The pen or pencil
must never sink below the knuckle of the fore-finger into the
hollow between that finger and the thumb; it had better not
sink quite as far as the knuckle. It must pass under the end
of the forefinger, and touch the side of the middle finger just
bI)elow the nail,. The most common fault of bad writers is
turning the top or convex part of the pen towards the body,
and the consequence is that the slit does not open, as it
75 
THE TEACI-HEES' INSTITUTE.
should, when the pen moves downward, but it does so when
it makes the turn at the bottom of letters, where the most delicate line should be made. If the pen is held properly, the
sides of the slit will open equally at the downward movement, and then, if the pen is not twisted, but carried round
the turn and up, the slit is closed by the upward movement,
and the finest hair line is produced.
In writing with a pencil, the upward lines can be made just
as fine by lightening the pressure of the hand. If a pupil
makes the upward lines as coarse as the downward, stop him
at once, and give him a separate lesson in the art of bearinlg on.
To return to our lesson. Let me talk as if the class were
before me, pencil in hand.
You see, children, I place my chalk on the second line and
draw a straight, but leaning or inclined line, downward to the
seventh. Now do the same on your slates. This mark is no
letter, but it forms a part of several letters. Make these
straight lines till you get the command of your fingers. Hold
your hands so that you rest upon the little finger and the next
to it, and only move the thumb, fore and middle fingers, in
forming letters. Let me see how each makes a straight mark
and holds his hand. Very well. Now, let the straight line
only go down to the sixth line, and when you get there, light
up your pencil, and begin to turn as you see me do, and
when you have touched the seventh line, go up as lightly as
possible to the fifth line. This forms the letter 1.
If, now, instead of making another 1, you place a dot where
the top of I would be, then skip from 2 to 3, and finish the
lower part of the I from 3 to 6, and curve it as before, you will
make the letter i. I required you to make the dot first,
because many persons are so careless as not to place the dot
where the top of the letter would be if the i were an 1. You
see the dot must lean as the rest of the i does. If you begin
half way between 2 and 3, and go down and turn as in 1 and
i, and then, half way between the top of your letter and
the third line, lay your pencil on the letter and draw a
short line towards the right, you will have a t. Some careless persons make a full cross at the top of t, but this is
wrong.
To make n, you see I begin at the seventh line, and go up
l.ghtly to 4, then I curve, but do not bear on till I reach 3,
when I bear on, and continue a steady pressure till I reach 7.
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WRITING.
Then, touching the mark I have just made at 6, I go up
lightly to 4, curve at 3; as before, and come down to 6, when
I light up, curve at 7, and carry up a fine mark to 5. The
fine mark is carried up, so that, if I wish to join on another
letter the fine mark may be ready for it. An m is made like
an n, the first part being repeated, beginning at 6. See now
how I make it, and do the same on your slates. To make h,
take the first mark that I taught you, from 2 to 7, then, touching it at 6, make the last part of an n. To make a p, begin
half way between 2 and 3, draw a straight sloping line to 8,
and then touching it at 6, make the latter part of an n. To
make u, begin at 7, go up lightly to 4, then, beginning at 3,
bear on, touch the fine mark you have just made a little below
4, go on to 6, curve as in i, and go up finely to 5. Then
begin again at 3, bear on, touch the fine mark just below 4,
and finish as if it were an i.
To make v, begin at 7, go up lightly, and turn as at the
beginning of n.  Go down to 6, bearing on, then curve, and
go up lightly to 3, not flaring too much, then bear on, go down
by the side of the fine mark, and not on it, as far as 5, then
curve, and go up lightly to 4. To make w, you need only
repeat the first part of v.  To make  b, the first part of a v
should be lengthened by beginning at 2 instead of 3.
To make j, begin at 3, and bearing on, go down to S, then
curve, go up at 9, cross the thick mark you have just made
half way from 8 to 7, and go up as fine as possible to 5. Dot
the j as you would an i where the top of an 1 would come, on
2. y has the first part of v added to j, without its dot.
To make o, begin at 4, and go up lightly curving to 3, then
begin to bear on harder and harder till 5, then light up, begin
to curve at 6, turn at 7, and go up lightly to 4, joining as
neatly as possible. Many begin to make an o at 3, but this is
unsafe, for if it is badly joined it shows, and cannot be covered
when a, d, g or q are made of the o.  When o is well made,
make a of it by placing the pencil on 3, and drawing it to 6,
bearing on, and touching the o, but not cutting any of it off so
as to spoil the oval, curve just below 5 and turn up finely as
in i. To make d, make o, then begin at 2, bear on, touch the
o, but cut none of it off, curve just below 5, and end as in a.
To makle q, make o, then begin at 3, go down, bearing on,
to S.   To make g, make o, go down as in q, and curve, and
go up as in y.
To make c, make a handsome dot on 4, touch the right side
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
of it, go up lightly as in o, curve as in o, except that, instead
of joining where you began, you must let the fine mark incline
to the right, and stop at 5. To make e, begin at 7, go up curving backward to 3, then finish as in c, taking care to cross the
fine mark between 5 and 6.
To make k, begin at 2, and go down to 7 as in making h.
Begin at 4, go finely to 3, curve and bear on between 3 and
4, but come down lightly to 5. Touch the fine mark just
above 5, curve to 5, bear on from 5 to 6, and curve up as
inl h.
To make r, make the first part of n, go up from 6 as if
going to finish n, but at 3 bear on, and go down beside the
fine mark just below 5, and then curve up lightly to 4.
To make s, begin at 7, go up finely and without curving to
3, leave the fine line sharp at top, and touching it between 3
and 4, curve round, thickening most at 5, curving at 7, and
ending in a neat dot on the fine line between 5 and 6.
To make x, begin at 7, go up curving, as if making an o
backwards. Then make a c, taking care however not to bear
on at any part of the c, and not to touch the o part above 4 or
below 6.
To make z, begin at 7, go up lightly to 3, make a neat dot
onr 3, curve lightly and touch 3 again, then curve as you see
rne do, thickening most at 5 and reaching to 7, then leaving
the angle sharp, curve on the 7th line, and go up with a fine
line to 5.
To make f, begin at 7, and go up with a slight curve to 2,
then curve to 1, begin to thicken in coming down at 2, and
carry a steady pressure in a straight line to 8, then curve to
the right, and go up without too wide a sweep to 5; touch
the stem, but do not cross it, as is sometimes ungracefully done.
As the chief object of writing such large hand first is to
give the child a free movement of the hand, which is mnore
easily obtained with a pencil than with a pen, I have always
required the curves at the top and bottom of letters to be narrower than is common in what is called old-fashioned roundhand. This will be seen in the specimen of letters on page
74, and the reason is, that nothing destroys the beauty of fine
hand so much as too large a curve at the top or bottom; and
if the child gets accustomed to a certain proportion in writing
large hand he will preserve it, right or wrong, in small
hand.
In writing large hand, no letter should be looped hutf, g,
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WRITING.
long s and long z and y.  In small hand, b, h, k, and 1, are
also looped. In laige hand, the main stem of the h should be
twice the height of the other part, but in small hand, it may be
four times as high, including the loop.  In large hand,f g,
and y go further below the body than the letter f goes above it.
Capitals extend from 7 to 1 upward.   In old times, the G,
J, and Y were carried from 1 to 9, but the fashion now is to
set G, J, and Y upon the 7th 1ine, and to carry Z down to the
9th. I think it is unsafe to make I for J, and the teacher
should avoid this alteration, but G and Y, if well made, look
better on the 7th, than on the 9th line.
Let not the teacher or parent expect any child to learn to
write in a moment. It is not uncommon for professors of the
Art of writing to promise a good hand to the pupil in twelve
lessons, whether he is apt to learn or not, and, I believe,
,whether he tries to learn or not.  There is deception in this,
not unlike that which is practised in teaching French, it being
not unusual for professors to promise to teach a foreign
language in twenty lessons to persons who have not, with
every advantage of circumstances, been able to learn their
own language in twenty years.
While I was a teacher, one of the most popular professors
of.writing visited Boston, and put up at one of the great hotels,
the daughter of whose landlord was one of my pupils.  She
wrote a neat and very legible hand, but the professor, who
wished to pay his board in the easiest manner, persuaded the
landlord that his daughter wvrote a very bad hand, and, in
twelve lessons, he could make her write an elegant one. The
father very politely asked my consent to the experiment, and
I, of course, gave it, upon condition that she should not, in the
mean time, write any at my school. The professor charged
one dollar a lesson, and at the end of the course, as his bill
for board was more than twelve dollars, he persuaded the landlord to give his daughter another course, which would certainly make her a quite accomplished writer. She took the
second course, and one day afterwards she laid a specimen of
her penmanship upon my desk, and said, in a somewhat
triumphant way, " There, sir, what do you think of that?" " Is
this the result of your twenty-four lessons? " said I. " Yes,
sir," said she.  " Here is what I wrote w;hen I went to Mr.
B., and here is what I wrote when I had completed the
course."  "Well," said I, " what does your father think of
it?" "  0, sir, he thinks I have made great improvement
79 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
and don't you think so too?"  "No," said I, " if I did'not
know the force of habit, I should say he had spoiled your
handwriting; but, as you will soon forget all he has taught
you, and go back to your former hand, the experiment will
do you no harm."  At my request, she gave me  the two
specimens of her work, and I laid them in my desk.  "Now,"
said I, " Ann, tell mne honestly under what circumstances
you wrote the two specilnens,-were they fairly written?"
Why, 11no, sir," said she, "I cannot say they were; for, when I
first went to Mr. B., he told me to write that specimen without
a copy, and although the pen was very bad, he would not mend
it or get me a better one; but when I wrote the other speci men, after I had taken the two courses of lessons, hu ruled my
paper, and mended my pen fifty times."  About three or four
months afterwards, seeing the specimens in my desk, I called
Miss Ann to me, and laying the beautiful specimen before
her, I asked her to read it to me. It consisted of four or five
lines only, but, after trying and guessing for some time, she
confessed, what was quite apparent, that she could not read
it.  " Do you know what it is?" said I.  " 0, yes, sir," said
she.  " Now," said I, " see if you can read the other specimen." She read it with perfect ease, and confessed that, on
the whole, it looked the best.
The fact was, the professor taught a style of writing which
paid little regard to the peculiar form of each letter, and the
letters looked as if they were all m's and n's. I have told
this long story for two reasons.  First, because I believe
many a good teacher has been injured by comparisons made
by injudicious parents and committees, between what such
professors promise, and what regular teachers, under many
disadvantages, perform. If the professor is really a good penman, and does nothing but teach his art, and if the pupil
attends to the lessons, as persons usually do under such circumstances, punctually, carefully, and with a deep feeling of
what is expected of them, and of the extraordinary expense
incurred, much improvement may be made.   But this will all
be lost, unless the pupil frequently, and for a long time,
practises upon the lessons received; and, as not one in a hundred does this, almost every pupil of twelve-lesson-professors
relapses into the handwriting to which he was accustomed
before he was reformed. My second reason is, that the story
teaches the importance of two rules, which teachers should
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always insist upon, first, that the writing shall be legible, and
then that, if possible, it shall be elegant.
I would gladly give directions for the formation of the
capital letters, and also some rules in regard to printing, but
my book threatens to be too volumninous, and I must desist, or
omit entirely other matters of at least equal importance. Let
children, then, begin to write early. Let them write large
lhand before small. Let them write on the slate freely before
they write on paper. When they write on paper, let them
use a lead-pencil before a pen. Let them write much freely
and almost carelessly, to acquire a free movement of the
hand, but let the teacher require every regular copy, and every
exercise in orthography, grammar, &c., to be as well written
as if it were a set exercise in writing. If the teacher is a good
penman, he can carry this instruction into every exercise of
the school; but, if he is not a penman, he cannot teach penmanship, any better than a clown can teach manners.
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DRAWING.
I KNOW not how I can better explain my notions on this
subject, than by giving the preface of a little volume that I
have published on the subject, entitled:
THE EYE AND HAND;
Being a Series of Practical Lessons in Drawing, for the
Training of those Important Organs: Adapted to the Use
of Common Schools.
PREFACE.
Experience has fully demonstrated that Drawing may be
introduced into Infant and Primary Schools with great benefit to the children, and with beneficial effect upon the discipline of the schools. Every child, however young, should
have a slate, and it will require no great skill on the part of
the teacher to chalk some familiar object on the blackboard, and request those children not, otherwise engaged, to
copy it.  The evil of our primary schools, and the greatest
evil, because productive of most other evils, is, want of
employment; and yet how easily a teacher cotld keep a
hundred children constantly and  pleasantly engaged,  if he
knew how to draw.
The apparatus of primary school-rooms does not  admit
of any great variety of lessons; for, often, the little pupil
has no desk, and, of course, no opportunity to use rules,
pens, and paper.  No  matter,-much may be done without
any apparatus but the slate and pencil; much that will be
an excellent introduction to the drawing of maps, and to the
study of Arithmetic and Geometry.   Besides the drawing
of common objects, which exercise the taste. a regular
course of drawing mnay be given, which will train the eye
and the hand, and be to drawing what the four fundamental
rules are to Arithmetic, the basis of all the more advanced
movements.
When Napoleon was emperor of France, he established a
national system of education, and one of the earliest studies
was Drawing;  not fancy drawing, which is hardly subject
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DRAWING.
to tny fixed rules, but that portion of the art which is
subject to them, and for which directions may be given as
certain as any  rule of mathematics, -on which,  in fact,
drawing as a science depends.   The  emperor ordered the
Bureau of Instruction to prepare a drawing book of this
sort for the national schools, and the book so prepared by
M. Francceur, was eminently successful.
The following book is a free translation of the French
Manual, and as far as my practice and my judgment are to
be depended on. the effect of the course of instruction here
proposed is to produce wonderful freedom and accuracy in
the use of the eye and hand. Those who have seen the
elegant writing, printing, and map-drawing, performed by my
pupils, should be informed that those exercises were done
by children who had also been trained to draw according to
the system here proposed and explained, a system more
simple, more practicable in our common schools, and more
economical, than any other that I have seen.
The first lessons are Lines, horizontal, vertical, oblique,
of various prescribed lengths, which the pupils are gradually
taught, without the use of any rule or dividers, to draw perfectly straight, and to cut into halves, thirds, quarters,
inches, tenths, &c., thus illustrating the earliest exercises
in fractions.   Then Angles  are introduced and gradually
explained, and, by practice, the child is soon enabled to
draw an angle of any prescribed number of degrees. Next
follow Triangles, Squares, Pentagons of all sorts, parts of
which are prescribed, and the rest required to correspond.
Pyramids, Prisms, &c., conme next. Then Circles, Ellipses,
Ovals, are introduced, with Cones, Cylinders, &c. &c.
Next, these exact rules are applied to the drawing of Urns,
Vases, the Orders of Architecture, &c. &c., and finally, the
elements of drawing in Perspective are given. All these
lessons are expected to be performed without the use of
instruments, but, directions for making the same figures
with instruments are given in an appendix, and simple prob
lems, in the simplest rules of arithmetic, are given, to ena
b)le the pupil to calculate the contents of a square, a polygon,
a prism, cone or cylinder,-an exercise of the utmost impo)rtance to the mechanic, who-wishes to draft his own plats,
calculate contracts, and be independent of others.
The exercises are confined to lines, and do not attempt to
teach shading. Directions are given at every step, so that
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a teacher who knows nothing of drawing, may, by following
the rules, learn the art while teaching it to his pupils, and
the correction of their work will soon give him an exactness
and facility of eye and hand, that will surprise him. Such
was the effect of my practice in this way, that, to this day, I
rarely use any rule or dividers for drawing lines, or describ  ing circles.
In teaching drawing to the young, I would not exclude
fancy drawing, because this cultivates the taste as well as
the eye and the hand; but there is no such system in it
nor can any be introduced. I should, therefore, introduce
fancy figures occasionally, as I would introduce spelling
froIn reading lessons, to vary the exercise and give life to it.
The main reliance, however, must be upon that part of
drawing which is subject to rules, which does not depend
upon arbitary taste, and which may be conducted systemati  cally to any extent of skill and accuracy. If the teacher
requires aid in the delineation of common objects, he may
find elementary drawing books in great abundance, or he
may place real objects before the pupils; and, if they prac tise the lessons of this book first, they will afterwards apply
their knowledge and skill to the delineation of natural
objects without the awkwardness and fear that usually mark
the efforts of beginners.
I am satisfied that drawing and writing are nearly allied,
and  may be introduced  into primary schools much  more
early than is generally supposed; and, as there can be no
doubt of the utility of these branches, and as they serve
admirably  to fill up the otherwise  idle  hours  of school
time, it is to be hoped that, if teachers do not voluntarily
introduce them, the Committees will require themr to be
introduced, not to push  aside other studies, but to banish
indolence and all its evil consequences from our schools.
I believe that drawing may be taught to children as soon, or
even sooner, than they can be taught to write. In preparing
a book to train the eye and hand of pupils, I was aware of the
fact that most teachers of drawing are entirely unacquainted
with any rules of the art, except those which relate to the
manner of holding and  using the pencil, that is, in making
marks-and shading figures.   Of course, the children will gel
instruction in this part of drawing more easily than in that
which is less. common.   A course of lessons, therefore, that
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had a bearing upon the scientific part of the  art, was  a
desirable thing, and such I endeavored to furnish to the young
teacher. The book is accompanied with such complete directions, that I need not repeat themn, but shall content myself
with giving a few plain directions to aid teachers in drawing
objects of taste, which may not be embraced by the rules )bf
the book, but which, as I have said in the preface, should be
interspersed among the more severe exercises of the book,
as a reward or relaxation.
By all means let the pupils draw outlines first. If they
have any choice of pencils, let them use a soft one in preference to a hard one, and make the line as lightly as possible,
that it may be easily erased if not well made. Whatever the
picture to be drawn, let the wvhole outline be drawn first.
Then examine it careflilly, and fix the outline by a plainer
mark with a harder pencil. If the object to be shaded be an
animal,-a horse, for instance,-begin at the head and shade
downwards.    If a landscape, begin  at the top, which  is
generally the more remote part of the picture, and then there
will be less danger of erasing the work by rubbing your hand
over it.  Indeed, the neat workman will always keep a piece
of paper between his hand and his work, to prevent any
erasure, and any soiling of the paper. For a general rule,
the deepest shades belong to the remotest objects. If you
draw a circle and wish to shade it so that it.shall resemble a
ball, the darkest shade must be at the circumference, and the
centre of what was the circle will be the lightest, and will
represent that part of the ball nearest to you.
These hints will enable the teacher, not only to keep his
pupils employed, but to make diagrams and other illustrations
of his lessons. Hie may even go further, and by the same
rules paint illustrations on cotton cloth with great ease.  At
one of the Institutes I gave the teachers a lesson in the art of
painting on cotton; and then, to ascertain whether I had been
understood, I called on such as thought they could not paint a
copy of what I had painted, to hold up a hand. Several
hands, of course, were raised; and, to their surprise, I picked
out the most faint-hearted of them, and requested her to come
forward and draw and paint an object similar to that I had
painted on the cloth.  She said " She could not do it to save
her life." To please me, however, she made an attempt to
draw and shade the figure, which was the large bone of the
arm, and she did it well, and with great ease and dispatch.
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
All that is necessary is to take a piece of cotton cloth, and
tack it as tight as possible upon a board, (I used a common
foldingr-board.) Then, with a crayon or lead pencil, draw an
outline of the object to be painted.  The paint to be used is
common black paint, such as is used to paint common woodwork. It is made by mixing lampblack and linseed or
painter's oil. A little spirit of turpentine may be added, if
you wish it to dry speedily. Do not make the paint too thin.
AIy rule is to mix it on a pane of glass, and of such consistency that it will just not run off. A common stiff hair-pencil
will do to paint over the outline, but a stiffer brush, made of
bristles, and no larger than a common hair-pencil, is preferable, because it overcomes more readily the fuzz which is
found on the surface of most cotton cloth.   For the same
reason, in printing letters on this cloth, I generally use a stick
made of a piece of shingle a tenth of an inch wide, and
about as thick as the shingle is, in the middle. With the flat
side I mark the thick part, and with the edge the thin part of
the letters.
After the outline is painted with the small brush, the best
way to shade the figure'is the following.  Take an old paintbrush that has been worn down until the bristles come to an
edge like a wedge, which wedge must not exceed an inch in
length. Place the edge lengthwise on the outline, bear on,
and, as you draw the brush forward. light up the hand. Of
course, the darkest shade will then be at the outline, and the
lightest near the centre towards which the brush is drawn.
If there is no wish to give the figure a rounded appearance,
rub the brush on a piece of cloth or board till it makes a mark
of the desired shade, and then rub the'brush'over the figure.
Diagrams painted in this way will last very long, and, if
soiled, may be washed and look all the better for it.  A little
practice will enable the teacher to overcome any obstacle that
will arise, and in this way, he may ornament his school-room,
and prepare illustrations which will be as much more intel]ligible than mere words, as one example of painting would be
more effectual than this imperfect description of the process.
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I Lecture on "The Best Method of Teaching Geography,"
delivered before the American Institute of Instruction, at
Hartford, Conn., August, 1S45; by WILLIAM B. FOWLE.
Re-published from the fifteenth volume of the Institute
Lectures.
IN rising to address you at this time, I feei the embarrassment which always attends any attempt to address a mixed
audience upon the details of instruction in any branch of science; for, if the subject is only treated in general terms, there
are always some to accuse it of having no practical bearing;
and, if it is treated in detail, a larger number, perhaps, will
find it dull and uninteresting. I would gladly have avoided
the task altogether, but your committee were so polite as to
invite me to lecture, because I had some score years of experience as a teacher of the branch which they proposed for my
subject, and I had done so little for the Institute, that I did not
feel at liberty to decline, however serious were my misgivings
as to the result.
The subject proposed by your committee was, " The Best
Method of Teaching Geography," by which they probably
meant my method, taking it for granted that no honest teacher
will for a moment use any method but that which he considers
the best.  But a serious difficulty met mne at the outset; for,
what did the committee understand by the term Geography?
I knew that this term, etymologically considered, meant a
description of the earth in all its appearances, permanent and
changeable; but the committee must have used the word in a
more restricted sense, and how was I to get at it?  I applied
first to that leviathan of lexicographers, Dr. Johnson, and
he said "Geography is the knowledge of the earth."   The,
we are told by an admired grammarian, is the definite article,
although, as in this case, all that is indefinite in the defini tion seems to proceed from the use of the.  But, allowing that
the Doctor meant, "Knowledoe of the earth," the question
naturally arose, What knowledge of it? Its origin? its struc
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ture? its superficial features?  its artificial divisions?  it,
changes?  or, what part of the various knowledge that has
been collected from age to age? To ascertain the kind or
degree of this knowledge, I thought the definition of particular
departments of it would aid me, and turning to the word
Geology, I found that to mean, " The Doctrine of the Earth."
I then, of course, turned to tle word doctrine, and found that
to mean, " The principles or positions of any sect or master."
Not perceiving that I had made any approximation to the
desired point, but more than ever convinced of the absurdity
of requiring children to study lessons from the Dictionary, I
turned to the word Topography, and found this to be, "A
description of particular places," by which, I suppose, the
Doctor meant, "A particular description of places;" for, if a
description of particular places is topography, then a descrip  tion of all places is not topography.
I resorted, then, to the definitions given by our best geogra  phers, but, instead of repeating these, which, by the way, are
often greatly at variance with the contents of their textbooks;
I prefer to give a paragraph from the Library of Useful
Knowledge, which not only describes what I consider to be
the great mistake of all geographical textbooks, but which
proposes nearly the plan that I have pursued from the begin ning, and which I shall endeavor to recommend in this lecture.
"Universal Geography," says the author, whoever he may be,
"is the science that conveys to us a knowledge of the earth,
both as a distinct and independent body in the universe, and
as connected with a system of heavenly bodies.   The  figure,
structure and dimensions of the earth; the properties and
mutual relations of its parts; the features of its surface; its
productions and inhabitants, and the laws which govern or
partially affect it as a heavenly body, are all included in the
comprehensive term of Universal Geography.   This defini tion," he goes on to say, "or rather, this description of the
objects of geography, serves as the basis of M. Malte Brun's
elaborate work, but it manifestly embraces a great variety of
subjects commonly called, and treated under distinct heads of,
natural philosophy. To avoid, therefore, the confiusion of
ideas to which the extensiveness of this definition may give
rise, it will be convenient to reduce its terms within the limits
usually assigned to geograplhy. And we are the rather induced
to do this, because the interests of science have been promoted,
ir no slight degree, by a judicious and well defined arrange
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iernt of its parts, which at once excludes a great number of
fanciful resemiblances, and, like a division of labor in mechanical emnployments, renders every branch more easy to be acquired,
and more likely to be extended and improved."  "In its proper
and more confined sense,"' he concludes, " geography comprises a knowledge of the figure and dimensions of the earth,
and tile situation of places upon it; of the natural and political
features and divisions of its surface; and of its various prodzctions and inhabitants."  This latter definition, with the
exception of the last clause, may be assumed by the lecturer,
but "the description of the various productions of the earth"
approaches so nearly to Botany  and  Geology, and "the
description of its inhabitants" approaches so nearly to Natural
and, perhaps, Civil History, that they had better be referred to
the books devoted to those important but distinct sciences.
If we examine the books that are most used in the schools
of the United States for teaching geography, we soon come tc
the conclusion, that, if all they contain is geography, then
this is the most comprehensive name ever given to a science,
and we shall be led, perhaps, to suspect that Dr. Johnson was
fully aware of what he said, when he defined geography to be
" THE knowledge of the earth," par excellence.  I know not
that I shall do injustice to many of these textbooks, if I say
that every thing is found in them but what ought to be there;
for, really, when the proper materials are there, they are so
buried under other matters, that they are with difficulty found.
In most of them, besides topography, and a smattering of geol ogy and astronomy, we find history, botany; zoology, meteor ology, and all the other ologies appertaining to natural history,
with theology, chronology, genealogy, manners and customs, the
statistics of war, education, sectarianism, internal improvement,
law, physic, agriculture, cormmerce, manufactures, philanthropy,
and most other human concerns. Now, all these subjects are
very important, and every well educated person should know
more, much  more of them, than is contained in these geo graphical textbooks; but it is questionable whether an adult
mind would be much improved by reading or learning by rote
such knowledge, however important, given as it is, without
system, without due proportion, without judgment. But, if
such desultory remarks are of doubtful utility to adults, what
rmust they be to children, who generally come to the stuidy of
geography long before they have studied any of the subjects
just enumerated?  It was the custom, when the spelling-book
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
was almost the only secular book used in our schools, tc
crowd a smattering of almnost every thing else into it, and I
have one that contains, besides its vocabulary of words, the
elements of reading, grammar, arithmetic, geography, astronomy, rhetoric, theology, penmanship, and a variety of other
matters, more necessary then, when the Bible and spelling
book were the school-boy's library, than such a medley is in
our geographies now, when every division of human science
has an appropriate textbook, in which it is systematically
treated. The good sense of the community has long ago
banished such extraneous subjects from the spelling book, but
will it sift the geographies also? Many of those subjects are
as much related to spelling as the others are to geography;
for, spelling, unless accompanied with writing, reading and
grammar, is but half taught, and this fact the people are beginning to perceive.
What I have called the extraneous matter of geographical
textbooks often constitutes about three quarters of them, and,
no doubt, it is introduced to fix the geographical facts in the
memory by association or some other sympathetic influence.
But, if this is a sufficient excuse for introducing such fragmenats of various knowledge, how important is ib that the mtnost
striking and apposite illustrations should be selected.  Yet, I
find no such judgment exercised; so that the aid afforded by
the associated knowledge only increases the burden.   For
instance, one popular author, who relies much upon the aid
of pictures, when treating of the geography of America, gives
us a view of Columbus leaving Palos, in Spain; but how will
this help the child to remember the shape, features, natural or
artificial divisions of America?  It introduces an historical fact,
and may recall Spain to mind, though the site of Palos, the
subject of the picture, is no where described.  In his larger
geography, the same author gives a picture emblematical of
the United States, viz.: an Indian astride a flying eagle.
Then we have a picture of the Resignation of General Washingrton, but, as we are not told where it took place, it is not
evident what geographical fact it is to impress upon the
memory. This incongruity is not confined to him, however,
for another amiable and excellent author, whose book is a
mass of facts, that render it, in my opinion, unfit to be used
by children, while they show his unusually extensive acquaintance with the earth and all that appertains to it, gives a
Romrnan Catholic procession in Guatimala; some peasants
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dancing in France: and many similar pictures, not peculiar
to the country where they are given, and not likely to operate
as aids to the recollection of any geographical fact any where.
But this will suffice, and I need not produce examples from
inferior authors. I am not unacquainted with the power of
association in assisting the memory, but I have been accustomed
to associate unknown things with those that are familiar, and I
cannot be deceived into the belief, that, where there are no
common points of resemblance, any thing is gained to the
memnory by having two facts to remember instead of one.
So with the description of places, customs, &c. &c., which
are to be committed to memory; they are rarely connected
with the thing to be remembered with them. For a general
rule, those who have studied the textbooks in common use,
are ignorant of the location of places and the physical features
of the earth, exactly in proportion to the quantity of words
they may have committed to memory. My heart has sunk
within me when I have examined children, whose memories
had been thus taxed at the expense of health, and of years of
precious time far worse than wasted. Who does not know
how eager such children are to recite as soon as they have
committed a lesson to memory?  One would think the recitation was to fix it forever in the mind, whereas it is really
only a device to let it escape and make room for its successor;
it being a law with these unsubstantial things, as with solid
bodies, that no two can occupy the same place at the same
time.
While I was at school, geography was first introduced as a
regular exercise, and, on the whole, the method of instruction
wvas more rational than that which has since prevailed,
although its result was very similar. The chief book used
was an abridgement of Dr. Morse's Universal Geography, but
it was read only, and not committed to memory.  It was
never explained to the pupils, and being quite unintelligible,
was, of course, very uninteresting. The only portion that
was tolerable, was a description of the animals of this country;
and this was to the desert a sort of oasis, which we visited,
in the course of our reading, only about once a year. The
book contained one or two maps, but we were never required
to examine them, and, in most cases, they were soon torn out,
and thrown away as the most useless things in the world.
To beguile the tedious hour of idleness, which then, as now,
constituted the larger part of school time, such of us as retained
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the nmaps were accustomed to play " hunt foi places" on
them.  This was a standing game for years, and to this I am
indebted for all the knowledge of geography that I brought
away from school, although, whenever I was detected in this
forbidden exercise, I was severely punished.'I do not recol lect any more of that book than I should if I had committed
it all to memory, but I recollect how I hated Dr. Morse for
making it. Another book, used at the same time, was Bing ham's Astronomical and  Geographical  Catechism, a small
book which I committed to memory in a few months, and
recited regularly eight or ten times a year, without under standing a word of it, for it was never explained to me. In
connection with oral teaching, I prefer books that ask ques tions, and require the pupil to search the atlas for an answer,
without furnishing one ready to his hand, or a key to one in
the shape of the first letter.  But the little Catechism gave an
answer to every question, and a departure from the very
words of the book, although the idea was retained, was
deemed an error, as well as the height of presumption. There
was no association in my mind between any description in
these two books and any spot on the maps, but many of those
descriptions were indelibly associated with certain black-andblue spots elsewhere.
I have remarked that the extraneous matter of our geographical textbooks is of but little value when learned; let
me enlarge a little upon this idea. Who does not know that
when a new edition of a geography, a revised edition, I mean,
is printed, the old edition is no longer fit for use? Why is
this? The author of the larger geography used, until lately,
in the Boston schools. tells us, in the preface of one of his
editions, that it was first published in 1819, and, after two
editions, was stereotyped, or placed beyond alteration.  Soon,
he adds, it was necessary to re-write it entirely, and then.
after two more    editions, it was stereotyped, or fixed again.
Unfortunately the world would not stay fixed to accommodate
the types, and, in a subsequent page, we are told that the
book " may be expected to remain as it is, until a considerable
change shall become desirable," that is, until an unusually
large portion of it becomes incorrect!  The author of a later
and more popular geography, but by no means a better one,
informs us in his preface, that "The introduction of a great
variety of books into schools in the same department of
knowledge, by rendering the information uncertain, the
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expense greater, and the progress less rapid, is an evil of
which many have complained."  But how is this evil to be
remedied? How is the greater expense of using various
books, that may correct each other, instead of "rendering the
information uncertain," to be remedied? Let us see. " To
obviate this," continues the preface, "the author has resolved
to give his work a periodical revision, which will be repeated
and continued regularly once in five years thereafter;" which
seems to mean that, instead of buying several books of differ  ent authors, the pupils will only have to purchase several
editions of the same book. But the expense is of no impor  tance compared with the fact, that, after a child has studied a
book five years, the new edition will show him that, if what
he has learned is retained, it is incorrect, and, of course, use  less to him.
Now, whence arises this absurd, nay, cruel necessity for
change? Not because the world has changed; it is essen tially the same it was when  Noah went forth from the ark
four thousand years ago; —not even, because the divisions
made by man have essentially changed, for, every where,
except perhaps in our own country, these divisions are what
they were one generation at least ago.  Is it not evident that
the new book must be made to rectify matters that should
never have found a place in the old one? What is the object
of teaching geography in our schools? Is it not the same as
that of teaching arithmetic, reading, spelling, and the other
common branches-to give the child something that will be
of service to him when he becomes a man? And is there not
enough that is permanent on the earth, to occupy the few
months, or even years,  that are devoted to the study  of
geography?  Have  the oceans  ceased  to heave since the
Almighty gathered them to their place?  Have the countless
rivers ceased to run since they were poured out from the hol  low of the Almighty hand? The everlasting hills, have they
moved again since they fled from the wrath of Him who
upliftet them?   No, no, no, nor will they, till the dooming
angel shall plant his right foot upon the flood, and his left
foot upo)n the earth, and swear by Him that liveth forever and
ever, that time shall be no longer.
But let it not be supposed that I would reject all such aids
as would interest the child in the permanent, and, as I think,
proper subjects of geographical instruction.   The competent'
teacher may often suggest some circumstance to engage the
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pupil, and give him an interest in the thing to be remembered
If you wished to express the fact that there is such a country
as Italy, and its peculiar form, upon the mind of a child, you
might tell him about Rome as it was and as it is; when its
material wall included hut one hill, and was so low that it
was overleaped in derision, or when its spiritual wall inclosed
all Christendom, and aspired to include heaven; when it
subdued the world by knowledge, or enslaved it by ignorance;
when the dark oracles of the Sibyl, or the bright oracles of
God, were shut up from the people; you might tell the child
all this, but what would he know of the geography of Italy?
Not one tenth as much as he would if you showed him the
map, called his attention to its boot-like form, and required
him to draw a dozen or more outlines of it. The textbook
used in the Boston schools was as copious as any, and the
instruction conformable to it, probably, as thorough; and yet,
in the remarkable Report of the Examining Committee of
those schools in 1845, -,~e are told, "That each scholar (of five
hundred selected from the first division of the highest class of
each school) was required to sketch on paper an outline of
Italy, and many attempted it, but, of the whole number, only
seventeen made a drawing, which could have been recognized
as a representation of Italy, by one who did not know what
the scholar was trying to do."'
Again, if you wished to impress the geographical outline
of the Spanish Peninsula upon the pupil's mind, would you
tell him of Ferdinand and Isabella; of the repulse of the
Saracen invaders, and the invasion of Mexico; of the enfranchisemnent of Spain and the establishment of the Inquisition;
of the slaughter of infidel Moors, and the more modern
butchery of Christian hosts?  You might do all this without
giving the pupil any idea of the geography of Spain.  But,
if you should show the pupil a Spanish dollar, and call his
attention to the Shield, whose form is exactly that of the Peninsula; to the Castle and the Lion, Castile and Leon, whose
union freed Spain from the Saracens; to the two pillars,
emlblents of the Pillars of Hercules, Gibraltar and Ceuta; to
the motto that entwines them, ".Ne plus ultra," "there is
nothing beyond," and then explain to him this limit of ancient
geography, which Spain herself was the first to pass, my word
fi)r it, you would not only give him some definite ideas of the
geography of Spain, but you would  give an interest, that
never existed before, to Spanish dollars.
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By such mneans, the well-furnished teacher may enliven the
details of study; but I have  always found that, where  the
book is what it ought to be, and  the black —board and pencil
are constantly used, there is but little need of other excite  ment, and the name of a country becomes associated with
every geographical peculiarity of it.  I will not go into all
the details of the method by which I contrived to impress all
the important features of the globe upon the minds of my
pupils, for this would be uninteresting, perhaps, even to
teachers, and he who wishes to read them may find them in
the books which my peculiar method of teaching compelled
me to publish. I shall, therefore, only say briefly, that, when
called on to teach a child geography, my custom is, first to
show the child a map or plan of his own town; then to point
out its connection with other towns; how these towns form
counties, and how the counties form the state. Then I should
take the map of the United States, and point out Massachusetts
and the neighboring states, showing how  they combine to
form the Union. Next, I should take the map of North
America, and pointing out the United States and its territory,
I should constantly keep  the eye of the pupil upon  the
decreasing size of Massachusetts.  I speak of maps, because
these are in every school, but the globe is far better, when  ever it can be obtained. Then on the globe, or a map of the
world, I show the connection between North and South
America, the wide space of water between the continents, the
New World on one side, and the Old World on the other.  I
show him  the whole globe, how we live on it, and how it
turns round; then I recall his attention to his native state,
and when he has a distinct idea of its place on the globe, I
return to his own town, 6r to his own state, if I have no
suitable map of the town to enable me to make that the point
f rom which our future lessons are to proceed.  I then require
the pupil to draw as good an outline of his town, county or
state, whichsoever I must begin with, on the slate, black-board
or paper, or on all of them.  When he can do this decently,
I let him fit the contiguous states upon it.  If his book has
little or nothing in it relating to his own state, he may draw
the outline of every state in the Union, separate]y, several
times, without entering into minute details; but if he has a
map of his own state, and his book can serve him as a guide,
let him draw a map of good size, and mark first the moun   tains on it, and be told that these are the most important
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feature in a country, and generally indicate the high lands
from which the rivers rise. Then let him mark the rivers,
and be sure to make him understand that they run from the
highlands to the sea, downhill always. Then proceed to the
other geographical divisions of land and water, dotting the
important towns, and talking about the face of the country, as
if it were outstretched before yol.
If something like this familiar survey had been attempted
iii the schools to which I just nowv referred, do you think that,
wnen their five hundred elect scholars were asked, " Do the
waters  of Lake Erie run  into Lake  Ontario or those of
Ontario into Erie?" only two hundred and eighty-seven
could have answered correctly, and " if we take into consideration," as the committee say in their report, "what is
unquestionably true, that many of those who did not know,
answered by guess, and they were just as likely to guess
right as wrong," would it have been a fact, as the committee
assert it was, that "much the largest portion* of our best
scholars could not tell which way the waters run, in spite of
all the fame of Niagara?"  Surely not; and, after this exposure, whatever textbook may be used in those schools,
you may depend upon it that the pupils will never row their
teachers up these Falls again.*
Before leaving the native state of the pupil, be sure that a
general idea of all its important points is obtained, so that the
child can readily tell its parts, as you draw them on the board,
or point them out on the outline map. Then let him take a
neighboring state, and do the same by that, and so extend his
knowledge to the rest, gradually travelling over the world,
learning no descriptions by rote, but visiting every place often,
and impressing things, not words, upon the mind. If the
teacher, while pointing at the map, can enliven the lesson by
a pleasant anecdote, description, or picture, so much the better,
and any teacher may do this, if he faithfully prepares himself
for the lesson; but woe unto the story if it needs to be
formally committed to memory!
The first           time I go  over   the world with a pupil, I do not
hurry, and I am not too particular. The next time I require
more.  At first, the states and countries of the world are
* A subsequent report of the committee deciares that great impn rovement
has been made in these schools since this lecture was delivered, and the
liLeral appropriation for globes and outline maps, and the increased activity
of the teachers, show that, ere long, Boston w ilt be herself again.
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drawn separately, anA of a small size; iext, the smaller states
are grouped, and so, at each course over the world, the space
included in the maps is extended. I required no maps to be
drawn for exhibition, but, once a year, I selected a fair specimen of the work of each pupil, and bound the whole neatly,
as a sort of landmark from which to measure the progress of
the pupils. The volumes that I have thus preserved are
among the most valuable memorials of my pupils and of my
labors.
After a basis is thus laid, the children are ready to enjoy
history, voyages and travels, and all books that describe the
countries with whose geography they are acquainted.   It
was alvays my custom to select a good newspaper, and read
it, or suitable parts of it, to my more advanced classes.  If
the name of a place was mentioned, we determined its
direction and distance from home; and if the name was new
to the class, they noted it upon paper, and at the next lesson
were expected to tell all they had gathered relating to it. To
meet such exigencies the school was always furnished with
the best Atlases and Gazetteers;* but these often failed us, for
the newspapers are always in advance of books, and we were
often obliged to go into the world, and get instruction from
men who know more of the actual world than they do of
books.  All arrivals and departures of vessels, most advertisements, and, indeed, almost every part of the paper, besides
imparting the knowledge of what was actually going on in
the world, made the pupil acquainted with its geography, and
afforded me countless opportunities of imparting that useful
and practical knowledge which the child will never pick out
of his textbooks, and the want of which makes our mere
book-learned pupils as unfit for business, as if what is learned
at school is only to be used at school, having nothing to do
with the outward world.
In this way, I would teach geography to young children
and to all beginners; but, if they are required to learn history
also, they should connect it with geography. My plan was
always to read the history to the class, requiring themn to look
at the maps.  Each pupil also drew an outline map on paper,
* Perhaps no more us'fil assistant has been afforded to teachers than the
UNIVERSAL PRONOUNCING GAZETTEER lately prepared by THOMAs BALDWIN
of Philadelphia, assisted by many distinguished scholars, foreign as well as
native   This is one of the Books of Reference that should be in every
School Library, and should be placed there by School Committees.
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and, as fast as places or other objects, such as r vers, mouii tains, &c., were named, they were marked on the map, and,
if there was room, the event and its date were recorded by
.their side. Maps were prepared, adapted to the different
epochs in the history of a country; especially if such divisions
of the country as were not natural and permanent were
seriously altered.  In the history of England, for instance, the
first map represented England as it was when first invaded by
the Romans.   The second represented it as it was when the
Romans left it. The next, divided under the Saxon Heptarchy; the next, after its reuinion under Alfred; then in the
reign of Elizabeth, and then in our own times.  Sometimes,
in teaching ancient history, we hung a large outline map
before the class, and marking the place of each event with
both the ancient and modern name, and inserting no name
unknown to history, we formed a sort of historico-geographica]
mnap, which the pupils all copied for private use. I need not
go further into these details; the plan, probably, is not so
novel now as it was twenty years ago, when I adopted it, and
I have said as much as the intelligent and industrious teachei
needs, and far more than the indifferent one will use.
If it be asked, as it reasonably may, wxhy not begin at once
with history, and let geography come in by the  by?   1
answer, because history is not geography, and no history will
touch upon a hundredth part of what relates to the geography
of a country.  Books of voyages and travels are better than
history in this respect, but, as I have already hinted, a good
newspaper is better than all of them. But there is another
serious objection to this indirect mode of teaching geography
and it is, that the time usually spent in school forbids this
course of instruction. If the meagre compends of history
used in our schools be adopted as a guide, the child will
snow as little of geography as of history; and if the larger
Histories are employed, a general acquaintance with geography would require nearly the whole threescore and ten
years allotted to mortals, and not merely the few years of a
school  life.  No, -geography  is as much  a science as
geometry, and it can be picked up by reading history no
better than geometry can be picked up by reading works on
astronomy   The elements must firstbe systematically learned,
and then the cognate sciences may, and should, aid and illustrate each other.
In teaching geography to the young, a question of some
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importance is, how, or rather, where, shall we begin? The
prevalent opinion among the best teachers is, that we should
begin at honze.  Some go so far as to say, we should begin at
the school-room, fix the points of the compass, teach the direction of the roads, the boundaries of the district, the contiguous
districts, the boundaries of the town, the situation of every
pond, stream, hill, and other important object in it, and then
proceed to the next town. This, on the whole, is the true
plan, and the natural one; but you may have perceived that,
in describing my course, I first gave a general idea of the
world, that the child might know  what and where home was,
and this course had been forced upon me by the attempt to
teach entirely on the Itomne plan. When I marked the cardinal
points on the floor of my school-room, the little geographers
would ask, "What does north mean, sir? Why is north
always there? Do we live on the top or bottom of the world,
sir?" &c. &c., questions that may very easily be answered in
one lesson, which I have always found the pleasantest lesson
the child ever learns. With the exception of this one lesson
then, I would begin as near homne as my means of illustration
would admit. But, alas, how defective are these means!
Suppose that, in obedience to the directions in a geography
published in this very city,* the teacher should begin at the
school-room. He will naturally look into the book for information as to the vicinity, but so far from finding any at the
beginning of the book, he finds not one word about Connecticut until he reaches the one hundred and ninety-fourth page,
and of three hundred and fifty-two pages, but one is devoted
to Connecticut, and nearly half of this is a picture of Yale
College. Another popular geography, containing three hundred and twelve pages, and published also in Hartford,
gives your state but one pag,e and a half. A third geograph3, published  in  New  York,  and much  used, gives
Connecticut three of its two hundred and eighty-eight
pages, including, however, a view of Hartford, and what
would be a view of Yale College, if the trees did not conceal
all the buildings. The geography perhaps the most extensively
used- in this country, and published in Philadelphia, out of
three hundred and thirty-six pages, allows Connecticut about
two, including a picture of a school-house, and a wagon of
emigrants going west; but whether the wagon points rut the
* The Lecture was delivered at Hartford, Conn.
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
object of the school, or whether both these objects are peculiar
to this state, we are not informed. Finally, the geography
until lately used in the schools of Boston, and, I think,
published in that city, contains three hundred and thirty
pages, and spares one to Connecticut, but then, it is a whoZle
page, without the drawback of a picture.   The number of
pages devoted to Mlassachusetts in each of these books, is
hardly greater than is given to Connecticut, and yet our
children learn nothing of our state, but the few pages I have
named, and can you wonder that they know as little of Massachusetts or Connecticut as they do of Tartary or Ethiopia?
I hope these details will be excused on account of the important bearing they have upon our schools. Few of our children
ever go beyond the limits of our state, and no geographical
knowledge can be so important to them as the knowledge of
that state with which they are so intimately connected; and
yet, for half a century, we have been contented to let them
study every thing but this, apparently supposing that a competent knowledge of their own state is born with them, and,
being an instinct, needs no cultivation.
Some most important apparatus has been provided of late
for the instruction of the young in the elements of geography;
1 refer to black-boards and outline maps. These seem to be
all the teacher would require, if he were what he ought to be;
but as he is what he is, some textbook must guide him, or he
and his scholars will all be lost, if they wander a furlong from
home.   Black-boards may be made a substitute for outline
maps, but they serve better as helpers, and it is far better to
use both, and always to have a globe at hand to correct the
wrong impressions which children are so apt to receive from
maps, however drawn. If not familiar with the globe, they
will be constantly inclined to think the surface of the earth
flat as a map. Being accustomed to hold the northern part
of their maps elevated, they will naturally connect the' idea of
up with north, and of down with south, and, perhaps, to this we
may attribute, in a great measure, the mistake in regard to the
course of Niagara river, to which I have before alluded, for its
course is almost directly north. The presence of the globe is
also necesssary to prevent the mischief that arises from using
maps drawn, as they must be, on various scales. The map of the
world must correct this error, if no globe is at hand; but the
mnap of the world is on a plane, and needs a globe to correct
itself.  Sometimes, to correct erroneous notions, I have hung
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maps upside down before the class. The outline map is a
safe assistant, in so far as it presents only such points of geography as are always true and unchangeable, and is not apt to
be crowded with the less important matters which obscure
other maps. The practical teacher may accustom the child
to look upon it as upon the earth's surface; he may point out
the general features of the country, the elevations and depressions, and their connection with the source and course of
rivers; and a fewv lessons of this sort, that require no book,
would save the poor children, and the poor rivers also, a deal
of up-hiZl labor.
The textbooks would be a less important concern, if the
teachers were all they ought to be; but we have reason to
believe that the character of our teachers has of late beeii
greatly improved, though not, perhaps, in proportion to the
additional duties imposed upon thein. Before they could
become expert in teaching those elementary branches which
satisfied our fathers, new branches have been introduced, until
we seem to be in danger of having a surplus of colleges,
without any good schools. It would, in my opinion, be wiser
far to teach a little, well, and to have the instruction such only
as will be available in the world. Small as the amount of
learning is, that our children acquire at school, a large portion
of it is as unfit for use as if it were never intended to be used.
Grammar is any thing but learning the correct use of language;
geography is pantology, as I; have shown; the too early introduction of algebra has made almost a negative quantity of
common practical arithmetic; those who have mastered bookkeeping, seem to understand only the waste; proficients in
astronomy cannot tell the Little Dog from the Great Bear;
profound botanists descant on the structure and repeat the
hard names of exotics, without knowing the name, or the class,
or the virtues of the plants on which they daily tread; and
thousands, who  are reported to have mastered  a foreign
language, cannot  pronounce a word of it correctly.  This
ought not to be so.  Progress is desirable, but not at such an
expense.  Let uie, however, return to my subject.  Geography
is a science that may, in a great measure, be exhibited to the
senses, and it is the duty of the teacher to call in their aid in
every possible manner.   If the countries cannot be brought
under the eye of the pupil, the best maps of them must be;
and when, in this way, a clear idea is commtunicated to the
ininc, there is no need of committing words to memory.
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
And, in attempting such illustrations, let not the young
teacher be discouraged at the idea that he may not execute a
map as readily, or as well as a veteran teacher might do it.
Whether he knows how to go to work or not, let himn rely or
the perfecting power of practice.  Be not afraid, therefore
to attempt whatever others have done, and let no fear of
failure or love of ease induce you to shrink from any real
improvement.' Above all, do not impose upon your pupils
any system of instruction which mocks them with a show of
learning, while, by leaving no useful and permanent inmpressions on the mind, it really inflicts upon the innocent a
punishment not unlike that of the guilty Danaides, who were
condemned to be perpetually filling with water a vessel whose
bottom was full of holes.
As my general ideas on the subject of geography are contained in the preceding lecture, I shall endeavor now to give
such a particular account of my manner of teaching, as will
enable the teacher to carry out those ideas which have not
been sufficiently explained.
I lay it down as an axiom, that geography, adapted to
common schools, must be limited almost entirely to topography, and such views of the surface of the earth as do not
properly belong to any other science. When narrowed down
to this, it may be understood by children, for it may be made
an exercise of the senses.  When I commenced teaching, the
geographical textbooks were not essentially different from
what they are now. Then, as now, they contained much
irrelevant matter, which was either neglected by the learner,
or, if learned, was not only forgotten, but seemed to prevent
all attention to such parts of geography as were really intelligible to children, and worthy of being remembered.
While instructing at the Teachers' Institutes, I have had a
good opportunity to verify all my fears upon the inutility of
teaching geography by means of the common class books.
It is but fair to conclude that the thousand teachers whom I
have met, had been as carefully instructed in geography as
any pupils that have ever issued from our common schools
and academies, They had all learned books by heart, and
had taught their pupils to do the samne.  Of the descriptive
pa}t of geography they remembered very little, and so far from
Weingt able to sketch a picture of any country from memory,
on the black-board or on paper, the majority of them did no
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venture to draw a map from a copy placed before them, and
many had never attempted to do this. When called on to
name islands, or rivers, or even towns, - to name them, not
to describe their situation or other peculiarities, - their list
was soon exhausted; and they were always astonished at the
fact which this experiment revealed, for the first time evi  dently, to themselves. I hope they will excuse me for
alluding to what some may think it my duty to conceal; but
the great reform to which I am assured that my few imperfect
lessons has led, satisfies me that they themselves would now
use this argument, the strongest that can be produced, of the
insufficiency of our popular textbooks, and of the prevalent
method of teaching geography; for, surely, if the best pupils
of our schools become teachers, and, atfter teaching, are still
deficient in a tolerable knowledge of the easiest part of the
science, topography, time has been wasted, money has been
wasted, health has been squandered; all, pupils, teachers,
parents, have been deceived, and a thorough reform is
needed, is demanded.
I do not speak at hazard oa this subject; I saw the futility
of this whole system of instruction, the first year of my teach   ing, and from that time to this, I have avoided it, with how
much reason, my pupils, and the young teachers with whom
I have so lately compared systems, must determine. I do
not fall below anyV one in my estimate of the importance of
studying the historv, climate, products, natural history
geology and other peculiarities of each portion of the earth; I
'  only differ from others in regard to the time when these may
best be connected with topography, and to the manner of that
connection.   But I have touched upon this in my lecture, and
must now proceed to my lesson.
Let me suppose, then, that a class of small children stand
before me, ready to receive their first lesson in geography.   I
should proceed with them somewhat in this manner.
My  little friends, do you know what is meant  by  the
earth? -Dirt, says one.- What we live on, says another.
Can you see the whole of the earth we live on?-No; I
guess we can't.
Why not? - It is so big, says one. - It is so long, says
another.
No; these are not the reasons.  When you approach a
town what do you see first? -  The houses, says one. - The
high(st trees, says another. -The steeples, says a third
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THE TEACHERS'.NSTITUTE.
Why do you see the highest things first?  When asking
this question, stand a short thing and a long thing beside
each other on a level form or table, and ask again, Why
should I not see the bottom as well as the top of these
things?
Let the pupils guess, as long as they please, and then chalk
part of a circle on the black-board, if you have not a large
globe, and drawing something for a man on the topmost part
of the curve, (I always drew what are called "dot and line
men" for such purposes.) Draw another line from his head,
so that it shall touch a remote part of the curve and glance
off in a straight line, then make a steeple or tree whose top
shall rise above the line, thus:
Then ask, Can any one tell now, why one little man sees the
top of the tree before he sees'its trunk, and why the other
man sees the whole tree?
There's a swell between them, says one, at last.
Well, wherever you stand on the earth, it is just so, and
this swell, among other things, has led men to think that the
earth must be round, like an orange or an apple.
This earth is not only round, but it keeps turning round all
the time. Here run a long pencil or a wooden skewer,
through an apple or a round potato,* and say, The earth
turns just so, and always in the same direction.
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to complain of the want of globes and other expensive aj)oaratus. when good
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Does it turn on a stick, sir? -No, it turns on nothing.
God made it, and turned it, and his power keeps it turning
just as certainly as if it turned on an axletree.
Now, stick a pin into the apple, and say, there, Mary or
John, suppose that pin to be you, and the pin's head to be
your  head.   There you  stand!  Well, the  earth  turns
entirely round in a day and night, or, what is the same thing,
in twenty-four hours. How many hours will it take it to
turn half way round? - Twelve hours, says some one.- Well,
let us turn it half round, and put another pin at the top, right
opposite the other.
But, says John, looking big with his discovery, if we
turned round so, we should fall off, should n't we, Mary?-  I
think we should, says Mary, unless we are fastened on somehow or other.
No, the earth draws you to itself, and keeps you on in spite
of yourselves. - How can it draw without arms? says one.
-Why don't we see it draw? says another.
Did you ever see a loadstone or a magnet? children. -No,
sir, or Yes, sir. - Well, here is a small one. Do you see it
draw this needle?-Yes, say they all.-Where are its arms?
Can it draw without arms?-  Yes, it does; I see it draw.No, you do not see it draw, you only see the needle move
towards it.
Well, says one, we don't move towards the earth; we
are touching it. - Jump up, John, as high as you can, and
don't come down again.- I can't stay up, says John; I must
come down. - Yes, if you get away fromn the earth, you
are drawn right back towards it. The earth is like a great
magnet, and draws you as this little magnet draws the
needle.
Here is a stick of sealing-wax. If I rub it a moment on
ty woollen coat, and place it near little pieces of paper or
ill-feathers, it will draw them in the same manner.
The largest things are drawn the hardest. When I lift
yc 1, John, I only pull you away from the earth, which is
try'ng to hold you down.  I am larger than you, and the
same strength that would lift you would not raise me, for the
oarth draws me much harder than it does you. The resistance that you meet with when you try to lift any thing is
substitutes, that cost nothing, are scattered on every side of them. For p
general rule, the best apparatus foi schools is that which costs the least.
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called its weight, but there would be no weight, if the earth
did not pull as it does.
But this has not much to do with geography, mny young
friends.   I only showed you this apple, and turned  it to
show you that some parts of the apple turn faster than other
parts.
How can that be, sir, if all turn round in the same time?
s ys Mary.
See for yourselves. John, stick a pin into.the apple as far
from  the two  ends of the stick as you can.  Very well.
Now, stick one as near one end of the stick as you can.
Very well, again. Now, stick one half way between the
other two. Very well. Now see me turn the apple, and
tell me which goes the furthest in once turning round.
This one in the middle, says John, goes the furthest, and
that hardly goes at all - it only turns round the end of the
stick.- Well, if one goes so much further than the other in
the same time, which must move the fastest?
I did n't think of that before, said John. - Well, then, the
parts that go the least distance, and turn the slowest, must be
the very spots where the ends of the stick are, must they
not?
Yes; unless the earth waggles sometimes, says Mary.
But it never waggles, as you call it; it always turns just
so, as exactly as this apple must turn on this stick, and all I
have been saying to you was intended to teach you this; for
the earth has two spots that almost stand still while all the
rest turns; and these two spots are always in the same part of
the earth, and men call themn the poles, because the earth
turns on them as exactly as if they were the ends of a pole.
One is called the North pole, and the opposite spot the south
pole. Anything that points towards that pole, points north,
and  the north, of course, is always  one way.   On  sonme
steeples, you see N. -S. and E. W. under the vane, and this
means that, when the vane points to N., it points north, and
when it points in the opposite direction, it points to the other
still spot, which we call south. When you face the north
spot, or pole, the right hand points to no such still spot,
but we say it points east, and the left hand points west.
Now let the teacher instantly mark on the floor, or on the
ceiling of the school-room, which is the preferable place, these
four chief points; and, if he wishes further to please the
class, let him ask each child in which direction h s hoime
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lies; in which the sun rises or sets; in which direction the
church is, or any hill, or other visible object well known to
the child.
Now take a globe,- any one will do,-and show the child
the State, or the spot on which he lives. Make him see how
small it is compared with the whole earth, or globe, or
worl!*
Let nliti lell which pole is nearest to his home. Then,
while you turn an apple on the stick, let him chalk or scratch
a line round it, just as far from one pole as from the other.
Let the pupil do this, for it will delight him, and he will
never forget the name of that circle, nor why it is drawn
there, and called the Equator, or equaller. The teacher
should always let the pupils take part in the illustration, if
they can.
Then  you may  ask him  in which half he lives, the
northern or the southern?  Which way from his home  the
equator lies? &c. &c.
If you please, you may let him mark a parallel to the
equator that shall pass through his home, and a meridian thiat
shall do the same.t But, the object of this first lesson should
be to teach the child what is meant by north, and what relation home bears to the whole globe.
When this is done, you may proceed at once to teach, from
home, all that is important in the town, in the neighboring
towns, in the county, in the state, in the United States, in
North America, in the Western continent, in the wide
world.
But, previously to doing this to any extent, it is desirable
to teach what is meant by a map; what the divisions of land
and water mean; and how they are represented on the globe,
and on maps.
Take the Atlas, and lay open the map of the Eastern and
Western hemispheres. Then take the apple, and cutting it
from pole to pole, open it as if there were a hinge on the side
nearest to you, and lay it down on the two hemispheres. If
the atlas contains a map of the northern and southern hemi
* Earth having reference to the substance, globe to the form, and world
[whirled] to the motion.
t An interesting and expeditious method of drawing circles, parallels,
meridians, &c., without instruments, is described in the introductions to my
Elementary Geography and Common School Geograp)hy, and with. as well as
without instruments in my "L ye and  iand.1
.107 
lUtaothrahPe at          nthe eta' ato,r,    a n d
]Own) S,      S how  h e  ol  or
erec    oe ij the Oen  at, and
i  the ecentre, and
.a,T
- I(D%'
~
0L.
the divisio sf ano
ie, and,,Ofland I
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:e. and if not, a niap oad Wvater, taketh  le,i
'"arked, azj'd p                ta e the hoe               ndho    of t       ilhe  ~'h ~ b i
Water.',   eres   Sh.ea
our pen o/
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rarious spots, and ask, " Is this land, or water?"  When this
is understood, proceed to minor divisions.
Point out the oceans and the continents,- all the oceans
and all the continents. Show, by comparing the map and the
apple, how the oceans are divided.  Show what an island is,
and let each child, in turn, point to one, as long as any new
ones can be found. Show what a peninsula is, and let them
point out peninsulas as long as they find any. Then take
lakes or seas, explain each, and let the children show them
as long as they can.  Be sure to take one division at a time,
for in this way you are to teach what the divisions are.  After
the child knows them, you may review him by pointing to
them promiscuously, and asking to what division they belong,
whether islands, lakes, or what?
I believe my Geography was the first, in this country at
least, that taught the geography of every country, by any
system that classed the divisions of land and water, and it is
still the most thorough in regard to this sort of classification.
Until lately, the Massachusetts  child had no means of
learning the geography of his town, county and state; and,
strange as it may seem, it is true at this moment, as it has
always been, that no geography, except mine, furnishes means
of learning even an outline of the geography of Massachusetts.
Two or three pages have been all that could be spared to this
important state, and these are all that our children have been
taught.  The consequence is, that they often know less of the
geography of their own state, than of China or Ethiopia, and
some teachers, that I have met, could not mention a dozen
.towns of Massachusetts, and tell in what county they were
situated.
My  Elemrnentary Geography for Massachusetts  children,
after giving a due proportion of general geography, devotes one
half of the book to Massachusetts.  There is a map of every
county, and every town in each county is distinctly marked
on the county map, and described in the book.
Furthermore, I have prepared a large outline map, much
urger than that published by the Legislature, on which every
own is marked and bounded, with its prominent hills, ponds,
streams, villages, &c. &c. This is intended to be suspended
before the class, when they are reviewing the lessons learned
on small maps in the book, which correspond to this large one.
T'he teacher, too, with a fescue, will frequently travel over
the large map with his class, and make them as familiar with
10
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
every county, town, river, railroad, &c., as they are with the
road to church.
I know not how I can -further illustrate my method more
effectually than by giving a brief analysis of my Common
School Geography.
At first, such a genera] idea of the world, as has just been
given, is attempted.   Then a few questions, to be answered
by an examination of the map of the world, are given, but so
given, that the child, by searching the maps, can fitIL out the
answers, without a key. and without troubling the teacher.
For instance, instead of asking the child where the Atlantic
Ocean is, the question is, "What large body of water separ ates America from Europe and Africa?"  He knows Water
from land, and he has been taught by previous questions
where the five grand divisions of land are situated. Every
question throughout the book is based upon knowledge
previously.attained, but a test of the accuracy and thorough ness of the child's knowledge of one lesson is applied in the
next that follows; for, after the child has, by searching, found
out the answer to the question above mentioned, he is met
with the question reversed, thus, " Where is the Atlantic
Ocean?"  Every question in the book has its reversed question of this sort, and the object is, not only to enable the child
to learn the lesson by his own exertions, but to prevent a
defect not unlike that which is often seen in arithmetic, when
children can tell how many  7 times 9 are, but cannot tell
how many are 9 times 7.
After a very general idea of the world, as a whole, is thus
given, the map of Massachusetts is taken, and questions relating to that are asked in the same manner, and afterwards they
are put in another form, as before described. The Geography
contains a small outline of Massachusetts, inwhich the coun.
ties only are represented. While learning the relative position
of the counties, the child, however young, is required to copvy
the map on the slate or black-board repeatedly. I have met
with many teachers who pretended that they could not do
this, but I never met with a child who studied geography and
refused to draw such a map as I have mentioned. Children
love to draw, and although at first, their work is very imperfect, the idea or picture in the mind is more correct than that
on the slate, and practice will soon render the latter very
exact, and the former almost indelible.
Since the first Teachers' Institutes were held, the number
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of teachers who require their pupils to draw maps has very
greatly increased. Many, however, still shrink from it,
because they are unused to the exercise, but this obstacle will
soon be removed by the practice they will acquire in examining the work of their pupils. Many who can draw cannot
print; but how soon they will learn the form of letters when
they once attempt to make them! The method of teaching
the alphabet that I have proposed, will, if pursued, remove all
objection on this score.
But maps drawn on the slate, and on the black-board, are
soon erased, and are rarely drawn with so much care and
accuracy as those done on paper. Let the children, therefore,
immediately begin to draw on paper also. In this exercise
no instruments should be used but the eye, the fingers and
the pencil or pen. It is more important to train the eye and
the hand than to have a perfect drawing; and no one who has
not seen the effect of practice would believe me were I to
relate some instances that I have witnessed, in very young
pupils, of almost perfect accuracy attained without the aid of
anv instrument, even a common rule or dividers.
The immense advantage of such a trained eye and hand to
man or woman must be seen without an argument; and yet,
although by early training it may be acquired by almost
every one, how few have even a tolerable degree of skill or
accuracy in this exercise. At the risk of making my book
too large, I have already given some instruction in this matter
of drawing, and, therefore, I shall only say here, that, if the
drawing of maps were not the most effectual method of fixing
the topography of countries in the memory, its value as an
exercise of the eye and hand should make it an indispensable
exercise in every school.
But what sort of maps shall be drawn by beginners?
Small ones, by all means. The rule should be to draw the
map that relates to the lesson in preference to any other, and
to put upon it. only such rivers, towns and other divisions of
land and water as are mentioned in the lesson. A specimen
of this course is given in my geographies, by which any
teacher can be guided, whether his pupils use the book or
not.
It will save the teacher much trouble if, at the outset, he
writes on a sheet of paper, the order in which maps shall be
drawn, and puts it up in some place easily accessible to the
pupils.  They will not then be troubling him with the ques
ill 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
tlon, "What map shall I draw next, sir?"  In my Geography,
the map of the United States furnishes twenty pages of lessons,
and while the class is learning these, separate maps of every
state should be drawn on the slate, and on the black-board,
and finally, for preservation, on paper. The children will
learn the lessons the first time sooner than they will draw all
the maps, but they will do better to go over the questions
again than to proceed to another map.
Let all the maps be drawn on paper of uniform size sav ar
eighth of a sheet of letter paper; this the teacher must require,
and he must require every piece to be neatly torn or cut, and
this the child can easily be taught to do. Let him fold the
paper once, then scrape the edge to be torn with his thumb or
finger nail, and then carefully tear it, or cut it with a dull
knife. Let him then fold, o si and scratch, and tear again, till the
paper is of the right size. Thi s unifo rmity of s ize an d nea tness of edge may seem to be a small matter, but I can assure
the teacher that, if lie does not always, IN ALL THINGS, attend
to such matters, his pupils will always be deficient in neatness and order. After my pupils had drawn their maps in
this way, and shown them to me, they were required to fold
them up uniformly, as a merchant folds his letters and bills,
maps in one file, orthographical exercises in another, and so
with other branches, and each exercise was required to be
labelled so that'its contents might be known without taking it
from the bundle.   I verily believe that, by this course, I did
more to induce a hatbit of order and neatness, than I could
have done by all the lectures that I could have preached, if I
had done nothing but preach, for the whole term of a school
life.  The neatness with which some of my pupils filed and
labelled their exercises would have done credit to one of our
Pearl street accountants.
This care of exercises had another good effect. No loose
papers were seen strowed over the desks of the pupils;  the
books were'not thrown into the desks any how, but every thing
in the desk was arranged in order, and I made it a point to
examine every desk often, to conimmend the neat, and to warn
or instruct the careless.  I may say more on this subject when
I come to the subject of neatness, but I must now return to
the description of the manner of drawing maps on paper, with
ink.
There is an order to be observed in the drawing of a map,
and the pupil must be taught firast to draw the outline with. a
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read pencil; next, he must ink it neatly with a pen.  Then,
if ever, he must color it. Next, let him draw the rivers and
mountains. Then let him make the little o that marks the
situation of towns, and then let him print, not write, the
names, so that they will bear upon the o, and not be so far
from it as to appear to belong to something else.
In coloring maps, only three or four good colors are
needed. India ink, Prussian blue, lake, gamnboge and green
verditer, are enough; and as no child would use a large cake
in a long term, and small cakes are generally of poor quality.
the teacher should purchase some large cakes, and cut them
up, so that a piece of each of the five colors named will only
cost about as much as one whole cake of either. The best
way to use these paints is to rub off a little of each color upon
a saucer or other piece of crockery ware. One hair pencil
will do, if well washed before the color is changed; but, as
hair pencils can be bought for about a cent apiece, the neat
pupil will try to have a hair pencil for every color. A little
mug of water will be found useful, if it be only to prevent
the dirty practice of wetting the brush with the mouth,- a
practice not uncommon in schools where painting is taught,
and not always free from danger, some paints, especially the
greens, containing poisonous ingredients.
In shading the shores of a country or of a lake, India ink
should be used, and to do the work perfectly, the pupil sheuld
have two brushes.   With one he must draw a small portion
of the coast neatly, and, while it is wet he nmust take the
other brush, which is cleanr, but wet, and spread the India
ink from the shore outward.   Do but a little of the shore at a
time, for, if the inkl dries before it is spread with the wet
brush, it can never be well spread afterwards.
Let us now return to the description of my Geography.  At
the first lessons, specimens of map-drawing are given, that
the pupil may see what is expected of hinm. The lessons
proceed from his owvn state to the United States, North
America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia,
and Polynesia. Every country is treated systematically;
that is, each division of land tnd water is by itself.  Nothing
is to be committed to memory, the practice of examining and
drawing maps most effectually communicating and fixing the
ideas.
After every map has been gone over in this way, there is a
enries of lessons in what are called Voyages and Travels
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THiE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Questions are asked which oblige the child to traiel over
every map, and describe the countries, rivers, seas, &c., that
he passes over. Among other lessons, an account of the
voyages of Columbus, Cook, La Peyrouse, Vancouver, and
Kruzenstern is given, and this sort of exercise may be continued to any extent by the teacher.
But -the child thus far has only studied the countries separately, and a General Review is now provided for, in which
all the countries, towns, rivers, islands, and other divisions of
the whole world are introduced, not with a table of statistics
to burden the memory of the child, but in such order as to
show the relative size of each, and enable the child to compare known countries and objects with the remote and
unknown.
An appendix follows, in which some of the maps, especially
that of Massachusetts, is more particularly described than at
the beginning of the book. Next come practical exercises on
the latitude and longitude of places; the difference of time
produced by a difference of longitude, and of climate by a
difference of latitude; to all which is added a list of names
used in the book, in whose pronunciation there is any difficulty.
In the Geography thus briefly described, there are three
peculiarities not to be found, I think, in any other.
1. It contains little or no matter that nmay be considered
changeable. In most cases, a revised edition of a geography
differs so much from former editions, that the new books will
not class with the old, and the teacher must be troubled with
different books in the same class; or must form two classes; or
must throw away the old books as worthless. The permanent materials of the Common School Geography will prevent
any evils of this sort.
2. The second peculiarity is the order and distinct classification which pervade the whole book. There is no jumbling
of all the sciences together. Pure geography only is taught,
and this is taught in order.  Instead of introducing history,
philosophy, and a variety of other matters to impress the
topography of a country on the memory, the child is taught to
travel over the territory, and draw its outlines, until a neverfading picture is delineated' in the mind.
3. The book, though not a large one, is sufficient for any
district school, and contains within itself the materials for
never-ending progress, if the directions in the book are fol
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towed by the teacher. The first time the child goes through
the book, he is required to give one particular only.  When
asked where is Boston, for instance, he will say it is the
capital of Massachusetts. Next time he may be required to
tell its situation at the east of the state.  Next time he goes
through, he may say it is mostly situated on a peninsula, at
the head of Boston Bay, which is an arm of Massachusetts
Bay. Next, he may give all that has before been given, and
add its latitude and longitude; -or, a class may be required
to name some town, or island, or river, in turn, as long as any
mentioned in the books have not been named. Confine this
operation to one country until all the names of every division
of land and water are familiar; then include the whole continent;  then the whole world.  After they can readily name
all the towns, or all the islands, &c., in the book, let them be
allowed to take their maps, and go as much further as they
please.  The mere naming of the place or thing, however,
must not suffice, but some particular relating to it should be
described, so that there can be no question that the child
knows where it is situated. I generally required my class to
stand during this exercise, so that they could have no access
to books or maps. Then they answered in turn, trying but
once, and sitting if they could recollect no.new name, or
named what had previously been named by another.
As far as my knowledge extends, this was the first book
that recommended  the reading of newspapers to the uipper
classes in geography.  Every teacher knows that, much of
the geography taught in our schools is not such as is of every
day use in society and common life; and perhaps nothing so
completely shows what should be taught for geography as
these very newspapers. All that is doing in the world is
there recorded long before it gets into books.   The mere
record of arrivals and clearances is an excellent lesson.  The
reading of the news shows in what the books are deficient,
and if, while the teacher is reading, the children, atlas in
hand, find the places mentioned, or, slate in hand, record
them, to be found against the next lesson, a fund of geographical knowledge will be acquired, that may be sought for
in vain among the pages of the textbooks.
Every child that studies geography should be taught to
draw maps.  Next to the orthographical exercises and the
correction of false grammar, in which I had hundreds of
manuscript exercises, which I intend, one of these days, to
115 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
publish in the form of a third part to my Common School
Grammar; next, I say, to these, for its effect on the industry,
and, of course, on the discipline of the school, is the drawing
of maps. How infinitely superior to the common practice of
sitting idle, or even of committing lessons to memrnory, would
be the directing of children to draw maps on a black-board, or
on a piece of paper.  NVever let ca child have it in his power to
say, "I shave nothing to do." I believe that, for more than
twenty years, no pupil of mine could ever say this with
truth.
Once a year, it was my custom to let every pupil draw a
map to be bound in a volume, and kept as a record of the
ability of each, and as a landmark of the progress of the
school, as a whole, in this branch of manual skill. I furiished to every pupil a piece of paper of uniform size,and left
it to her to draw what map she pleased, and to ornament it
as her taste might dictate.   I have preserved many such
volumes, and they are to me precious memorials of pupils
who are now mothers or teachers, or inhabitants of that better
country not mentioned in our geographies.  It is not unusual
for parents to bring their children to see what "mother  did
when she was of their age;" and it often happens that the first
and last map the pupil ever drew, is preserved in these
volumes. In one of them are eight maps, drawn by children,
five or six years of age, who were not studying geography,
but who, seeing what the others were doing, requested permission to draw a map for the book. The outline, printed
names, and coloring, are entirely their own, and their names
and ages, well written by themselves, are at the bottom of
their maps.   What Would not many men and women give for
such a specimen of the work of their earliest days!  Every
district school should have such a book annually bound like
the School Register, and sacredly kept as the property of the
town.
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A LECTURE
On the "Uses and Abuses of Mlemory in Education;" delivered
at Rochester, N. Y., before the Convention of County
Superintendents of Common Schools, and first published at
their request, by WILLIAI B. FOWLE.
GENTLEMIEN, -  The subject on which I propose to offer a
few plain remarks for your consideration, is Memory -
Memory, that wonderful faculty of the mind which alone per   petuates the product of all the others; which resuscitates the
past, and enables us to lay up for future use the knowledge
we may acquire by study or experience.
What, then, is Memory?   The aged will perhaps tell u.
that it is a gloomy treasure house of regrets; the young,
that it has no existence; the fortunate, that it is a paradise to
which his constantly receding footsteps would fain return, but
from which he is constantly driven by the flaming sword of
his onward destiny, -while, to the disappointed, memory is a
, barren waste, without one verdant spot; a cheerless desert,
' where the monuments that rise over buried hopes, never cease
to cast their deep shadows upon the present scene.  In this
; sense, memory is very much what our propensities and habits,
our virtues and vices, may make it; but the memory with which
teachers have to do is less poetical,-a more  matter of fact
affair, and as such only would it become me now to speak of it.
As all discipline of the mind depends upon a proper educa  tion of this wonderful faculty, it is important, surely, that we
should endeavor to ascertain what it is, and we naturally go
to the metaphysicians and put the question to them; but the
definitions of these philosophers are as various as they are
unsatisfactory.   Whilst all acknowledge that memory is a
faculty of the mind, all have been puzzled to tell how it is
connected with the mind, and how it operates.
One mnaintains that it is only a continued but weakened
perception, (that is, a feeling not repeated, but forever felt.)
Another says it is only what remains after a sensation,
(like the vibration of a string that is never to be struck
again.) 
THE'IEACHERS' INSTITUTE,
A thir d declares it to be a sensation, or an idea renewed
(but he could not tell us what renews it.)
A fourth tells us that it is a sort of sensibility so delicate
that it can be affected by a past sensation, (as a place once
struck is susceptible to a slighter blow afterwards; but we are
not told how, or by what the repeated blow is given.)
A fifth has called memory that faculty which experiences
anew what has been already perceived, with the conscious ness that it has been previously perceived; (but this is a state ment of facts, and no explanation of them.)
A sixth describes memory to be a power of the mind to
revive or recall former impressions.
A seventh insists that memory is not itself a faculty, but an
attribute of every other faculty, and this, it appears to me, is
the only theory that a teacher can tolerate for a moment.
But, although the descriptions of this mysterious faculty
have been so various, not so have been the systems of instruction based upon them, for these have been very uniform, and,
I fear, uniformly erroneous. All the theories of memory, but
the last X mentioned, agree that it is a single power of the
entire mind, and that it only requires an act of the will for
the mind to perform one act of memory as well as another.
In other words, the common notion seems to be, that every
mental storehouse is fitted up for the same kind of goods, and
it is the duty of the teacher to fill all alike; and this attempt
at filling is often carried on until school days are over, when
the mind, no longer controlled, for the first time discovers its
own fitness and capacity, and begins to accumulate treasures
entirely different, perhaps, from those which had been forced
down, notwithstanding the disgust and nausea that always
accompanied the operation.
We  do not know what the mind is, and we  can hardly
expect to understand all its faculties.  But, as in the case of
electricity and the subtler fluids, if we cannot ascertain the
n7ature of memory, we may ascertain some of its laws; and
by this method we may approach nearer and nearer to that
seat of the mind, which is surrounded with clouds almost as
impenetrable as those tremendous shades which involve the
eternal throne; and'though mortals may not hope to be admitted to the secret place where light actually dwelleth, we may,
we must ascertain something more of its nature and of its laws,
Dr the very light that is in us will continue to be darkness.
I have said, that various as are the-theories of memory, the
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use that is made of it in education is altogether too uniform.
So prevalent is the error on this subject, that when men speak
of memory, it rarely happens that any other operation of the
mind is meant than that which we exercise in common with
parrots, I mean  the recollection of words.  You, who are
teachers, know, that when parents bring their little unfledged(
angels to you, and wish to make you sensible of their prodig ious talents, the burden of praise almost un)iformly is, that they
can conmmit ever so many pages at a lesson.  Commit!- yes,
and commit suicide at the same time. It is this notion, this
mistaking of the mere memory of words for the whole of
memory, that I consider the unpardonable sin of teachers and
bookmakers at the present day. I hope my remarks will not
be considered as those of one, who, having laid aside the
harness, has no better use for his leisure than to make obser vations upon those wvhom he has left in the traces; but rather
as the remarks of one, who, for twenty years at least, has
practised what he now preaches, and who has reason to
believe that thousands of his late fellow-laborers would be glad
to adopt the system he recommends, if those who superintend
their schools would second their endeavors, and supply the
means of communicating ideas instead of words.
Let us consider for a moment the position I have assumed,
that the memory of words is generally considered the whole
of memory.   What is the first employment of the mind in the
nursery?  Learning to say things by heart; that is, to say
them heartlessly.   When I was at a dame's school, I learned
the Assembly's Catechism, - the compend of it that was then
printed in the N. E. Primer, - so thoroughly, that I could
repeat it backwards as well as forwards, and understood it one
way just as well as the other.  When  the dame had visitors,
I was often brought forward to perform this feat, crab-fashion,
to the great amazement of the visitors, the glorification of the
venerable dame, and to my own great edification in Christian
knowledge and humility!  God forgive her, if she erred in
teaching me the first step in that narrow way, whose gate she
opened with love if not with judgment!
Then the child reads books without having them explained,
and generally without any examination by the teacher, -for
who, until perhaps very lately, ever heard of examining a
child in his reading lesson, except perhaps to correct the pronunciation of a word, or to settle the power of a dash or
comlna, - although the reading lesson iay be the best medium
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THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
for conveying useful knowledge to the mind. the best opportu.
nity for teaching the definition of words, the precious occasion
for inculcating a healthful taste for substantial food!
Then, at an early age, English grammar must be studied,
conmmnitted, I mean, for the words are by no means synonymous. The words of some manual must be said or sung for
a given number of years, until the child arrives at that ne
plts ultra of philology, "a substantive or noun is the name
of any thing that exists or of which we have any notion, as
?man-cirtue-London;" and then, if the child is at a loss to
know  exactly what  sort of notion' nan-virtue-London"
is, he will not fail to learn what it is " to be, to do and to
svffer. "
Geography, of course, cannot long stay uncommitted.  A
book is placed in the child's hands, containing on an average,
about 350 pages. The committing of this to memory is
generally the work of years, and, by the time the task is done,
the world has so changed, that more than half the book contains is incorrect, and the only consolation the poor victim has
is the consideration that, if what has been learned is not true,
it will do no harm, for it has been forgotten as fast as it was
learned.,
Next, the child must study history - study history!  That
is, he must commit page after page to memory, or, at least, such
paragraphs as have been adjudged a sufficient answer to a
stereotyped question. The meaning of the language is not
elicited by any impertinent inquiries; the geography of the
country at different epochs is not allowed to interrupt  the
thread of the narrative, and the practical and moral conclusions are left, as the gramarians say, understood.
I could add to this summary, astronomy, botany, the various
branches of natural history and natural philosophy, the modern
and ancient languages, and all the branches usually tormented
in our higher schools; but I have said enough to illustrate my
remark, that common school education is generally conducted
as if there were no memory but that of words, and as if this
were all that is essential to the proper development of ideas,
and the full exercise of every intellectual faculty.
Leaving the school for a moment, let us look abroad into
the world, and see how facts corroborate this opinion. If you
select half a dozen persons of good intelligence, it is probable
that the memory of each will be different fro)m the others.
You will, perhaps, hear the first deploring his wretched
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memory, which rannot-recollect his children's names, and, in
the next breath, he will hum a tune that he has heard but once,
perhaps, half a century before   Another  says he  cannot
remember the name of a person, but if he has seen a man
once, he never forgets himl and yet he complains of a treacherous memory! A third had no memory at school, and coul(
never learn his lessons; but he can never forget the brutality
of the master, who regularly flogged him for not doing what
he would gladly have done if he could.  He " never can forget," and yet he has no memory.   A fourth, perhaps, has
travelled much, and can describe most particularly every route
or every object he has seen, but as he sometimes forgets an
appointment or a message, he laments that he has no memory.
A fifth can never quote a line of poetry, and concludes she has
no memory, although the chronicles of scandal are engraved
on her memory of adamant, and she is not unlike one of our
western mounds, the capacious receptacle of worthy characters
that have been slain, and from which the curious may at any
time extract the sad memorials of human frailty. A sixth, in
fine, who cannot recollect the text at church, or a single sentiment of the discourse, will tell you how long her poorer
neighbor has worn the same bonnet, and how every person in
church was dressed; or, perhaps, she recollects every christening for more than half a century, to the great annoyance of
advanced spinsters and old bachelors, who would prefer to
have this matter confined to the family Bible.
If this be a true picture of life, it follows that every person
has a memory for somnething, and that something is usually
wlhat occupies the strongest faculty of the mind, and, of course,
aflords the greatest pleasure. A musician will be more likely
to remember tunes than sermons; a mechanic will remember
thee form and operation of machines, better than any written
description of them. The painter will recollect the color of a
dre,ss, and the dress-maker the fashion or cut of it. An angry
person will remember an affront, and a benevolent person will
ne er forget a kindness. Shall a man who remembers words
most easily, say to any of these, you have no memory? or
shall he take airs because he can remember words, when they
are so fortunate that they can remember only things?
One thing is certain, the memory of words is no criterion
of intellectual power. Some of the greatest talkers have been
the shallowest logicians, and some of the greatest linguists
have been the greatest simpletons. In fact, the memory of
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one class, of facts is no pledge for the memory of any other
and f e, persons have ever been distinguished in every department of memory. But we are told that this committing to
memory strengthens the mind and leads to a habit of application.  So it does.  It does strengthen this particular faculty,
it does lead to a habit of application, but only to words, considered as words, and not as embodying ideas.  Let me not
be misunderstood. I am not contending that a great verbal
memory, and great general scholarship, great practical knowledge, are incompatible, but only that one branch of memory,
like the high priest's rod, has swallowed up other branches as
large as itself, and is likely to die of repletion.
Remarkable verbal memories are almost the only ones that
have been recorded, and yet every one can recollect remarkable
memories of other faculties. I spent much time with Zerah
Colburn before he went to Europe. He was then about five
years old, and could neither read nor write. His manners
were so rude that he knew not the use of a knife and fork,
and when placed at table, he stabbed a large sausage, and
holding it impaled on his fork, he placed both elbows on the
table, and nibbled alternately at the ends until the sausage
disappeared. And yet this untutored child performed calculations which involved so many figures, that I could not have
repeated them from memory after a week's application, but he
made the calculation, and gave the answer in a few seconds.
When he was exhibited in London, he was allowed to overwork this faculty, and it was destroyed, as the verbal memory
usually is, by the excessive exercise of it.
How common it is to hear a teacher complain that his pupil
will not attend, has not the faculty of attention.   But children
are never destitute of attention. The reason they do not
attend to the lesson in hand is, that they are attending to
something else. Attention, like memory, is an attribute of
every faculty, and it is only where there is no desire that there
is no attention. A stupid boy may forget his lesson, but he
will not forget his dinner, and the same operation that puts
one man into an ecstasy, puts his neighbor to sleep. Children,
at school, usually prefer one study to another; what they like
+hey attend to, and what they do not like- and this is what
they have the least capacity for-they disregard. Now, I conceive the greatest, the highest effort of teaching to consist in
so clothing useful subjects with interest, that those who may
not love them  are still induced to attend to them.   This
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exercises the weaker faculties, and increases their ability. As
the hand or foot acquires strength and skill by judicious exercise, so does every faculty of the mind; and as the muscles
lose their power and skill by inaction, so does every organ of
the brain. If a child is malicious and quarrelsome, vindictive
and passionate, you have only to give him cause and opportunity for the display of his malevolence, to increase ts power.
But place this child where his passions will not be excited,
,reat him with unvaried kindness, cultivate his reason and his
moral sentiments, encourage him to acts of benevolence, and
set him an example, and in time his lower propensities will
become less active and less powerful, if not entirely subdued.
I do not pretend that all evil dispositions can be made good
ones, nor that all memories can be made equal, for I know
that there are original and irreconcilable differences; but 1
also know that the worst disposition and the weakest memory
may be greatly improved.
After the view which I have taken of memory, it may
reasonably be expected that I should endeavor to show how
education should be conducted if the view be correct, and it
be important to improve the whole mind, and not merely a
portion of it. May I be excused, then, if in doing this I speak
in the first person, for it is in this person that I have taught
for twenty years, -and ought I not to add, that when I declare
what may be done, I only describe what has actually been
done?
As it is certain, then, that the intellect of a child under five
or six years of age is immature, I should pay less attention to
that than to the senses, on whose power and correct perceptions so much of the future intellectual progress depends.
Most children are very observant of the ten thousand objects
of nature and art that surround them, but they are generally
left "to find out by their learning," that is, to find out without
instruction, the qualities and peculiarities of what they see.
The senses are allowed to take care of themselves, as if they
could not go wrong, could not acquire bad habits, and must
come out right at last. It would lead me too far if I should
follow out this idea, but I have alluded to it that your own
minds may do so. This early cultivation of the senses is a
delightful exercise to children; and clothing, as it does, all
he objects around them with interest, instead of promoting
sensuality, the surest basis is laid for intellectual and moral
progress. Conversation, then,owith children, about common
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things, their form, size, color, number, order, feel, smell, taste,
sound, &c., next after the fear of God, is the true beginning
of wisdom.
I should allow the little ones as much liberty as is consistent with tolerable order.  I should give them little or nothing
to commit to memory, and make their exercises light, and vary
them often. I should not be distressed if they did not know
their letters in six months or six years, for they can be taught
ten thousand things more important; kindness, obedience,
reverence, truth and justice, will do them far more good than
the alphabet. If I see any evil propensity displaying itself,
if I cannot demonstrate the impropriety of it, I shall not punish
until I have exhausted every means of preventing its indulgence. Prevention is the great principle; for to my mind
nothing is more unwise and unjust than the laws which regulate even the best Christian communities. WVe allow the
young to run unmolested until they break the law, and then
we punish them. If a boy discovers ever so vicious a propensity, and we are sure that crime must be the consequence,
we cannot touch him until it is too late; we cannot restrain
him; it is against the lazt to save him.
If the little child shows an uncommon aptness for one thing
more than another, I never allow the predominant faculty to
be overworked, but I turn my chief attention to the weaker
faculties that need encouragement. What is generally called
genius and talent is only the predominance of one faculty
over the rest. This must be carefully educated, but the others
must be well attended to, also, or we shall see another example
of genius without a well-balanced mind; wonderful talent
without common sense; genius that can create other worlds at
pleasure, without being able to get a decent living in this.
The merry little being learns to talk, to sing, to think -little
thoughts, of course - to draw, to count, - anything but her
money-to play, dance, and be happy, and to make others so.
But it will not be long before the child will desire to read;
and, perhaps, of late, no question has exercised the minds of
teachers so much as how the first lessons in reading shall be
given. With the old plan of teaching the names of the letters
first, and then their various powers, you are acquainted; the
new method, which has found friends in the highest rank of
teachers, proposes the teaching of whole words first, without regard to the elements of which the words are composed.
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Of course, the learning of one word is no help to the pronunciation of a new word; at least, I have never seen words
placed in any book on this plan, so that the first words learned
are a key or help to those which follow.
I do not deny that a child may learn to read a few words
in this way sooner than he will if he waits to become
acquainted with the letters, but I have always found that
pupils who are allowed to skip the elements of any art or
science, and revel in its pleasant things, are never willing
afterwards to go back to those elements, which, though
omitted at first, must be learned some time or other. Now,
as no one pretends that the names of the letters and their
powers need never be learned; but, on the contrary, as they
all recommend this, at a later stage of the business, the question seems to be whether, in the end, the new method does
not cause a loss of time and an increase of labor.
But we are told the new plan is more pleasant to the child;
he prefers words with meaning, to letters and syllables without. I think, however, that this objection to the old plan
relies for its force entirely upon the defective manner in which
the alphabet has usually been taught. If it be important to
connect ideas with letters, I would engage to connect as many
with a letter as with any word. It would be difficult to illustrate this position better than by reading a short extract from
a work called " The Youth of Shakspeare," which, in the
quaint style of that day, "runneth of this wise."
"Mother," said young Shakspeare, A, I pray you tell me
something of the fairies of whom nurse Cicely discourseth to
me so oft. Hown may little children be possessed of such
goodness as may make them be well regarded of these same
fairies, mother? "  "They must be sure to learn their letters
betimes," replied she, "that they may be able to know the
proper knowledge writ in books, which, if they know not
when they grow up, neither fairy nor any other shall esteem
them to be of any goodness whatsoever."  "I warrant you I
will learn my letters as speedily as I can," replied the boy,
eagerly.  " Nay, I beseech you, mother, teach them to me
now, for I am exceeding desirous of being thought of some
goodness. But what good are these same letters of, mother?"
inquired he, as he took his hornbook from the shelf.  "This
much," replied Dame Shakspeare; "by knowing of them
thoroughly, one by one, you shall soon come to be able to
put them together for the forming of words; and when you
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are sufficiently apt at that, you shall thereby come to De
learned enough to read all such words as are in any sentence,
which you shall find to be only made up of such; and when
the reading of such sentences shall be familiar to you, doubt
not your ability to master whatsoever proper book falleth into
your hand, for all books are composed only of letters, as I
shall teach thee straightway." The lesson had not proceeded
far, when the draper's wife came in. "And what hast got
here, prithee, that thou art so earnest about?" asked Mrs.
Dowlass.  " A hornbook, as I live!  And dost really know
thy letters at so early an age?"  " Nay, I doubt I can tell
you them all," replied Master William, ingenuously, "but,
methinks, I know a good many of them." Then pointing at
the several characters, as he named them, he continued:
"First, here is A, that ever standeth astraddle.  Next him is
B, who is all head and body and no legs. Then cometh C,
who bulgeth out behind like a very hunchback. After him
cometh D, who doeth the clean contrary, for his bigness is all
before. Next;"- here he hesitated for some few seconds,
the others present regarding him with exceeding attentiveness
and pleasure -" next, here is-alack, dear mother, do tell
mne that fellow's name again, will you, an' it will go hard
with him if he escape me."
Think you that a child taught the alphabet in this or any
similar way, would ever be tired of his lesson?
But let us suppose the child has passed the threshold, what
:,hall he read? Not, surely, such books as are levelled down
to his intellect, for these will keep the intellect down.   It is
better to give him books that he can  understand when
explained, and this explanation it is the duty of the teacher to
give. I would have the child understand just enough to
enable him to take an interest in the book, but I would have
it always beyond his easy grasp. Bring the book down to
the child's capacity, so that he can understand every word,
and every idea of it, and he will never wish to read it a
second time, and will make no progress in ideas or in reading,
if he is compelled to read it.  If I may compare great things
with small, I will say that the Creator does not teach us to
read in the book of nature in any such way. We are in.erested in every page that he has spread before us, but we
understand very little of it. On the second perusal, we learn
something more; and the more times we read, the better we
understand, though we are sure we shall never master the
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great volume. There is a just medium in this matter, and he
who consults the nature of children will observe it. Chil]ren, if I know them, prefer to read such books as require not
nly a constant stretch of the understanding, but even of the
imagination; and such are the best for them, if they are to be
read more than once.
But some utilitarians would have all reading books for
schools filled with lessons in useful knowledge, and, of course,
would exclude the greater part of our best poetry and works
of imagination.
It is true that much useful matter may be introduced into
school books, and, other things being equal, instructive lessons
should be preferred; but the great object for which reading is
taught in schools must not be lost sight of in the attempt to
introduce a little of all sorts of knowledge, which will never
make children good philosophers, and which will assuredly
prevent them from becoming good and impressive readers.
Show me a teacher who prefers to use books on this mistaken
plan, and I will show you one who knows nothing of reading
as an art.
In teaching English grammar, I would require little or
nothing to be learned by rote. If there is any real difference
between the parts of speech, the child should be obliged to
think it out, instead of seeking the information in a dictionary.
Moreover, in teaching English grammar, I would be sure it
was English. Our language is more simple in its structure
than any other, and I would teach it in all its simplicity,
whatever might be the fashion. Not one child in a thousand
studies any other language than his own, and yet every child
is obliged to learn grammars that were constructed on foreign
models. Because Greek had one article, two adjectives were
set apart from the rest and called articles, that English grammar might not appear to lack this part of speech.  As Latin
nouns had six cases distinctly marked by a different termination, so English nouns must have cases, although they undergo
no change, or only one in the singular, which renders the
word no longer the name of a thing,-of course, no longer a
noun. Because the Greek and Latin, and some modern
languages, in their various modes of speaking, vary the termination of the verb, we also must contrive to have five modes,
not because we have any change of termination, but because
we ought to have! Because the Greeks and Latins, by the
addition or change of terminations, counted forty or fifty
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methods of expressing tense or time, we, who have but one
such change of termination, like the simple jackdaw, are strut.
ting about with our borrowed feathers, and pretending to be
classical peacocks.
In teaching geography, I should require no lessons to be
committed to memory.
The author of the larger geography used in the Boston
schools, has told us that it was first published in 1819, and,
after two editions, was stereotyped, or permanently fixed.
Soon, he adds, it was necessary to re-write it entirely; and
then, after two editions, it was stereotyped or fixed again;
and he says it may be expected to remain as it is, till a considerable change  shall  become desirable, -that is, till an
unusually large proportion of it is false. In the mean time,
it must be borne in mind, thousands and tens of thousands of
children are learning such geographies, with the certainty
that what they lt arn, if remembered, will soon be of no value.
The world will r.ot stay fixedl, as the unlucky book does, and
when there is so much certain and permanent knowledge to
be learned, is it not cruel to trifle with the young mind thus?
It is bad enough to have to commit to memory what is true,
but it seems unpardonable to oblige a child to "commit" what
is already false, or avowedly soon to become so. Let it not be
supposed, however, that the geography alluded to is singular
in this respect-I believe it is like all others that are popular;
and a late most popular author solemnly promises in his preface not to.change his book oftener than once in five years,
right or wrong. It is said of one of the worthy governors of
New Amsterdam, that because the wind had a troublesome
trick of changing, he was accustomed early in the morning to
fix the city weathercock for the day; and in what does his
conduct differ from that of the author last mentioned?
Again, it is generally conceded that the true way to learn
geography is to begin at home, and travel no faster than we
get acquainted; but, as geographies are made to be universally used, this beginning at home is impracticable. A
geography adapted to any particular home, would not be
likely to have an extensive sale.  The utmost we may ask
then is, that they shall give a particular account of our own
state.   Well, how  far have  they done  this?   Mitchell,
out of 336 pages, allows the empire state but 4, and these
include 3 pictures that were not executed  by Raphael or
Benjamnin Wrest.  O)lney's geography allows your great state
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4 pages out of 288, and these 4 include 3 engravings, not by
the same great masters.  Smith allows you 4 pages out of
312, and he can only afford 1 engraving.  Woodbridge, in his
new edition, thinks that 2 pages out of 352, with 1 picture,
are enough for New York; and the other authors are no
more liberal.  Poor Massachusetts is allowed room in proportion to her size; and yet these books furnish all the knowledge
that our children are required to learn of their respective
states.
If you wished to learn the geography of a town instead of a
world, how would you proceed?  Would  you go  to one
farmer and ascertain whether he raised wheat or oats? to
another to know how many men he employed? how many
pigs he raised, or how his potatoes yielded?  Would you
visit the schools to see how many children attended? how
many pupils there were of each sex, and how many teachers?
what school books were used and what abused? and whether
they were purchased because they were cheap, or because they
were good? Would you visit the several clergymen and
ascertain how many sects there were, and how many of each
sect? which expended the most money, and which had the
most virtue to show for it?  No, indeed; you would know
that these things have nothing to do with geography. You
would walk round the boundaries of the town, and see how
other towns bordered upon it. You would travel every road
and learn where it led to; you would visit every pond and
every hill, and sail down every stream; you would learn the
locality of every church, of every school-house, and every
i other public building; you would learn the limits of every
school district; the remarkable caves or rocks; the quarries,
and every thing that could be considered permnanent; you
would draw a plan of the town, till you were familiar with
every part of it.
Then, if you wished to learn the history of the town, you
would have some lines to go by, some points to measure from.
You could lay out the farms of the first settlers, and cut them
up as their descendants did; you could plan new roads and
future improvements, and your accurate knowledge of the
unchangeable features of the town would never cease to be of
service.  Statistical tables are valuable to the political economist, to the historian and antiquarian, and such may prepare
and preserve them for reference; but what would they think
if asked to learn such tables by heart?  We  cannot travel
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over the world as we may over a town, but we  may travel
over maps till the face of the globe is familiar, the great
natural features, those characters which the Creator has
engraved on the everlasting rocks, and not what transient
man has scratched upon the shifting sand.
The celebrated Rousseau ridicules the custom of teachi g
history to children, and he relates an amusing anecdote, whic(h
shows that history was taught in his day very much as it has
been since. He was spending a few days in the country, and
a fond mother invited him to be present at a lesson in ancient
history about to be given to her son. The lesson related to
that event of Alexander's life, when, being dangerously sick,
he received a letter informing him that his physician intended
to poison him, under pretence of giving him medicine.  Alexander handed the letter to the physician, and while he was
reading it, drank off the medicine at one draught. At dinner,
the conversation turned upon fhe lesson, and the young historian expressed so much admiration at the courage of Alexander, that Rousseau took him aside and asked him in what
the wonderful courage consisted. Why, said he, in swallowing such a nasty dose of physic at one draught. His kind
mother had dosed him almost to death, and he hated all medicine like poison. Still, the history was not lost upon the
child, though it was misunderstood, for he determined that the
next medicine he had to take, he would imitate Alexander.
"If it be asked," adds Rousseau, "what I see to admire in
that act of Alexander, I answer, that I see in it the proof that
the hero believed in the existence of human virtue, and that
he was willing to stake his life upon his belief. The swallowing of the medicine was a profession of his faith, and no
mortal ever made one more sublime."
History, as taught in schools, should be a practical application of geography. My method of teaching it, was to read
the history to the class, explaining every word, and illustrating every sentiment, as far as possible, by maps, books,
engravings, medals, relics, and conversation. Then I required
the pupils to read the lesson for themselves, and be prepared
to answer such questions as I might propose. I never taught
ancient geography except in connection with  history, and
never without a constant comparisori of ancient geography
oith modern. In this way there is hardly any branch of
human knowledge that was not brought to the aid of history,
'and-in'return illustrated by i. -But. -set a child'to learning
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the compend by heart, or only so much as will serve. for an
answer to certain set questions, printed and adapted to the
very words of the answer, and what does the child acquire
but a distaste for what is only a dead letter, and a love for
tales and romances, and that trashy reading which is too well
understood, and whose spirit, as well as letter, killeth too often
ooth body and soul?
But, it may be asked, would you not cultivate the memory
of words at all. I answer that the ordinary intercourse of
society will do much towards educating this memory, but
there is one school exercise, which, when not perverted, is
peculiarly fitted for this purpose; I mean spelling, although
spelling, if properly taught, is not merely the learning of
words, but the expression of sounds, and the acquisition of a
correct pronunciation, which is rarely acquired in any other
way. Perhaps no one branch taught in our common schools
has been so badly taught as this, and in no department is
there such a general complaint of deficiency, and such a loud
cry for reform. Whence is this? Certainly not because correct spelling is not universally considered indispensable to a
good education, certainly not because there is any dearth of
spelling books. Will you bear with me a few minutes longer,
while I endeavor to explain the cause of the deficiency which
is so notorious?
First, then, spelling has been treated as an inferior branch,
in which to exercise a pupil was to degrade him. Hence the
higher classes have generally been excused fromn spelling, or
have only spelled occasionally, without having regular and set
lessons.   Now, spelling must be taught at school, or the
chance is a thousand to one that the adult will never make up
for the neglect. The reason of this is, not so much the
incapability of adults to learn, as their unwillingness to come
down to the only effectual way of learning, that is, by lessons
from the spelling book.  It must be this, for adults read the
words constantly, write them frequently, and understand and
use them better than children do; and yet they seldom correct words that they have been accustomed to misspell. The
reason uniformly given by adults, who continue to spell ill, is,
they were not properly drilled when young.
The second reason why  spelling has retrograded in our
schools, has  been  the pretended  improvement  of spelling
books.  Thirty or forty years ago, little or no regard wa
paid to I)ronunoiation; and any person who cAewed his words
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was laughed at as a flat, or sneered at as a pedant. About that
time Walker's Dictionary was reprinted in this country, and
spelling books began to be made on his plan. The test of
gentility, thenceforth, was pronunciation, and not orthography.
Figures and other marks were introduced into spelling books,
and relying upon these, the classification of words began to
be neglected, until it was almost disregarded, and the diffi culty of learning to spell was increased just in proportion to
this neglect. Who needs an argument to show that a proper
classification facilitates the learning of every art and science,
and that on the association thus produced, the memory in a
great degree depends for its power? The great desideratum
of a spelling book is that it shall be choice, but sufficiently
comprehensive in its vocabulary, simple, but exact and
thorough in its classification; and that it shall teach the true
pronunciation without appearing to do so, and without drawing off the pupil's attention from the naked word.
The third reason for the decline of spelling was the introduction of definition spelling books, and the custom of giving
spelling lessons from dictionaries. If attention to the marks
and figures that indicated the pronunciation, took off the
scholar's attention from the orthography, much more so did
the affixing of a definition.   The definition became every
thing, and the orthography only a secondary object. The
vocabulary of a definition spelling book was so curtailed from
necessity, that it was altogether insufficient for the purpose of
teaching orthography, and the words of a dictionary are so
numerous that it is the labor of a life, a school life, to spell
it through once. You see the consequence; in the definition
spelling books, many common and useful words were omitted,
and the attention was distracted between those that were left
and their definitions; while the length of time required to go
through a dictionary, rendered a familiar acquaintance with
the definition or the orthography absolutely impossible. And
had the definition been retained, what would it have been
worth? Common words are generally mystified by a definition, and seldom explained. The other day, in preparing a
new work to oblige children to write the words of their spelling books, I wanted a simple definition of aflounce and of a
periwig, both common things, and well understood. I turned
to the most popular, and really the best school dictionary, and
found the definition as follows:
Periwig. Adscititiouts ham.
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Flounce. A loose, full trimming, sewed to a woman's
garment so as to swell and shake.
1 then asked an intelligent child what sort of hair he thought
"adscititious hair" was.-" I don't know," said he.  ", Is it
hair that is all in a snarl? "- I then asked an intelligent girl
what she should call "a loose, full trimming sewed to a
woman's garment so as to swell and shake," and she said at
once, "an April fool."
So much for the definition of easy words. I then had occasion to look out the word Imbricated, and found that it meant
"Indented with concavities."  I asked a miss who was reading, the meaning of the word anodyne, and she looked in the
dictionary, and mistaking the a which denoted that the word
was an adjective, for a part of the definition, she said anodyne
meant, "a mitigating pain."
If the memory is treacherous, the definition will soon
escape, almost as soon as it is learned, or it may be applied to
the wrong word. When a class of young misses was once
reading to me, the word wedlock occurred, and, as usual, I
asked the meaning of it.  "I know," said a lively little girl,
who had "studied dictionary," as she called it, at another
school; "it is something they fasten barn-doors with."*
I believe this is a fair specimen of the aid that children get
from definitions obtained in dictionaries; for, as I have said,
if the words are common, no definition is needed, and a large
proportion are of this description; and if the words are not
common, the definition will not be understood, or will be
immediately forgotten.
The fourth cause of the decline of spelling, is the attempt
to teach spelling from reading lessons. I have already hinted
that the true place to teach a child the mnzeaning of a word is
not in the dictionary, where it may have a dozen meanings
apparently contradictory or perfectly unintelligible, but in the
reading lesson, where the word is used, and where its very
use often defines it. The faithful teacher will never miss
this opportunity to explain words, not only because the
interest and the intelligent reading of the particular lesson
depend upon it, but because he will never, in any other
department of instruction, have so good a chance to teach the
correct meaning and use of words. But this is a very
* As I have seen this anecdote elsewhere, and may  )e suspected of approprinting what is not my own, it may he proper for me to say that it was first
published ia one of my Reports, many years ago.
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THE TEACHERS" INSTITUTE.
different exercise from  spelling;  and just so far as it is
excellent for teaching the meaning and use of words, it is
unfitted to teach spelling; for, if it be true that the affixing of
a definition diverts the attention from the orthography, it is
evident that the sentiment, and the interest of the narrative,
will do so in a greater degree. Every scholar knows the
extreme difficulty of printing correctly; but this does not arise
from the ignorance of the author or the printer, but from the
constant tendency of the sentiment or thought to divert the
attention of the proof-reader, whether author or printer, from
the structure of the words themselves; and hence their custom
of spelling the words instead of pronouncing them, or the
reading of sentences backwards, to destroy the sense and fix
the attention upon the naked words.
But spelling from reading books is attended with another
serious disadvantage. The number of words spelled will not
be extensive, and many words in common use will, perhaps,
never occur at all. Besides, those that do occur, occur in
utter confusion; and, for this reason, neither teacher nor pupil
can ever know how many words he has learned, nor of how
many he is ignorant. The presumption is, that the words of
a spelling book include all that will occur in useful; but not
strictly scientific books, and in profitable conversation; and
these will be spelled and written over and over, until they
become familiar; and when teachers will go back to this old
plan of using the spelling book, and not till then, will they be
able, in my opinion, to remedy the defect which all acknowledge to exist. It will not do to say that spelling is not worth
the trouble of acquisition, for I think no one will deny that
spelling is like charity in one remarkable respect; for a man
may understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and yet,
without correct spelling,- be nothing.
If I did not believe that the prevalent mode of committing
books to memory was cruel as well as incorrect, I should not
be so anxious for the reform. The custom has been,.and nciv
is, for the teacher to set a lesson to be learned at home, and
it not unfrequently happens that the parents have the hardest
part of the work to do, for they have to direct the child, to
encourage him in the disagreeable task, and then nurse him
in the sickness that follows constant study when he should-be
taking exercise.  I wonder that parents have not come to the
,conclusion that they may as well set the lesson as teach it, and
0 have the credit of it.:Who does not know that nineteen
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twentieths at least of every lesson committed to memory, are
immediately forgotten?  I should as soon think of employing
a chi d to bring me water in a basket, as to learn lessons by
rote. What would you think of a farmer, who, instead of
taking his boy into the field, should send him to a school,
where he would be required to commit an agriculturalcatechism to memory?
It would not require much shrewdness in the farmer to
guess what would be the result of this sort of education. He
would instantly reject it, and the next morning, perhaps, send
his child to school to be taught geography, or natural philosophy, in the same irrational manner!
Some years ago, I wrote a dialogue* for the amusement
of my pupils, and as it not only exhibits the folly now under
consideration, but also the kindred folly of crowding a little of
every thing into the young mind, with your permission, I will
read a page of it.
A mother in search of a school for her child, accosted a
young teacher as follows:
Mother. Are you the mistress of this school, miss?
Teacher. I am, madam.
M. Your school has been highly recommended to me, and
I have concluded to place my only daughter under your care,
if we can agree upon the subject of her studies. Pray what
do you teach?
T. What is usually taught in preparatory schools, madam.
How old is your little girl?
M. She is only five, but then she is a child of remarkable
capacity.
T. I should not think she studied many branches at present,
madam, whatever she may do hereafter.
M. Indeed, she is not so backward as you imagine. She
has studied astronomy, botany and geometry, and her teacher
was preparing to put her into Latin, when ill health obliged
her to relinquish her school.
T. Have you ever examined her in these sciences, madam?
Al. O  yes, indeed.   Fraxinella, my  dear, tell the lady
something of geometry and astronomy. What is astronomy,
my dear? Ask her a question, miss, any question you
please.
T. What planet do we inhabit, my dear?
* iacop publisheb is the "F  amiliar Dialogueg " of the author.
.'i35 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
C. Hey?
T. What do you live on, my dear?
C. On meat, ma'am;  I did not know what you meant
before.   -
M. No, my dear, the lady wishes to know what you stand
on row; on what do you stand?
C. On my feet, mother; did she think I stood on my heai i
M.  Fraxinella! dear, you have forgotten your astronomy
the three days you have staid at home. But do now say
a line or two of your last lesson to the lady; now do, dear,
that's a darling.
C. The equinoctial line is the plane of the equator extended
in a straight line until it surrounds the calyx or flower-cup,
for the two sides of an isuckle triangle are always equal to the
.ippopotamus.
M. There, miss; I told you she had it in her, only it
requires a peculiar tact to draw it out. I knew she would
astonish you.
T. She does, indeed, madam.   You speak of the plane of
the equator, my dear; will you be good enough to tell me the
meaning of the word plane?
C. Ugly, ma'am; I thought every body knew that.
T. How many are three times three, my dear?
C. Three times three?
T. Yes, how many are they?
C. I don't know. Mrs. Flare never told me that; she said
every body knows how to count!
T. She taught you to read and spell, I suppose.
M. No, I positively forbade that. I wished to have her
mind properly developed, without having her intellect frittered
away upon the elements. But I see your school will not do
for my daughter. I was afraid you only taught the lower
branches. Come, Fraxy, dear, let us call on Miss Flourish;
perhaps she is competent to estimate your acquirements, and
finish your education.
I have thus, in a very familiar way, endeavored to expose
the too prevalent error of attempting to cram all sorts of
knowledge into the mind through the single avenue of the
verbal memory, to the neglect of all other kinds of memory,
of the external senses, and of the reasoning powers. The first
great principle which should guide us in the education of
children is, to teach only what is necessary and proper, and
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MEMORY.
what the child is competent to understand, and the next is, to
illustrate, explain, and demonstrate it, as far as possible, to
the understanding and the senses.
I have given you the result of twenty years' observation
and experience; and whether I am in error, or whether the
common theory of memory and the common system of instruction are in fault, you, gentlemen, must judge.
12*
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ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
IF any one branch taught in our common schools is very
badly taught, that branch is English grammar. Whatever
may be the textbook used, the object undoubtedly ought to be,
to teach the child to speak and write correctly and with ease;
and, if the teacher is competent, this object may be attained
with any of the popular textbooks, or even without any of
them.
Unfortunately, however, the number of district school
teachers who are skilful in the use of language is very
small, although many are acquainted with the technics of
grammar, and can analyze sentences made by others with
tolerable facility. To such, and to all teachers, let me say,
that their time will be better spent if they begin earlier to
teach the use of language, leaving the grammar to come in,
as it originally came, after the language has been formed.
To enable the teacher to do this, he must begin early with
the child, and make every exercise bear upon this. In my
remarks on reading and orthography, I have shown how a
beginning may be made, and I shall endeavor not to repeat
what I have said.
I should begin to teach English grammar, then, when I
begin to teach the English language; that is, when I begin to
teach reading, spelling and talking. The mischief has been,
that children have been allowed to read without intelligence,
to spell without any application of the words, and to talk
without care, although they talk before they read, or spell, or
write; and being allowed to talk badly, the chief object of
.caching technical grammar afterwards is, to undo what has
been previously done, but what should have been avoided. If
parents only felt the importance of speaking correctly, and
even elegantly, in the presence of their children; if they paid
a hundredth part as much attention to language as they do to
dress and external appearance, we should hear little of grammar, except as it affords directions for foreigners who wish to
learn our idioms, and have not time to do so by practice in
writing and speaking it.
Ir 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Unfortunately, not one child in a hundred is so situated
that he is not exposed to evil influences in this respect; and
the time is far distant, I fear, when, in the family and in
society, the use of language will be so free from error that the
young will insensibly learn to speak correctly, and be so
familiar with good usage that they will not need to resort to
grammars to know in what it consists. Several years ago, a
young Frenchman, who had been educated in Paris at great
expense, undertook to teach French in Boston. He was an
excellent scholar, and yet one day he pointed to a countryman of his who passed us in the street, and remarked, " That
man is an upholsterer, and has taken no pains to perfect his
pronunciation, but I would give all I am worth to be able to
pronounce French as correctly as he does."  "How did he
arrive at such perfection? " said I. " He was born at Tours,"
said he," where French is more correctly spoken than in any
other part of France, and he speaks well from habit. I shall
never equal him." The teacher cannot, perhaps, counteract
entirely the evil influences of home, and of intercourse with
the illiterate and unrefined, but he may do much by the force
of his own example, and by untiring vigilance in regard to the
faults of his pupils.
Before children are readers or.writers, they are often great
talkers; but how rarely do we hear of a teacher's engaging in
conversation with such pupils, or indeed with his most
advanced  pupils;  and yet, what  exercise could  be nmoe
proper or more usefill than for the teacher to call his little
class around him, and converse freely and affectionately with
them upon the thousand subjects that interest their opening
mninds? Besides the exercise in grammar which such a conversation would afford, how completely might the teacher win
the affections of the children, and lay the basis of mild and yet
effective discipline; and how easily could he impress upon
the yet unsullied heart the great principles of conscience,
morality and religion. Were I again to undertake to teach,
this exercise would be one of the first that I should introduce
into every class; but, when I was a teacher, I was blind as
my fellows in this respect, except that I was accustomed to
converse with my oldest pupils on the subject of their nest
composition.
It is to be regretted that so few teachers are fitted to converse with their pupils in this manner, but this should not
prevent them from making the attempt; and I err greatly in
139 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
my judgment, if thev do not soon find that in this exercise,
as in philosophy, action and reaction will be, at the least,
equal.
If he cannot trust himself without a text, let him take some
common thing,-a piece of money, for instance,-and ask the
little ones its uses, and such other particulars as will lead
them to tell what they know on the subject. He may even
appoint the subject of conversation the day beforehand, and
let them think upon it before they come to the class. I know
that many teachers will say they have no time for such an
exercise, and I suppose they have not; but I think every one
can make time for it, by thus employing some of the minutes
that are worse than wasted in teaching useless things, or in
teaching even useful things in a useless manner.
I have already shown how early the child may be taught
to write, and how usefully he may be employed ill writing
little sentences from his books, from dictation, or from copies
set on the ruled black-board. Every sentence that the child
writes in this way is a lesson in grammar, and in the use of
language, which is, or ought to be, the only object in learning
the grammar of one's own language.
When I was at school, composition was not taught, and,
although I received the Franklin medal for English grammar
especially, I am not aware that I ever wrote a word of composition until I left school, and I am sure that I never wrote one
as a school exercise. I entered what is now called the Eliot
school, in Bqston, at the early age of six years, easily passing
for a child of seven, because as large as my brother, who
was eight. We read one verse, and spelled one or two
words, every day. My class consisted of twelve forms or
long benches, each holding six or eight boys. Each form, on
successive days, said grammar, as it was called, and my turn
came only once a fortnight, unless I got above others in spelling, which elevation, of course, brought the grammar lesson
somewhat earlier than if I had remained stationary. Six
lines of the grammar were the least quantity that was taken
for a lesson, but we might say more if we pleased, and he
who said most went to the head of the form. Such was the
horror in which this exercise was held, that boys, whose turn
it would be to say grammar the next day, would miss words
in spelling, so as to drop into a lower form, and put of' the
evil day.   Others, who had an opportunity to rise into the
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doomel form, intentionally spelled the words wrong, and staid
down.
The recitation was generally made to some boy of the
highest class, and it was never accompanied with any explanation.  When a boy had said every word of the grammar
book through three times, he was promoted to the first class,
which alone was allowed to make that wonderful application
of grammar which is technically called parsing. The textbook I first learned was the Young Ladies' Accidence, by
Caleb Bingham, with whom, after he became a bookseller, I
had the pleasure of serving my apprenticeship, and whose
partner I had the honor to be until his death. If this were
the proper place, it would give me great delight to sketch the
character of this excellent man, who was the earliest reformer
of education in Boston, and perhaps in these United States.
No reading books were so popular as his American Preceptor
and Columbian Orator. No spelling book was more used
than his Child's Companion in our primary schools, which, at
that time, were private or select schools for children under
seven, and kept by females; and his little grammar, called
The Young Ladies' Accidence," because, when he made
and named it, the author was teacher of a select school for
girls, was the first grammatical textbook used in the public
schools of Boston. I must be contented, however, with barely
saying that Caleb Bingham was a good scholar; a very successful and much beloved teacher; a gentleman in the best
sense of the word; an humble, devout, consistent, and charitable Christian,-one of those whose purity of heart enables
them, even here on earth, to see God.
Before I had learned the Young Ladies' Accidence once
through, it was superseded by a little abridgment of Murray's
Grammar by" A Teacher of Youth;" and this I recited twice
by rote,-a few lines at a lesson, before I was initiated into the
mysteries of parsing.  How far this change of books went
towards finishing my English education may be inferred from
the fact, that, when, at the age of thirteen, I went to the public Latin school, and the teacher, by way of examination,
asked me what was the perfect participle of the verb love, I
could not answer him.  It is not to be wondered at, therefore,
that I hated grammar, had no faith in the utility of teaching
it as it was then taught, and determined to reform the
method, if I ever had a good opportunity.
But the teacher must use some textbook, and the question
141 
THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
is, how shall he use it?  To answer this question fully, it
would be necessary to give particular directions for the use of
every one of the hundred or more textbooks that have been
prepared to explain, or modify, or simplify, the system proposed nearly half a century ago by Lindley Murray. I can
not be expected to do this, and must be contented with one
general remark, viz., Whatever be the textbook, as soon As
a principle is stated, do not advance one step further until it is
understood, and applied to actual practice. How this may be
done, I have attempted to show in my  Common  School
Grammar, to which I must refer the young teacher, since to
explain any textbook would be to write a grammar as large
as that to which I refer.
But the most popular grammars used in the United States
abound in difficulties, and, by perplexing the teachers and disgusting the pupils, they fail to aid either in the great work of
using their mother tongue with facility and effect. Somehing is fundamentally wrong. All teachers and all pupils
bel this, and yet no reform that has been proposed reaches
!he difficulty, or, in any considerable  degree, obviates it.
Will the reader bear with me while, at some length, I point
out what I consider to be the evil, and endeavor to propose an
adequate remedy for it.
The first school that I undertook to teach was to be conducted on the monitorial plan, and the monitors, as usual,
formed the highest class, and were under my special instruction. The first time that I endeavored to give them a lesson
in English grammar, I found that they all applied to the
dictionary to ascertain to what part of speech a word belonged.
As the sanme word, in different circumstances, might belong to
different classes of words, and the pupils seemed never to
have exercised their ingenuity in attempting to class words by
the use that was made of them in the sentence, I directed all
dictionaries to be banished, and the definitions of the various
parts of speech to be thoroughly learned before the next
lesson. When the time arrived, I selected a sentence from
the reading book, and I shall never forget it.  It was," David
smote Goliah."  "Well," said I to the first pupil, " what part
of speech is David?"  "A noun, sir."  " What is a noun?"
"A substantive or noun is the name of any thing that exists, or
of which we have any notion." "Is David, in this sentence
the name of any thing that exists?"  "No, sir: David died
lolig ago." " Is it the name of any thing of which you have
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ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
any notion?"  "Yes, sir; I have some notion of him as a
very small man, and a king."  As the object was only to
ascertain the part of speech, I asked the next pupil what part
of speech smote was.  "A  preposition, sir."  "A preposition!" said I, with astonishment, " pray what is a preposition?"
"Prepositions serve to connect words with one another and
to show the relation between them." " Very well," said I,
with all the importance of a teacher who felt it his duty to
expose the ignorance of his pupil, "what words does smote
connect?"  " David and Goliah, sir, for there is nothing else
to connect them." "Yes," said I, somewhat flurried, "but
what relation does it show between them?"  "Not a very
friendly one, I should think, sir," said the pupil. I was struck
with the truth of the answers, and had the honesty to say,
"You are right, miss, or the definition in your book is
wrong."
This incident shook my faith in the perfection of Murray's
Grammar; and the long course of study which followed,
resulted in the settled conviction that Murray's Grammar is far
from being synonymous with English grammar, and that any
time spent in teaching it is wvorse than thrown away.  This
may seemn a bold assertion, when it is recollected that, perhaps,
hundreds of persons have published grammars founded upon
Murray's, and the schools of our country, from one end to the
other, for nearly half a century, have known no other, and
half the teachers, and nearly all the parents, seem to have
adopted the notion, that to throw aside this very popular
grammar would be to throw aside the English language itself.
Twenty-five years ago, when I first struck for reform, the
charge of wishing to corrupt, or, at least, to alter the language,
was urged against me with no little violence, although I never
proposed any such alteration, and was mainly anxious to
preserve the "well of English undefiled."  I have had the
pleasure of seeing several of the improvements I then recommended very generally adopted, but much rubbish yet remains
to be removed; and as, in teaching this branch, I differ from
my brother teachers still more in regard to the matter to be
taught than in regard to the manner of teaching it, I will
venture to give the reasons for my conduct somewhat at
length.
The human nind being essentially the same m every man,
it would be strange, if, in some important respects, there was
not a degree of similarity in the languages which their
143 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
common wants have created. All languages, for instance,
would be likely to have words that were the names of objects
that could be the subject of sense or of thought. They would
have words also to distinguish several individuals of the same
name from each other, and they would have another class of
words to express the actions that any object may perform.
Beauzee * expresses the same idea when he says, "Reason
produces every where the same results; it establishes every
where the same sorts of words to represent, under similar
circumstances, the same kind of ideas; it subjects words to
the same kinds of service, and it fixes the relations between
them as the ideas are related of which they are the signs."
A grammar whose object is merely to show in what respects
all languages agree, is called a general grammar; but languages do not agree in every respect, and a general grammar
would never enable us to learn those peculiarities which are
confined to a single language.  How shall we learn them, then?
Is it not by studying such grammars as set forth these peculiarities in the clearest light, unmixed with the peculiarities of
any other language? Now, if it can be shown that the
grammars in common use, called English grammars, do not
exhibit the peculiarities of our language, but, on the contrary,
so mix up its peculiarities with those of other languages that
no distinct idea of English grammar is contained in them,
ought we not instantly to discard them all, and to endeavor to
find some one that shall be fitted to do the work that they
can never accomplish?
To understand this remark, let me give an example, taken
from the Latin language. We there find that the verb, or
word that expresses action, changes its termination more than
a hundred times, and, without the addition of any other word,
changes its meaning as many times.  Thus,
Amo         means I love.
Amabam        "   I was loving.
Amavi         "   I have loved.
Amaveram    "   I had loved.
Amabo          "   I shall or will love.
Amavero        "   I shall or will have loved.
Amem           "   I may or can love.
Amarem         "   I might, could, would, or should love.
* Beauzie, author of "Grammaire Ge6;e6rale, ot Exposition Raisonn6e des
El/ments n6cessaires du Langage," etc.
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Amaverim means I may have loved.
Amavissem   "   I might, could,would, or should have loved.
".   Love thou.
"    To love.
"    To have loved.
Amor            "    I am loved.
Amabar          "   I was loved.
Amabor          "    I shall be loved.
Amer            "    I may or can be loved.
Amarer          "    I might, could, would, or should be loved.
Amator        "   Be thou loved.
"    To be loved. 
Here are twenty forms of a Latin verb, each having a
different termination, and each a difference of meaning, as I
have shown by the English translation that I have placed
opposite to them. Now these changes of termination are
called tenses in Latin grammars, and, with one or two exceptions, each of these has five other variations to express the
other persons in the two numbers. Thus,
Amo, I love;        Amas, thou lovest;  Amat, he loves;
Amamus, we love; Amatis, ye love;    Amant, they love.
The Latin verbs, therefore, have really more than a hundred
such changes of termination.
Now, how is it in our language?  How many terminations
have we; or, if these changes of termination are called teses,
no     w   many teases have we?  Let us see.   We have -
Love, lovest, loveth, loves.
Loved, lovedst.
Six in all! and, surely, there must be an amazing difference
between the particular grammar of the Latin language and
that of English, and this point of difference, of course, it would
seem to be the duty of the makers of English grammar-books
distinctly to set forth. They have done no such thing; but, on
the contrary, they have said that we have as many tenses as
13
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Amare
Amavisse.
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Amari
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the Latins have; and English children, who could learn our
six terminations, which make but two tenses, in five minutes,
are compelled often to waste years in learning the translations
of the hundred Latin tenses, although not one in a thousand
wil ever see the Latin words.
This multiplicity of terminations has been called an advantage, and is said to add richness to the Latin tongue; but it
seems to me, that, if it is an advantage to have an alphabet of
a few letters, by the transposition of which we can express all,
and more than all that can be expressed by the countless hieroglyphics which the alphabet superseded, the English language
has an advantage over the Latin in being able with six words
to express all that can be expressed by their hundred, and this
without any loss of strength, or any fear of mistake.
This will suffice for an example, and the question naturally
arises, "How  came  English  grammar to be so strangely
perverted?"  Fortunately, this question can be satisfactorily
answered. But, if it be asked why disturb the course of
instruction by introducing a new system into the schools? I
answer that this question should have been put to Lindley
Murray when he proposed his grammar; for the grammars
before his day hardly departed at all from the true idiom and
structure of our language. The teacher who has not access
to any good library, and who takes,-as, I trust, every Massachusetts teacher, who deserves the name, does,-the Common
School Journal, will find in the third volume a brief analysis
of some of the early grammars of our language, an analysis
w      h      i      c      h       was made, I believe, by a gentleman, who, if I     can
judge from his initials, W. H. W., saw in those grammars
what the true principles of English grammar were, and seems
to have approved them, and, nevertheless, went away and constructed a grammar of his own, which, if possible, departs
further than Murray's does front the simplicity of truth, and
does not appear to be in the least improved by the critic's researches. The analysis, however, as far as it goes, is fairly
made, and the following is the result.
Lilly's Grammar. This was a Latin grammar, though, in
a second part, it touched upon English; " but," says W. H.
W., "both parts are devoted to the grammar of the Latin
tonigue."   The  fact is, nobody studied  English grammar
wvllen this was published, in 1513.
Ben Jonson's Grammar, 1640. W. H. W. says of this
g,ramtnar   The author attempted to force the English lan
,
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guage to the Latin idiom."  This grammar was written in
English.
Dr. Wallis, 1653.  "This learned man endeavored," says
W. 11. W., "to free the language from the trammels imposed
on it by other writers, but he sometimes fell into the opposite
extreme."   Dr. W.  classed adjectives, pronouns, possessive
cases and participles, with mere adjectives, and allowed no
moods, and only two tenses, to verbs. As his grammar was
in fact the basis of my Common School Grammar, I shall say
more of it than the critic did, and shall hereafter endeavor to
show that Dr. Wallis fell into no extreme, as the critic erroneously supposes.
John Brightland, 1710. The critic says, "He thoroughly,
investigated every department of the subject, and his work
presents a striking contrast with many of our modern hasty and
superficial productionis." He makes but four parts of speech,
-nouns, adjectives, verbs and particles. Pronouns he calls
nouns; the article and the possessive case he calls adjectives.
He has no moods, and only two tenses. Participles he calls
adjectives. The auxiliaries he calls principal verbs, and the
verbs after them infinitives with to understood, as did Wallis
and Ben Jonson.  Under the name of particles he includes
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.*
Gough, James and John, 1750.  The critic says, "This is
a production of little merit;" but he gives no particulars in
regard to the parts of speech.
James Harris, 1751. The Hermes of Harris is a general
grammar, and should not have been mentioned by the critic
among English grammars.
A. Fisher, 1753. Four parts of speech, the same as Brightland's. Hu has no moods, and but three tenses. He allows
but two cases, having no objective.
The British Grammar, 1762. This anonymous grammar
has eight parts of speech, and calls the article and adjective
subdivisions of the noun. It has but two cases, four moods
and five tenses. It allows no potential mood, and no second
future tense, but, in other respects, is like Mlurray's Grammar,
of which it was probably the basis.
It is not known who was the author of this grammar, but
he is entitled to the infamy of having led the way to a fatal
* These were the conclusions of a man who, it seems, had "thorouglil
investigated every department of the subject of grammar!"
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
relapse into the wretched system, from which Wallis had so
patriotically redeemed our language.
Dr. Priestley, 1762.   This very learned author had no
nmoods, and but two tenses.  "He also asserts," says the critic,
"that we have no more business with a future tense than we
have with the whole system of Latin moods and tenses."
Dr. Lowth, 1763. Dr. Webster says that Wallis and
Lowth are the two ablest writers on English grammar. Dr.
L. allows but two cases; has four moods, omitting the potential of Murray; and three tenses, adding the future to the
present and past of his predecessors.
Dr. Johzson, about 1763. This grammar was prefixed to
the great dictionary.  The critic says it cannot be regarded
as a complete system of English grammar. It contains one
bright remark, however, which the critic seems to cite with
disapprobation.  Dr. J. says, "Our language  has so little
inflection or variety of terminations that its construction neither
requires nor admits many rules." He also objects to the use
of new terms or names in grammar.
Dr. Ash, about 1763. This grammar is mentioned, but
nothing is said by the critic to enable the reader to form an
idea of its plan, except that the author called it an Introduction
to Lowth's Grammar. Dr. Ash rejected the passive voice, and
called participles adjectives.
William Ward, 1765.  Of Ward the critic says, "He was
strongly inclined to the old system of instruction, and used his
influence to revive many useless terms, which had been
rejected by Wallis and Lowth." Has not the critic done the
same thing in his own grammar, published in 1846?
John Burn, 1766. The critic gives no idea of his system,
,and might as well not have named him.
James Buchanan, 1767.  "Stolen chiefly from the British
Grammar," says the critic.
The ill health of W. H. W. prevented him from continuing the list any further, but he brought it far enough to
show that, originally, English grammar was made entirely
subservient to the Latin; then, some noble minds, led on by
Dr. Wallis, broke the shackles, and made a proper English
grammar; and, finally, men of less genius and learning began
the retrogression, which ended in the production of Murray's
Grammar, et id genus omne.
I promised to say something more of Dr. Wallis's Grammar, but let me first say a word or two of the man.
)
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Dr. John Wallis was a distinguished professor of geometry in Oxford University, one of the founders of the Royal
Society, and one of the secretaries of the famous Westminster
Assembly of Divines in 1644. Before he was honored with
the professorship, he was a clergyman, and, probably, a
teacher, for he taught several deaf mutes to speak, and wrote
a valuable treatise on the best method of instructing them. It
is to be regretted that no one seems to have thought of simrplfying the labor of teaching these unfortunates by adopting( the
English Grammar of this true philosopher, who to this, no
doubt, owed much of his success in teaching them to articulate
words. Dr. Wallis made some valuable discoveries in natural
philosophy, and his mathematical works led to many important improvements. As a linguist he was distinguished,
and edited two or three ancient authors. He was therefore a
competent judge of general and particular grammar, more so
than any that preceded or followed him, with the exception,
perhaps, of Dr. Priestley, who  agreed with him,  and Dr.
Lowth, who wrote his Grammar, as he avows, for the special
purpose of helping some of his family to study Latin and
Greek.
In the preface to his Grammar, nearly two hundred years
ago, Dr. Wallis says:
"Many foreigners who wish to learn our language, complain of its difficulty; and even some of our own countrymen
think it can not be subjected to any grammatical rules. These
evils I have undertaken to remedy, in order that a language,
in itself very easy of acquisition, may be so explained that
foreigners  may  more  easily learn  it, and  natives more
thoroughly understand its true structure.  I am aware that
others before me have attempted this, amongst whom are Dr.
Gill in Latin, Ben Johnson in English, and Henry Hexham
in Belgic; but no one of them, as I think, has adopted the
method best adapted to this design, for, all of them, by forcing
our lant guage to conform to the Latin model, have given many
useless rules about the cases, genders, and declensions of nouns,
the tenses, modes, an,d conjugations of verbs, and other similar
things, which a(ze entirely foreign to our language, and
obscure and confuse, rather than explain it. On this account,
I have adopted a different method, which aims not so much
to exhibit the usages of the Latin tongue, as the peculiarities
of our own; for, what causes much trouble in other languages,
13*
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
is made a light affair in ours, by the aid of prepositions and
auxiliaries."
How, then, does Dr. Wailis construct his True English
Grammar,? I will show, in as few words as possible.
1. He has eight parts of speech,-the noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
2. The articles he calls adjectives.
3. He has no cases to nouns; for the possessive case, he
says, is a mere  adjective, and not, like nouns, the name  of
any thing.
4. All adjective pronouns, and possessive cases of personal
pronouns, he calls adjectives.
5. Personal pronouns, he says, ought to be called nouns.
He keeps them in a separate class, however, probably because
they seem to have two cases, which he calls two states or
conditions.
6. He has no active and passive voice, no moods, and
only two tenses, - the two that Murray calls the present. and
imperfect.
7. Of the two participles, which he calls active and passive,
he says, "They are clearly adjectives, and, in every respect,
like other adjectives."
8. What Murray calls auxiliaries, he calls so, because, he
says, they have no auxiliaries themselves, and no participles.
As this is not true of be, have, do, and will, and, since Dr. W.
treats them all as principal verbs, the utility of calling them
auxiliaries is not very apparent.
9. He treats the other four parts of speech very much as
Murray does.
This is a brief summary of the plan; and who does not see
that it is founded in nature and reason, and is more simple
than the grammar that prevails?
I am not aware that, in the Common School Grammar, I
have departed in any important respect from the great
principles laid down bv Dr. Wallis; but I know that these
principles, simple as they are, will not be received without
great reluctance, and I shlall, at the risk of being tedious, say
a few words upon each of the nine points above noticed. It
would be a shorter way, perhaps, to refer the teacher at once
to my Grammar; but as that is intended for children, I have
not discussed any disputed question, because this could only
perplex the learner, and the teacher should be convinced
without obliging the child to pay for the argument.
j
150 
ENGLISHI GRAMIMAR.
1. In regard to the parts of speech. As we have names
of things that exist, and of those also "of which we have any
notion," we  must have names for actions; but we have no
such names, unless the infinitive mode of Mr. Murray, and
the present participle, when not used as an adjective, are
called nouns. This may seem a startling position, but it does
no violence even to the Grammar of Mr. Murray; for he
always governs the infinitive as he would a noun, and makes
a nominative of it in the same manner; nay, he even allows
an adjective to qualify it, as in the sentence, "To see the sun
is pleasant." He does the same thing with the present participle, and why then should not these names of action at
once be called nouns.  If it be said, "the infinitive must be
a verb, because the other modes and tenses are formed from
it," the answer is, that, granting that they are so formed, the
consequence does not follow.  A head is a noun, to head is an
infinitive, I headed is an undoubted verb; now, if to head is
a verb because I headed is formed from it, then a head
is a verb because to head is formed from that. What is the
difference between I love reading,, and I love to read; writing
is useful, and to write is useful; and why should they be
parsed differently? It is, therefore, no departure from even
Murray himself to call infinitives and present participles
nouns; but, if it were, I could bring authority for doing so,
with which Mr. Murray and his followers may not be compared.
I shall content myself with only one extract from Dr.
Crombie's justly celebrated Grammar, cited with approbation
by Bosworth, in his valuable Anglo-Saxon Grammar. Dr.
Crombie says, "In what light are we to consider the phrase
to love, generally termed an infinitive; or to what class of
words is it reducible?  It cannot be a verb, for it does not
affirm any thing. It expresses merely an action or state
abstractedly. Hence, many grammarians have justly considered it no part of the verb; and, in the languages of Greece
and Rome, the infinitive was employed like a common substantive, having frequently an adjective joined with it, and
subject to  the government  of verbs and prepositions.  I
decidedly concur with those grammarians who exclude the
infinitive from the appellation of verb   The ancient Latin
grammarians, as Priscian informs us, termed it, properly
enough, "nomen verbi, the noun, or name of the verb."  In
the Common School Grammar, it is called a verbal noun.
2. The Article, also, is struck from the list of parts of speech.
.
. 151 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE..
It may seem unnecessary to say a word in defence of this
act, for some of the Latino-English grammarians, and W. H.
W., of the Common School Journal, among them, yield this
point; and yet, not many days ago, a gentleman, of some reputation as a scholar and a teacher, undertook, at one of the
Normal schools, to expose my folly in uttering such a notion,
and, therefore, it may be well to waste a word upon his argumnents, which have been reported me.
"The articles have a peculiar,meaning and use, different
from adjectives," says my reviewer.   When I say, Give me
an orange, then, what do I mean, but that I wish for one
orange? When I say, Give me one orange, what do I mean,
but that I wish for an orange?  So much  for th- peculiar
mneaning; and who can tell in what respect an is used differently from one?  If it be still objected, that this similarity of
meaning and use proves not that an is an adjective, for one is
an indefinite adjective pronoun, I may grant this, and be
contented, for the present, to call a, an, and the indefinite
adjective pronouns; and the similarity of meaning and use
between the expressions, Give me a book to read, Give me
some book to read, and, Give me any book to read, may help
to fix the articles among the pronouns. We shall see what
adjective pronouns are, presently.
The must go into the same class also for the present, if
give me the book you are reading, and give me that book you
are reading, mean the same thing, and the and that are used
in a similar manner. So "I saw the strangers you described,"
I saw those strangers you described.   "I will keep the book
that I hold in my hand," I will keep this book that I hold in
my hand, &c., &c. It is unnecessary to multiply examples.
The  fact is, that the, although separated from this, that,
these, and those, and called a definite article, is not so well
entitled to this distinction as they are; for, if the can be used
for any one of the four, and they cannot be used for each
other, it necessarily follows that the meaning of the is more
general or comprehensive, and, of course, less definite than
theirs.
But, says my reviewer, "It is well to have a name and a
definition for the articles, to call attention to them, and fix
their meaning in the mind, which is the only object of making
and defining any distinctions." Well, then, what is his definition of the article?  "An articZe is a word prefixed to snbstantites to point them out, and show how far their sign.!fica
.-I'  ^
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ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
twon extends." Let us test this definition, which my reviewer
thinks so very important.   "The scholars who hear me," is a
good sentence for this purpose.   The, we are told, points out
the scholars, and shows how far their signification extends.
But, I am inclined to think, the signification would be just as
limited if the were entirely omitted, and the sentence were,
"Scholars, who hear me."   Does not the clause, " who  hear
me," though not prefixed to the substantive, point it out, and
show how far its signification extends? and is not this clause,
therefore, a better article than the word the, which is so indefinite that it may be omitted?
Again, in the sentence, " Normal scholars, listen to me"
is not Normal prefixed to the substantive? and does it not
show how far the signification extends? Why is not Normal a good article then? -Normal scholars are, we all
know.
Again, in the name, John Smith, John is prefixed to Smith
to point the particular Smith out, and show how far the signification of Smith extends. John, then, must be a good article.
So with wind mnill, elm tree, barn door, &c., where wind, elm,
and barn answer perfectly to his definition of the article. So
even the verbs grind and tell become similar articles, when
prefixed to the substantives stone and tale; as, grind-stone,
tell-tale.  So the pronouns in " my child," "his child," "her
child,"' become the best of articles, by fulfilling all the conditions of the definition that my reviewer thinks so essential
t6 show what a true article is.
I have already shown how my pupil applied the definition
of the preposition to a verb, and I hesitate not to say, that no
definition of any part of speech in Murray's Grammar is a
whit more definite than that.  To prove this, let us amuse
ourselves with an experiment on Mr. Murray's definitions of
the adverb, preposition and conjunction.
"An adverb is a part of speech joined to a verb, an adjective, and sometimes to another adverb, to express some quality
or circumstance respecting it;" as,He reads correctly.      Correctly expresses some circumstance
of the verb reads, viz., its q-uality.
He reads to me.           To expresses a circumstance of reads,
viz., its direction.
He reads as I do.        As expresses a circumstaice of reads,
viz., its resemblance ttn mn  reading.
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THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
"Prepositions serve to connect words with one another and
to show the relation between them."
It is not my business to say whether
for connects  he or wished  with
coach, but I am inclined to thins
the connection and relation would
be just as apparent if for were en.
tirely omitted.
But connects words as much as for
does, and it shows the relation
between wished and the object of
the wish, viz., the relation of re  striction.
Then connects of co?trse, though it
may be left out asfor may, and it
shows the relation of time between
the wish and the thing wished.
"A  conjunction is a part of speech that is chiefly used
to connect sentences; it sometimes connects only words."
Two and three are five. And connects two and three.
Two with three are five. With connects the same words.
Two more three are five, That is, 2 + 3 =  5.
But enough of this; the definitions are all wrong, and 1
should ask pardon for this attempt to expose what is so manifestly absurd.
3. Next comes the subject of Cases.   We have seen that
several of the old grammarians, noticed by W. H. W., allowed
no cases, and others allowed but two,-the nominative and
possessive. Some English grammarians allow but one case,
and some claim six, not because we vary the noun, as the
Latins can, in six* different ways, but because, by the aid of
certain prepositions, we can translate their cases into English.
Thus the Latins say:
SINGULAR.
Homo,
Hominis,
Homini,
AHominem,
Homo,
Homine,
which means    Man.
"     "     of Man.
"    "      to Man.
"    "        Man.
o"    "     0 Man!
A"    "  with Man.
* Latin nouns have uisuallv five variations in the singuliar, and four in the
154
He wished for a coach
Hc. wished but a coach.
He wished th-en a coach.
Nominative,
Genitive,
Dative,
Accusative,
Vocative,
Ablative, 
ENGLISH GRAMI1AR.
PLURAL.
Homines,
nHomninuem,
Hominibus,
Homines,
Homines,
Hominibus,
Now, if the Latins have six cases, and we can translate
.hem by a phrase in English, we have as good a right to say
that we have six cases, as we have to say that we have four
or five moods, and forty or more tenses; because, forsooth, we
can, by phrases, express what they express by only altering
the termination of single words.
Dr. Crombie, by far the most judicious of modern  gramriarians, says, "If we confine the term noxn to the name of
an object, we shall exclude the possessive from all right to
this appellation. This is, indeed, an inconsistency, which
can in no way be removed, unless by adopting the opinion of
Wallis, who assigns no cases to English nouns, and considers
man's, king's &c., mere adjectives."
It is clear that, if "a substantive or noun  is the name of
any thing," man's, and king's, and John's, can not be nouns;
for who ever saw such a thing as a man's, a king's, or such
a boy as John's? It is amusing to see those who do not
hesitate to place even the nominative or the objective case
unchanged before another noun, and call it an adjective, as
town clerk, city government, head ornament, are afraid or unwilling to call the possessive case an adjective, although there*
is no difference of meaning or use between town clerk and
town's clerk; the city government, and the city's government;
head ornament, or the head's ornament, &c.
The fact is, that, when we use a possessive case before a
noun, we do so to distinguish that object from others of the
same name; and all words used for this purpose are adjectives. If I see several hats in a row, and wish to describe or
distinguish them from each other, I call one new, and another
old, to distinguish their age; one black, and another white, to
distinguish them by color; one fine, and another coarse, to
distinguish their quality; one near, and another distant, to
distinguish their place; one John's, and another Henry's, to
plural.  The nominative and vocative, in both numbers, and the dative and
ablative, ill the plural, are generally alike.
155
which means Men.
ti       c 4 of Men.
.    11       C, to Men.
11 It Men.
.9       11      0 Men!
4 6 41 with Men.
Nominative,
Genitive,
Dative,
Accusative,
Vocative,
Ablative, 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
distinguish their possessors.  Whatever  word I use to dis tinguish them becomes an adjective; and, if this is true when
a verb, as, tell tale; a noun, as, taZe bearer; or an adverb, as,
the very man, are used unaltered, how much rather is it the
case when a change is made in the termination, for the very
purpose of making an adjective of the noun, as the termi ation ly makes an adverb of an adjective.
4. Adjective pronouns are'called so because they have the
nature of adjectives, and are used, like adjectives, to distin guish nouns.  The best grammarians call them adjectives at
once; but some pretend to have discovered that some of them
-not all-are occasionally used without a noun, and therefore
are said to stand instead of a noun, and so come under the
definition of a pronoun, which is said to be, "A word used
instead of a noun to prevent its too frequent repetition."  If
standing without its noun makes a pronoun of an adjective,
it may reasonably be suspected that every adjective occasionally becomes a pronoun.  In the sentence, "The wise and
good are scarce," are wise and good pronouns, because their
noun is understood?
But, says a shrewd philologist, "It does not follow that the
words called pronouns stand instead of nouns, any more than
it can be truly said, that those words which remain in any
elliptic or abridged sentence stand instead of the words omitted."  Such words refer to some noun that is understood, and
point it out, but they no more stand instead of what they point
at, than a guide-board stands instead of a town, to which it
only directs the traveller.:
The greatest grammarians of other languages, as well as
of the English, have classed all the pronouns among the
adjectives, but I have been contented with giving this name to
the adjective pronouns, and the possessive case of the personal
and relative pronouns.
Some, however, may say, "We  grant that all the adjective pronouns may be used as adjectives, and may have nouns
understood, which may be easily supplied, but it is not so
with the possessive cases of personal pronouns, for when, in
speaking of two books, we say, "This is mine and that is
yours," although the word book is evidently understood, we
cannot supply it, for it will not do to say, "This is mine book
and that is yours book."  This is all true, but the time was
when mtine was spelled me-en, as yours was your-en, or, contracted, yourn, and this termination en marked an adjective
156 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
as much as ly now does an adverb. Yours is only your's, the
possessive termination, which, it has been shown, marks an
adjective.
But, what do mine and yours stand instead of?  If the
conversation is between William and John, mine means TVilliam's, and yours means John's. It has been shown that
William's and John's, not being names of persons, are not
nouns, and, consequently, if mine and yours stand instead of
those words, they cannot be pronouns, for pronouns, the gram,mar says, are words that stand instead of nouns, and not
instead of adjectives.
Again; if mine and thine, hers, ours, yours and theirs, are
used without, or instead of, nouns that can not be supplied,
this is not the case with the possessives his and its, for the
noun may be introduced by the side of these, and this may
lead one to doubt whether the use of the words  mine,
yours, &c., precludes the introduction of the noun. We find,
therefore, that although, in the case above mentioned, it may
not be graceful to say, "This is mine book and that is yours
book," yet it is perfectly correct to place the word book elsewhere, and say, "This book is mine and that book is yours,"
in which sentences mine and yours qualify book as much as
new and old would in the sentence, "This book is new and
that is old," it being ungraceful to say, "This is new book
and that is old book."
But, if the English nouns have no change of termination
entitling them to the distinction of cases, they can express all
the Latin cases, and many more, by the help of prepositions,
or, often, without their aid. If a noun does any thing, it is
an agent; if something is done to it, it is an object. The two
words, agent and object, are the only new ones, I believe,
that have been introduced into the Common School Grammar, and wvhether they can be better explained than the terms
nominative case and objective case, the teacher will soon discover by trial.
5. Personal pronouns were called nouns by Dr. Wallis,
and by several succeeding grammarians, and it would be
much easier to prove them to be so than to prove that they
are pronouns. They do, however, have this peculiarity, that
the nominative case or agent is a different word from the
objective case or object. Then, it may be asked, why not
call the variations of personal pronouns cases at once, since
there is really a difference in the words?   Case is derived
14
157 
THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
from casus, a Latin word, which, some say, means an acci.
dent, the change of termination being considered an accident;
or, as others say, because the cases fall off from the nominative. Now, in neither sense, is the objective of the pronoun
of the first person a case; for me and us are not produced by a
change of termination, nor by any such accident as happens
to Latin nouns.  It is safer, therefore, to say that I is an
agent, and me an object, and to leave the word case until the
child learns some language to whose nouns the term is applicable. Any one who will take the trouble to read Mr. Murray's remarks under the term case, will see enough, I think,
to sicken him of this propensity to ape the classic languages.
6. But the great point of difference between Dr. Wallis,
Dr. Priestley, Dr. Crombie, &c., and Mr. Murray and his
imitators, is in the manner of treating the verb. This difference is so essential that it must not be lightly disregarded;
and the teacher is bound in conscience to weigh well the
question, "What is the verb in English, and in what manner
shall it be presented to the mind of a child?"   It is generally granted that the English verbs have really no great
variety of termination, and yet we are told that there is a
propriety and a convenience in giving the name of tense to
certain English phrases, because they are translations of
Latin tenses.
The example of a Latin and English verb that I have
given on pages 144-5, must go far, I think, towards showing
that there is no propriety in giving the name of tense to
certain English phrases, which are like hundreds of other
phrases, and have no better right than they to this distinction.
Why not take other languages than Latin, and translate the
tenses of their verbs, and say we have those tenses, also?
Who can tell where we shall stop? *
But, say the old school grammarians, "We  certainly have
three divisions of time, present, past and future, and these are
subdivided."  No one will deny that all nations have an idea
of past time, and of this, as of the present, history treats.
They have an idea of fiuture time, also, and this is the province of prophecy or imagination; but, because the idea of
these three divisions of time is common to all nations, it by
no means follows that all nations have the same manner of
* We need go no further than the Greek to find an Optative mood, of which
the present tense of the verb go would be equivalent to " I wish to go."
159 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
expressing their ideas. The English, as has been shown by the
best authority, have but two tenses, the present and the past;
but the English is not so singular in this respect as some
other languages. Michaelis, in his Syriac Grammar, says,
"The Syrians, like the rest of the Orientals, have but two
tenses, the past and the future;" but, he adds  "by the help
of the verb or pronoun, they can express the five tenses of the
Latins, and even a sixth tense; and they have a sort of present formed by the coalescence of the pronoun and verb into
one word; but I have not given these tenses a place in my
paradigm, lest I should cumber it uselessly." What a pity
that Mr. Murray, and those who, with him, have "cumbered
the English grammar uselessly," had not been blessed with
some portion of the great German's judgment and discretion!
There is no propriety, therefore, in thrusting so many miscalled tenses into our grammar; and, as there is no good
authority for any such abuse, let us see if there is any convenience in it. It may be convenient for a child who is going
to study Latin to learn the phrases that correspond to the
Latin tenses; but is it fair to impose this task upon every
child? The number of children in the public schools of
Massachusetts is about 175,000; the whole number of
graduates annually from our three colleges falls short of two
hundred. A few study Latin without going to college, but
such do not make any extensive acquaintance with it, and an
allowance of 300 per annum will be liberal. At this rate, one
child in about six hundred of those who go to school studies
Latin, and to accommodate this one, five hundred and ninetynine are compelled to learn what is of no use to them, and
what really is an insurmountable stumbling-block in their
way. Can any thing he more unjust?
But it is convenient, say some, to have our grammar conform to other languages, that foreigners may learn it more
easily. This must be a mistake altogether. Grammars constructed for the use of foreigners, are differently composed
from the common grammar. They are compared with the
language to be learned, and our terms are translated into the
terms used by the other. Cobbett, who made a good grammar for Engcrlishmen, made a very different one for Frenchmen to learn English   But, grant that the making of our
grammar on a foreign model helps the foreigner, the proportion of foreigners who study English is as nothing to our
own children, especially when it is considered that we can
159 
THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
adapt our language to only one foreign idiom, and just as far
as it is forced to resemble one, it is made unlike the rest.
But in spite of the unnatural form of the common English
grammars, some say there is a convenience in having the
moods and tenses and the passive voice, and we can teach the
use of the language better with them than without theni.
We have seen that, from the year 1653, almost till Mr. Mirray's day, certainly for more than a century, no such thing -s
moods, and only two tenses, were allowed in the grammars,
but who will pretend that the English language was written
with less purity and power in what has been called its
Augustan age, than at any time before or since?  Addison,
Swift, Steel, Pope, Johnson, Horne Tooke, and Junius, were
educated in this period, and it is very clear that the English
language did not suffer in their hands. It is clear that no
such thing as moods and tenses would have been dreamed of,
had there been no such thing in Latin; that is, had the English never known that there was any other language thank
their own.
I regret the necessity, but my plan requires that I should
examine this matter of convenience more thoroughly. If it is
an object to teach children this mixed grammar, the advantages
should more than balance the disadvantages, not to the few,
but to the million, whose only object is to learn English. It
certainly is less difficult to teach a child two tenses only, than
to teach him the common system of voices, moods and tenses
Let us contrast them by a paradigm.
PAST TENSE.
PRESENT TENSE.
The present tense, being the root of the past, is placed
below it. The name of the verb being a noun, and the participles being mere adjectives, the English verb has but the two
forms above given, and these are all it needs. Compare this
simplicity with the common system, as displayed in the folowing paradigm.
160 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
:. Compound Perfect.
Perfect Participle.
P.!    Present Participle.
P L   r I PARTICIPLES.
~ Perfect Tense.
Present Tense.
INFINITIVE MOOD.
nse. Second Future Tense.
First Future Tense.
Pluperfect Tense
Pefc  T e    Perfect Tense.
Imperfect Tense.
Present Tense.
D.   SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.
Pluperfect Tense.
Perfect Tense.
Imperfect Tense.
Present Tense.
POTENTIAL  MOOD.
Present Tense.
IIMPERATlVE MOOD.
Second Future Tense.
First Future Tense.
Pluperfect Tense.
LI L      Perfect Tense.
Imperfect Tense.
Present Tense.
INDICATIVE MOOD.
PASSIVE VOICE.
In teaching what resembles a certain tower of old times,
and what, from the confusion it produces, may also not improperly be called Bab-el, it is expected that the child should
learn not only the names of the voices, moods and tenses, but
the distinctions that are said to exist between them. But this
must be impossible, for the builders of the tower do not always
agree in their definitions and explanations, and when they happen to agree, they cannot always make themselves understood.
I shall not attempt to reconcile them, but shall endeavor to
show the absurdity of the whole structure
14*
161
Pluperfect Tense.
Perfect Tense.
Imperfect Tense.
Present Tense.
POTENTIAL MOOD.
Present Tense.
IMIPERATIVE MOOD.
Second Future Tense.
First Future Tense.
Pluperfect Tense.
Perfect Tense.
Imperfect Tense.
Present Tense.
INDICATIVE MOOD.
ACTIVE VOICE. 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
The bases of the two towers are the two voices. Let us
look at them. The whole passive voice owes its existence to
the fact that, in Latin, there is something of the kind, as has
been shown on page 145.  This voice is fobrmed by adding the
perfect participle of any verb to some tense or combination of
the verb Be; as, I am diseased; she was concerned, &c. It has
been shown that the perfect participle is an adjective qualifying nouns or pronouns, as other adjectives do. And in this
case, we might say I am sick, instead of I am diseased, and
she was anxious, for she was concerned. No one denies that
diseased and concerned qualify the nominatives I and she, as
sick and anxious do; then why not call them adjectives at
once? and as the child is supposed to know  how to conjugate
the verb to be, and knows what an adjective is, why compel
him to learn five moods, twenty tenses, and a hundred and
twenty persons, for the sake of a mere notion called a passive
voice? Many perfect participles have adjectives nearly synonymous; and what reason is there for restricting the passive
voice to participles, when they are situated and used like the
adjectives, and in some cases mean the same thing? If the
child knows the forms of the verb Be, he can place after them
any participle or adjective that expresses his thought, without
knowing or caring whether the phrase is a passive verb or not.
Some grammar-makers, and many teachers, have had the
good sense to reject the passive voice, but several authors still
retain it, and, useless as it is, it will not be dropped without a
struggle. Dr. Crombie, one of the best modern grammarians,
rejects the passive voice, and Bosworth, whose Anglo-Saxon
Grammar is also a precious English grammar, says, "If these
cases be rejected by common consent from English nouns,
why may not the passive voice, and all the moods and tenses
formed by auxiliaries?  We  shall then see this language in
its primitive simplicity. Dr. Wallis, one of our oldest and
best grammarians, has divested the English of its Latinized
forms, and, when speaking of his predecessors, says"-and
here he quotes the sentence already given on page 149.
Dr. Webster, who preceded Murray, and, notwithstanding
all his learning and good sense, was superseded by him, says
in the first edition of his Grammar, "As to passive verbs, we
have no such thing in our language.   I cannot better express
my ideas on this subject than in the words of Dr. Ash, who
observes that,'Properly speaking there is no passive verb in
the English language; for though I am loved is commonly
162
I 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
called a passive verb, yet loved is no part of the verb, but a
participle or adjective, derived from the verb love.'"
Let us leave the passive voice, then, with but one remark,
to show how carelessly the verb has been defined by Murray
and his followers.  They say, "A verb is a word that signi fies to be, to do, or to suffer; as, I amn, I rule, I am ruled."
The child, of course, concludes that I-am-ruled is a word, for
it is a verb, and Murray says a verb is a word, and a word is
but one word.   If the definition be correct, no passive verb
conforms to it, but the passive voice furnishes some frightful
words, as I-might-have-been-loved; If-I-shall-have-been-loved,
&c. &c. The definition should read, "A verb is a phrase that
signifies, - according to its meaning!"
Having despatched the voices, let us look at the moods.
Of these, as we have seen, the earlier and better grammarians
had none; for, allowing but two tenses to English verbs, they
had nothing to make moods of. Murray found four in the
old British Grammar, and he added a fifth, which he separated
from the subjunctive of the Latin and of the British Grammar,
and called the potential. This was the greatest departure of
Mr. Murray from the model he followed, and it is rather
amusing to see that one of his followers has transferred the
whole potential mood of Murray, not back to the subjunctive,
whence it was taken, but to the indicative! If such transfers
can be made, there certainly cannot be a very definite line
between the several moods, - no line that a child can ever
discover; and will not the absurdity of such distinctions cause
all the moods to coalesce at last into one, as it was at the
beginning?
The infinitive mood we have shown to be a mere noun.
The imperative differs no more from the indicative than every
verb that asks a question does. Depart ye, is the imperative if
it have a period or note of admiration after it, and the indicative
if it have a mark of interrogation.  "Depart ye, and begone!"
"Depart ye so soon?"  This may not prove that there is no
imperative, but it does prove that if we have. an imperative,
we ought, for the same reason, to have an interrogative mood.
Murray says, " The nature of a mood may be more intel ligibly explained to the scholar by observing, that it consists
ruin the change which the verb undergoes to signify various
intentions of the mind, and various modifications and circum stances of action." Let us try this explanation, which Murray
says is so much better than his definition.   "Love ye," says
163 
THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
he, "is the second person plural of the imperative mood.  Ye
love," he says, "is the second person plural of the indicative
mood, present tense, and If ye love is the subjunctive present,
second person plural." As no one will pretend, I trust, that the
pronoun ye, or the conjunction if, is any part of the verb, the
scholar may reasonably ask, "What change does the verb
undergo to signify various intentions of the mind," &c.?   It
does no such thing. The verb undergoes no change.
If mood denotes "the manner in which the verb is employed,"
as Murray and his followers say, then who is to determine
how many forms of speech, or manners of using the verb, there
are in English. Mr. Murray says, "The indicative mood simply
indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question." Here are
two forms of.expression as different as two can be, for when
a man asks a question, he does not indicate or declare anything, and he generally changes the place of the nominative.
Mr. Murray seems to have had a notion that he was embarking on an ocean without a shore when he promulgated his
system of moods, for he says, after making five moods, "It is
necessary to set proper bounds to this business. Instead,
therefore, of making a separate mood for every auxiliary verb,
and introducing moods interrogative, optative, promissive,
,ortative, precative, &c., we have exhibited such only as are
obviously distinct," &c. He certainly is economical, when,
under the imperative mood, he includes all verbs that conmand, exhort, entreat, or permit, that is, the imperative, hor
tative, precative and permissive moods.
I have sometimes thought that, when I was myself in the
right mood, and had leisure, I would carry out Mr. Murray's
suggestion, and see how many moods can be made, as good as
his specimens.   There would be the progressive mood, as,
lam trying Iwvas learning; emphatic mood, as, Ido love, Idid
love; the optative mood, which omits the nominative, "Would
it were so!" The regrettire mood, "O that I were as-in days
past!" for, why is not O as much  entitled to create a mood,
as if or though o -  The expostulatory mood, "What! kill me
for doing my duty!" &c. &C.  As these moods would have a
due variety of tenses, if the tower of Babel is not already
"in the clouds,' it may easily be raised there, though I should
be ashamed to have Him who gave us the noble faculty of
speech, " come down to see what folly the sons of men had
builded."
The whole system of moois seems to me sufficiently
164 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
ridiculous to authorize this treatment of it; but I must proceed
to examine the claims of what are called the tenses.
Dr. Wallis, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Cromnbie, and other learned
men, could see but two tenses in our language; for they considered tense to have the same meaning in English as in
Latin, viz., not time, but extension, from the Latin word tensets,
the tenses in Latin being extensions of the simple roots, an
addition to them, or merely by a change of termination. Dr.
Lowth could not conceive of a language without a verb to
express future time, and he added a future tense to the present
and past of his predecessors. He used a phrase, however, to
supply what he supposed to be a defect, and set an example
that was pregnant with mischief; for, from that time to this,
the number has gone on increasing, until it has doubled, and
more than doubled, if the hypothetical tense of a late author
is to be accepted by the faithful, and duly canonized by
authority.
We allow, then, two forms, which, in the proper sense of
the word, we are willing to call tenses, and we call them present and past, not because they actually denote any division of
time, but because they appear to do so. The authors of our
Latinized grammars seem to have thought that we could not
speak of the future and other divisions of time, without setting
apart some phrase for the purpose, although our ancestors
contrived to do this without any grammars. But while they
were about it, they should either have given us all the modes
of expressing future time, or none of them.   They no doubt
singled out shall and will as signs of this tense, because the
word to is omitted after them; but we have other phrases in
which the to is omitted, and a great variety of ways in which
future time is as well expressed.   Indeed, I should not be at
all afraid to assert that no verb ever expresses time, and of
all tenses, that which is supposed to be the most exact in this
respect is really the most indefinite.   I love, for instance, is
said to denote the present time; but it does no such thing.
When I say,  I love every good man that I see," do I mean
that I only do so at this moment? Far from it; I mean to
say that I have loved them, do love them, and shall love them.
IHold and do are said to be present tenses, but when Hamlet
says to Horatio, "Hold you the watch to-night?" and Horatio
says, " We do, mv Lord," what are hold and do but future
tenses, since the watch was not yet set?  Go, is a present
tense in good repute, but when Peter says, " I go a fishing,"
165
r 
THE TEACHIERS' INSTITUTE.
and his companions say, "We also go with thee," go, with out any auxiliary, makes an excellent future. lam, of course,
is the pattern of present tenses, and yet we constantly say,
I am to be punished, I am to die, &c. &c., in which sentences
am is as good a future as any in the world. Henry Martin,
in a letter to a friend, says, "One thing I have found, that
there are but two tenses in Persian and English. In the
sentence,'I will go,' the principal verb is I will, which
is the present tense. In'I would have gone,' the principal
verb is I would or I willed.  Should, also, is a preterite,
namely, shalled, from to shall." [See Martin's Life, p. 312.]
Bosworth, after making the above extract from Martin, adds,
"He  might  have  added  that go and have, after will and
should, were verbs in the infinitive mood." The excellent
Martin probably had never seen any English grammar but
Murray's, and no doubt thought he had made a great dis covery when he made the declaration I have quoted. If it took
the gifted Martin so long to see his error, how long will it take
the less gifted millions, who are in the same darkness, to
grope their way into the same degree of light?
Will not the very general belief that the verb expresses
time excuse me for dwelling a moment longer on this subject?  Mr. Murray says, I may go, I can go, I must go, are
present tenses, but it would be difficult to find any phrases in
which the time is more indefinite. I may go now or next
year; I can go next year, but not to-day; I must go then, if
I do not now. What is called the present tense seems to
speak of all time, or without reference to any time, and hence
we use it to express propositions that are true at all times; as,
"Two  and two are four." " The wicked flee when  no man
pursueth."  "The poor work for the rich."  If the English
language, therefore, possesses any tense capable in itself of
expressing futurity, that tense is what Murray and his followers call the present! Nothing, too, is more common than to
use this present tense, when we are speaking of past occurrences.  Any preacher would think it right to say, "Jesits
sends away the multitude and retires apart to pray." The
historian says, "Alfred, encouraged, takes a harp and enters
the camp of the enemy." If it be said, this is figurative
language, I grant it; but it is said of past events, and it is not
Ingrammatical.
Mr. Murray places shall and will among the defective
verbs, because, he says, they lack some forms of a regular
166
s 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
verb. He calls shall and will present tenses, and gives siould
and would as their past or imperfect tenses. But, if shall and
will are never used without an infinitive after them, if they
make that infinitive future, and are never used except to
denote future time, how can he consistently call shall and will
present tenses? And if he allows, as he does, that they are
always signs of the future, how can they have the past tenses
should and would?  But should and would are as much future
as shall and will; for, when I say," I should go next week, if
he would let me," in what does the futurity of the expression
differ from that of " I shall go next week, if he will let me."
So, "I would play to-morrow, if I could," and, "I will play
to-morrow, if I can."
If I will my property to my son, no one doubts that will is
a present tense; but, if I will an action instead, the will, forsooth, is no longer present, but future!  And yet, Iwill go,
expresses a present act of the mind, as much as I will my
houses and lands. This has generally been conceded to me
by teachers, but they say they cannot get over shall so easily.
Let us see what Dr. Crombie says of this auxiliarv. "Shall
is unquestionably a derivative from the Saxon sceal, I owe or
I ought, and was originally of the same import. I shall
denoted It is my duty, and was precisely synonymous with
debeo in Latin.  Chaucer says, "The faith I shall to God,"
that is, "The faith I owe to God."   "Thou shalt not kill,"
that is, "Thou oughtest not to kill."  In this sense, shall is a
present tense, and denotes present duty or obligation.  But
as all duties and all commands, though present in respect to
their obligation, must be future in regard to their execution,
so, by a natural transition, observable in most languages, this
word, significant of present duty, came to be a note of future
time.   I have considered it, therefore, as a present tense,
because, 1st, it originally denoted present tense; 2d, because it
still retains the form of the present; and, 3d, because it is 11no
singular thing to have a verb in the present tenfise expressive
of future time." p. 140.
When, therefore, we say, "I will go," we only express a
present determination to do an action, which may never be
done; but which, if done, must necessarily be subsequent to
the act of the will.  So when we say, "I shall go," we ex
press a present obligation so imperative, that it amounts to a
determination, to go. It is just so with all words that express
any act of volition.   " I wish to go," is as good a future tense
167 
THE TEACHERS  INSTITUTE.
as I will go; and "I determine to go," is as good a future as
either "I will go," or "I shall go."  "I hope to go, " I ex pect to go," "I propose to go," "I intend to go," "I desire
to go," &c., &c., &c., are situated exactly like "I will go,"
the only difference being the omission of to before the follow ing infinitive, an accident common to the verbs bid, dare, let,
and others, as well as to these mystified auxiliaries.
But many who yield that the passive voice is unnecessary,
that the moods are of doubtful character, and that the future
tense expresses no futurity, make a stand at the perfect and
pluperfect tenses, and refuse to give them up.  It was behind
this tense that my friend at the Normal School, to whom I
have before alluded, entrenched  himself; for he could not
allow, that, in the sentence, "I have learned my  lesson,"
have could be  the principal verb; for, says he, "I have
learned my lesson," is as different in meaning from "I have
my lesson learned," as sorrel horse is from horse sorrel.
Now, it is not pretended that, when the participle is placed
before the noun, its meaning is exactly the same as when it is
placed after it, but only that it is still a participle qualifying
the noun.   When I say "I have learned a lesson," it is clear
that I have it in the condition which is called learn'd.   So it
has been said it is absurd to say, " I have my purse lost," for
"I have lost my purse," because, says the objector, "I cannot have what is lost."  This reasoning amounts to nothing;
for lost expresses the condition of the purse, and modifies the
meaning of have, very much as the negative not does in the
sentence, "I have not my purse;" and who will pretend that
this latter phrase is not good English, because it is somewhat
paradoxical?
This objection appears with more force in the perfect tense
of verbs that are said to be intransitive; as, "I have gone,"
"I have been," "I have sinned."  I have no doubt that these
participles are mere adjectives, and qualify the nominative
to the verb, as if the verb were what is called passive; for I
have gone is equivalent to I am gone; been expresses the
condition of I, for the objector will not admit that be expresses any action; and "I have sinned," is equivalent to  "I
am a sinner;" in which case, sinner qualifies the nominative
before the verb, as every nominative after a neuter verb
qualifies the nominative before it.
Dr. Crombie had a right idea of this tense when he said,
"If is compounded of the present tense of the verb denoting
168 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
possession and a perfect participle.  It clearly refers to prese:t
time; this, indeed, the composition of the tense manifest y
evinces." If I have, then, is the present tense, and written is
a participle, they must be called by their right names and
treated accordingly, whether we can tell what the participial
adjective qualifies or not.
I suspect that if participles and adjectives in English were
varied by gender and number, as they are in French and
Latin, we should soon see what they agreed with in these
respects, and, of course, what they qualified.
The participle amatus, is not only varied in connection
with the verb sum to express the two numbers, but also to
express the three genders.  Thus the Latins say:
Amatus est,   He    (a man)  has been loved.
Amata est,    She (a woman) has been loved.
Amatum est,  It   (a thing) has been loved.
Amati sumus,  We    (men)   have been loved.
Armatco sumus, We   (women')  have been loved.
Amata sumus,  We   (things) have been loved.
The French say:
L'homme que j'ai vu;
The man that I have seen.
La femme que j'ai vue;
The woman that I have seen.
Les hornmes que j'ai vus;
The men that I have seen. 
Les femmes que j'ai rues;
The women that I have seen.
In these sentences, the French participle is varied to agree
;vith the noun, or with its relative que.
In Latin, the phrase I have seenz is expressed by one word,
vidi.  But in the indicative, perfect, pluperfect and futu e
tense of their passive voice, amatus sum, amatus eram, am&tus ero, sum is the only Latin for I am, eram for I was, ero for
I shall be; and yet these tenses are always translated, I have
been loved, I had been loved, I shall have been loved; and not,
I am loved, I was loved, I shall be loved. The French have a
similar idiom, and say, "Je me suis blesse'," which we translate "I have hurt myself;" and yet suis is the French for am,
and not for have. As there was a time when French was
more fashionable in England than English itself, it is not to
be wonde(red at if some idioms have become commono   to both
15
169 
THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
languages.  When, therefore, these classical cavillers account
for sum's meaning I have in French, or I have been in Latin,
it will be time enough for- them to complain of the obscurity
that seems to hang over the English use of have for am, or
of had for was.
Whenever I have repeated what all the philosophers have
asserted, that the verb is a word expressing what is done, the
grammatikins have always thrown the verb to be at me, and
demanded whether that expressed any action. If, as is pretended, it expresses abstract being, without the idea of action,
it would only be one exception to the most extensive rule in
our language; and if the existence of a single exception be
good ground for rejecting a rule or a principle, less would be
left of Murray's Grammar than remained of the two feline
combatants on the field of Kilkenny. I cannot consent to
argue this question at length, for, if the teacher thinks that be
never expresses any kind of action, he can consider it an exception, although I do not.  I shall, therefore, content myself
with only asking how a person can be active if be does not
express any action? When God said, " Let light be," who
supposes that light was, and nothing was done? When the
Creator called himself the Great I AM, did he mean to call
himself the Great Inactive? When I tell a coward to stand
and be a man, do I merely tell him to continue to exist a noun
of the masculine gender?  When I add be to a noun, whence
comes the activity expressed by the compound.? Is there no
action in be-fool, be-friend, be-head, be-siege?  Numb is an
adjective, but is Jack Frost idle when he be-numbs us?
When a learned teacher once told me that he could do nothing with a class of teachers after I had be-grammared them,
did he mean that may teaching produced no effect?
So with the division of verbs into active, passive, and
neuter; I see no necessity, and less propriety, in any such distinction. I have shown that I am sick, he is dead, &c., are as
good passive verbs as I am diseased, he is deceased, &c. Murray says, "A verb passive expresses a passion or a suffering,
or the receiving of an action, and necessarily implies an
object acted upon, and an agent by which it is acted upon;
as, Penelope is loved by me."  Me is the agent, then, intended by Mr. Murray. An agent necessarily implies action,
and the action must be expressed by the help of the verb is,
if not solely by it.  Suppose the sentence were, "Penelope
is offended with me, notwithstanding I love her;' me, I sup
170 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
pose, is the agent implied, and Penelope is only the nominative, or, as Murray and his followers say, the subject of
the verb. This is the same, as If, in regard to the sentence,
"Penelope hates me," I should say, I do the hating, and
Penelope is the subject of it.   I may not have a distinct
idea of nonsense, but this comes up to my poor idea of it.
How simple, compared with such absurdity, is the grammar
of Dr. Wallis, which would say that Penelope is the agent of
is, and loved or offended, like sick or mad, are only the adjectives qualifying Penelope, or expressing the condition of her
mind.
This theory of the passive voice obliges those who adopt
it, to give up the true definition of a nominative, and to say
that it is the subject, and not the agent of the verb; a most
unfortunate result, if only the confusion arising from a new
use of a well-established expression be considered; for, if it
be true that, in the sentence, "I love Penelope," or "I study
history," I is the subject of love and study, then Penelope is
not the subject of my tender thoughts, and history is not the
subject I am studying, although I meant to say they were.
When we say, Victoria governs Ireland, we of course must
mean that she is the subject of the action expressed by the
verb governs!
Again; Murray says, "A  verb neuter expresses neither
action nor passion, but being, or a state of being; as, I sit, he
lives, they sleep." When the master tells the child to sit,
then, he tells him to do nothing! I sit, and I am seated,
mean the same thing,; but, according to Murray's definition,
the latter expresses passion or suffering, and the former does
not! If any believer in such stuff were compelled to sit three
hours on the hard and narrow seats to which children are
confined in some of our district schools, without any support
to their backs, or any resting place for their feet, we are
inclined to think he would find action and suffering enough
in the neuter verb sit, and if he did not get into a passion,
also, he would be a miracle of patience.
Moreover, when I say, "He sits on a horse," " He  lives
upon fish," "They sleep in pain," these verbs, we are told,
"neither express action, nor passion or suffering," but "being
or a state of being." And yet, although the neuter verbs express neither action nor passion, Murray says, "They may
properly be called intransitive, because the effect is confined
within the subject, and does not pass over to any object."
171 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
The effect, then, of sitting on a horse is confined to the rider,
and the horse never feels any effect from his load!! The
effect of living upon fish is confined to the eater, and not felt
by the fish! When the watchman sleeps, the effect is confined
to himself, and nobody else suffers! The fact is, the action
of every neuter verb may he conveyed to an object by a preposition, and, although there may be a difference between
such objects and those of active verbs, they are objects still.
If I send a child to school, school is just as much an object of
the mission as child is. Prepositions, says Mr. Murray, serve
to connect words and show the relation between them. If
this means any thing, it means that prepositions connect verbs
with objects, and show the- direction of the action expressed
by the verb.
I hope these remarks upon the common definition of verbs
will not be set down as unimportant cavils, for they are serious
objections; no system liable to such cavils being fitted for the
use of children, or capable of being explained to the satisfaction of any mature, unbiased mind; for, "what reason nevei
dictated, reason can never explain."
My list of adverbs, and my use of them, do not differ materially from Murray's. Prepositions I define to be words
showing the direction of some action or tendency previously
expressed, and this is strictly true of all real prepositions,
except of, which, since it dropped anf, seems to express the
relation of possession, unlike its original, off. Concerning,
touchingz, during, pending, and such words, are participles, or,
as I cal! them, adjectives, and not prepositions.
I allow Murray's list of conjunctions to keep the name, but
I do not divide them into copulative and disjunctive, because
if a conjunction connects, it is idle to call it copulative, and
absurd to call it disjunctive. But and or connect sentences as
much as and does, and the sentences are none the less connected because there seems to be "an opposition of meaning."
I say seems, for it admits of question whether, in the example of
opposition given by Mr. Murray, "They came with her, but
they went away without her," there is any other "opposition
of meaning" than in any two sentences connected by and; as,
"He preached peace, and practised war."   Nay, in the sentence selected as an example by Mr. Murray, and may  be
substituted for but without altering the sense; "They came
with her, and went away without her."
As it regards interjections,.none are allowed to be such,
172 
ENGLISH GRAMIIMAR.
but those natural sounds, which can hardly be considered a
part of arbitrary language. Silence! Hail! Hush! and such
words, belong to other parts of speech. There seems to be
no doubt that the interjection was the first part of speech
formed; for man, like the lower animals, has a natural language, which he uses before he learns that which is purely
conventional.  The infant makes its wants known long before
it can talk. That the first man, when created, resembled an
infant in this respect, there seems to be no reason to doubt;
for the first notice we have of his uttering any words, is when
the animals were presented to him to see what he would
call them. And what did he call them? By some name,
undoubtedly, that expressed somne peculiarity; as, in English,
we have a few significant words, buzz, hum, hiss, rush, bawl,
blow, &c., &c. This would indicate that, next to his natural
language, he must have used nouns; and infants do the same.
The young being says, "Ma, baby, bread," and the mother
understands him as well as if he used a verb, and was familiar with its hundred variations. If it be said that we are
told that God spoke to Adam before he named the animals, it
can hardly be supposed that he did this literally; and, if he
did, we are not told that Adam answered. The child often
understands what is said to him long before he can utter a
word in reply. Men make words only as fast as they need
them to express ideas, and nations having the fewest ideas,
have the fewest words. This simple and natural theory is
not contradicted by Scripture or human experience. I should
have preferred the name exclamations for such words as are
called interjections, but I have thought it prudent to continue
the terms in common use, and, except in calling the nominative case an agent and the objective an object, I do not know
that I have altered a single term, although the necessity of
using many has been done away, such as the names of the
moods and tenses, participles, auxiliaries, articles, adjective
pronouns, possessives, &c.
Many private teachers have candidly confessed to me that
the reformation  I proposed was very desirable, and would
greatly redlice the labor of the teacher, while it enabled the
pupil better to understand and use the language; but an
acqtiaintance with other grammars was a prerequisite  for
admission into high schools and colleges; and a pupil would
not be supposed to know any thing, if he did not know
the popular system, although familiar with the works of all
15'
173 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
the great philologers, who, to a man, reject it. Why is it that
reform so generally commences at the foot of the educational
ladder? One would think that, where there is the most
learning there would be the most enterprise, the most inde pendence; but I fear that those who accuse the higher semi naries of proverbial attachment to old forms and fixed abuses,
do them no injustice.
In my visits to the Institutes of New York and Massa chusetts, I became acquainted with more than a thousand
teachers, and I am not aware that I met with one who felt
satisfied with any grammar that he had seen, and very few
had ever been able to make the study of grammar an agreeable exercise to their pupils. The reason is obvious; the
teachers, not one in five hundred of whom had studied
Latin, did not understand the mixed Latino-English grammar
they were called upon to teach, and how could they explain
it to their pupils? But, give them the pure English grammnar I have endeavored to describe, and let them require
their pupils to write English as soon as they begin to read and
speak it, and no exercise will be so agreeable to the child, and
so useful to him in all his other studies.
May I be excused, if, after all I have said on the subject of
grammar, I say a few words more, by way of caution, to
teachers. Perhaps there never was a time when there was
so much need of care and activity as now, to prevent the corruption and decline of our excellent language. The press
has deluged the land with a flood of books, some of which
are worthy of the best age of English literature, but the mass
of which are to be shunned for their faults of style, as much
as for their emptiness, or positively demoralizing tendency.
Tile teacher who wishes to make a selection of passages contailing false grammar, or faulty construction, to be corrected
by his pupils, may  readily find abundant  materials in the
light literature, as the heavy trash is called, of the present
day. He will find novels, tales and romances, written in a
style often inferior to the sentimental effusions of a boardingschool girl; nay, he will even find many volumes written
with the perverse intention of disregarding every rule of
English grammar and  orthography.   Works  of the  Jack
Downing school, witty as some may be, have done more mrnis
chief to young and old, in a literary point of view, than a
regiment of well qualified teachers can undo in half a
century. Our newspapers, too, which, without pretending to
174 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
do so, exercise a powerful influence over the popular style of
writing and speaking, have, with few exceptions, stooped to
cater to the vulgar taste for cant expressions and slang
phrases; and writers who aim at pure and elevated English,
bear no proportion to those who study to adulterate and destroy our noble tongue.
Teachers, therefore, must set their faces sternly against
this evil tendency of the times. They must guard against
the use of corrupt expressions, and rigidly prohibit the use of
them in the conversation and compositions of their pupils.
They must be careful to associate more with persons whose
conversation is correct and refined. They must set a watch
over themselves, as well as hold one over their pupils. It
was mv custom for some time, until I had established a sort
of public standard of conversation in my school, to reward any
pupil who detected another in using an ungrammatical or
vulgar expression, or even in pronouncing a word improperly,
by giving her what was called a merit or good mark; and if
she detected me in any such misdemeanor, she was entitled
to five such merits.  Every expression or word so reported
was recorded on a sheet kept for the purpose in a conspicuous
place, and the consequence was, that, in less than a year, the
record sheet was laid aside, because we had no materials to
augment it. A sheet of this sort, kept without any promise
of reward, will be found highly beneficial to both teacher and
pupils, and will do more to banish bad language and bad
pronunciation, than all the set grammar lessons that can be
given.
I have gone more at length into the subject of grammar,
because I think that, in teaching it, we have departed further
from the truth than in any other study; and we have done
this without any reason or justice. Hundreds of enterprising
teachers, who allow the justice of my positions, and have
been desirous to attempt the reform I have proposed, assure
me that they have been unable to do so, because the committees are not enlightened on the subject, or are unwilling to
assume the responsibility of taking the lead.  In this exposure
of the prevalent system of English grammar, therefore, I have
had the committees as well as the teachers in view, and I do
earnestly entreat them to take the subject into the most serious
consideration. If they complain of my radicalism, let them
remember, that I only ask them to eradicate foreign weeds,
that have been scattered amongst oir wheat, and have well
175 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
nigh choked it.  Many who have allowed that I have told the
truth in regard to the matter of geography, and the manner
of teaching it, are afraid of my ultraism in Eng(lish grammar;
but let such be assured that I have proposed nothing so radi  cal in grammar as they have approved in my remarks on
geography.  Finally, if any accuse me of a want of modesty
in so often referring to my own grammar, let such remember
that there is no similar grammar to which I can refer; the
grammars in common use being based mainly on the abuises
introduced by Mr. Murray, and the truly philosophical works,
on whose authority I rely for all I have asserted, not being
accessible to one teacher in a thousand. Indeed, in referring
to nmy grammar, I, in fact, refer to Dr. Wallis and other men,
whose opinions and works I have studied with ever increasing
wonder at the perversity, which, for so long a season, has pre  ferred darkness to light, falsehood to truth, mystery to sim  plicity.
Some of the sternest opponents of this proposed restoration
of English grammar to its original simplicity, look with favor
upon the new science of phonography, and are ready to intro duce it into common use; and yet this new science proposes a
revolution immeasurably greater than the proposed change of
grammar. The friends of phonography, it is true, propose to
discard the foreign alphabet, as I do the foreign grammatical
terms; but their success will render the external form of our
language a dead letter, and send every scholar to learn his
a, b, c, again. The restored system of English grammar
requires no study, for he who knows Murray's Grammar,
knows too much already, and has only to drop a portion of
what he has acquired. A person, for instance, who has
studied the popular grammar, knows what an article is, and
what an adjective; and when he is told to class the articles
with adjectives, it costs him no effort.   He knows what a
possessive case is, and by what noun it is governed; and
when told to call it an adjective qualifying the same noun
that is falsely said to govern it, he finds no difficulty.  He
knows what is meant by auxiliary verbs; and he has only to
call them all principal verbs, followed by a participle, which
he must call an adjective, or by an infinitive mood, which he
must call a noun, governed by the auxiliary, or rather, the
object of it.  My system alters not the construction of any
sentence, or the orthography of any word; it only removes
what does not belong to our grammar, and by so doing reduces
176 
ENGLISH GRAi&IMAR.
the labor of teaching it more t,atn one half; and, by making
it more intelligible, makes it more pleasant to the learner.
Having full faith in the practical good sense of my countrymen, I have full faith in the final success of the system of
English that I would restore, and I mistake greatly the signs
of the times if the restoration is not speedily to be accomplished
177 
COMPOSITION.
I HAVE already said that every step in English grammar
should be a step in English composition, and my grammar
provides for this union of the two.   I have said, also, that
every step in reading and spelling should be made an exercise
in English grammar also.  But little remains, therefore, for
me to say on the subject of composition.
The orthographical exercises contained in the Companion
to Spelling-Books, the copying of short pieces of prose and
verse, and the writing of easy sentences from dictation, made
my pupils early acquainted with the mechanical part of com position, syllabication, the use of capitals, the division of sen tences, punctuation, &c.   As  soon, however, as the child
seemed to require some higher exercise, I was accustomed to
call up the little class, and tell them a short story or anecdote,
and then require them to write the same story in their own
language. As I continued this course for many years, suitable
stories became scarce, and at last I was obliged to make them
as they were wanted. This labor was forced upon me also
by the fact, that the pupils read more story-books than I did,
and, too often, some one of the class was not a stranger to the
source of the story that I had selected. In this way I prepared a vast number of suitable lessons, of which I published
several in my Primary Reader, to which the young teacher
may refer for materials, until he finds it for his interest himself to make such lessons for his pupils.
About this period of their education, my pupils generally
began to study some other language than their own, and this
afforded me a fine opportunity to forward them in English
composition.   I required most  of their translations  to  be
written, and I corrected them as carefully as if this were the
primary object of the new study. Children, who are required
to write a translation, are more likely to examine the idioms
of both languages; and as they are only to supply language
to clothe the ideas of the foreign author, this exercise may be
required much earlier than a set composition.
My next step was to select a subject, and write under it
17Ri 
COMAPOSITION.
such notes or questions as would guide the thoughts of the
children, and suggest, perhaps, a few of the leading ideas connrected with the subject. The subject, with notes, written
fairlv on a sheet of paper, was posted up in the school-room,
so that no pupil could plead ignorance of what was required.
When the pupil had but a small stock of ideas, and was
prepared to express them, I was accustomed to call the class
around rne, and after stating the subject of their next composition, I conversed with them about it, allowing them to ask
questions or discuss each others' opinions, until their minds
were awake to the bearings of the subject, and then I sent
them away to write what they had gathered from the conversation. I am inclined to think that the children were
benefited, in more ways than one, by this free interchange of
thoughts; and were I again to become a teacher, I think I
should make conversation a regular exercise of the school.
Finally, I gave a subject to the highest class, and left them
to write upon it as best they could, without any assistance.
If the pupils were studying Rhetoric, I found full employment
for them by requiring original as well as selected examples
of the different figures, or of the different kinds of style.  If
they were studying Prosody, exercises in the composition of
verse were frequently required. I found the translation of
short poems from some foreign language a valuable exercise,
and  the poetical part of my "French First Class Book"
contains a hundred or more suitable poems for this purpose.
Another method by which the pupils were encouraged to
exert themselves, was the recording of all praiseworthy cornpositions in a neat book kept for the purpose. I have several
volumes that were filled in this way by my pupils; and on
winter evenings, it was not uncommon for the parents to
assemble at the school-room and listen to the reading of selections from this record.
Besides these set exercises in composition, I occasionally
called the classes around a black-board, and taught them
punctuation by writing sentences for them to punctuate and
correct. Of course, there may be some difference of opinion
in regard to some points, but the rules of punctuation are
about as well settled as those of grammar, and yet on no one
subject, perhaps, are young teachers so much at a loss. May
I be excused, then, if I say a few words to them for their
guidance and encouragement.
The commna is the main stop, and, of late, it has almost
179 
0THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
superseded the semicolon, colon and'parenthesis. A correct
knowledge of the use of the comma is, in fact, one half of the
whole science of punctuation.  The following rules, perhaps,
embrace the greater number of occasions when the comma
must be used.
1. Two verbs, nouns, or other parts of speech, following
each other, and not connected by and, must be separated by a
comma; as, "That wise, good and great man lived, labored
and died for his fellow-creatures."
2. The word and is equivalent to a comma, and, when it is
understood, a comma must be supplied;  as, "Wise, good,
great men live, labor, die for their fellow-creatures."
3. Nouns in apposition are separated by a comma; as,
"John, king of England."
4. The name or epithet by which a person is addressed
must have a comma after it; as, "John, come here!'  "My
good friend, forgive me!"
5. The phrase that includes a case absolute with a participle,
as Murray calls it, must be preceded and followed by a comma;
as, "They, all hope being lost, surrendered."
6. Certain adverbs are generally preceded and followed by
a comma; as, indeed, perhaps, moreover, therefore.   Nay,
besides, firstly, secondly, &c., at the beginning of sentences
or phrases, require a comma after them.
7. When the exact words of another are quoted, the quotation must begin with a capital and follow at least a comma.
The quotation marks must not include words not borrowed;
as, "Go," said she, "but return soon;" and not, "Go, said
she, but return soon."
8. A comma marks the omission of a verb; as, "To err is
human; to forgive, divine."
9. All parenthetical clauses or words, that is, all words that
may be omitted and not destroy the sentence, must be preceded and followed by commas;  as, "Grammar, properly
understood, is a simple affair; but, unfortunately, it has not
been so understood."
The ancients made no use of punctuation, and this has led
to many mistakes, and much difference of opinion among
critics.  It is probable that to the absence of these points the
ancient oracles owed much of their renown; for the response
was generally given so that it would be true whatever was
the event.  It is said that a Grecian king, doubtful about the
policy of invading a neighboring kingdom, sent to Delphos to
ISO 
COMPOSITION.
ask the opinion of the oracle. The answer was not punctuated,
and they read it, "He shall go, return, not be slain in battle."
He went and was slain; and when his friends reproached the
oracle with want of truth, they were told that they had read
the answer wrong; its meaning being, "He  shall go, return
not, be slain in battle."
The semicolon must be used when a comma does not seem
to be sufficient, that is, when more than the smallest pause is
needed; but it should not be used instead of a period, as is
too often the case.  It is difficult to give any invariable rules
for its use.
1. It generally separates clauses rather than words; as,
" He may become the victim of misfortune; he is incapable of
crime."
2. A comma followed by and, or, but, for, because, yet
se ems to be equivalent to a semicolon; as, "He may become
the victim of misfortune, but he is incapable of crime."
Many writers, when in doubt as to the proper stop, make
free use of the dash, but this is a bad practice, and teachers
must not tolerate it in their pupils.
The colon is rarely used, and, perhaps, is never necessary
Usage places it still after the words, to wit: as follows: thus.
and after the abbreviation, viz: but, in other cases, it had
better be avoided.
The period marks the end of a complete sentence, and the
teacher must be careful not to let his pupils string together
several sentences. They must be encouraged to write short
sentences at first, and should always be required to cut up
such as are too long to be easily managed. Thus the following sentence may be cut into two, at the semicolon.  "To
live is pleasant, and to die may be gain, but, as there is some
doubt of the gain, most men desire to live; let them not, however, forget, that death cannot always be put off, and he whose
life is lengthened only to be misspent, will gain little by the
extension."
It is a common  thing for makers of spelling-books to say
that a comma requires a pause long enough to count one; a
semicolon, two; a colon, three, and a period, four. Some,
who have felt wise, have ridiculed this rule, and said, that
some commas require a longer pause than merely to count
one. As the books do not say how fast a person must count,
it is but fair to' conclude that the authors meant that every
reader should count to please himself, making the semicolon
16
181 
THE TEACHERiS' INSTITUTE.
twice as long as the comma, &c., after the length of the
comma is agreed upon. Some say, also, that, at a comma
and semicolon, the voice must be kept up, and others mock at
this. Yet, it is a safe rule for children, who have little judg ment or discretion, and I should so teach them at least one
generation longer.
The exclamation point sometimes seems to conflict with
the note of interrogation; as, "What is more amiable than
virtue?"  If no answer is expected, the exclamation may be
used, although the sentence has the form of a question.
Every question must have the interrogation mark after it,
but it must not be placed after words that are no part of the
question; as, "Did you call me? sir," and not, " Did you
call me, sir? " which has a very different meaning.
As many teachers are at a loss whether the voice should
rise or fall at the end of a question, I may be excused for
giving them the almost invariable rule, that, "If the question
can be answered by yes or no, the voice must be raised, and,
in all other cases, it must be allowed to fall."
The parenthesis, (), and brackets, [ ], are less employed than
formerly, and are often misused. For this reason, I never
allowed my younger pupils to use the parenthesis, but required commas instead. The correct rule is, to use the parenthesis when what it encloses is a sort of comment upon the
rest of the sentence; and to use the brackets when what they
enclose, though usefuil information, is no part of the sentiment; as, "An eccentric clergyman, preaching against the
fashions, selected the text (and a ridiculous conceit it was)
'Top not, come down!' [Matt. xxiv. 17.]"
The dash, placed after a comma, semicolon, colon or period.
lengthens the pause.   Sometimes it only marks a broken
sentence.  If the teacher allows it to be used to lengthen
pauses, he must not allow it to be used instead of them by
children.
The hyphen must never be used at the beginning of a line
when a word is divided, and no word must be divided except
at the end of a syllable. No monosyllable can be divided by
a hyphen.
The apostrophe marks the Possessive Case, as Mr. Murray
calls the adjective that is formed from every noun by adding
the apostrophe and s, or the apostrophe alone.  In other cases,
it marks the omission of one or more letters.  Nothing can be
more loose than the prevalent custom of using the apostrophe.
182 
COMPOSITION.
For a general rule, it must never be used to omit a letter in
prose, and never, even in poetry, if the omission does not alter
the pronunciation of the word.  In the Companion to SpellingBooks, I have given many rules and exercises on this subject.
As the (.) is used to mark the end of a sentence, an abbreviation, and the place between units and decimal fractions, the
teacher will do well in the first case to call it a period; in the
second, a dot; and in the third, a point.
Every word abbreviated, unless it be by an apostrophe,
must have a dot placed after it. This rule is so little regarded,
that teachers cannot too carefully look to it. At every Teachers' Institute the Secretary of the Board of Education required the young teachers to write a letter, and the result was,
that not one in twenty knew how to begin and end one, in
every respect, correctly. I shall do a favor, then, by giving a
form, which they may follow with safety.
Boston, Oct. 14, 1846.
John Smith, Esq.,
My dear Sir,
I he]
I herewith send you a copy of the
" Teachers' Institute," which has been written in great haste,
but with great good will. Of course, all descriptions must
be dull compared with an actual lesson, but, if this volume
shall enable you to profit, however little, by my long experience, I shall be well rewarded for my trouble in writing it.
Yours, very respectfully,
Wm. B. Fowle.
If more epithets are used at the end, let each occupy a different line, thus:
Very respectfully,
Your humble servant,
Wm.  B. Fowle.
Recollect-that no dot of abbreviation must ever be placed
after an entire word. The address of the person for whom
the letter is intended, should always be written on the inside
of the letter, and it is safer to begin with the name than to
place it, as some do, at the end, on the left hand side; for, if
left to the last, it may be forgotten; and if placed first, should
the letter be misdirected on the outside, the direction on the
inside will first strike the eye, and induce any honorable person to close it at once, and consider it a sacred trust, to be
isli 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
kept in charge for the real owner.   It is safer, too, to put the
date where I have placed it, lest it should be forgotten. I
generally omit the place after the name of my correspondent,
but some careful merchants always insert it, that, if the letter
falls into the wrong hands, the error may be rectified. When
I insert the place, I direct the letter at the end, for the sake of
appearances. May I be excused if I warn my young female
friends of the besetting fault of their sex, the entire omission
of dates, especially in what they consider unimportant billets.
May I also caution all writers of letters to superscribe them
as fast as they are written. I have twice received letters from
gentlemen, who, in writing to me and to their wives, at the
same sitting, sealed both letters, and then directed them to the
wrong persons. Few persons fold a letter well, and seal it
neatly, and none can be too careful in directing it to write a fair
hand.   The name of the person should be much larger than
the common hand of the writer, and the name of the place,
larger still. If directed to a town of the state in which the
writer resides, it is not customary to place the name of the
county, as well as that of the state, after the name of the
town. Some omit both county and state, and tihe postmasters
understand that a town so left is in the state where the letter
is mailed. But, where the town is in another state, the town,
county, and state, if known, should all be plainly designated.
My position, as publisher of the Common School Journal,
has led me to notice the great inattention of teachers to these
forms, or I should not feel authorized to allude to what seems
.o obviously proper.
184 
185
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM;
A Lecture delivered before the Teachers' Institutes at Ando.
ver and elsewhere, in Oct., 1S46, by WILLIAM B. FOWLE.
My fellow-teachers, I think you will bear me out'in theassertion, that one of the most difficult parts of a teacher's duty
is the keeping of every pupil usefully employed all the time.
The number of children in our schools is often so large, that,
if divided into few classes, the class is so large that it must
embrace many who are unfit to work together; and if the
classes are numerous, some must be neglected, because it
requires as much time to hear the recitation of a small class
as of a large one, the length of the lesson being  the same.
I know not that I can enforce this point more clearly, and
more effectually, than by quoting the words of the first President of the Essex County Convention of Teachers, the Hon.
David Choate, who, while chairman of the Committee of
Education in our Legislature, is reported to have said, "I am
confident, from my own observation, that nearly all occasion
for severe discipline in schools is owing to the fact, that most
children at school really have nothing to do for a very large
part of the time. In a school of fifty scholars, no one is entitled to more than three minutes and a half of the teacher's
time in half a day.  The child must sit still, if he can, nearly
three long hours, and a teacher is held to be no teacher, and
his school, no school, if children so situated -play. Innocent creatures, the hope of parents, and the hope of the state,
are whipped from one end of the commonwealth to the other,
for no earthly reason than because they have nothing to do
that they know how to do.  Now, sir, what is the remedy?
It is, clearly, to employ so many assistants as to occupy the
whole time of the pupil.  It is sometimes said that a child's
time is not worth any thing, and if they are out of the way,
no matter if they do not learn. That parent makes a wretched
bargain who gains relief from the presence of his child by
sending him into a large and idle school. tie may learn
nothing there that is valuable, but it by no means follows that
he learns nothing. Idleness is the hotbed of mischief, the
16* 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
nurse of vice and crime, and how many owe their distaste for
study, their irritable tempers, their diseased bodies, to the
constrained idleness of the school-room. There is but one
remedy,- we must have more teachers."
So the Examining Committee of the Boston schools, in
their memorable Report of 1845, say,-" It will be found
upon examination that, in most cases where severe injury has
followed corporal punishment in our schools, the offence was
very trifling, and no great severity intended when the master
began to strike. Moreover, it is beyond all question that, in
the majority of cases of corporal punishment, and other kinds
of punishment, in our schools, it is inflicted for violations of
arbitrary rules of discipline, for whispering, for disorderly
conduct arising from bodily uneasiness, the fault as much of
the school as of the scholar.   Whoever will go into our
schools, at any hour of the day, will find a large portion of
the scholars unoccupied by any study; they may have a book
before them, but as its contents are insipid, or, perhaps, incom prehensible, yet, nevertheless, to be committed to memory;
and as there is no master immediately over them, they do not
study. Now, to expect boys, full of young life and pent-up
vigor, to remain motionless, is to expect that which is impos sible; oftentimes, the best boys, those who will make the
ablest and best men, will manifest their uneasiness in such a
way as to bring down punishment. Something is wrong."
We must, then, have more teachers."  But who does not
know that, much as the Board of Education have done to
improve the character of teachers, and augment the number of
good ones, so far from increasing the number employed in our
large schools, the expense of even one teacher is more carefully calculated than any other item of public expenditure.
Much is said about the incalculable value of general education, but the highest expenditures are still within the reach
of very limited arithmeticians.  I hesitate not to say that,
compared with the importance of its object, no appropriation
is so small as that usually made by our towns for the support
of public schools. What should be expended in education.
that is, in prevention, is generally expended in the support
of prisons and poor-houses; for the public have not yet learned
that, to payr the great and accumulating'debt incurred for supporting paupers and restraining or punishing criminals, there
is but one adequate sinking-fund, -a good education of chil.
dren in knowledge and virtue.
1S6 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
But, as our schools are now constituted, the natural increase
of pupils involves a proportionate increase of expense, and
unless the constitution of the schools is altered, we cannot, in
the present state of public feeling, expect to see any important
reform. He, therefore, who can propose a plan, by which
all the additional teachers that we need rnmay be obtained without any additional expense, must be esteemed a benefactor,
and this is the improvement that I now intend to propose for
your consideration.
So far as I can learn, there never was a time when the
teachers of our New England schools were not accustomed,
in one way or another, to call in the assistance of their pupils.
When I was at school, the highest class boys were often ernmployed to hear the lower classes recite English grammar; and
this they could do as well as the master, for the recitation
consisted in merely saying a few lines of the text-book by
rote, without any explanation of terms, or application of principles. So every large boy was required to take a small one
and set his copy. And, worse than all, certain boys were
constantly employed to call out or name talkers and other
offenders, and he was a bold fellow who dared to remonstrate
against such a nomination, the master seldom if ever inquiring
into the truth of the accusation.
Parents and School Committees knew that this was the
practice, but I never-heard that any objection was made to it,
until it was proposed avowedly and systematically to use the
pupils as assistants to the teacher. Then, forsooth, it was
fraught with danger, and violently denounced; although, at
the worst, it could be no more than a benevolent experiment
to remove an acknowledged defect in our system of instrue.
tion.
The Lancasterian method was a charitable invention, applied at first to the education of the utterly ignorant millions
of England, in the merest rudiments of a 2ommon English
education.   Had  the English government patronized  the
schools, they would have done all that was expected from
them; but it has never comported with the plans of that government to educate the people; and even at this moment,
the whole amount approprialed by Parliament to educate the
twenty-seven millions of Great Britain and Ireland, is less
than is appropriated by the city of Boston alone. A few
choice Lancasterian schools in England and Scotland were
completely successful, but they depended upon individual
187 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
enterprise, and not upon the patronage of government. In
France, the system of Mutual Instruction, as that allowing the
use of pupils as assistants was called, was adopted as the
national system under Napoleon, and it was working won   ders, when the restoration of the Bourbons revived the old
parish schools, taught gratuitously by the priests, for the sake
of the influence it gave them over the politics, as well as the
religion, of the people. Lancaster came to this country, but
he was out of his element here; and so little (lid he know of
our wants, and of the expansive capabilities of his own system,
that he spoke of New England as if it were old England,
and denounced every deviation from his plan as a damning
error. Lest, in my remarks upon the use I make of monitors,
I should be suspected of using the plan as taught by Lan  caster, it may be well for me to say, that, when he visited my
school in Boston, he refused to acknowledge it as a legitimate
branch of his system. I had retained the great principle of
requiring pupils to teach as well as learn, but I had rejected
all the machinery and tactics that he had used in teaching
the uneducated and uncivilized masses of England.
In this country, the system was first tried at New York, by
a benevolent association, who established schools like those
of England, for the destitute poor, and for the merest elements
of learning. For twenty years or more, those schools, in
which four or five hundred were taught by one teacher, were
the boast of that city.  In imitation of the metropolis, the
whole state adopted the plan, and the reports, for some years,
spoke of the experiment as completely successful. Why it
has become so entirely disused in that great state, I could
never discover; but from my acquaintance with the teachers
and schools of New York, and many inquiries of the superintendents, I am satisfied that it was not from any fault inherent in the system, but from its mismanagement by inexperienced or incompetent teachers.
In the city of New York, the Monitorial System is still
continued,,and lately they have established normal schools for
the instruction of monitors as well as teachers.  Let it be
remembered, however, that these schools have always been
charity schools, managed by a'society; the pupils are of the
poorest and least permanent portion of the population, and little
more than the merest rudiments of knowledge are required
to be taught in them. Their 34 large schools now average
300 pupils each, under one teacher and one assistant; and
1S8 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
the 13 primary schools average 300 also, with but one teacher
and one assistant. As the pupils belong to a class seldom if
ever seen in even the large towns of New England, the failure of such schools can prove nothing here, and their success
and lengthened existence are almost miraculous. When there
was a proposition to introduce the Monitorial Plan into the
Boston schools, a comparison was instituted between the
schools of the two cities, and it being evident that the Boston
children had advanced further than the others, this was
at once concluded to be the consequence of the different systems, and no change was made. At the same time it was
true, that the greater part of our children attended the public
schools from 4 to 10 years, while the average attendance at
the New York schools did not exceed one year. The first
time I visited those schools, a young teacher was shown to me
as a prodigy, and the wonder arose from the circumstance,
that he was the only teacher that had ever been trained in
their own schools! Had the comparison been confined, as it
should have been, to the discipline of the rival schools; or had
proper allowance been made for the different quality of the
pupils, the New York system would not have suffered. Philadelphia also took up the system, and the following extract from
the Report of the Controllers of the Public Schools will show
their present condition. "It will be remembered," say they,
"that, at the introduction of the Monitorial System here, one
teacher, aided by monitors taken from his own pupils, was
considered sufficient for the care, and government, and instruction of 300 children.  *  *  *   The effort now made is to
furnish, even at considerable increase of expense, an adequate
number of well-qualified teachers, so as to secure to each
child a dule share of instruction from his teacher." This is
merely making the monitors what they ought to be, assistants and not substitutes for teachers.   At first, the merest elements were taught, and one master sufficed; but, just in proportion to the new branches introduced, must be the increase
of teachers or the diminution of pupils.
The plan was never generally adopted in any part of New
England.   New  Haven  has maintained one popular school
more than a quarter of a century, and it is still prospering
under the original teacher.   Portsmouth* followed next, and
* In the summer of 1845, at a meeting of many friends of Education at
Concord, N. H., the Governor and both branches of the Legislature being
present, Levi Woodbury, late Secretary of State, and now Judge of the
189 
THE TEACHIERS' INSTITUTE.
for many years its Monitorial School was the best school of
any kind in that state. Two public schools at Newburyport
followed, and did much to raise the standard of their schools.
But the plan was unluckily supposed to be only fitted for
teaching the elements, and for enforcing good discipline, and
when this was done, the system was discontinued, instead of
being adapted to the improved condition of the children. Nantucket tried the system, and liked it for some years, but she
has gone back to the old plan.   Providence once had an
excellent private school on this plan, but has none at present.
Springfield tried the plan in one large school with entire success, but after two years, a change of masters put an end to
the experiment. Portland bought off the excellent teacher of
the Portsmouth school, but in time the system was disused,
and the teacher was shorn of his strength, when his favorite
system departed. The only mnonitorial school extant in Massachusetts is one at Boston for boys.  It has been in operation about eighteen years, and has annually sent forth as
thoroughly instructed youths as any in the city. The number
of pupils has never been large enough to make the use of
monitors a matter of necessity, but the teacher has always
used them from choice, and teaching every pupil as much as
any other faithful master does, all the practice obtained by
this mutual instruction is clear gain.
It fell to my lot to make the firstt experiment on this plan in
Boston. In 1821, the Primary School Committee, of which
I was a member, collected about ninety girls and ninety boys
who went to no school, being thought too old for the primary
schools, and too ignorant to be admitted into the grammar
schools.   The grant to support a temporary school for the
instruction of these neglected children was very small, and we
adopted the monitorial plan because we had not money
enough for any other, the whole grant being but 1000 dollars,
of which more than half was expended in fitting up the schoolroom.   We  borrowed  a teacher  from  Albany, who was
recalled in a fewv weeks; but, rather than let the experiment
Supreme Court of the United States, being prevailed on to address the very
respectable audience, remarked that in his opinion there had been l)ut one
invention in the art of teaching for more than half a century, and this was,
the employmnent of the pupils as assistants to the teacher."  The excellent
school at Portsmouth, of which he had been overseer, was one of the facts on
which his discerning judgment was based; the great success of Dr. Arnold
in England, whose improvements in school discipline depended upon the use
of his pupils as assistants, was another.
190 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
fail, I assumed the office of teacher, and carried on the school
two years. Nothing could have been more unpropitious than
this commnencement, whether we consider the want of funds,
the character of the pupils, or the inexperience of the teacher,
who had never seen a monitorial school, nor taught any school
on any plan.
The first difficulty arose from the fact that none of the
unfortunate pupils knew enough to teach their companions,
and the best of them were supposed to be unworthy of trust for
a moment. The superior committee ordered the teacher of
a regular grammar school in the same building to lend me
a dozen boys, and he sent me the worst he could select;
remarking that, " if the experiment succeeded, it should not
owe its success to his scholars." Fortunately, a few girls,
who had become discontented at some grammar school, were
allowed to enter mine, and these I employed as my assistants,
sending back all the boys that had been so generously loaned.
As many of my boys were large, and as all, boys and girls,
were unaccustomed to order or subordination, it is an interesting fact, that, for two years, that school was mainly taught by
female monitors, and instances of disobedience and misconduct
were as unusual, to say the least, as in any other school.
When  the school was publicly declared by the mayor to bh
second to no grammar school in the city, I felt that my duty
was done, and I immediately resigned. The children were
all transferred to the grammar schools, for which they were
all fitted, and the " School of Mutual Instruction," as it was
called, was discontinued.
A few days after my resignation, some members of the
School Committee, with other gentlemen who had watched
my experiment, proposed a school on the same plan for their
own children, and made me such a liberal offer, that I relinquished the business to which I had been trained, and which
I had carried on while teaching the other school, and thenceforth devoted myself exclusively to the work of instruction. I
taught this second school more than seventeen years, having,
on an average, over a hundred pupils, without any limit in
regard to age.  In addition to the common branches, I taught
Latin, French and Spanish;  natural history and natural philosophy in all their departments; astronomy, book-keeping,
&c. &c., without any assistance except what was afforded by
my  own unpaid pupils.  T'his plan enabled  the trustees to
reduce the rates of tuition to about half those of other schools
191 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
where the same branches were taught, and yet the surplus
income, beyond all expenses, enabled the trustees to purchase
a choice library of 600 volumes, a better apparatus, and more
of it, than any academy or school in the state possessed, besides
paying for the instruction of all our pupils in vocal music,
dancing, drawing, painting and needlework, branches that I
did not attempt to teach.
This experiment was not entirely lost upon Boston, for,
four or five years after I commenced, the city established a
High School for girls, entirely on the monitorial plan, and
this school enjoyed a high reputation the two years that it
continued. In fact, the immediate cause of its discontinuance
was its popularity, for the applicants for admission were so
numerous, that not half could be received; and, as the parents
of the rejected ones clamored for more high schools, the question arose whether several such should be established, or such
alterations made in the grammar schools as would afford the
highest class of girls all the advantages of a high school.
The latter course was adopted; the girls were allowed to stay
at the grammar schools two years longer than the boys, who
had a high school; the masters of the grammar schools were
required to teach  all that had been attempted in the high
school, and then the monitorial high school was discontinued.
The experiment, however, was considered perfectly successful,
and had new schools been established, they would undoubtedly
have been on the same plan.
Again, in 1831, the School Committee, believing that some
radical change in the city schools was necessary, voted,
unanimously, I believe, to introduce what they considered a
monitorial plan into all the grammar schools. Our buildings
had two rooms, in each of which was a master and usher.
Half the pupils were in each room alternately; in one, learning writing and arithmetic, and in the other, reading, grammar and geography. The masters were equal in rank and
independent of each other, and the same system, called the
"double-headed system," is now in force in most of this class
of schools. The new plan proposed to have but one master,
one adult assistant subordinate to him, and six paid assistants,
young persons, but not pupils.   The old grammar masters
were made the new principals, and. they, from motives of
friendship made the old writing masters their assistants, who
were willing to serve at very reduced  salaries.   All the
ushers were dismissed, and three young assistants appointed
192 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
instead of each of thermi. As the principals were known to be
opposed to the change, and as the adult assistants, the old
writing masters, were interested in having the old order of
things restored, it would require no great discernment to fore  see the result of tile experiment in such unfriendly hands.
At the end of two years, it was declared a failure; the double.eaded system was restored, and has continued, with one or
two exceptions of new schools, until this day. Two circum stances, however, should be mentioned in connection with this
experiment. The teacher of the Boylston School, one of the
largest and best, having lost his usher, requested permission
to use monitors taken from his pupils, and conducted his
school, with no other assistance, more than a year before the
experiment I have just described. His success had been
so complete, and the economy so evident, that the committee
voted him extra compensation for his services. When the
schools were put back, his school went with the rest. Another
teacher, finding that the paid assistants did not work well,
freely employed his pupils, and from being the poorest school,
his had become second to none, -his second class reading
and pursuing all the studies of the first class, — when, to the
great regret of this eminent teacher, the double-headed system
was reestablished. It has always been a source of regret to
me that my friends, the Boston teachers, were so afraid of the
system that I loved, because, knowing how arduous are their
duties, I wish then to be furnished with the only means that,
in my opinion, can afford them any substantial relief.
The city of Boston has had four successful trials of the
system in her public schools, and two in private hands. Five
or six different teachers have been found competent to conduct
these difficult experiments, and probably every master in the
public service is equally competent, and yet the schools are
going on in the old way, at double the expense that would
be required if the use of pupils as assistants was allowed.
I have entered into these details, although somewhat tedious,
because I sincerely believe, as I have before said, that the
failure of attempts to teach on the Monitorial Plan has not
arisen from any defect in the system, and ignorance of this
fact is leading us to reject an instrument, which, if judiciously
used, may be of incalculable advantage.   I have thought this
sketch of the history of monitorial instruction necessary also
to a full understanding of the further remarks which I may                17
193 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
make upon somq theoretical objections to the plan, and upon
its advantages over the old system.
In the first place, then, a prejudice has always existed
against the Monitorial Plan, especially as Lancaster taught it,
because at first it only aimed at humble attainments. Its first
object was to teach the ignorant poor, and it has been called,
by way of derision, the pauper system. If I thought this
objection could have any weight with an intelligent person, I
would attempt to refute it, but it is idle to argue against
prejudice.
A more specious objection is, that children have not judgmnent enough to govern children. This objection has probably
arisen from the teacher's entrusting too much to his monitors.
Require too much of an adult, and he will fail to do it well.
Give an adult too much power. without proper checks and
restrictions, and the chance is a hundred to one that he will
abuse it. Children do not differ from adults in this respect;
but they may surely be trusted to a certain extent, and are as
faithful, as honest, and as anxious to do well as we are. Can
we expect them to do better than their elders. The objection
goes upon the assumption that monitors are to be allowed to
reward and punish, and to make  rules and affix penalties,
without being accountable for their conduct; but, in every case
that can possibly be anticipated, the power and duty of a monitor should be defined, and appeals to the teacher should
always be respectfully considered.. But if it be insisted that
the young are less sincere, less docile, less teachable, less just,
less anxious to do right, and less pure in heart, than adults, I
solemnly deny the charge; and,if my twenty-one years' experience with monitors, as well as with children, does not give
weight enough to the denial, I will ask, why a certain great
Teacher, to whom we all bow, once selected a little child
and set him up as an example to men, whom he had just sent
forth to teach the world.
I have no doubt that monitors may occasionally have been
unfaithful to their trust, but not oftener than adults; the failure
is an exception to the general conduct. A monitor who has
to teach a child of inferior ability, may become tired, and may
slight a lesson; a child, whose judgment is exercised by a
perverse little class, may sometimes err; such a one may
sometimes be partial to the good and harsh to the disagreeable;
but when this little one is arraigned, who is the teacher that
will iliot stoop and write his accusation in the said, that it
194 
THE MIONITORIAL SYSTEM.
may be erased and forgiven, rather than rise up and cast the
stone that will condemn himself as well as the little offender?
The child who is exposed to no such trial, but who is only
required to have no intercourse with his fellows; the perfec tion of whose conduct is to keep silence and sit immovable,
possibly may not err, but the hermit who retired from the
world that he might not sin, blasphemed when he accidentally
overturned his only furniture, a pitcher of water. Indeed, it
is a fair question for the moralist, whether a system that tries
the character in youth, and develops traits that would other'vise have grown with the growth, and strengthened with the
strength of the child, and thus have become an incurable de fect in the hdult character, is not to be preferred on this very
account. The moral character, the moral sentiments, must be
educated, as well as the intellectual faculties; but how is a
moral sentiment to be instructed unless it can act, can mani fest itself? He is a man who regulates his faculties, and not
he who never uses them. The child who commits to memory,
as many do, a whole moral class book, or every chapter in
the Bible, knows not his own strength or weakness, and in the
hour of trial or temptation, will be as helpless as the drowning
child that has only learned to swim on the parlor floor.
I could detain you for hours with the detail of cases in
which I have seen the better feelings of the heart, and the
most delicate moral sensibility, exhibited as a consequence of
the relations between monitor and pupil, but I will only allude
to one or two classes of such cases.  It was not unusual in
my school, when a pupil was inclined to talk, or otherwise
habitually to offend, for two pupils who never offended, to
ask that she might sit between them, to be out of temptation.
It was no uncommon thing, when a very young pupil was
often reprimanded, and yet continued to offend, for some older
pupil, of excellent character, to become bound for her good
behavior; in which case, the little one was allowed to sit next
to her, where she could be separated from companions whose
influence was unfavorable. The child generally became so
attached to her patron that I had no more trouble with her.
I had monitors, therefore, for moral training, as well as in the
comparatively unimportant matters of reading, writing, grammar, &c., the knowledge of all which, without a cultivated
moral sense, is a curse oftener than a blessing. Dr. Arnold,
of England, perhaps the most remarkable teacher of the pres.
ent century, who reduced one of the most vicious and ungov
195 
THE TEACHERS  INSTrITUTE.
ernable schools not only to order, but to Christian sobriety, did
this through the medium of monitors. He rarely, if ever,
used them as assistants in teaching the various branches of
knowledge; but in reclaiming the school from vice, and governing it afterwards, the point in which monitors are said to
be especially unqualified, he found their aid indispensable.
"I could do nothing without my Sixth Class," said he.
When I have confidence in the Sixth," was the end of one
of his farewell addresses, "there is no post in England that I
would exchange for this; but if they do not support me, I
must go."  When fears were expressed that mischief would
ensuie from the method he pursued, his memorable reply was,
"The victory of fallen man lies not in innocence, but in tried
virtue."   "I hold  fast to the great truth," said he, that
"Blessed is he that overcometh."
If, therefore, the employment of monitors, under the eye
and direction of the teacher, will afford them opportunities of
cultivating the judgment, the conscience, the kind affections;
if it will strengthen those who are right, but weak in moral
courage; if it will expose those who are defective in morals,
and thus lead to their timely correction, this plan is the very
touchstone we need. The best disciplined minds are often
found in those children, who, by what the world terms a misfortune, are thrown upon their own resources, and early accustomed to the exercise of their moral and intellectual faculties;
and do I err when I say, that no good opportunity for such
exercise is afforded in common schools, where each is required
to hoard up knowledge, and is forbidden to impart it to others;
where intercourse is prohibited, and whispering is high treason; where change of place, if not of position, is punished
as depravity; where implicit obedience is the divine right of
the teacher, and the divine wrong of the pupil; where, in fact,
the best pupil is he who most nearly resembles an automaton?
It has been objected, too, that the employment of pupils as
monitors increases that love of domination, which is already
too active in the youthful breast.   I believe this charge to be
unjust, even when the delegated power is not under proper
restraint; and it certainly is unjust, when the teacher does his
duty as a watchful overseer.  It must, be recollected, that the
monitors in every branch are the best pupils in that particular
branch, and every monitor may also be a pupil of his fellowscholar, as he is of the master; and though, one hour, he rnay
govern his class according to fixed laws enacted by the mas
196 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
ter, and well understood by every pupil; the very next hour,
he may be subject to one of the very pupils that he had just
directed.  The monitorial plan, as 1 used it, is the true democratic one; the children all had a chance at the offices, though
only the qualified and the deserving were appointed. Be(ing
sometimes governed, children are less likely to become imperious; and sometimes commanding, they will not too easily
become servile.
About the worst pupil in my first school was reformed by
being made a monitor. One day, a class of eight or ten small
boys, who only wanted age to be as bad as himself, entered
school while I was at my wit's end to know what to do with
the large offender.  " Do you know those boys?" said I.  "I
believe I do," said he.    Bad fellows, are they not? " said I.
"I guess you'11 find them all that," said he.  " Well, now,"
said I, " you know better than I how to manage such fellows;
why can't you be their monitor, and teach them how to behave?  You may teach them what you can, but the main
thing is to bring them to order. Will you try to help me?"
He was evidently moved by my confidence in him, and yet
seemed to doubt my sincerity. When convinced of this by
being introduced to the new comers as their nmonitor, he
arranged themn in order, and prepared, as well as he knew
how, to teach them.   Soon he came up to me and said,
"That boy won't mind me, sir; what shall 1 do to him?"
Well," said I, "you do not mind me sometimes, and perhaps the best rule is for you to do as you would like to be
done unto. Shall I flog him?" He thought a moment No, sir," said he; "I guess I will try him once more."  As
he learned what it was reasonable to require of them, he grew
more and more ready to do what I required of him. One day,
his father came to the school-room to inquire what I had
done to his son.  I was alarmed at first, but he soon relieved
me by saying that, a few weeks ago, his son had given him
much trouble by being out every evening, and getting into
difficulty; but of late he staid at home and studied his lessons, and behaved so much better, that he had determined to
come and ask what I had done to him.  I told him what had
taken place, and being curious to know what lessons he studied, since I had excuised him from saying any to me, I called
the boy up. and asked what lessons he studied at home.  He
blushed, but gave no answer.  " Tell me," said I, "because
your father sayls you study at home, and I wish to reward
17*
197 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
you for your industry." "I study the lessons of my class,"
said he, "but father need not have told of it."  " 0," said I,
"this is very honorable to you, and while you continue to do as
well as you have done, you will find a good friend in mne and
in your father, who has come here to tell me how well you
behave at home."  That boy gave me no further trouble afterwards, and he trained his class better, probably, than I could
have done, had I done nothing else.  Bad as he was, one
spark of virtue remained unextinguished, and this one instance
of unexpected and undeserved confidence kindled it into an
eulduring flame.
Another common objection against the use of children as
assistants is, that their knowledge is imperfect, and of course
their teaching must be of the same character.   A judicious
teacher would not set a child to teach what he did not know;
but, if a child may not teach what he does know to one who
knows less, because his knowledge is limited, I do not see
out all teaching must cease; for, oftentimes, there is not more
difference between the attainments of the teacher and those
of his best pupils, than between those of the latter and of the
poorest scholars. The wisest and best of us go to church,
and to lectures, without repugnance, although we know that
the preacher or the lecturer is only a monitor, who knows,
perhaps, a little more than we do of the subject under consideration, but who would perhaps come to us for information on
many other subjects. The art of teaching depends more upon
adapting the explanation to the capacity of the learner, than
upon the amount of knowledge accumulated by the teacher.
Is it unreasonable, then, to suppose tha-t the explanations of
children may sometimes be better suited to the understanding
of children, than those of adults would be? I am not ashamed
to own that I often called on my monitors to explain what I had
failed to make a little scholar apprehend.   When I began to
teach, I was for a long time obliged to study in the evening
what I was to teach the next morning; and I believe I succeeded better then in explaining those lessons, than I did afterwards when the subject had become familiar to me. What
was I but a mnonitor; and what else was I ever afterwards?
It is also objected against Monitorial Schools, that they are
necessarily noisy. Now, there are two kinds of noise, that of
disorder, which is useless, and that of business, which is somnetimes unavoidable.  If several classes are recitingr at once,
more noise may be made than where only one is reciting in
198 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
the old mode; but this is not necessarily the case, for, in small
classes it is not necessary to speak loud, and as all are employed, there are no idlers to make the noise that often interrupts the single recitation of common schools, and furnishes
victims for the rod. To my ear, however, the hum of business is much more agreeable than the stillness of inactivity
and idleness. If I owned a cotton factory, I should be glad
to be rid of the noise, but I should be rather simple to stop all
the spindles but one to procure silence. I would not tolerate
any noise that was unaccompanied with work, but, after I had
perfected the machinery, and oiled all the wheels, I would
keep up the steam, and get used to the noise as busy workmen
easilv do. The sacrifice, therefore, of industry, and often of
happiness and humanity, to the god of silence, is an idolatry,
which, if not paid to stocks and stones, has a tendency to make
stocks and stones of the worshippers.   "You may play, if
you  will make  no noise," said a teacher  to her pupils.
"Thank you, ma'am," said they; "such play would be too
much like work."
Finally, it is objected, that, if teaching helps a monitor, only
a few are helped, and as the monitors are taught exclusively
by the master, and the rest have only his occasional care,
those who are not monitors must suffer. In schools on every
plan, the teacher bestows more personal attention upon the
best scholars than upon the lower classes.  But, if the teacher
bestows more time upon the monitor of the present season, the
next year, when those who are pupils now have become monitors, they will have the same exclusive care, and the aggregate
of personal attention will be about the same. If it be urged
that some pupils will never be fit for monitors, then my experience tells me that great practice under monitors is better
for such, than the slight attention that teachers can pay to dull
scholars.  Besides, it must be borne in mind, that the teacher
is always active, and will give such children as much of his
time as they would have had, if no monitors had been eraployed. The mischief most to be feared is that the masters
will use the monitors as substitutes, and not as mere assistants; and will look on, when they should be at work.   The
great wheel that moves all the little wheels in a factory might
as well stop to see how the others get on.
But I shall not be satisfied with replying to objections
for there are positive advantages in the Monitorial Plan
when properly employed, and I must briefly notice a few of
199 
THE TEACHERS' INZIITUTE.
them. I have already hinted that one of the greatest evils
inseparable from the common plan, is the defective classifica tion. If the teacher makes many classes, he must slight them
all; for the more classes he has, the less time he can bestow
upon each. The teacher, therefore, of a large school, makes
as few classes as possible, and, of course, brings together
children whose capacities are very unequal; and then, if he
sets a lesson to give full employment to the brightest pupils,
he oppresses the poorer scholars; and how often are they
punished for imperfect recitations, when the teacher only is to
blame for overtasking their capacities. On the other hand, if
the humane teacher sets the large class a short lesson, in
mercy to the feeble intellects, he represses the aidor of the
brighter scholars, and by keeping them only half employed
exposes them to the temptations of idleness.
Again, in these large classes, children are brought together
with little or no regard to their peculiar talents. One may be
a good reader but a poor arithmetician; another may be a
good arithmetician but a bad geographer; a third may be a
good geographer but a bad grammarian, and so on; and few
will be found to excel in every branch. No matter, all must
work together, however unlike, and this defect seems  to be
inseparable from the classification of our large schools.
Now  the evils arising from imperfect classification  are all
remedied by the Monitorial Plan, for the teacher can make as
many classes as are necessary to bring all scholars of equal
attainments or capacity together.   No class, perhaps, except
his own, contains more than six or eight, and, if necessary, a
single child may have a separate monitor, if she needs extraordinary care, or is unfit to go with any other in the school.
The  teacher takes whichsoever class needs him  most;  the
monitors, all under his eye, take the rest, and, generally, all
are reciting at the same time.   These small classes get an
immense amount of practice, and every child mnay easily be
made to recite the whole lesson. and not merely one or two
questions of it.  I always required the whole lesson  to be
recited by every pupil.
But the classification is different in every branch of study,
and every child who has any talent has a chance to rise and
improve it.  It is no great stretch of credulity to believe, as I
do, that a monitor, selected in this way for his skill in one
branch, and required only to teach that branch, may succeed
as well in teaching his single study to beginners, as the teacher
2()O 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
will, who is required to teach many branches, who, perhaps,
excels in none of them, and can hardly be expected to excel
in all.
Again; in common schools, it is difficult for a teacher to
keep alive in the minds of his pupils what he has taught
them. It is necessary to drop the lower branches, or even the
elementary part of the same branch, as the pupil advances;
and a review of past studies, to which some good teachers
resort, rarely goes further back than theJast branch studied,
and not only interrupts business, but generally is equivalent
to teaching the whole matter over again.   No exercise is so
often dropped in this way as spelling; and I have often
known a first class, who had thrown aside the spellingbook, unable to spell decently. In answering fourteen ques.
tions in grammar, the first division of the first classes in the
Boston grammar schools, averaging about fourteen years of
age, misspelled 924 words, and somne of these the easiest in
the language.  I do not believe, however, that these pupils
were worse than pupils elsewhere.
Now the Monitorial Plan effectually meets this evil. By
teaching. the younger children, the more advanced are constantly reviewing their studies, not by learning merely, but
by the surer method of teaching what they have learned to
others. In reality, the children never drop any study till they
drop the school, and never need to do so. If it be objected,
that only monitors enjoy this privilege, it may be answered,
that monitors only need it, their pupils not yet having any
study to drop.  But the fact is, the ingenious teacher will, at
times, make monitors of all his pupils, and thus give them
practice, if they do not need any review. I often employed
my second class in showing beginners how to study their
lessons; a duty that teachers themselves are too apt to neglect, and to lay upon the parents, although it is often far
more difficult and important than the hearing of the recitation afterwards. No child, but the very lowest, was so lowv
that she could not teach something, and that something I
always required her to teach if possible.  Once, when I made
this remark to a visiter, he pointed to a little girl, not yet four
years old, and who had only been taught a few of the letters,
and asked, "Can you make  a monitor of her?"   "To be
sure," said I; and knowing that she had a large rag-baby in
her desk, I asked her if her dolly knew her A, B, C.  "No,
thir," said she.  "Can you  teach them  to her?" said 1.
201 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
"Yeth thir," said she.  I gave her a piece of chalk, led her
before the black-board, and told her to do as the monitor did.
She at once chalked A upon the board, and held her doll up
before it; but finding it difficult to get the idea into her pupil's
head, she adopted an expedient that, 1 will venture to say, not
one adult in a thousand would have thought of,-she rubbed
the letters into the doll's head by rubbing them out with it.
There is a common notion that knowledge easily acquired
is as easily lost; awd, therefore, learning should be made
somewhat difficult, that the labor of acquisition may prevent
too rapid progress, and impress the words or the ideas more
deeply on the mind. But this principle will apply as justly
to the repair of roads, and prove the irnpolicy of a highway
tax; since the worse the road the more careful will be the
driver, and the more attentive the passengers; and the longer
the journey is, the more pleasant will its end be, and the
aching bones will more powerfully come to the aid of mem ory. There is no royal road to knowledge which the privi leged only may travel; but there may be a rail-road, nay,
there must be one, or all progress must cease. I am not like
the honest Scotch schoolmaster, who, when  asked why he
did not teach his pupils a certain part of mathematics by a
new  process which  shortened it amazingly, replied, "Ye
dinna think I'd teach the blackguards in a week, what it cost
me a year or twa to learn!" For my part, I had rather
travel a road two or three times over in a comfortable way, if
once going over it is not enough, than receive any of those
deeper impressions of a more painful route. I consider an
idea like a town, and amn content to reach it by the shortest
and easiest road.
But the most crying evil in our common schools is that
alluded to at the commencement of this lecture, -the want of
constant employment. One class only can recite to the master
at a time, and, of that class, but one child at a time. It is true
that the rest are expected to attend, but they do not, and it is
useless to deny the fact. Now, if there is idleness and inattention in the very class that is reciting to the teacher, what
may we expect to find in the rest of the school? What do we
find there? Idleness and all its fruits, from innocent sleep up
to active mischief.  It is true, that classes not reciting are
.expected to study their lessons; and some children, no doitbt,
do this; but the majority do no such thing. Now, just in
proportion as the Monitorial Plan diminishes the number of
202 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
pupils in a class, and increases the number of teachers, it
diminishes the opportunities for idleness and mischief By
the judicious employment of monitors, and the proper selection and change of studies, the children can be all usefully
employed, and employed all the time.
Again; on the old plan, as the children of a large school
cannot be classed so that they can work advantageously
together, an attempt has been inade to remove the evil bv
hlaving several grades of schools, as the infant, the primary,
the intermediate, the grammar, and the high school. This
arrangement, no doubt, is a great improvement, and diminishes the difficulty of classing the pupils; but it does not remove idleness,-it does not reduce the number in a class,-it
does not produce equality of talents or attainments; for the
schools are classed by age generally, and classing them by
age will do no more towards bringing equals together, than
will classing them by the number of feet and inches that they
measure. The Monitorial Plan renders all this separation of
ages unnecessary; for the charm of a school on this plan is
the gradation of ages,-,the presence of the little ones always
having a kindly influence upon the benevolent feelings of the
older pupils, while the example of the latter assists the
example of the teacher, and gives to him a sort of ubiquity.
I generally found, too, that little children, who witnessed the
exercises of the more advanced pupils, learned so much, that,
when promoted to a new study, they were half acquainted
with it. In schools that are classed, the primaries see nothing of what the grammar scholars do, and these are ignorant
of what is done in the high school. This classification of
schools sometimes separates the older children of a family
from the younger, when their protection is almost indispensable. The proportion of ages in a common district school is
favorable to the use of monitors; and, if two or three districts
unite, so much the better; for they may  emnploy a first-rate
teacher, who, with the aid of his pupils, will do more in the
united school than three poor teachers could do in their separate districts, and do it three times as well; for a good
monitor, under a good teacher, is worth more than a poor
teacher alone. When the schools are classed, the child who
leaves the primary school leaves the teacher also, who has
laid the foundation of his education, and goes to another, who
builds upon a foundation that he did not lay, and, after a
while, leaves the work to be completed by a third. How this
203 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
plan would operate in the building of a temple, any one can
guess; and yet the comparison of the material with the intel lectual temple, shows a perfect parallel.
I shall name but one advantage more, and this is of im mense importance. Every pupil educated in a monitorial
school becomes a teacher.  This is important even in a pecu niary point of view; but it has higher claims than merely
affording a respectable means of support.  If it be said, as it
has been, by parents, "I do not expect my child ever to
become a teacher," it may be asked, " Do you never expect
him or her to become a parent?"  And is it of no advantage
to a parent to be able to educate his own children, or to know
how to superintend this all-important concern? Many of my
pupils, with no other preparation than they obtained from
acting as monitors, have become teachers of excellent schools,
without feeling at all embarrassed.   Once, when the trustees
of my school had tried several adult teachers in the needlework and drawing department, which was conducted when I
was not present, and had concluded to abandon the enterprise,
from the inability of the teachers to conduct so large a school,
I proposed that one of my monitors, then only seventeen years
of age, should be allowed to try her skill; and although the
pupils were all her fellow-scholars, and some nearly as old as
herself, she conducted the school to the entire satisfaction of
all concerned, until she was married, four years afterwards.
The want of competent teachers is felt and acknowledged
throughout our land, and great efforts are making to furnish
an adequate supply. Although I believe teaching to be a
natural gift, as much as poetry or music, still, like them, it is
an art that must be studied and cultivated, and one that, perhaps, will be hidden, unless an opportunity is afforded for its
exercise. Acquiring knowledge is not acquiring the art of
teaching, any more than accumulating money is the same as
active beneficence. Not one learned man in a thousand is
able to communicate what he knows, clearly and simply, to a
child.  Practice is necessary; but few have this, until they
are called on to instruct.  How  different is the case where
children, as fast as they learn, are required to impart what
they have learned to others.  The truth is, that a well-coiducted Monitorial School is the best normal school in the
world; for practice goes with precept every step of the way.
If our common schools were conducted, even in part, on the
Monitorial plan, those children who have any tact, any pecu
204 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
liar love or aptness for teaching, would soon show it; and
who does not see that pupils thus brought out would furnish
the very best stock for normal schools, and the demand for
teachers would not only be supplied, but would be supplied
with teachers of the true birth, born and bred to their business? Our normal schools have done immense good under
every disadvantage; but many of the pupils who have entered
them have lacked the necessary degree of knowledge, as well
as the true spirit of teaching; and this mnust continue to be the
case until preparatory schools, in which the Monitorial Plan
is used, are connected with the normals; or until the conmmon
schools are so generally. conducted on this plan, that a full
supply of suitable teachers can be selected from them.
The precept of our great Teacher, that, "It is more blessed
to give than to receive," is true in intellectual as well as in
material things. Teaching is learning, and learning of the
very best kind. I appeal to teachers of common, private and
high schools, and ask, whether every faithful attempt to teach
the children under their care does not increase and improve
their own knowledge? I appeal to parents, and ask, if every
attempt to educate their own children does not also educate
themselves? I appeal to all lecturers, preachers, and others,
who try to instruct their fellow-men, and I ask whether teaching is not learning? I appeal to all the young teachers in our
Sunday schools, many of whom are but mnonitors, and yet
are safely intrusted to teach those mysteries which angels
cannot fathom, although in the district school they are not
allowed to teach reading, spelling, and arithmetic,- I appeal
to these young coaidjutors of our divine Master, and ask them,
if, when they are pointing out to their young pupils the path
to heaven, they are not compelled to advance therein themselves?
We  need more good teachers, and must have them.  He
who thinks otherwise, must be blind to the signs of the times;
to that bigotry, which hopes to thrive in the general ignorance; to that selfish pride, which looks with coldness upon all
attempts to raise the mass by the agency of common schools;
to that infidelity, which, half instructed, fancies itself to be
the only true wisdom; to that disregard of law, which blindly
claims to be the only true liberty; and to that restless love of
novelty, which rejects the most solemn lessons of experience.
Impressed with the necessity of creating a higher race of
teachers, and of providing surer and better methods of instruct
18
205 
TIlE TEACHERS' INSTlTUTE.
tion, I have ventured to plead the cause of a system which
has few acquaintances, and, of course, fewer friends. I have
no private interest to subserve, for I am no longer a teacher,
and I have made no book that is better fitted for instruction
on this plan than on any other. I believe that the prevalent
mode of instruction is defective in some vital points, which the
mode I advocate seems to be eminently fitted to remedy. I
do not conceal the fact that the system has been tried some  what extensively and laid aside, but the same thing once
happened to the greatest of all improvements, or Luther was
no reformer. I am aware that many obstacles will arise, and
some experiments may fail, in making the change of systems
that I propose, but the schools have less to fear from this than
from remaining as they are.   " Let well enough alone." is
high treason in these days, when the perfection of our schools
is to our institutions the only hope of salvation.  Nor  do  I
speak as a mnere theorist. I have taught on this system more
than twenty years; I have taught large numbers of the rich
and of the poor-the cared-for and the neglected; I have
taught the elements and the advanced studies, and all this in
a community boasting of its schools, and sternly opposed to
innovation; I know what the system can do, and I am ready
to stake the welfare of the coming generation upon a fair
experiment.
Perhaps few teachers will be safe in introducing the entire
system at once; a wiser plan will be to employ only a few
monitors, and these with caution, until practice gives confi dence, and success removes the existing prejudice.   But in
recommending this system to teachers, I ought not to conceal
the fact that they who employ monitors must be more vigilant,
more active, more industrious than those on the old plan; for,
what the teacher is, the monitors will most assuredly be.
Remember, however, that the labor, though doubled, will be
less fatiguing to both pupils and teacher; for there will be a
life in the instruction, a charm in the intercourse of teacher,
monitor and pupil, which no labor can weary, and no ordinary
vexations disturb.  You will, for a time at least, be troubled
by the fears of parents and the incredulity, perhaps, of committees, who, naturally, will lack faith until you give them
experience; and therefore you must possess your souls in
patience, and persevere in meekness.   When  told, as you
will be, of the importance of silence in school; speak of the
greater importance of industry every where.-  If the system is
206 
THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM.
stigmatized as a pauper system; comfort yourselves with the
reflection that your blessed religion is a religion for the poor;
not to keep them so, but to make them rich. -If told that
vour monitors are imperfect;  acknowledge with  unfeigned
humility that you are imperfect also. - If told that your moni tors do not govern wisely; acknowledge frankly, what will no
doubt be the truth, that you have not shown them how. -If told
that, once in a while, a monitor is partial or unfaithful; you
may whisper a suspicion, that, once in a while, teachers, too,
are partial and unfaithful. - If told that the knowledge of
your monitors is imperfect; you may hint, for the sake of argument, that that of teachers is not always perfect. -If told that,
in exercising their judgment, monitors sometimes err; do not
be so rash as to assert that teachers also sometimes err, but
ask, if children had not better sometimes err than never exercise their judgment?-If told that a monitorial school is more
noisy than others; express a quiet hope that there will be less
chance to sleep in it. - If told that children cannot, in the
nature of things, teach children; allow that this is strange,
since children can often teach adults.- If your classes are too
large; cut them up, in the full belief that, with them, as with
the polypus, the more pieces the more vitality.- If told that
one hour under a teacher is better than ten under a monitor;
be sure td ask who that teacher is.- If told that it is better to
recite one or two questions to a master than the whole lesson
to a monitor; ask, inquiringly, which are the healthiest
children, those who get a few mouthfuls of dainty food, or
those who get as much as they can eat of plain but wholesome
fare. - If told that monitors must spend a portion of their
time in teaching what they know already; you may insinuate
that teachers spend all theirs in the same manner. -If told
that the monitorial plan mixes old and young together; hint
that, in the great school of the world, the Almighty does the
very same thing. - Finally, if told that the use of monitors is
an innovation unknown to our fathers; after doubting the fact,
ybu must, in justice to those farsighted men, say, that the very
establishment of public free schools by them was also an innovation, a most glorious innovation, which their children are
called upon to cherish and perfect, without prejudice and without dour.
207 
T8THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
THE TJSE OF MONITORS.
I Do not know that I need to say any more on this subject.
for, besides the lecture, I have, in this volume, frequently
alluded to the use of pupils as assistants to the teacher.  It
has given me pleasure to hear that many of the teachers wvho
attended the Institutes last autumn, have made successfill use
of monitors since, and have never been so well satisfied that
they did their duty towards their employers. I have not heard
that any one, parent or committee-man, has objected to the
improvement; and, if the teachers are judicious, I presume
they will not be interfered with, and checked in their progress
towards a thorough reform. From every quarter I hear indications of a better feeling toward this "only invention of the
nineteenth century," and the very natural hostility of teachers
and schools who have no enterprise, and whom  the world
has gone by, cannot prevent the general adoption of a plan,
which gives us more and better instruction at half the expense,
and which is the only remedy for Inost of the evils under
which our schools have groaned for at least a century, viz..
want of teachers, want of practice, want of employment, want
of discipline, want of interest, want of almost every. thing.
Just twenty years ago, at the request of William Russell,
that most excellent of men and most judicious of teachers, I
prepared some directions for the introduction of the svstem
of mutual instruction into the common schools of Massachusetts, and he published them in a small manual.   The
book is not now to be found, and I may be excused for making a few extracts from it touching the arrangement of a
school-room.
"Mutual instruction was first introduced to save the expense of
teachers in large schools; but experience has discovered in it a far
greater benefit, which is, the more thorough and practical education
acquired by those children who are required to teach as well as learn;
and, in a well ordered school on the monitorial plan, every child.
before he leaves the school, is employed as a teacher. In schools,
therefore, of only twenty or thirty scholars, although the master
may feel perfectly competent to teach them all personally, still it is
desirable that they should learn the use of his instructions by trarsrmitting them to the younger scholars.
" It is to be regretted that, in our common school-rooms, so little
regard has been paid to the convenience of the master and pupils.
209 
THE USE OF MONlTORS.
The bench of one desk is often fastened to the front of the next desk,
so as to allow no passage behind the scholar, and to oblige him to
disturb the whole row when he wishes to leave his seat. This
arrangement also effectually prevents the master from passing
between the desks to examine the books of the writers. Another
fault of construction in our school-rooms is, that the forms or desks
do not all face the master's desk. This prevents his having a commaiding view of the whole, and the scholars' having a convenient
view of him, and what he wishes to show them. Besides, it enables
thie children to look at each other,- a serious evil, were one sex only
present, but much more serious, when, as in most of our country
schools, both sexes are in the same room, and placed opposite to
each other. These are the two greatest defects in the construction
of our school-rooms, and it is desirable that they should be remedied
before the new system is introduced; but let it be understood, that
the new system may be tried in a room of any construction, although
its advantages cannot be so fully appreciated as when the room is
more conveniently arranged.
"The annexed diagram will give some idea of the most simple and
convenient form of a school-room; and school committees who are
about to erect new schoolhouses, may be assured that the arrangement we propose will be found as convenient for the old system of
instruction, as for the new, besides the economy of room, which will
be evident. The size of the room is about 30 by 24 feet, and will
accommodate 60 children with ease, but, the larger the room the
better for the pupils, the teacher, the discipline, the neatness, and
other important points of  a good  school.   Black-boards should
surround the room, or at least be behind every reciting station, and
behind the master's desk, which latter should be ruled as I have
directed under the head of Writing.
"The diagram represents the interior of a school-room only.  An
anteroom, or wide entrance, should be built at the end where the
door is, and should be well lighted. If divided in the centre, so that
the girls may have a separate room for their garnments, so much the
better; and in this case, a door may be cut at A. If the sexes have
different yards, so that they can take recess apart, but at the same
time, some minutes will be saved, and the teacher will not be obliged
to stay in the room to look after those who are not taking recess. It
wi'l not cost much to dig a small cellar under the school-room, that
the wood may not be covered with snow or look unneat in winter;
and, if a small furnace is placed there, by which fresh-heated air nlav
be sent into the room, many a life will be saved. The school-room
should not be less than 12 feet high, and should be ventil.ated at the
top and bottom.
1s*
209 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
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" The semicircles, as they are called, are not perfectly so, for it is
found that the shape here given takes up less room and is more convenient for the class. These are the reciting stations, in the centre
of which is a seat for the monitor. This seat may be a permanent
one, a desk, or a chair; or the monitor may be required to stand,
which is the preferable mode.
"There should not be less than eighteen inches between the ends
of the semicircles, so that children standing at each may not touch
one another.
"From the wall to the front of the semicircles may be about foui
feet; and then there must be room between the front of the semicircles and the desks, to allow of a person's passing down the aisle,
while the children are standing at the stations. One foot will be
sufficient, thus making the aisle five feet wide.
"The master's desk had better be semiicircular, that classes mav
210
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THE USE OF MONITORS.
ocemsionally for armcund it, and recite to him. It should be elevated
about eighteen inches above the floor. and have two circular steps,
ten inches wide, around it. Its front should be five feet from the
wall.
"The narrow aisle on the left side of the school will be found convenient, but may be dispensed with if the other aisle is a wide one.
"' lThe nearest form should be about eight feet from the master's
desk. The seats for the scholars may be separate stools. nailed to
the floor, or single benches strongly made and fastened.* The desk
should have a shelf under it, to hold  the slate and books of the
children.
"Between the seats and the front of the next row, should be a
passage way of fifteen inches width, that master and monitors may
pass freely behind the scholars.
"The reading stations, 6, 7 and 8, behind the desks, may be dispensed with, if there are enough elsewhere, and, perhaps, one or
two may be made by the door. These stations should be marked by
grooves in the floor, cut or scratched. Paint is sometimes used, but
is soon effaced.
"The desks nearest the master's should be somewhat lower than
the others, to suit the smallest children. In arranging the relative
height of the seats and desks or forms, the best plan is to set a child
upon the seat, and place the form just high enough for him to write
and keep his elbow at his side, and let it slope just so that a slate will
not slide off from it. Always recollect that both desk and seat had
better be too low than too high.
Such is the arrangement we should propose, and a judicious
teacher will come as near to it as circumstances will allow. If he
can get more room, so much the better. He may adopt the whole,
or a part, or none; for it is possible to do without reading stations;
the monitor sitting at the end of a bench, and the children standing
in a semicircle around him. It is better, however, for the classes to
read towards the wall than towards the centre of the room, for less
noise is made, and there is less to distract the attention.
"In regard to the system of Mutual Instruction, it should be understood that there are various modinfcations of it, caused by a greater
or less deviation from the old method of saying things by rote, without exercising the judgment or proving the knowledge of the pupil
by requiring him to apply it to some practical purpose. In some
schools on the new plan, monitors are used, but lessons are recited
in the old way, without explanation. In others, the children are
allowed to ask an explanation of the monitor; and the monitor is
required to give it. We mention this circumstance because manygoad old-fashioned ears ar( shocked with the noise necessarily made
*JOSEPH W. INGRAHAM, ESQ., of Boston, has invented an excellhnt chIair
for Primary Schools. It is easy, strong and cheap, and is manufactured by
WILLIAM G. SHATTUCK, No. 8SG, Commercial Street, Boston.  Mr. S. alsc
manufactures a Grammar School chair, having the same excellent qualities.
Specimens can be examined at the Publisher's Book-store, as well as at the
manufactory.
211 
THE TEACHERS  ILNSTITUTE.
in a school of the explanatory kind, and may judge of the compara tive merit of schools by their comparative silence and orderly inaction.
No instructor can teach a class without frequently speaking to them;
and the same indulgence should be allowed to monitors; the only
point is, to check unnecessary conversation. It is easy to keep a
silent and still school; but the free interchange of ideas amongst the
pupils, when conducted in an orderly manner, is productive of much
good, and should be encouraged. Noise is only injurious when it
obstructs business; and in monitorial schools, well-regulated noise is
rather an indication of industry than of disorder. It should be recol lected also that those who make a noise are not those most offended
by it. The tin kettle discourses excellent music to the child who
beats it; the cotton factory stuns all but the workmen.
"We shall conclude with one word of advice to school-committees.
As the success of any system depends upon an impartial exercise of
it, and as the system proposed in this manual requires more exercise
of the judgment of children than any other, it must be your endeavor
to second the exertions of the master. Encourage him t(o deal
impartially with all. Submit your own children entirely to his guid ance; allow them no distinction to which their merit does not entitle
them. The aristocracy of cities is proverbial; but you must have
seen that few country schools are free from family influence. Frown
upon all such distinctions; and recollect that undeserved promotion will
not excite your own children to exertion, but will discourage those
who have nothing beside their own exertions to depend upon, and
who, keenly feeling their wrongs, will entertain but a poor opinion of
your justice. Be generous towards the teachers you employ. Be
careful to select a man of mild temper and pure morals; and when
you have found such a one, let not the whole term of his service be
embittered by the reflection that his services are undervalued. How
can you expect a man to devote himself to the school under such
circumstances? Depend upon it he will give you only the money's
worth of his time and exertions; and this is all vouii can reasonably
expect.  We  mention the subject of salaries, because we believe
they are generally too low to induce a gentleman of talents to undertake the charge of a village school, and because to this circumstance,
more than to any other, (if we except the short term for which a
male teacher is employed,) may be attributed the low standard of
education in our common schools. If you cannot afford any additional
expense, let a small piece of ground be cultivated annually by the
boys for the benefit of the school; or let the clergyman and selectmnen see that those who have nothing to spare to educate their children, spare nothing for the indulgence of some useless or pernicious
habit."
The following letter, from one of'the most intelligent an(l
experienced female teachers of Barnstable county, may serve
to show what evils exist, and may furnish the text for a few
remarks on classification
212 
THE USE OF 1ON1TORS.
B, Nov.19, 1846.
MR. FOWLE,
Dear Sir,
In less than two weeks from this time,
1 shall, probably, find myself surrounded by some fifty
or sixty pupils of all ages, and of various attainments. In
view of this responsibility, and wishing to secure the greatest
amount of good to every member of my school, I often ask
myself, how?v shall I classify my school? During my past teaching, I have tried, by way of experiment, several modes of
classification, but have never been fully satisfied with any of
them. The question comes up renewedly, since the Institute
in our county, and I have said to myself, I wish I could see
Mr. F., and avail myself of his suggestions.
You are aware, sir, of the increased difficulties to be surmounted in schools like ours, compared with those of your
city, and that a teacher's plans must be graduated, not according
to his views of what a school should be, or to what it may
become at some future time, but according to what it is NOW.
I must descend to a level with the present system of school
discipline and classification, bad as it is, as a starting point,
and endeavor to raise the whole en masse to a higher degree
of excellence.       *        *         *        *
I should like to know, in particular, if some general method
of classification might not be adopted, by which the whole
school, or the greater part of it, may be exercised at once.
For instance, might not an hour be given to arithmetic,
exclusively; another to grammar; a third to reading; a
fourth to spelling, and so on. The idea to me is a new one,
but it strikes me that some arrangement of this kind might be
made, that would be much better than any I have adopted
heretofore; and which, by directing the attention of the whole
to the same subject, would diminish idleness. Such a course
would require a thorough acquaintance with the subjects
taught, on the part of the teacher, to enable him to supply the
place of textbooks to his pupils; and would have a tendency
to make a teacher what he should always aim  to be, "A
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, thoroughly furnished
unto every good work."
Wishing you success in all your efforts to elevate the condition of our public schools, I am, sir, yours, &c. &c.
This enterprising teacher, if allowed to follow the bent of
her mind, woutld, I think, soon settle down upon the Monito
213 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
rial System; for this, and nothing else, will enable her to carry
out the rational classification of which she has, through suf fering, obtained a glimpse. Let me say, then, in a few words,
how I should manage such a school, if called on to teach it,
and allowed to do as I thought best.
On the day appointed for opening the school, I should re quire every child who intended to be a pupil, to bring his last
writing-book, which I should ask permission to keep till the
end of the term.  I should ask the children to stand in alpha betical order, and then I should take a list of the names.
Having ruled several columns at the right hand of the list, I
should begin to examine the pupils in the several branches,
recording the result opposite each name, as I advanced. Let
all stand in a line, according to age or size, and if any do not
know their letters. separate them into the first class, send them
to a black-board, and let a large pupil teach them in the method
I have described under the head of Reading. As these little
ones are well employed, they will not trouble me while classing the rest.
I now take a reading-book, say my Primary Reader, or
Swan's Second Part, and, as each of the remaining pupils
reads in turn, I mark against his name 1, 2, 3, or 4, as he
reads wxvell or ill, the best readers having the highest numbers.
This trial will probably enable me to pick out such as can
hardly read the lowest class-books, and these I can send away
to read under one who has read better than the rest.   I let
the class read again, in a higher book, say Swan's Grammar
School Reader, marking the quality of their reading as before
and I keep them reading, until I have separated them into
classes of 6, 8 or 10, to my satisfaction.  Suppose that there
are 60 pupils, of whom 6 are in the alphabet, S in Swan's First
Book, S in the Primary Reader, 6 in Swan's Third Part, S
in Swan's Grammar School Reader, 10 in the same book, and
14 in the District School Reader. From this highest class, I
should select my monitors of reading. I could detach six of
them to hear the other classes read, while I heard the rest of
the highest class, say 15 or 20 minutes.  Then I could detach
six of those who had read to me, to take the place of the
monitors, and let them have a chance to read to me. If I arn
faithful to my highest class, it will only be necessary for me
occasionally to take the other classes, and this I can easily do
by giving my class some useful occupation at their seats, while
I take the fifth or any lower class. Every book should be
read through in course, that every one may know the place;
214 
THE USE OF MONITORS.
but, on stormy days, when many are absent, the monitor may
allow the class to choose pieces, as a sort of reward for punctual attendance. I always made it a point to allow some
privilege on such days, and not unfrequently allowed any two
or three to select dialogues, and read them before the whole
school. Indeed, I would often take part in a dialogue myself,
and then the pupils were sure to be more attentive to do their
best.  The whole school would catch the spirit, and, when
alone, would practise, and improve themselves.
Such was the arrangement in the school I taught so many
years. All but the highest class were all engaged in the same
branch at the same time, and such an arrangement seems to
meet the idea of the writer of the letter; but it would be so
completely monitorial, that the teacher might be forbidden to
employ it, by parents who would not believe, until they had
seen, as I have, that little children so taught by monitors will
learn faster than when taught exclusively by the master,-the
great amount of practice more than making up for the difference of quality. It will be necessary, therefore, to modify the
system; and it may be done in this manner.
I may hear the first class read, and let the rest be employed
in drawing the map of the geography lesson; or in writing the
spelling lesson; or in any thing that is better than committing
books to memory. But, as soon as any one gives a sign that
his lesson is learned, let him be sent out to read, or cipher, or
write, or draw; or, if he is fit to teach, let him keep others out
of idleness by teaching them. As soon as the highest class
have read, let the second come up to the teacher, and so on,
till all have read to him. If my books are used, there will be
nothing to commit to memory, and the books contain directions for their use, so that the teacher will seldom be troubled
by questions as to how the monitors or children must proceed.
The teacher must recollect that, to keep the pupils who are
not reciting to him employed, he has the writing of copies on
the black-board over his desk; the writing of spelling lessons
from dictation on the ruled slates; the drawing of mnaps relating to the lesson in geography on slate, black-board or paper;
ciphering on the slate or on the black-board, with or without
speaking; ortlhographical exercises from the Companion, a
never-failing source of employment; the writing of sentences
from dictation, or set grammatical exercises; and, if he has
one or two good monitors to inspect or direct, while he is busy
with a c(lass, there will be no noise or trouble, at least, not half
so much as if ithe children are left idle.
216 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
But I have only examined the children n one branch; it
must be done in all the other branches, for a thorough exam ination is an indispensable step at the commencement of a
school.   Select 50 words or more from the  spelling-book,
and let each child spell them all separately, and without hear ing each other, or knowing what the words are. As it will
take too long for the teacher to hear all, he must hear a few
of the best first, and let these copy the words, and help him
hear the others. After he has shown them how to pronounce,
they will put out the words as fairly as he does. As fast as
one has spelled, let the number he has missed be put against
his namnie. Try even the smallest, for those who miss every
word should be classed together. The eight, or ten, or twenty,
who spell next best, may go together in a class, according to
the number of classes needed. It is unimportant whether the
same readers are in the same spelling class or not.
In Arithmetic, let all stand up and first write the figures.
Those who can not do this, form the lowest class. Give a
short single column in addition to those who can make figures,
and if any can not add this, let them form a second class.
Try the rest in a long column, or in numeration, and as soon
as any fail, stop them for another class. Go on with subtracion, multiplication, simple and then long; division, simple and
ong, and so on, until you find the limit of every scholar's
Knowledge, and have classed him accordingly, recording his
loings on the list, writing the name of the rule over the colamn, and making +  if he understood it, and - if he did not.
Let the following represent the list after the trial.
Figs     d      u. Sb.5 ut.L uL.Dv.D
Subt.  S. M
L       L~~~t+ t+t+t##ti+
t at
-- i- -- +
|. 
FE
I -
-7
A.
B.
C.
D.
F.
G.
J.
K.
L.
M.
N
0.
Q.
R.
S.
T.
V.
S. Di
I_
+'+
I
Num.
- T
- -9
i
i
I
7
216
Ad.
t
. Div.
igs.
-1
t
I
t.
I t.
t
t
II,
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
I
I
II
fl.
-i —- -'t 
THE USE OF MONITORS.
The result will be that
B, E, I, form the 1st class, and make figures.
A, D, H, J, 0, R, form the 2d, or subtraction class.
C, F, K, M, Q, S, the 3d, or simple division class.
L, N, P, T, the 4th, or long division class.
G, U, V, must be tried in more advanced rules.
This list should be preserved, not only to show what the
children knew at the beginning, but what progress they made
during the term. I think this method better than written
questions in the elementary rules. Three sums should be
given in each rule, and if two are done correctly, the child
may be passed to the next rule, but not otherwise. In my
school, at the beginning of every term, every pupil, whatever
had been her standing in arithmetic, was examined in this
way; for the practice was useful, and it was important that I
should know their comparative skill.
In Mental Arithmetic, I took a similar list of names, put out
six fair questions in every Part of the Child's Arithmetic, and
recorded the answers as before. These answers were given
in the quiet method before described, only, instead of numbering in order, as fast as correct answers were given, those
right were all marked +, and those wrong, -.   If any children answered readily in the Child's Arithmetic, I gave them
three fair questions in every section of Colburn's First Lessons, which I have reason to believe is still first in more
senses than one. In this way, I easily ascertained which
pupils could work together, and which I could use upon occasion for monitors.
In Geography, if you use the Common School Geography,
select five questions on each map, and write them on a blackboard, requiring each pupil to write answers on paper while
you are looking at them. Number your questions on the
board, that they may save time by placing the number only
before their answers.   If a scholar, who has advanced far,
misses in the beginning of a book, it may not always be prudent or necessary to send him back to a lower class, but he
should be required to review that map in extra lessons, under
a faithful monitor, if the teacher has not time to attend to him
Make a-record of the answers of each pupil, as before.
In Grammar, select fifteen or twenty questions, write them
on the black-board, and require written answers. Record these
answers.
Then count the errors made by the pupils in writing their
19
217 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
answers,  and  record these under  the heads of Grammai,
Spelling Punctuation and Capitals.
Select ten or twenty words to be parsed, and require each,
unheard by the rest, to parse every one.  If this takes too
much time, you can teach the best who have parsed how to
help you hear the rest.
IS you have The Companion to Spelling-Books, select a
good lesson or two, and let every scholar write it from your
copy on the black-board, if they have not the book; or from
dictation, which is better, because then they must attend to
the orthography of every word.
Finally, give them a subject, and require all who can to
write upon it what they can in 15 minutes or half an hour.
This trial, more than any other, showed how unused many of
the young teachers at the Institutes were to expressing their
thoughts on paper. In such cases, the record may be made by
figures 1, 2, 3, &c., the highest numbers denoting the best
exercises.
When his scholars are thus classed in every branch, and he
knows which his best pupils are, the good teacher can always
find employment for all; and, whether it is his general rule
or not, he can occasionally set all at work on one branch at
the same time. For instance, to give variety to the exercises
he could order the five classes described on page 217, to form
around the black-boards, or to take their slates, if black-boards
unfortunately are scarce.  Let him go to the first class, and
make the nine figures and zero, requiring each pupil to do the
same before he comes to them again. Let him then proceed
to the 2d class, and set them a sum in Subtraction, to be
done before he returns; and to secure order and attention, let
him place G, of the 5th class, over them as monitor. Then,
going to the 3d class, let him give them a sum in Simple
Division, and set U over them as monitor. Next, let him
give a sum in Long Division to the 4th class, and set V ovet
them as monitor. By this time the first class will have written their figures, and he must examine them, and order a
ne(w copy; Then, proceeding to class 2, he examines their
work, hears the remarks of the monitor, if he has any to
make, sets a new sum in Subtraction, and goes to class 3. He
does the same by 3 and 4, and keeps'going the rounds as long
as he thinks proper. An immense deal of work may be done
in this wav, especially if the monitor is active, and sets a new
sum for the class, if the master does not come in time to do it.
218 
THE USE OF MONITORS.
Of course, there will be some friction when the wheels first
move, but every day it will be diminished, and the activity of
teacher and pupils will make the hours pass pleasantly, use fully, imperceptibly.
How different this from my experience at school. The
rule then was, that any boy who came to school early enough
to make the fires, or who staid after school long enough to
sweep the school-room, should be allowed to go home fifteen
minutes before the rest. So irksome were school hours,
that we used to contend for the privilege of working an hour,
to have fifteen minutes cut off from the last hour of schooltime. When I was a teacher, I was obliged to impose a
heavy penalty against tarrying after school; for the tendency
to unpunctuality was at the end, and not, as usual, at thecommencement of the school; in going home, and not in coming to school.
I hope I have made it sufficiently clear that it is not my
wish to spare the master. He must work as hard as the
hardest; but, in addition to this, he can be sure that the children are all employed when not reciting to him. By the aid
of monitors, he can give the pupils ten times the practice they
can ever get otherwise, and give them as much personal
attention as he would have done on the old system.
For the encouragement of those teachers who feel the
insufficiency of the prevalent system, and yet are afraid to
try the gradual use of monitors, I will add that, during the
past year, and especially during the past winter, more than a
hundred teachers, male and female, who had the care of large
schools, have used monitors, with all the good results that I
have promised. I have many letters and other communications from them; and even since I copied the letter from
Barnstable county, on page 213, I have received another from
the same teacher, which says, "I received your letter of
November 11, and am much obliged to you.  It is just what
I needed. Perhaps I owe an apology for writing to you, but,
in the prospect of having a large school, one that has been
noted for insubordination, having been repeatedly broken up
heretofore, and in which a female teacher has never before
been employed duTing the winter term, you will excuse me,
sir, for wishing to avail myself of all the assistance I can
obtain.  It is now three weeks since I entered upon my duties, and my success has been beyond my expectation thus far.'"
A pleasing incident occurred at the Bridgewater Institute
219 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
in November, 1845. After I had delivered the preceding lecture on the Monitorial System, many of the young teachers
asked why I could not show them a specimen of a school on
that system. The superintendent, who was the principal of
the Normal School, seconded the application; and although
entirely unprepared for such an experiment, in about five
minutes, I turned the whole Institute, consisting of more
than a hundred teachers, half of them normalites, into a
Monitorial School, and set the whole at work, in about 12
or 15 classes, under monitors. We first tried arithmetic, and
then spelling, orally, and by writing; and the perfect readiness of the teachers to submit to whatever arrangements I
proposed, showed that they possessed one great accomplishment of a true teacher, the docility of pupils.  Since that, I
have been told by the able assistant of the principal; who was
also present at the experiment, they have regularly employed
some of the pupils in the Normal School, as monitors, and
have found great benefit from it. I know that many members
of the Institute went forth, and, from that moment, used the
system to good advantage.
At Harwich, in November, 1846, a County Convention of
teachers and friends of education met during the session of
the Institute, and while it was under my care. The Convention repeatedly honored the Institute by attending its
meetings, and patiently witnessing its exercises for nearly two
whole days and evenings. I delivered no lecture on the system under consideration, and only incidentally showed, after
a lesson or two in the common method, how the power and
usefulness of the teacher could be increased, by the occasional
use of monitors. To my surprise, before the Convention adjourned, they unanimously passed a resolve recommending to
the teachers of the county the use of monitors. Among
the members present, were two members of the Board of
Education-several clergymen, distinguished for their talents and exertions in favor of general education, three of
whom gave most excellent lectures on important points of
instruction- several principals of flourishing academies -
and several intelligent physicians.   I know not who offered
the vote, for I was not aware of the intention; it was a freewill offering to truth, and intended, no doubt, to encourage me
in my honest endeavors to improve the common schools.
Every  one  of nine  other Institutes that  I attended and
220 
THE USE OF MONITORS.
taught, passed unanimous votes of thanks, without the least
reservation in regard to monitorial instruction.
There is no lack of authority, therefore, nor of encouragement, for the use of assistants selected from the pupils; and,
if the teacher is judicious in the selection and management of
his assistants, there is no reason to fear that the committee or
the parents will interpose any obstacle. One thing is certain;
there must either be more adult teachers in our schools, or the
pupils must be employed as I propose. Every new principle
and every new rule should be explained by the teacher, but
after this is done to one class, and the teacher is called to
another, there is nothing to prevent the former  class from
practising, under one or more monitors upon the principle just
explained. This want of practice in every department of a
common school education was, perhaps, the most striking
deficiency of the teachers at the several Institutes; and several
of the best of those teachers have thanked me for the hint
which has enabled them not only to double the amount of
labor actually done by their pupils, but also to double the
amount done under the teacher himself, because of the greater
celerity with which many operations are performed, in consequence of the practice acquired under monitors.
The limits of my book will not allow me to go further into
the subject, and I must leave it to the good sense of teachers
and school-committees, advising the latter to dismiss a teacher
the moment he relaxes his own exertions, and throws upon
his monitors any duty that he can perform himself.
19*
221 
222
NEATNESS.
I SHOULD not feel that I had done justice to the cause, if 1
omitted to say a few words on the subject of neatness. Perhaps in no one particular can a teacher be more useful to his
pupils, than by inculcating a habit of neatness; and in no
one thing, perhaps, will the importance of his own example
be so distinctly felt. The superiority of female teachers in
this respect is, perhaps, one of the strongest reasons for the
growing preference which is given to them. At every Institute, I saw young gentlemen, who, in manners and personal
appearance, were all that could be wished; but I saw, also,
many who, in these respects, were far better fitted to be warnings, than models for the imitation of youth.
If any one will think for a moment with what awe he
looked up to the example of his teacher, he will have some
idea of the influence which he may exert over his youthful
charge. I do not wish the young teacher to expend all he
earns in dress, for no one who knows me  will suspect me of
estimating men by the skill of their tailors; but I do wish
to see every teacher careful in regard to his external appearaince.
His clothes may always be neat and whole, however coarse.
His boots may always be cleaned. His beard may be always
kept invisible. His hair may always be neatly combed, his
teeth always perfectly white, his finger-nails cut, his hat and
clothes brushed, and his hands, eyes, nose and ears, always
perfectly clean. Frequent ablutions of his whole person, as
well as of his face and hands, are indispensable. He must
have a care to his breath, that it be not offensive to those
whom he is obliged] to face so often. He must never be seen
to spit, if he can possibly help it, and at any rate he must
never spit upon the floor, or any where else where any eye
can be offended.   Above all, he must never be guilty of the
abominable practice of blowing his nose with his fingers, eveli
if he wipes them, and it, afterwards, on a handkerchief.  How
many who pretend to be gentlemen indulge in this beastly
habit, even in the presence of ladies! I do not hesitate to 
NEATNESS.
say, that, if I were on a school-committee, no man who used
tobacco in any form, who spit on the floor, or was guilty of
that other enormity, which I dare not name again, should ever
have my vote, if he applied for a school, and would teach for
nothing.
The teacher's desk, too, should always be in order, his
books arranged, his papers filed, and just what he requires of
his pupils. In his positions, whether sitting or standing, he
should be decent, if he can not always be graceful. I have
seen a fat teacher leaning backward on the hinder legs of his
chair, with his feet not only up as high as his head, but up
against the front of a form occupied by female pupils.   I
speak plainly, because I wish by plainness of speech more
distinctly to show the offences that I would prevent.
In purity of language, also, the teacher must be free from
every taint. Not only no indelicate word or allusion must
ever escape from his lips, but he must avoid every expression
that approaches to vulgarity. He should freely converse with
his pupils, and the more he does so the better, if his words
are fitly spoken; but nothing will so completely destroy his
influence as an oath, or an indecent word. If any man is
bound to set a double watch over his mouth, it is the teacher,
and he can not too resolutely say,
"I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue;
I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the" innocent "are be    fore me."
If the teacher is thus mindfuil of himself, he may with propriety require his pupils to be neat and orderly, to at least the
same degree.
Every schoolhouse should be furnished with a wash-stand,
basin, towel, and plenty of soap and water; and the teacher
should see that every child's hands and face are clean. I
know it will be said that children will slop the water, and
waste the soap, and dirt the towels; but I know, by experience, that if the teacher looks after these things, the children
will soon use them well, nay, will seldom need to use them at
all.  When I saw how many of the children of my first school
-were neglected at home, I procured a tin basin and dipper,
and a few coarse towels, for the boys and for the girls, and I
placed at the doors a large boy and a large girl, whose duty
it was to see that all faces and hands were clean, before the
pupils came into the school-room. The inspector's office was
no sinecure for two or three weeks;  )it, after that, we had
223 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
no trouble. Near the wash-stand was a comb also, and all
unkempt heads were introduced to this by the monitors of
neatness, as the inspectors were called; and, as they some  times plied the comb for the pupils, when it required unusual
vigor to clear a snarl, it was not long before the children
found it for their comfort to use a comb before coming to
school. While on this subject, it may be well to mention,
that the reason why very neat parents send their children to
select or private schools, is more frequently the fear of con tact with uncared-for children, than from any aristocratic feel ing. The teacher must not shrink from recommending the'
fine-tooth comb occasionally, if he wishes to keep children
of neat mothers in his school; and until these children can
be brought into our public schools, and educated there, these
schools will only do half the good of which they are capable.
Another point to which the attention of the teacher must be
turned, is the clothing of the pupils. This should be tidy and
clean; and the teacher can make it so, by occasional remarks
which will not offend, and which need not even be personal.
Sixty or eighty of the pupils of my first school were children
of Irish immigrants, neglected in almost every respect, and
probably harder subjects than usually enter our district
schools; but even these were civilized in a few weeks, and,
let me add, that my monitors did more to effect the reform
than I did. If a boy was accustomed to come with hair
uncombed, or with ragged trousers, the monitor would say
kindly, "Johnny, can't you ask mammy  to sleek your hair
before you leave home?  Can't you ask'her to patch your
knee, when she finds time?" &c.  I never knew any one to
take offence, but, on the contrary, the hint was almost sure to
be effectual.
But teachers are not sufficiently careful in regard to the
hats, bonnets, and outer garments that are taken off on entering school.  A place must be provided for these, and every
child should know his place. There is a kind of double iron
hook, having a knob on which to hang a cloak, and another
knob above for the hat or bonnet. These hooks do not cost
much, and every child should have one. My custom was to
number both the children and the hooks; and the monitors of
neatness saw that every garment was put upon the right hookl
before the child was allowed to take his seat.  Most schools
have a few hooks or nails, but frequently I have seen half the
garments thrown into a corner on the floor; and, what is
224 
NEATNESS.
worse, I have seen them trampled upon in the passage-ways
Neat parents will not put up with such conduct, and they
either dress their children in clothes that can not be injured,
or withdraw them from the school. I made it an offence for
a child to pass a garment that had fallen down, and treading
on one was accounted a serious misdemeanor. The monitors
of neatness having a list of names and numbers, and know ing most of the garments, prevented any injury to them, by a
strict supervision.
There is not room in some schoolhouses for any arrange ment of this sort, but I believe the teacher can often get
abundance of room, if he will only show how much  it is
needed.  The mischief is, that teachers pay too little atten tion to the virtue under consideration; and the committees,
of course, seldom are sensible of the evil habits that are
generated by his inattention. After I purchased towels for
my poor scholars, the pupils would take them home when
necessary, and wash them.   Every little while the tin basin
would be made to shine. A mat should be placed at every
door, not only to keep the dirt out of the school-room, but to
teach the children a habit of cleaning their feet before entering a house.  No school-door should lack a scraper, also.   I
believe that any teacher who should make a schedule of such
articles, and ask the children to get up what is called a Bee,
at the schoolhouse, would generally get all he wished. At
any rate, he should make some effort to save himself from the
responsibility of helping to rear a generation of slovens and
slatterns, cursed with chronic hydrophobia, and its kindred
vices.
Every teacher should make it against the rules of the
school to throw any thing on the floor, or to spit upon it.
Every thing, whether nutshells, paper, leaves of flowers, or
any thing similar, found upon the floor, should be picked up
by the offender; and, if he can nriot be found, by the nearest
neighbor. Monitors of neatness were allowed to look into
the desks to see that all was in order there, but no other pupil
could take this liberty without permission of the owner.
Every exercise that the pupils wrote was obliged to be
filed and endorsed neatly, and for this they were as much rewarded as for writing the exercise at first.  That the files
might appear very neat, the pupils were instructed to do their
maps, or other work, on paper of uniform size, and then to
fold them exactly alike, write upon the end of each, in a uni
225 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
form manner, what it was, and then tie the bundles with a
neat string,-a piece of red tape usually. The effect of these
little things upon the general character of the children was
excellent, and their utility can not be overrated.
Most teachers are afraid to speak to their pupils about
many things which really need correction. Once in a while,
I made general remarks upon such subjects as the biting of
finger-nails, the picking of the nose, scratching of the head,
&c., &c.; and although I singled out no one, I believe that
many singled out themselves, and corrected their offensive
habits.  No one, who knows me, will accuse me of being a
precisian in tnese matters of neatness, and yet there are few
things at which I have been so often offended as at the neglect of neatness that so extensively prevails, especially in old,
ill-looking school-rooms.
There can be no doubt of the fact, that the better a schoolroom is, the better it is treated by the children; and the
larger it is, the more easily it is kept in order, and the more
easily the children are governed. Much allowance must be
made for teachers who are condemned to teach in small, illfurnished rooms, and no teacher, who values his reputation
and his health, should ever put them in such peril. I know
of few things more offensive than the atmosphere of some
small district schools that I have visited.  It requires some
courage in a committee-man to enter such a room, and some
minutes to get reconciled to breathing such impurities; and
yet hundreds go through this disagreeable transition, and depart wondering how any body can live in such a medium.
The ventilation of school-rooms will not be attended to, till
committees and teachers are made to realize, that to breathe
impure air is not less injurious than to drink dirty water, and
ought not to be considered less loathsome; the lungs, which
drink the air, being more delicate than the stomach, anid mnacce,ssible to medicine.
226 
227
THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
WHILE at the Institutes, I was frequently questioned as to
the best method of opening and closing a school. The daily
opening is here intended, and not the commencement of the
term, which should begin with a thorough classification and
record of the children in every branch, whether the branches
are kept separate or not. Of this classification I have spoken
under the head of Monitorial Instruction, and it only remains
to show how I should open the school from day to day. I
have already alluded to the simultaneous reading of the
Scriptures, an exercise into which I was led after various experiments. I have said that I preferred a selection of passages
to the reading of the Bible in course, not because one portion
of Scripture is of higher authority, or more obligatory upon
us, than another, but because some portions are better understood by children, and are more interesting to them. The
Board of Education have uniformly recommended the use of
the whole Bible; but when the whole Bible is used, selections
only are read, and surely a selection made with care and judgment is preferable to one made in haste. I prefer reading in
concert, for reasons given under the head of Reading; and I
am glad to learn that many teachers, who practised with me at
the Institutes, have adopted my plan, with profit to themselves
and to their pupils.
Before reading a portion of Scripture, which exercise
should not average more than five minutes, it is desirable to
have a hymn sung by the children. I am no singer, but I
never found any difficulty in obtaining a choir for this exercise. The pupils of my second school were instructed by a
professional singer, and, knowing which could lead, I had
only to propose the hymn, and they would take care of the
rest.  As it was desirable that all should sing, I confined the
tunes to a small number, and rarely sung new tunes until old
ones were familiar to all. Every school has some child in it
that can lead in this exercise, and in every district the
teacher can find some person who would occasionally teach
the children a new tune. No one needs to despair of doing
this himself, if he is earnest in his desire to learn. 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Besides a hymn, and the reading of Scripture, some cotilmittees require that prayer should be offered. This exercise
is more difficult than the others, and it is rarely performned so
as to engage the attention of children. I am satisfied that,
unless the teacher is a prayerful man, accustomed to commune
with his Maker, and able, moreover, to express his thoughts
with simplicity, and to condense all he should say into a few
words, he had better not attempt to pray in school. Children
dislike long prayers; they disregard cold ones, and they are
not benefited by those they do not understand. The method
which appeared to me best to command attention, was that of
requiring the whole school to repeat my words.  Sometimes
I wrote a form for every day in the week, and continued the
course for several weeks.   Sometimes  I tried extempore
prayer, and required the whole to join; and sometimes I
prayed alone. This change of form procured attention, and
as the prayer was always short, not exceeding one or two
minutes, it was not irksome, to say the least. It requires
about half a minute to repeat the Lord's Prayer distinctly, and
the teacher should be contented with four times that space at
the most.  He should confine his petition to such matters as
concern the children, and relate to their wants at the moment.
If he wanders beyond this limit, he will be more likely to
induce the children to hate the exercise than to join in it.
As it has always been a leading object with the Board of
Education to encourage the reading of the Scriptures in our
common schools, to inculcate reverence for God and all sacred
things, and in every way to impress upon the minds of the
young that piety towards God which is the only security for
their fidelity in every social relation, I felt it my duty, at the
various Institutes, often to call the attention of teachers to the
importance of religious instruction, and to urge upon  them
the duty and necessity of personal holiness, that they may
feel the responsibility that rests upon them, and be enabled
heartily to undertake the work of educating the affections and
-the consciences of their pupils. It is a pity that school-committees, in their examination of teachers, pay so little regard to
their religious character, and in their examination of schools,
make few or no inquiries after the moral and religious progress
of the pupils. I hope I shall not be misunderstood; I do not
wish the committee to pry into the peculiar doctrinal belief
of a candidate, but I do think they should be certain that he
is a mnar fearing God and loving his fellow-creatures, and
228 
OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
with a deep sense of his obligation to God and man, endeavoring to make every child under his care, as far as his agency
is concerned, a child of heaven. This part of the teacher's
character is far more important than his attainments in any
science; and while calling the attention of committees to this
subject, the author feels bound to testify to the fact, that, in
all his intercourse with the teachers at the Institutes, he never
saw any action, or heard any expression, that would lead him
to doubt their strong sense of religious obligation.  All he
would urge, then, is more earnestness, more activity, more
interest in the present and eternal welfare of their pupils.
The author has already prepared suitable selections from
the Scriptures, which teachers can use as he has printed them,
or as a guide in making their selections, if the whole Bible is
preferred. He hopes to be excused if he also gives a few
forins of prayer, and a few hymns suitable to be used at the
opening of school. The prayers are broken into lines of suit
able length to be repeated by the pupils, if that method in
adopted; or they may be used by the teacher alone, or by the
pupils and teacher at the same time, or even by the pupils
alone, under a monitor. I never heard more solemn prayers
than have been offered in this latter way.
The teacher, in this exercise of prayer, may often find a
good opportunity to explain its nature and obligation; and, if
he thinks as I do, he will see that it is always performed with
solemnity and reverence. It is to be hoped that the custom,
which was unknown to our fathers, of sitting while in the act
of addressing the Lord of Heaven and Earth, will never prevail in our schools. The most reverent position should be
preferred, and if, as is generally the case, it is impossible to
kneel, the petitioners should stand. Nothing seems to me
more inconsistent, also, than for the preacher or leader in the
prayer to stand while the audience sit; and nothing seemns so
distinctly to imply that the audience are only listeners to the
performance of another. We should not dare to sit while
addressing an earthly king, and how shall we be less respectful to the great King of kings?
PRAYER FOR MONDAY MORNING.
We thank thee, Lord of the Sabbath,
For its holy rest, and heavenly influence.
We thank thee for preserving us from harm,
And bringing us again together in safety.
20
229 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Bless us all in our various exercises;
May the spirit of wisdom guide our teacher,
And may we be obedient to his commands.
Forgive the sins and follies of our youth,
And make us truly penitent for them.
Bless our parents and benefactors,
And teach us to forgive our enemies.
Guard us from the dangers that surround us,
And keep us from the evil that is in the world;
From lying, deceit and profaneness;
From impure words, and thoughts, and actions;
From disregard of holy things,
And from forgetfulness of thee, our Maker.
And the praise shall be thine forever,
Through thy beloved Son, our Lord.
Amen.
If it be thought advisable to have a prayer at the close of
school in the afternoon, let the Lord's Prayer be repeated by
the children together, standing, and then let them sing the
closing hymn. I have broken the prayers into lines, that they
may be repeated in unison. A pleasing variation may be
made by chanting the Lord's Prayer, as directed in the Amer
ican School Song Book, page 157.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done on earth,
As it is done in heaven.
Give us, this day, our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil;
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
Forever,- Amen.
TUESDAY.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
We have again risen together,
To thank Thee for preserving our lives,
And giving us strength to worship Thee
230 
OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
We humbly ask Thee to meet with us,
And to fill us with thy Holy Spirit,
That whatever we may now do
May be done in thy fear and love,
And be followed by thy blessing.
Give to the pupils, attentive minds,
And obedient and thankful hearts.
Give to the teachers, a deep sense
Of their responsibility to Thee,
And crown their labors with success.
Teach us all the value of time,
The certainty of death and judgment;
And enable us so to live,
That we may not fail of thy grace
Revealed to us in the gospel of thy Son
Amen.
WEDNESDAY.
Our Maker and our Preserver,
We thank Thee for thy protecting care,
And for all the blessings we enjoy.
Give us hearts sensible to thy goodness,
And obedient to thy commandments.
Forgive our many transgressions,
And teach us to forgive those who offend us.
Enable us to learn thy holy will,
And strengthen all our good resolutions.
Help us to remember Thee in our youth,
Before those evil days draw nigh,
Which have no pleasure and no hope in them.
Bless our parents and friends,
And save them and us,
Through faith in thy beloved Son.
Amen
THURSDAY.
O Thou, who seest our hearts,
And knowest all our thoughts,
We beseech Thee to be with us, and bless us.
Make us willing to receive instruction,
And fearful to offend against our God.
May what we shall learn here
Help us onward, by thy blessing,
231 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
Towards that world of peace and lot
Where we shall see Thee as thou ar
And no longer offend Thee as we do
God of mercy! forgive our sins;
God of love! keep us from evil,
Through Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Amen.
FRIDAY.
Our heavenly Father, and our Friend,
Now that we have risen to worship Thee,
May we feel how solemn is the service,
And may we perform it with reverence.
Fill our hearts with that fear of Thee
Which is the beginning of wisdom,
That we may early learn to love Thee,
And may always dread thy displeasure.
Give us confidence in thy providence,
And cheerful submission to thy will,
That, like the young Redeemer,
W&may grow in wisdom as in stature,
And in favor with God and man.
Bless our parents, and all who watch over us;
Bless all the exercises of the school;
May we not offend in thought or word or action,
And thus may we become heirs of that hope
Which came by Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
SATURDAY.
O thou Giver of every good gift,
We pray that thy most Holy Spirit
May fill our hearts, and form our lives.
Grant that these, our imperfect lessons,
May be given in thy fear, and in thy love,
And be blessed to the eternal good
Of those who give and those who receive them.
Watch over us, and guard us from danger,
And keep us away from temptation;
That, whether we live to grow up,
Or fall like the early flowers,
We may go to those mansions in heaven
Which Jesus has gone to prepare
232 
OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
For those who truly love and obey him.
And thine shall be the glory, forever.
Amen
PRAYER AFTER THE DEATH OF A PUPIL OR FRIEND.
Eternal Father,
Who livest forever, though thy creatures die,
We acknowledge thy providence,
And submit without a murmur to thy will.
We thank Thee that we have been spared,
Whilst others have gone down to the grave,
And we implore Thee still to spare us.
May the death we mourn make us thoughtful,
And may we, who live, lay it deeply to heart.
May the uncertainty of our lives
Induce us to be dutiful and diligent,
That we may not die unprepared.
And when we have lived in thy fear,
And done all thy will, on earth,
May we be accepted by Thee,
Through that mercy revealed by Him
Who died that we sinners might live.
And to Thee we will ascribe the praise
Forever.
Amen.
233
20* 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
HYMNS.
MONDAY MORNING.
(Tune, Brattle Street, or Hymn Second.)
While Thee I seek, protecting Power,
Be my vain wishes stilled;
And may this consecrated hour
With better hopes be filled.
Thy love the power of thought bestowed,
To Thee my thoughts would soar;
Thy mercy o'er my life has flowed,
That mercy I adore.
In each event of life, how clear
Thy ruling hand I see!
Each blessing to my soul more dear,
Because conferred by Thee.
In every joy that crowns my days,
In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,
Or seek relief in prayer.
EVENING.
(Tune, Hebron.)
Thus far the Lord has led tie on,
Thus far his power prolongs my days,
And every evening shall make known
Some fresh memorial of his grace.
Much of my time has run to waste,
And I forget my Father's home;
May He forgive my follies past,
And lend me strength for days to come.
TUESDAY MORNING.
(Tune, Hamburg.)
O God, I thank Thee that the night
In peace and rest hath passed away,
And that I see, in this fair light,
My Father's smile, that makes it day.'
234 
THIE OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
Be thou my guide, and let me live
As under thine all-seeing eye;
Supply my wants, my sins forgive,
And make me happy when I die.
EVENING.
(Tune. Lanesberough.)
And now another day is gone,
I'11 sing my Maker's praise;
My comforts every hour make known
His providence and grace.
And till the night of death draws near
0, leave me not alone,
But make my path of duty clear
Through thy beloved Son.
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
,From The American School Song Book, page 123.)
The eastern hills are glowing
With morning's purple ray,
Arrayed in light he's coming,
The glorious orb of day.
All hail, thou constant emblem
Of Him who dwells above!
Of Him so great and glorious,
And yet so fill of love.
How nature now rejoices,
With life and beauty new;
And every grass-blade twinkles
With pearly drops of dew.
How good is He who made thee,
Thou glorious orb of day!
With grateful hearts we'11 praise Him,
In morning's earliest ray.
o~~~~~Y
EVENING.
(American School Song Book, page 146.)
Softly now the light of day
Fades ulpon our sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, we would look up to Thee.
235 
THE TEACHERS' INSTIrUTE.
When, for us, the light of day
Shall forever pass away,
Then, from sin and sorrow free,
Take us, Lord, to dwell with Thee.
THURSDAY MORNING.
(Tune, Bonny Doon. American School Song Book, page 142.)
While nature welcomes in the day,
My heart its earliest vows would pay
To Him whose care hath kindly kept
My life from danger while I slept.
0, may each day my heart improve,
Increase my faith, my hope, my love;
And may its shades around me close
More wise and holy than I rose.
EVENING.
(A. S. Song Book, p. 64.)
For a season called to part,
Let us now ourselves commend
To the gracious eye and heart
Of our ever-present Frierid.
Father, hear our humble prayer,
And when we retire to sleep,
Let thy mercy and thy care
All our souls in safety keep.
What we each have now been taught,
If of God, may we retain;
May we, in thy love, be brought
Here to meet in peace again.
FRIDAY MORNIN G.
(Tune, Naomi.)
Our Father, who in heaven art,
Thy name all hallowed be;
Thy kingdom come within my heart
Thy will be done by me.
236 
THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
Give me to-day the food I need,
And all my sins forgive,
As I forgive, in thought and deed,
The injuries I receive.
And in temptation's dreadful hour,
From evil keep me free,
For thine's the kingdom, glory, power,
Throughout eternity.
EVENING.
(Tune, Araby's Daughter.- A. S. S. Book, pp. 82,149.)
Let us love one another,- not long may we stay
In this bleak world of mourning, so brief is life's day;
Some fade ere't is noon, and few linger till eve,
And there sinks not a sun but leaves some one to grieve
E'en the fondest, the purest, the truest that met,
Have still found the need to forgive and forget;
Then 0, since we know not how brief is our day,
Let us love one another as long as we stay.
SATURDAY MORNING.
(A. S. S. Book, p. 128.)
How happy is the child who hears
Instruction's warning voice,
And who celestial wisdom makes
His early, only choice.
She guides the young with innocence
In pleasure's path to tread.;
A crown of glory she bestows
Upon the aged head.
According as her labors rise,
So her rewards increase;
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
EVENING.
(Tune, Sicily.)
Praise to thee, thou great Creator!
Praise to thee from every tongue;
Join my soul with every creature,
Join the universal song.
237 
rHE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
For ten thousand blessings given,
For the hope of future jov,
Sound his praise through earth and heaven,
Sound Jehovah's praise on high.
MISCELLANEOUS.
(Old Hundred.)
Bethou, O God, exalted high,
And as thy glory fills the sky,
So let it be on earth displayed,
Till thou art here as there obeyed.
(Old Hundred.)
From all who dwell below the skies,
Let the Creator's praise arise,
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.
Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends thy word;
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.
(Tune, Shirland.)
Thy name, Almighty Lord,
Shall sound through distant lands;
Great is thy grace, and sure thy word,
Thy truth forever stands.
Far be thine honor spread,
And long thy praise endure,
Till morning light and evening shade
Shall be exchanged no more.
[The author does not pretend that there is any particular
merit in these forms of prayer, or any remarkable beauty in
the hymns; and he would be rejoiced to learn that no such
guides are needed by any young teacher.]
It is not uncommon for children to enter school in confusion
and to depart with noise. I have even known them, when
dismissed, to shout and howl in the school-room, and even to
jump over the forms, in their eagerness to gain the door.
The good teac,.her will see that his children enter and leave
238 
THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
school in silence, and in order. Any rudeness should be
checked; and a monitor should be placed over the garments,
and at the door, to see that all is done according to the regulations of the school.  If the school consists of both sexes, and
they go out by the same door, the girls and boys should be
alternately dismissed first, and the desire to see which can
behave best will often produce most orderly behavior. If the
pupils are playing around the schoolhouse, before school or
in recess, at the sound of a bell, or at some other signal given,
let them instantly form a line in some place appointed by the
teacher, and let them enter in the order best adapted to taking
their several seats.   There would be no objection  to their
singing the multiplication table, or some suitable song, while
entering, but they should sing till all are seated and a signal
given to stop.  If possible,-and it should always be possible,
-the sexes should have different yards and different conveniences, even when they take recess at different times.
Playing in the road is a bad practice, especially if the children
are unruly and disrespectful to travellers.  The credit of the
town as well as that of the teacher is involved in any indecorum of this sort, and when it can be so easily prevented by
the aid of a monitor or two, the teacher who allows it is without excuse.
I remember the time when it was the rule for children to
stop playing, if a traveller was passing, and salute him with a
respectful bow or courtesy, and I regret that this custom has
become so unfashionable. When I pass the pupils of a village
school, I generally test their manners by bowing first, and I
am sorry to say that I rarely get any civil return.   I know it
is objected by some, that the teacher's jurisdiction over his
pupils is confined to the school-roomn, and he is not accountable
for their conduct beyond its walls. But this is a great mistake;
the true teacher will endeavor to follow his pupils wherever
they go. He will, in school, give them advice and direction
in regard to their behavior in the road, at home, at church, in
lecture-rooms, and everywhere else; and, if he is what he
ought to be, his pupils will be distinguished for their good
conduct; his school will have the credit of it, and the jurisdiction of the teacher will rarely, if ever, be called in question.
My pupils, for years, were all females, and my external
regulations were, of course, adapted to their sex.  They knew
that it was contrary to my rules for them to talk or lauoh loud
in the street, to gaze at a deformed person, or to stop when
239 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
there was any gathering of idlers around a drunken man;
they knew that any irreverent conduct in church, or any play
or whispering at lyceum lectures or other meetings, would
meet with my disapprobation, and the consequence was that
I could send my whole school to such meetings with perfect
confidence that their behavior would do honor to the school.
One winter, the lecture that I was giving to the pupils and
their families was disturbed by the boys, who accompanied
their sisters. I stopped at once, as every lecturer should do,
and told the audience what my rule was, and declared that if
I was again interrupted, no boy should be admitted again.
The fault was repeated, and the boys were all excluded.
After much intercession, my pupils became sureties for the
good behavior of their brothers, and they were admitted, and
I was never troubled again, although I gave a course of lectures
every winter for twenty years. If I heard of the misconduct
of a pupil anywhere, even at home, I took the liberty to let
her know that I had heard of it, and as I had a perfect
understanding with many parents, the pupils were often
amazed at the secrets I revealed to them. The teacher, by
law, has a right, and is under obligation, to watch over his
pupils, when not under the immediate eye of their parents;
and he may exercise this right, and fulfil this important obliga tion, without any difficulty, if he is discreet, and evidently
shows that he has the good of his charge at heart. A teacher
who is circumspect in his own conduct, and who is anxious
for the welfare of his pupils, may be sure, I think, of the cheer ful cooperation of parents and committee-men; and the more
this kind of influence is exerted, the less employment will
there be for the police, the less need of prisons for juvenile
delinquents.
But, say some of the teachers, we have little or no inter course with the parents, and no opportunity to cooperate with
them. This shows a want of care and tact on the part of a
teacher. It is not difficult to communicate with the parents
through the pupils, if the teacher cannot visit them all; but if
his mind is well informed, and his manners agreeable and
refined, he will usually be a welcome visitor; and if he is
faithful to the children, they will prepare the way for his
reception at their homes. When I was a teacher, I contrived
often to attract the parents and families of my pupils to the
* school-room, by preparing lectures or other entertainments in
which they took an interest. In this way, I had constant
240 
THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF SCHOOL.
intercoturse with the parents, and the best opportunities to
explain to them my modes of instruction and discipline.
This was productive of another important benefit, any own
improvement; for no man can get up as many courses of use ful lectures as I did, without much study and much activity.
Self-culture and constant progress is every thing to the teacher,
and yet how few feel its importance!
Many inquiries of the young teachers that I met at the
Institutes, convinced me that this neglect of the means of self
improvement prevails to an alarming degree.   Secluded as
most district teachers are, it is impossible for them to become
acquainted with the improved methods of instruction that are
every day published, unless they read such works as are
calculated to impart this information.  Let me illustrate this
remark by one or two examples. The Common School
Journal has been published for eight years by the Secretary of the Board of Education. All the laws of the state
,elating to education; all the Reports of the Board, and all
those of their Secretary, which are acknowledged to be
unequalled by any similar papers in the world; many Reports
of school-committees, and countless essays by the first teachers
in the land on subjects pertaining to practical teaching,-to
physical, intellectual and religious instruction, -these and
similar materials fill the volumes, and render the Journal
absolutely essential to the Massachusetts teacher, if not to all
teachers, and yet, not one in fifty of the teachers of Massachusetts takes this Journal, or any other work on education!
Not one teacher in fifty has any library that deserves the
name, and how can he know what it is to study, in the true
sense of the word? It will not do to say, that, if teachers do
not subscribe for the Journal, they read the copy taken by
their employers or neighbors; for it is a deplorable fact that
only five school-committees in the state officially take the
Journal, and of the 309 towns in the state about 200 do not
take a single copy.   I know that most of the teachers p?ead
inability to bear the expense of one dollar a year, but they
should buy the Journal to get the dollar; for the mower vwho
has no scythe and feels too poor to buy one, wil hardly grow
rich. The teachers complain of low pay. but 1 think there is
less reason than many suppose in this complaint, for the
moment that a teacher increases the value of his services, he
is sure to find an employer. The public will not pay him an
advanced price until hb has rendered himself worthy of it;
21
241 
THE TEACHERS' INST1TTTTE.
and my position enables me to say with confidence, that the
demand for good teachers is fully equal to the supply.
The exertions of the Secretary of the Board of Education
have done much to raise the compensation of teachers, by raising the teachers themselves; but I hesitate not to say, that had
the teachers communed more with their best friend, through
his wvritings, they would have stood much higher than they
do. One or two of them have hinted to me that the Secretary
aims too high, and shoots above them, and they would have
him come down to their standard; but how clear it is that
such a course would keep them down. Our great Master
recommends to them to take the lowest seats, but I no where
read that when the master of the feast says to them, "Come up
higher," they must decline the invitation, and ask him to come
down to them.
One other fact shows the inertness of the teachers in regard
to the means of self-culture. There are six thousand teachers in
the state, and yet hardly fifty of them are found at the Norma]
Schools, the greater part of the pupils at these schools being
young persons who have never taught. I am aware that
many young teachers may with justice urg,e the expense of
board at these schools,- the tuition being free,- as a reason
for not attending them; but when, with ever watchful care, the
Board of Education placed almost at their doors the Teachers'
Institutes, how few came forward to enjoy these advantages,
compared with the number who needed instruction, and might
have been accommodated.
From numerous letters received by me, and from much
personal intercourse with the young teachers who did attend
these important meetings, I am satisfied that, at future Institutes, there will be  less ground for this complaint.   The
members of the ten Institutes that have been held, appear to
have gone to their fields of labor encouraged and invigorated;
and I know that their districts have felt the good effects of the
impulse given in the short sessions of these temporary Normal Schools.   Such was the satisfaction of the Barnstable
Convention of the Friends of Education, who in a body
attended the Institute at Harwich, and such their wonder that
so few teachers attended, that they appointed two members
of the Convention for each town of the county, to inform the
teachers of the objects of the Institute, and to urge them by all
means to attend the next that may be held in their vicinity.
When their employers have to do this, it is high time for,he
teachers themselves to be moving.
242 
243
MUSIC.
I HAVE already alluded to the utility of music as a religious
exercise; and, although I have never attempted by example to
teach this pleasing science, I may be excused for saying a
few words in its favor as a branch of popular education. 1
think mine was the first school in which vocal music was
regularly taught, after Mr. Mason, by a private experiment,
had shown the practicability, as well as the utility, of the
exercise. He was regularly employed in my school as long
as the school was continued, and perhaps the success of his
labors with my pupils, as much as any circumstance, gave
that impulse to the science which has now made it a more
general exercise than geography or grammar was half a
century ago.
The observation of many years has satisfied me that children
can be taught to sing as well, and as easily, as they can be
taught to read.  I do not mean to say that every child in a
large school can be taught to sing equally well, for they can
not be taught any study with this result; but I do mean to
say, that enough of music may be taught to every child to
afford him pleasure, and to assist the teacher in the general
discipline of the school. Nor do I mean that every teacher
can succeed equally well in learning and teaching his pupils
to sing  but I do mean that every teacher may acquire some
skill i' music, and, by the aid of his more gifted pupils, he
may make the exercise of singing extremely useful and agreeable to his pupils. The time has not yet come, but is fast
approaching, when a competent knowledge of music will be
considered an indispensable qualification in a district school
teacher.   In many towns, preference is already given, other
things being equal, to one who can sing, and in many places
a teacher who can not sing can not get employment.   The
effect of this preference has been, that hundreds who never
imagined it among the number of possible things that they
could sing, have corrected their mistake without much effort,
and have acknowledged the additional power they thus
acquired over the morals, the discipline, and the happiness of
their pupils. 
THE TEACHIERS' INSTITUTE.
The power of imitation is so great that the youthful voice
will remember sounds almost as easily as words. Much is
said of the importance of teaching what is taught of music
scientifically, and I know of but one professional teacher who
has proceeded upon what I think the more easy as well as the
more natural plan.* All children learn to talk before they
learn to read; and singing by rote is to the reading of music
what talking is to the reading of books. Many children learn
to sing before they learn to read books, and shall such be pre cluded from exercising their sweet voices in harmony with
those around them?
The main object of introducing music into schools may be
attained as well by teaching children to sing by the ear as
by a more scientific method; and why should a whole season
be spent in acquiring this power, when it may be attained in
a few days? I have seen the teacher to whom I have just
alluded, go into a school where singing had never been
attempted, and teach the majority of the pupils to sing several
tunes in one hour. I have known him even to collect the
children of a town in whose schools music never had been
taught, and, in three or four lessons, prepare hundreds of
them for a concert at which the parents and the citizens were
delighted to attend. His plan was to select some simple
melody, such as was, perhaps, familiar to the ear, unite it
with some interesting words, and then sing it over several
Lines with the children. Sometimes he sang a line at a time,
the children repeating it after him, till the tune was finished;
and then he would sing the whole tune with them, till they
could sing it alone. As the model was good, the imitation
had few faults, and the result confirmed me in it good
opinion of that simultaneous exercise of reading after the
teacher, which I have recommended under the head of
Reading.
The style of the music should be adapted to the age, taste
and acquirements, of the pupils. The infant or primary
school should have simple music, easy of performance, and
adapted to words of an infantile character.  If exercises of the
hands or feet, marching or other movements of the limbs, can
be united with the music, so much the better. Such exercises
are given in the Primary School Song Book, at pages 9 and
* Mr Asa Fitz, the author of the American School Song Book, the Primary
School Song Book, &c., whose books, I believe, are constructed on this plan
the science coming last.
244 
26; and any one who has seen the animation that these put
into a school, will hardly be willing to substitute for them a
a lesson of Time or Rhythm chalked upon the black-board,
important as it is that such lessons be given at a future day.
The great secret of good order and discipline in school is
full employment; and music enables the teacher to fill up
even those moments which conme between the regular recitations and are usually lost. Many good teachers practise
music between every exercise. When the classes go out to
recite, or when they return to their seats, a short song, or
perhaps a single stanza. is sung. The multiplication table, as
set to music by Mr. Fitz. is a favorite marching tune; and,
besides the order which is thus introduced into the movements
of the classes, much noise is covered uip, and the children's
tongues, being pleasantly engaged, are not employed in
whispering and forbidden talk.
For the higher schools music adapted to poetry of a higher
order should be sung.  It is the great fault of most school
singing-books that the words are often so simple as to be
silly. As the words thus committed to memory are usually
retained while life lasts, they should be worthy of being thus
retained. As far as my observation goes, children over eight
years of age care very little for the sentimental babyisms
that adults are so apt to think peculiarly adapted to them.
I know no book which contains so many unexceptionable
songs and hymns, and so great a variety of pleasing
tunes, as the American School Song Book, to which I have
before referred.
The amount of time which should be devoted to music
must depend upon circumstances.  If a hymn is sung at the
beginning and end of school, and if the change of recitations
is accompanied with a short tune, much exercise will be
attained.  A short tune immediately after recess often tranquillizes the spirits of the pupils, and prepares them for quiet
labor after active recreation. All this may be done by rote,
but if the teacher understands the science of music, he may
have his regular time for instruction in this department, as in
any other.
The sooner teachers take hold of this matter the better; for
it is futile to expect the districts to employ a professional
musician, as has been done in Boston, and one or two other
large places.  It would be easy for a town to employ some
qualified citizen, the leader of the village choir, perhaps, to go
21*
MUSIC.
245 
THE TEACHERS' iNSTITUTE.
from school to school once or twice a week, until the teachers
felt competent to do without such assistance; but few, if any,
towns will do this, and the teachers must act without regard
to any such expectation.
In no one branch have I seen the necessity and utility of
monitorial instruction so well illustrated as in music. I have
known regular exercises to be given by a teacher who did not
sing a word himself, but who operated by the agency of his
better pupils. But monitors are more useful in another way.
If the school is large, all the children usually form but one class,
and practise together. Whether singing by rote or by rule,
it will soon appear that some are far in advance of the rest.
anxious to advance faster than others are prepared to go, and
uneasy if they are detained, while what is familiar to them is
explained, over and  over again, to those less apt to learn.
The teacher may, perhaps, form the class into two divisions,
and give to each division half of the time before allotted to the
whole;  but the same evil will soon recur, if the school is
large, and a further subdivision will soon be necessary, if
justice is done to all. Now, I but describe my own experience
when I say, that the very dullest singers will often learn
faster under a good monitor than under the teacher, because
they will feel more at ease, and will get more actual practice.
The monitor, too, will be improved; and when the weather
is pleasant, and a class idle, the monitor can take them into
the open air, and thus reduce the number of those who are,
perhaps, breathing over for the tenth time the atmosphere of
the confined school-room.
It is remarkable how very generally the notion has prevailed, that few can learn how to sing; and yet, perhaps, no
person can be found who does not amuse himself sometimes
by singing or humming a tune, while not one mother in a
hundred, who sings her infant to sleep, could tell a semibreve from a demi-semi-quaver. Once, the eminent gentleman with whom I had the pleasure to cooperate for so many
years in my school, told me that he had only met with or-e
pupil that he thought he could not teach. She had taken
lessons with the class for three or four years, but made no
progress, and never was in time or harmony with the rest.
I afterwards called that scholar to me, and asked her if she
loved to sing.  She  said, "Yes, indeed."  "Do  you find
any difficulty in keeping time and according with the rest? a"
' Not at all.' said she; "it comes perfectly easy to me."
'246 
MUSIC.
"And you love to sing?" said I.  " Yes, I do, dearly," said
she. This singular instance shows that no great degree of
natural ability or skill is necessary to enable one to take
pleasure in music, while it shows how very rare it is to find
a pupil unable to profit by instruction.
A case more encouraging to teachers happened at one of
the Institutes. After I had made some remarks on the almost
necessity of a teacher's being able to sing, I saw one of the
young female teachers in tears. On inquiring the cause of
her grief, she told me that she had long been endeavoring to
qualify herself to be a teacher, and thought she had made
some progress; but a teacher of music had told her she never
could learn to sing, and I had just told her that singing was
essential to her success, and she was now completely discouraged. I asked her to read to me, and finding that she
had a good voice, and knew how to modulate it, I told her she
night rely upon it that she could learn to sing.  I then told
her case to the teacher of music who accompanied me to that
Institute, and in less than twenty-four hours, she was singing
with the rest, and evidently taking pleasure in what so latelv
had caused her to despair.
247 
- 248
EMULATION AND DISCIPLINE.
As it is unreasonable in adults to expect from children what
they do not find in themselves, I have never objected to the
judicious use of rewards as a source of emulation. The ordi  nary method, however, of distributing a few prizes -such, for
instance, as the distribution of the Franklin medals in the
Grammar Schools of Boston,-I consider fraught with evil,
and to be avoided.   Whatever rewards are given, should be
given justly; and the moral sense of the whole school should
be satisfied. The reward should be more like the good gift that
parents are said to know how to give to their children, unex pected, perhaps, and unpromised; not to elevate one child
above his fellows, but to give a tangible expression of appro bation, in which all the fellow-students will rejoice. I have
long entertained the belief that, if school-committees would
allow the pupils themselves to designate the most worthy, the
selection would generally be more just, as well as more satis factory to all concerned.
The first year of my pedagogical life., I adopted a plan,
which, with trifling  alteration, I continued for twenty years;
and, as it effected all I desired in the way of emulation, and
was never complained of in any one instance, to my knowl edge, I will endeavor briefly to describe it.  The basis of the
system was, that every child should be rewarded in exact proportion to her desert, and the reward should be as small as it
could be and have any value. To effect these two ends, I
adopted the following method. A sort of currency, called
merits, was established, and every exercise had its value.
Every child knew exactly what she was entitled to in ordinary cases; and, in extraordinary cases, a fair valuation was
made.  The record of merits was in fact a class list, by which I
could judge of the relative industry and good behavior of the
pupils.   As the allowance of an equal number of merits to
every pupil, for a similar exercise, would have enabled  he
talented to get more than those less gifted, but equally meritorious, I always exercised the right to do justice in -the case.
For instance, if one child could write two orthographical exercises while another, doing her best, could write only one, the
I
A 
EMULATION AND DISCIPLINE.
reward was the sa'me for the one as for the two. As good
behavior was more important than good scholarship in any
branch of study, merits were given for this. Again, as teaching was a part of the employment of every pupil, the faithful
monitor was paid as much for teaching as she would have
earned at any study. In fine, the aggregate of merits obtained by each for industry, good behavior, monitorship, &c.,
determined her rank on the merit roll, at the end of every
term. Now, I am persuaded that such a merit roll, even if
not followed up by any prizes, would enable many teachers to
govern a school without much, if any, resort to the infliction
of physical pain; but I did not stop here.
Every term, it was understood that a certain sum, called
the merit fund, would be distributed among the pupils, in
proportion to the number of merits each had received. Of
course, the value of a merit depended upon the whole number
obtained by all the scholars. If the fund was ten dollars, and
the number of merits sixty thousand, sixty merits would be
equal to one cent. When I first adopted this plan, the merits
were so few, that ten or twelve were worth a cent; but when
I had taught ten years, the facility of doing every kind of
exercise was so much greater, that it rarely took less than 70
or SO merits to represent a cent. This, in a pecuniary point
of view, was next to nothing; and yet it was sufficient to
induce every pupil to take good care of her exercises, as well
as to write them, and it led to a more careful attention to the
school record. Besides these merits, we had also what we
called demerits, which were given for misconduct, careless
exercises, neglected lessons, &c. These were recorded, also,
and, if unatoned for, were deducted from the scholar's merits
at the end of the term. As I soon knew the character and
capacity of every pupil, and had, moreover, the advice of my
monitors, it was easy to do justice to every child; and as the
pupils knew that I ai,med to be just and impartial, I never
heard any complaint.
At the end of the term, every child was required to bring
up such exercises as had been written or drawn, or otherwise
preserved, neatly filed, as vouchers for the merits she claimed.
These exercises had all been examined by me, and the merits
they were entitled to, awarded at the time they were corrected.
Then all the class lists on which the lessons recited, mistakes made, &c., had been recorded from day to day, were
added up, and merits awarded. Next, the record of conduct
249 
THE TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
was attended to; that of absence and tardiness, &c. Sometimes monitors would report pupils as having made extraordinary efforts to improve; sometimes acts of kindness, forbearance, disinterestedness, &c., would be reported, inquired
into, and rewarded: and the consequence was, that character
became a matter of some importance, and her due rank wasassigned to every pupil. After a little practice, all this required but little time; so little, indeed, that a visitor would
hardly have noticed that any record was kept in the school.
This was the system by which I governed about a hundred
pupils for eighteen or twenty years, without once resorting to
corporal punishment of any kind. If any one has fears that
other evils, worse than physical pain, were induced by this
course of discipline, I can only say, that I never saw any ill
effects; and whether I should have been likely to see or hear,
by myself or my monitors, the reader may judge.
The district teacher may not often find a committee ready
and willing to make a small grant for the purpose of carrying
out this system, and he may not feel able to appropriate a
small sum for this purpose from his wages; but he will do
well to try the system without attaching any pecuniary value
to the merits. So evident was the good effect of this system
at school, that several parents adopted it at home, with similar
results, in the government of their children.
It will be observed that this is a sort of medium between
that system of fear which brutalizes the pupil, by treating him
as one void of understanding, and that transcendental system
which expects him to do well from the mere love of right
and truth and goodness. It is not a mere theory, for I have
tested it successfully for twenty years; it is not applicable
only to one class of- children, for I tried it with equal success
upon the unfortunate children of my first school, and upon the
middling and higher classes of my second. I believe it is
fully competent, in the hands of a discreet and patient teacher,
to maintain order and encourage industry in any district
school, and I recommended a trial of it to the teachers at
some of the Institutes. At all of these, the subject of corporal
punishment was freely discussed, and I was surprised at the
prevalence of the milder system. I had a good opportunity to
learn the opinions and the practice of the young teachers, and
I know I speak within bounds when I say, that half of them
disclaimed the use of corporal punishment altogether, and all
considered it the lowest and last resort of the teacher.
250 
EMULATION AND DISCIPLINE.
(Jan it be, as some pretend, that in introducing a milder
system of discipline, one that appeals more to the reason and
conscience of the pupil, and less to his physical susceptibility
to pain, we  are  " throwing ourselves  across the Word  of
God," " treading the Bible under foot," "rejecting the inspi
ration of the Scriptures," ald making "infidel factories of our
common schools?"   If I thought there was any truth in this
charge, any tendency to this terrible result, I should be the
ast man to persevere in the course I have recommended.
The charge is absurd, but it has been often and very lately
reiterated, and it is of such moment that I hope to be pardoned
if I say a few words in regard to it.
All the defenders of corporal punishment have agreed in
citing the precepts of Solomon, as the principal, if not the
only direct command or authority, for the infliction of bodily
pain upon children, and the passages most relied on are the
following a
Prov. xiii. 24. "He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he
that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
Prov. xix. 18. "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not
thy soul spare for his crying."
Prov. xxii. 15. "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but
the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
Prov. xxix. 15. "The rod and reproof give wisdom."
Prov. xxiii. 13. "Withhold not correction from the child; for if
hou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."
14. "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul
from hell."
The argument assumes that these precepts, and a few
others found in the Old Testament, are the commands of
God, and of perpetual obligation, and any attempt to lessen
their obligation, even upon those not under the Law, is
impiety, if not fatal heresy. One writer, in a religious paper,
went so far as to assert, that it was the duty of every man to
use the rod, whether his child deserved it or not.
The milder system of discipline rests its defence upon such
passages as the following, from the New Testament, but more
especially upon the milder spirit that pervades the teachings
of the Gospel.
1 Peter iii. 8. "Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one
of another; love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering
evil for evil, but contrariwise, blessing."
1 Thess. v. 14.  "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that
251 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
are unruly; comfort the feeble-minded; support the weak; be patient
toward all.  See that none render evil for evil unto any."
Roimans, xii. 17.  "' Recompense to no man evil for evil."  19.
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath;
for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."
21.  "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
Matt. v. 39. Jesus says, "I say unto you that ye resist not evil."
Matt. xviii. 21.  "Peter said, Lord, how  oft shall my brother
sin against me and I forgive him, till seven times? Jesus saith unto
him, I say not unlto thee till seven times, but until seventy times
seven. "
Luke xvii. 3.  " If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him
and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven
times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying,
I repent; thou shalt forgive him."
Mark xi. 26.  "If ye do not forgive, neither will your Father
which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
2 Tim. i. 7.  "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
1 John iv. 16. "God is love."   18. "There is no t,ar in love."
Ephes. iv. 15. "Speaking the truth in love."
There is not a word in the New Testament about the literal
use of the rod; and the figurative prophecy of Isaiah was literally fulfilled, when, as if contrasting the rod of the ancient
system with that of the Gospel, he says, "There shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse -and he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth."
Now I do not conceive the belief in the plenary inspiration
of the Scriptures to be at all affected by the entire disuse of
the rod.  It seems to me that St. Paul knew the bearing of
his.words, when he said to the Hebrews, to reconcile them to
giving up the law of Moses, "God, who at sundry times, and
in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds," &c. This passage conveys to my mind
the doctrine, that God spake by the prophet Moses, and gave
such instruction as befitted the condition of our race at that
remote period; that, by subsequent prophets, he gave more
and more light, but the full revelation came not until the Son
of God himself came among men.   "The law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
The very fact that a second revelation was made, proves
that the former one was not complete; but it does not prove
!hat holy men did not speak as they were moved by the Holy
252 
ElIULATION AND DISCIPLINE.
Spirit. Jesus, in educating his disciples, says to them, as
God might have said " to them of old time," " I have many
things to say unto you, but ve cannot bear them now." Paul
says to Timothy, when speaking of the Old Testament, "From
a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, [of the Old
Testament,] which are able to make thee wise unto salvation," not of themselves, " but through faith which is in Christ
Jesus."
In accordance with this view, is that other declaration of
Paul to the Galatians, iii. 23: " Before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.   Wherefore, the law was our schoolmnaster, to bring us unto Christ; but after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster."  It by no means
follows, therefore, that, because the Gospel, "in these last
days," spoke more clearly or more mildly than the law had
done two thousand years before, Moses was any the less
inspired.
The Proverbs that I have cited are attributed to Solomon,
and if he was one of the prophets alluded to by Paul, and even
superior to Moses in the gift of the Holy Spirit, this would
not weaken my position; for Jesus himself told the Jews that
the conduct of the Queen of Sheba condemned them, for she
went to hear only the wisdom of Solomon; but, added he,
" a greater than Solomon is here."
It seems to me that the gospel of Jesus not only revealed
to us the true character of God, viz., that of a tender Father,
but it revealed much in regard to the relation of parent to
child, of man to man, and of man to God. Hence, Solomon
tells us, what no doubt was true in his experience, that,
"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of
correction shall drive it from him;" but our Saviour takes little
children in his arms, and blesses them, and declares that "of
such is the kingdom of heaven." Nay, he even sets one of
the little ones up before his disciples, and tells them that
unless they become such, they cannot enter into his kingdom.
It would be unsafe, also, as well as unnecessary, it appears
0o me, to assume that every precept of Solomon is binding
upon those who believe the Gospel; for the consequence
would be terrible indeed.  For instance; Solomon, alluding
to the Law of Moses, says, Prov. xx. 20, "Whoso curseth his
father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure
darkne(s."  WAVe are bound, then, to put disobedient children
22
253 
'THe TEACHERS  INSTITUTE.
to death, if the Gospel has not taught us otherwise. WVe
find no such thing under the new dispensation, but we have
the mild precept, "Children, obey your parents," not through
fear of being stoned to death, but for the reason given by the
apostle, viz., " This is right," " This is well-pleasing unto
the Lord."  "The law and the prophets were" only "until
John, and since that time, the kingdom of God is preached."
Other precepts of Solomon and Moses, seem to me to have
been superseded by those of Jesus and his apostles; and,
therefore, when Jesus says, that " One jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled," I am led to
think that all was fulfilled, when, on the cross, the Redeemer
declared that "it was finished."
The law of Moses evidently allowed retaliation, but if I
understand the spirit of the Gospel, it is there expressly forbidden. " Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you, that ye resist
not evil."  If this does not directly repeal the retaliatory
clauses of the Mosaic law, I know nriot how to read. Again,
the Jews were under the yoke of the law, and Christ says to
them, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Here are two yokes,
and one is to be rejected, because both cannot be worn. The
masters are so different, that no man can serve them both. I
will name but one other instance of many that crowd upon
my memory. Solomon says, Eccles. iii. 19, that men die
like the beasts.  "Yea, they have all one breath," "so that a
man hath no pre/;minence above a beast;" and he asks,
tauntingly, " Who knoweth that the spirit of man goeth
upward, and that the spirit of the beast goeth downward to
the earth?"  Nothing shows more clearly than such a sentence, what is meant by the glorious truth, that, "Life and
Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel."
If I read my Bible aright, the human race has been educated like a child, and the divers speakings of God to it have
been adapted to its state of progress.  It seems to me, that
the question of the plenary inspiration of Moses or Solomon
is not affected by the fact that the grace of God has revealed
more of his will since they were inspired to speak; but, at
any rate, I feel bound to follow the teachings of the Saviour, in
whom alone dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Is it not evident, therefore, that the "sundry times" have
been those of Moses, of the Prophets and of Jesus Christ;
2-54 
EMULATION AND DISCIPLINE.
that the "divers manners" were those of the Law, the Prophets and the Gospel? and is it not also evident, that we must
receive the latest revelation as we do human laws required
by the progress of civilization and humanity, to which are
usually appended the provision, that " all laws or portions of
laws inconsistent with the last are, by its enaction, repealed? "
I know it will be said,-for it has just been said by the editor
of a new religious magazine, got up mainly to keep the rod
in the schools,-that God, in his providence, inflicts physical
pain, and our Saviour, once at least, made a whip and drove
those who sold cattle from the temple. But if any one thing
is evidently taught by our Saviour, it is, that God does not
punish moral offences by inflicting physical pain. Even the
ancient Scriptures assert, that sinners live and die like other
men: " There is one event to the righteous and the wicked:"
and who dares say that God does not send his rain on the
unjust as well as on the just?  Some physical excesses, to be
sure, draw their punishment after them; but the tower of
Siloam did not fall on certain men because they were sinners
above all others; the man was not born blind because he or
his parents had sinned. Those who have urged this argument have also expressed the utmost horror at that tenet of
one portion of the Universalists, which asserts that sin carries
its punishment with it in this world, and, this obviates the
necessity of a future judgment; yet this tenet is confirmed
by that which considers physical evil as the punishment
of moral guilt; so true is it that extremes are most apt
to meet. In regard to the alleged violence used by our Saviour, it should be known that the original Greek, and some
translations, authorize no such wrong to the gentle character
of the blessed Redeemer; but only assert that he made a whip
of small cords, that is, he used small cords as a whip, to drive
the animals, and not the men, from the temple. Even our
translation may mean this; but the French protestant version
reads thus: "He drove all out of the temple, both the sheep
and the bulls."   So says the Greek, so says the Vulgate, so
says Beza, and so would our common English version say,
if the word them were printed in Italic type, as words generally are that were inserted by the translators on their own
authority, and if, as in Tindal's early and excellent version,
the first and were rendered by both, according to our idiom.
Were it not so perfectly evident that the translation is at
fault in regard to the conduct of the Prince of Peace, it seems
255 
THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.
to me that the whole course of his benignant teaching, the
whole tenor of his patient, long-suffering and unaggressive
life, should have saved him from the charge; and yet, to sup    port a practice which the spirit of the Gospel has long been
silently repudiating, some men have been willing to affix a
stigma to the character of Jesus entirely at variance with
every word, and with every other act of his life.
Those who have not been satisfied with the Scripture argu.
ment for corporal punishment, have urged another, that would
deserve serious consideration, if the fact on which it is based
were true.   We are told that vice and crime are on the
increase, and that this deterioration of morals can only be ac   counted for by the great progress of the milder system of
discipline within a few years.
Now, it is by no means certain that there is any increase of
crime beyond the natural increase of population, and the
unusual increase of uneducated foreigners.  On the contrary,
the facts, that there has been great general improvement in all
the schools of the state, as proved by the annual Abstracts of
School Returns;  that every year the number of schools
broken up by the insubordination of pupils has greatly
diminished; and that many h'undreds, even of winter schools,
have been taught, and easily managed, by females; would
indicate a great improvement in the state, even if, in one or
two large towns, the criminal calendar may seem to have
increased.  But, were we to grant that crime has increased, it
would not follow that the milder discipline of the schools has
been the cause of it, unless it also follows that a more direct
attempt to educate the conscience, the affections, and the
higher sentiments of a child, has a tendency to reduce him
nearer to the level of the beasts that perish.  The fact is, that
vice and crime abound most where the lenient system of dis  cipline complained of has never been approved, has never
prevailed.
It should be remembered, too, that whenever the use of the
rod is recommended in the ancient Scriptures, it is to be in
the hands of parents; for there were no schools nor school- masters in those days. It is hardly probable that Solomon
would have urged so strongly the exercise of the rod. had he
not known that the natural feelings of the parent would somec  times be averse to even reasonable chastisement. I know
it will be objected that the teacher stands in the parent's
place; and so he does to a certain degree, and it is sometimes
256 
EMIULATION AND DISC1IPLINE.
fortunate chat he does; but hie can not have the natural affection of a parent; his office was unknoWn in the age of Solomon, and, therefore, no precept of Solomon can, with justice, be
applied to the intercourse between teacher and pupil, which is
the subject under consideration.
I should not, as some do, recommend the disuse of the rod
without allowing the free use of other motives.   Of these,
there is a choice, and the highest that will move the child
should always be preferred. I do not allow the infliction of
physical pain to be an intellectual motive, and, therefore, I
never use it in the discipline of beings that have minds, and.
hearts, and consciences, and souls. If I err in this, I err on
the side of humanity.   I do nriot act contrary to what I consider to be the spirit of my Divine Master. I do not act, as
some seem to think, from any perverse wish to go wrong, or
from any disrespect to the revealed will of God.
I -hope I shall be excused for attempting, less briefly than I
could wish, to remove the fears of those whose tenderness of
conscience may have prevented them from cultivating tha
tenderness of disposition which prefers long suffering, patience
and kindness, to the free use of the rod. I have never maintained that there may not be good schools where the rod is
applied; I have never maintained that a teacher, who did not
know what else to do, might not resort to the rod till he was
better informed. I am no lover of confusion, no apologist for
disobedience, but one who believes sincerely that the fear of
bodily pain, though producing temporary submission, rarely
produces any change in the moral condition of the offender.
I reason from my own experience when a pupil;  from my
own experience as a teacher; from the confession of other
teachers, who have used the rod, and of pupils who have been
subjected to it; I reason, in fine, from what, after much study,
I believe to be the real instruction of the Bible on the subject;
and having no interest in the question, except the love of children, the love of teachers, and the love of truth, I trust my
character will not suffer because I honestly express my convi tions.
22*
257 
THE TEACHERS' INSTIrUTE.
THE CONCLUSION.
I HAVE thus, in great haste, given my thoughts upon such
points as were agitated at the Teachers' Institutes, and I can
only hope that my book will be received by the younger part
of the profession with as much kindness and respect as was
shown to my personal instructions. I have much more to
say, but I fear that I have already exceeded the limits of a
school manual. In taking leave of my young friends, I
would, therefore, only add, that the faithful teacher, on every
plan, has much to do and much to endure. He must be contented to labor and be ill-rewarded; he must be willing to see
his pupils increase while he decreases; and even to see the
world, whose movement he has accelerated, leaving him
behind.  No matter; -the school of life lasts not long, and
its best rewards are reserved till school is over.
When Jupiter offered the prize of immortality to him whc
was most useful to mankind, the court of Olympus was
crowded  with  competitors.   The  warrior  boasted of his
patriotism, but Jupiter thundered; -the rich man boasted of
his munificence, and Jupiter showed him a widow's mite;
the pontiff held up the keys of heaven, and Jupiter pushed the
doors wide open; -the painter boasted of his power to give
life to inanimate canvass, and Jupiter breathed aloud in derision; -the sculptor boasted of making gods that contended
with the Immortals for human homage; Jupiter frowned; -
the orator boasted of his power to sway a nation with his
voice, and Jupiter marshalled the obedient hosts of heaven
with a nod;-the poet spoke of his power to move even the
gods by praise; Jupiter blushed; -the musician claimed tc
practise the only human science that had been transported tc
heaven; Jupiter hesitated, — when, seeing a venerable man
looking with intense interest upon the group of competitors
but presenting no claim,  " What art thou? " said the benig.
nant monarch.   "Only a spectator," said  the gray-neaded
sage; "all these were  once my pupils."  "Crown him
crown him!" said Jupiter; "crown the faithful teacher -Avittr
immortality, and make room for him at my right hand!"
2,58 
THE   A TI OJNAL  SEFIES  Of   E/ADERS.
COlvMPLETE IN TWO INDEPENDENT PARTS.
L
THE NATIONAL READERS.
By PARKER & WATSON.
No.  i.-National Primer,.......         4_pp., fomo,
No. 2.-National First Reader,.. -spp., 1mo,
No. 3.-National Second Reader,.. 224 pp., 1amo,
No. 4.-National Third Reader,..  s28Spp., I,-mo,
No. 5.-National Fourth Reader,.. 432pp., 1mo,
No. 6.-National Fifth Reader,.. 60oop., 7,mo
National Elementary Speller,...  so pp., famo,
National Pronouncing Speller,... /sspp., 12mo,
II.
THE INDEPENDENT READERS.
By J. MADISON WATSON.
or
The Independent First (Primary) Reader, 80opp., f6mo,
The Independent Second Reader,. l6opp., fcmo,
The Independent Third Reader,..  4+pp., 16rme,
The Independent Fourth Reader,.. 2,4 pp.,,mo,
The Independent Fifth Reader,..            app.  /mo,
The Independent Sixth Reader,.. 474pp., f,mo,
The Independent Child's Speller (Script), so pp.,..mo,
T'rhe Independent Youth's Speller (Script), f>,8pp.,,?mo,
The Independent Spelling Book,..  tcopp., f6mo,
*** The Readers constitute two complete and entirely
distinct series, either of which is adequate to every
want of the best schools. The Spellers may accompany
.ithor Scrieos.
1. 
,Vational Series o/','8cc;da,'d,8ctool-.ooks.
PARKER & WATSON'S NATIONAL READERS
The salient features of these works which have combined to render them K
popular may be briefly recapitulated as follows:
1. THE WORD-BUILDING  8YSTEM.-This famous progressive method fof
young children originated and was copyrighted with these books. It constitutes
a process with which the beginner with words of one letter is gradually intro
duced to additional lists formed b y prefixing or affixing single letters. and is thus
led airaost insensibly to the mastery of the more difficult constructions. This i~
one of the most striking modern improvements in methods of teachting.
2. TREATMENT OF PRONUNOIATION.-The wants of the youngest scholars
in this department are iot overlooked.  It may be said that from the first lesson
the student by this method need never be at a loss for a prompt and accurate rendering of every word encountered.
3. ARTIOULATION AND ORTHOEPY are considered of primary importance.
4, PUNOTUATION is inculcated by a series of interesting readieng lessons, the
simple perusal of which suffices to fix its principles indelibly upon the mind.
5. ELOCUTION,  Each of the higher Readers (3d, 4th and 5th) contains elaborate, scholarly, and thoroughly practical treatises on elocution. This feature alone
has secured for the series many of its warmest friends.
6. THE SELECTIONS are the crowning glory of the series.  Without excep.
tion It may be said that no volumes of the same size and character contain a col!ection so diversified, judicious, and artistic as this. It embraces the choicest
gems of English literature, so arranged as to afford the reader ample exercise in
every department of style. So acceptable has the taste of the authors in this department proved, not only to the educational public but to the reading community
at large, that thousands of copies of the, Fourth and Fifth Readers have found
their way into public and private libraries throughout the country, where the.y are
in constant use as manuals of literature, for reference as well as perusal.
7, ARRANGEMENT. The exercises are so arranged as to present constantly
alternating practice in the different styles of composition, while observing a definite plan of progression or gradation throughout the whole. In the higher books
the articles are placed in formal sections and classified topically, thus concentra
ting the interest and inculcating a principle of association likely to prove valu.
able in subsequent general reading.
8. NOTES AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. These are full and adequate
to overy want. The biographical sketches present in pleasing style the history
of every author laid under contribution.
9. ILLUSTRATIONS,  These are plentiful, almost profuse, and of the highest
character of art. They are found in every volume of the series as far as and ineluding the Third Reader.
10. THE GRADATION is perfect. Each volume overlaps its companion pre.
ceding or following in the series, so that the scholar, in passing from one to another, is only conscious, by the presence of the new book, of the transition.
11. THE PRICE is reasonable. The National Readers contain more matter
than any other series in the same number of volumes published. Considering
their completeness and thoroughness they are much the cheapest in the market.
12, BINDING. By the use of a material and process known only to themselves,
in common with all the publications of this house, the National Readers are warranted to outlast any with which they may be compared-tie ratio of relative d,
rability being in their favor as two to one.
9
I 
Xatigonal Serles of Standard SehooZ-_ooks.
WATSON'S INDEPENDENT READERS.
' This Series is designed to meet a general demand for smaller and cheapel
books than the National Series proper, and to serve as well for intermediate vol.
umes of the National Readers in large graded schools requiring more books thai
one ordinary series will supply.
Beauty.   The most casual observer is at once impressed with the unparalleled
mechanical beauty of the Independent Readers. The Publishers believe that the,
esthetic tastes of children may receive no small degree of cultivation frem their
very earliest school books, to say nothing of the importance of making study attractive by all such artificial aids that are legitimate. In accordance with this
view, not less than $25,000 was expended in their preparation before publishing,
with a result which entitles them to be considered "The Perfection of Common
School Books."
Selections. They contain, of course, none but entirely new selections. These
are arranged according to a strictly progressive and novel method of developing
the elementary sounds in order in the lower numbers, and in all, with a view to
topics and general literary style. The mind is thus led in fixed channels to profi.
ciency in every branch of good reading, and the evil results of' scattering' as prac
tised by most school-book authors, avoided.
The Illustrations, as may be inferred from what has been said, are elegant
beyond comparison. They are profuse in every number of the series from the
lowest to the highest. This is the only series published of which this is true.
The Type is semi-phonetic, the invention of Prof. Watson.   By it every
letter having more than one souind is clearly distinguished in all its variations
without in any way mutilating or disguising the normal form of the letter.
Elocution is taught by prefatory treatises of constantly advancing grade and
completeness in each volume, which are illustrated by wood-cuts in the lower
books, and by black-board diagrams in the higher. Prof. Watson is the first to
introduce Practical Illustrations and Black-board Diagrams for teaching this
branch.
Foot Notes on every page afford all the incidental instruction which the
teacher is usually required to impart. Indices of words refer the pupil to the
place of their first use and definition. The Biographies of Authors and others
are in every sense excellent.
Economy.  Although the number of pages in each volume is fixed at the
minimum, for the purpose recited above, the utmost amount of matter available
without overcrowding is obtained in the space. The pages are much wider and
larger than those of any competitor and contain twenty per cent more matter than
any other series of the same type and number of pages.
All the Great Features. Besides the above all the popular features of the
National Readers are retained except the Word-Building system.  The latter
gives place to an entirely new method of progressive development, based nu)ou
some of the best features of the Word System, Phonetics and Object Lesons.
2 
She AiztionaZ Series of Standard SchooZ-.ooks.
NATIONAL READERS.
8
ORIGINAL AND "INDEPENDENT" SERIES.
SPEIZXIEN TESTIIZONIALS.
F'rom D. H. HARRIS, Supt. Public Schols, Hanniba, Mo.
The National Series of Readers are now in use in our public schools, and I regard
them the best that I have ever examined or used.
From HON. J. K. Ji~SON, Supt. of Education, State of South Carolina.
I have carefully examined your new and beautiful Series of Readers known as
The Independent Readers," and do not hesitate to recommend it as the finest and
most excellent ever presented to the public.
From D. N. RooK, Sec. of School Board, Williamsport, Pa.
I would say that Parker & Watson's Series of Readers and Spellers give the best
satisfaction m our schools of any Series of Readers and Spellers that have ever been
used. There is nothing published for which we would exchange them
From Ploi'. H. SEELE, New Braunfels Academy, Texas.
I recommend the National Readers for four good reasons: (1.) The printing, en
graving, and binding is excellent. (2.) They contain choice selections from English
Literature. (3.) They inculcate good moral without any sectarian bias. (4.) They
are truly National, because they teach pure patriotism and not sectional prejudice.
From S. FIrNDLEY, Supt. Akron Sechools, Ohio.
We use no others, and have no desire to. They give entire satisfaction. We like
the freshness and excellence of the selections.  We like the biographical notes and
the definitions at the foot of the page.  We also like the white paper and clear and
beautiful type. In short, we do not know where to look for books which would be
so satisfactory both to teachers and pupils.
From PBES. ROBERT ALLYN, McKendree College, M7.
Since my connection with this college, we have used in our preparatory department the Series of Readers known as the "National Readers," compiled by Parker
& Watson, and published by Messrs. A. S. Barnes & Co.  They are excellent; afford
choice selections; contain the right system of elocutionary instruction, and are
wellprinted and bound so as to be serviceable as well as interesting.  I can commend them as among the excellent means used by teachers to make their pupils
proficient in that noblest of school arts, GooD READING.
,From W. T. HARRIS, Supt. Public Schools, St. Louis, Mo.
I have to admire these excellent selections in prose and verse, and the carefr
arrangement which places first what is easy of comprehension, and proceeds gradu
ally to what is difficult. I find the lessons so arranged as to bring together differ
ent treatments of the same topic thereby throwing much light on the pupil's path
and I doubt not adding greafly to his progress. The proper variety of subjects
chosen, the concise treatise on elocution, the beautiful typography and substantial
binding-all these I find still more admirable than in the former series of National
Readers, which I considered models in these respects.
From H. T. PHILLIPS, Esq., of the Board of Education, Atlanta, Ga.
The Board of Education of this city have selected for use in the public schools
of Atlanta the entire series of your Independent Readers, together with Steele's
('hemistry and Philosophy. As a member of the Board, and of the Committee on
Text-books, the subject of Readers was referred to me for examination.  I gave a
pretty thorough examination to ten (10) different series of Readers, and in endeavoring to arrive at a decision upon the sole question of merit, and entirely independent of any extraneous influence, I very cordially recommended the Independent
Series. This verdict was approved by the Committee and adopted by the Board.
From Report of REv. W. T. BRANTLY, D.D., late Professor of Belies Lettres, Univer sity of Georgia, on "Text-Books in Reading," before the Teachers' Convention o
Georgia, May A, 1870.
The NLational Series, by Parker & Watson, is deserving of its high reputation.
The Primary Books are suited to the weakest capacity'; whilst those more advanced
supply instructive illustration on all that is needed to be known in connection with
the art.
4
I 
The.ational Series of Standard 8ehoolo-oot..
WATSON'S CHILD'S SPELLER.
TE INDEPENDENT ~CHILD'S SPELLER.
This unique book, published in 1872, is the first to be consistently printed 14
imitation of writing; that is, it teaches orthography as we use it. It is for the
smallest class of learners, who soon become familiarized with words by their forms.
and learn to read writing while they spell.
EXTRACT FROM THE PREFACE.
Sucoess In teaching English orthography is still exceptional, and it must so continue until the principles involved are recognized in practice. Form is foremoat:
the eye and the hand must be trained to the formation of words; and since spelling
is a par' of writing, the written form only should be used. The laws of mental
association, also-especially those of resemblance, contrast, and contiguity in time
and plice-should receive sach recognition in the construction of the text-book as
shall visure, whether consciously or not, their appropriate use and legitimate re.
sultF. Hence, the spelling-book, properly arranged, is a necessity from the first;
and, th~ough primers, readers, and dictionaries may serve as aids, it can have no
competent.-bstitute.
Consistently with these views, the words used in the Independent Child's Spelley
have such original classifications and arrangements in columns-in reference t,
location, number of letters, vowel sounds, alphabetic equivalents, and consonaI
terminations-as exhibit most effectively their formation and pronunciation. Th
vocabulary is strictly confined to the simple and significant monosyllables in com.
mon use. He who has mastered these may easily learn how to spell and pronounce
words of more than one syihble.
The introduction is an illustrated alphabet in script, containing twenty-six pictures of objects, and their names, commencing both with capitals and small letters.
Part First embraces the words of one, two, and three letters; Part Second, the
words of four letters; and Part'third, other monosyllables. They are divided into
short lists and arranged in columns, the vowels usually in line, ~o as'to exhibit in.
dividual characteristics and similarity of formation.  The d:vision of words into
paragraphs is shown'by figures in the columns. Each list is immediately followed
by sentences for reading and writing, in which the same words are again presented
with irregularities of form and sound. Association is ~hus employed, memory
tested, and definition most satisfactorily taught.
Among the novel and valuable features of tLh lessors and exercises, probably the
most prominent are their adaptedness for young vhfidren and their being printed in
exact imitation of writing. The author elieveg that hahds large enough to spin a
top, drive a hoop, or catch a ball, are not toa small to use a crayon, or a slate and
pencil; that the child's natural desire, to draw and write should not be thwarted,
but gratified, encouraged, and wisel) directed; and that since the written form Is
the one actually used in connection with spelling in after-life, the eye and the hand
of the child should be trained to tuat form from the first. He hopes that this little
work, designed to precede all other spell'ng-books and conflict with none, may
satisfy the need so umiversally recognized of a fit introduction to ortbography. per,
manship, and EngL.sh composition.
5 
-he X'ational series of Stanaetrd Sehool-'oot$.
The National Readers and Spellera
THEIR RECORD.
These books have been adopted by the School'Boards, or officia' authority, of
Me following important States, cities, and towns-iu most cases for zxclttsve use,
-  The State of Missouri.           The State of Kentucky.
The State of Alabama.
The State of Florida.           The State of North Carolina.
The State of Delaware.              The State of Louisiana.
Y~ew York.
New York City.
Brooklyn.
Buffalo.
Albany.
Rochester.
Troy.
Syracuse.
Elmira.
&c., &C.
Pennsylvai
Readi-ng.
Lancaster.
Erie.
Scranton.
Carlisle.
CarbondalW                         o.c
Westchester.
Schuylkill Haven.
Williamsport.
Norristown.
Bellefonte.
Wilkesbarre.
&c., &c.
New Jersey.
Newark.
Jersey City.
Paterson.
Trenton.
Camden.
Elizabeth.
New Brunswick.
Phillipsburg.
Orange
Delaware.
Wilmington.
D. C.
Washington.
Illinois.
Chicago.
Peoria.
Alton.
Springfield.
Aurora.
Galesburg.
Rockfordf.
Rock Island.
&c.,  &C.
Wisconsin.
Milwaukee.
Fond du                   Lac.
Oshkosh.
Janesville.
Racine.
Watertown.
Sheboygan.
La Crosse.
Wukesha.
Kenosha.
&c., &C.
Michigan.
Grand Rapids.
Kalamazoo.
Adriaan..
dackson.
Monroe.
Lansing.
&C., &C.
Ohio.
Toledo.
Sandusky.
Conneaut.
flhardo-n.
Hudson.
Canton.
Salem,
fte Educational Buletin records period'ally all new points gaino4
Virginia,
Richmond.
Norfolk.
Petersburg.
Lync-hburg.
&C.
South Carolinkq
Columbia.
Charleston.
Georgia.
Savannah.
Louisiana.
New Orleans.
Tennesstee
Memphisi 
.'e.ationaZ Series of Standard SehooZ- -ooks.
SCHOOL-ROOM CARDS.
Baade's Reading Case,
A frame containing movable cards, with arrangement for showing
one sentence at a time, capable of 28,000 transpositions.
Eureka Alphabet Tablet
Presents the alphabet upon the Word Method System, by which the
child will learn the alphabet in nine days, and make no small progress in
reading and spelling in the same time.
National School Tablets, 10 Nos.
Embrace reading and conversational exercises, object and moral les   sons, form, color, &c. A complete set of these large and elegantly illus   trated Cards will embellish the school-room more than any otLer article
of furniture.
READING.
Fowle's Bible Reader
The narrative portions of the Bible, chronologically and topically ar   ranged, judiciously combined with selections from the Psalms, Proverbs,
and other portions which inculcate important moral leasons or the great
truths of Christianity. The embarrassment and difficulty of reading the
Bible itself, by course, as a class exercise, are obviated, and its use made
feasible, by this means.
North Carolina First Reader
North Carolina Second Reader
North Carolina Third Reader
Prepared expressly for the schools of this State, by C. R. Wiley, Super   intendent of Common Schools, and F. M. Hubbard, Professor of Litera   ature in the State University.
Parker's Rhetorical Reader
Designed to familiarize Readers with the pauses and other marks in
general use, and lead them to the practice of modulation and inflection of
the voice.
Introductory Lessons in Reading and Elo        cution
Of similar character to the foregoing, for less advanced classes.
High School Literature
Admirable selections from a long list of the world's best writers, for ex   ercise in reading, oratory, and composition. Speeches, dialogues, and
model letters represent the latter department.
71
S. 
e Xational 6Seres of Staneaard Sceool —ooks.
ORTHOGRAPHY.
_~~~~~~~~~
SMITH'S SERIES
Supplies a speller for every class in graded schools, and comprises the most eom
plete and excellent treatise on English Orthography and its companion
branches extant.
1. Smith's Little Speller
First Round in the Ladder of Learning.
2. Smith's Juvenile Definer
Lessons composed of familiar words grouped with reterence to similar
signification or use, and correctly spelled, accented, and defined.
3. Smith's Grammar-School Speller
Familiar words, grouped with reference to the sameness of sound of syl   lables differently pelled.  Also definitions, complete rules for spellingand
formation of derivatives, and exercises in false orthography.
4. Smith's Speller and Definer's Manual
A complete School Dictionariy containing 14,000 words, with various
other useful matter in the way of Rules and Exercises.
5. Smith's Etymology-Small, and CompleteEd's.
The first and only Etymology to recognize the Anglo-Sa.zon our mothe
tongue; containing also full lists of derivatives from the Latin, Greek,
Gaelic, Swedish, Norman, &c., &c; being, in fact, a complete etymology
of the language for schools.
Sherwood's Writing Speller
Sherwood's Speller and Definer
Sherwood's Speller and Pronouncer
The Writing Speller consists of properly ruled and numbered blanks
to receive the words dictated by the teacher, with space for remarks and
corrections. The other volumes may be used for the dictation or ordinary
class exercises.
Price's English Speller
A  c(~mplete spelling-book for all grades, containing more matter than
' Webster," manufactured in superior style, and sold at a lower price   consequently the cheapest speller extant.
Northend's Dictation Exercises
Embracing valuable information on a thousand topics, communicated
in such a manner as at once to relieve the exercise of spelling of its usual
tedium, and combine it with instruction of a general character calculated
to profit and amuse.
Wright's Analytical Orthography
This standard work is popular, because it teaches the elementary eunds
In a plain and philosophical manner, and presents orthography and or   thoepy in an easy, uniform system of analysis or parsing.
Fowle's False Orthography
Exercises for correction.
Page's Normal Chart
The elementary sounds of the language for the school-room wall& 
The v}'aionaie Sertes of S8tandard 8ehool —ooks.
ORTHOGRAPHY-Continued.
Barber's Complete Writing Speller
"The Student's Own Hand-Book of Orthography, Definitions, and Sentences
consisting of Written Exercises in the Proper Spelling, Meaning, and Use ot
Words."  (Published 1873.)  This differs from  Sherwood's and  other Writing
Spellers in its more comprehensive character. Its blanks are adapted to writing
whole sentences instead of detached words, with the proper divisions for numbering, corrections, etc.  Such aids as this, like Watson's Child's Speller and Sherwood's Writing Speller, find their raison d'dtre in the postulate that the art of cor.
rect spelling is dependent upon written, and not upon spoken language, for its util
ty, if not for its very existence. Hence the indirectness of purely oral instruction.
Pooler's Test Speller
The best collection of" hard words" yet made.  The more uncommon ones are
fully defined, and the whole are arranged alphabetically for convenient reference.
The book is designed for Teachers' Institutes and' Spelling Schools," and is prepared by an experienced and well-known conductor of Institutes.
ETYMOLOGY.
Smith's Complete Etymology,
Smith's Condensed Etymology,
Containing the Anglo - Saxon, French, Dutch, Gernaian, Welsh, Danish, Gothic
Swedish, Gaelic, Italian, Latin, and Greek Roots, and the English words derived
therefrom accurately spelled, accented, and defined.
From HoN. JNO. G. McMym, late State Superintenre-t of Wisconsin.
I wish every teacher in the country had a copy of this work.
From PINrs. WM. F. PIELPS, Minn. State Norcz.
The book is superb-just what is needed in the department ot etymology and
spelling.
Promn PROF. C. H. VERRa-L, Pa. State Normnal Schoo.
The Etymology (Smith's) which we procured of you we like mvryb. It is the
best work for the class-room we have seen.
From HoN. EDWARD BiALLARD, Supt. of Uommon Schools, State of Xaoi.
The author has furnished a manual of singular utility for its purpose.
DICTIONARY.
The Topical Lexicon,
This work is a School Dictionary, an Etymology  a compilation of synonyms  and
a manual of general information. It differs fromna the ordinary lexicon in beir
arranged by topics instead of the letters of the alphabet thus realizing the apparentl
paradox of a Readable Dictionary." An unusually valuable school book.
-                        0~~~ 
ihe Vational Series of t81andard 3ehool —Wooks.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
CLARK'S DIAGRAM SYSTEM.
Clark's Easy Lessons in Language,
Published 1874. Contains illustrated object-lessons of the most attractive charac.
ter, and is couched in language freed as much as possible from the dry technicalities
of the science.
Clark's Brief English Grammar,
Published 1872. Part I. is adapted to youngest learners, and the whole forms a
complete' brief course" in one volume, adequate to the wants of the common
school.
Clark's Normal Grammar,
Published 1870, and designed to take the place of Prof. Clark's veteran "Practical" Grammar, though the latter is still furnished upon order. The Normal is
an entirely new treatise.  It is a full exposition of the system as described below,
with all the most recent improvements. Some of its peculiarities are-A happy
blending of SYNTHESEs with AWALYSES; thorough Criticisms of common  errors
in the use of our Language; and important improvements in the Syntax of Sentences and of Phrases.
Clark's Key to the Diagrams,
Clark's Analysis of the English Language,.
Clark's Grammatical Chart,
The theory and practice of teaching grammar in American schools is meeting
with a thorough revolution from the use of this system.  While the old methods
offer proficiency to the pupil only after much weary plodding and dull memorizing
this affords from the inception the advantage of practical Oject Teaching, addressing the eye by means of illustrative figures; furnishes association to the memory,
its most powerful aid, and diverts the pupil by taxing his ingenuity. Teachers
who are using Clark's Grammar uniformly testify that they and their pupils find it
the most interesting study of the school course.
Like all great and radical improvements, the system naturally met at first with
much unreasonable opposition. It has not only outlived the greater part of this
opposition, but finds many of its warmest admirers among those who could not
at first tolerate so radical an innovation.  All it wants is an impartial trial to convince the most skeptical of its merit. No one who has fairly and intelligently
tested it in the school-room has ever been known to go back to the old method.
A great success is already established, and it is easy to prophec that the day is
not far distant when it will be the only system of teaching E ic Gramma        r.  As
the SYsTEM is copyrighted, no other text-books can appropriate this obvious an6
great improvement.
Welch's Analysis of the English Sentence,
Remarkable for its new and simple classification, its method of treating conneo
tives, its explanations of the idioms and constructive laws of the language, etc.
10
4 
7he  ]ational Series of Sta',dard Scliool-7ooks.
Clark's Diagram English Grammar.
TESTIMONIALS.
From J. A. T. DUiNiN, Principal Dubuq7ue R. C. Academy, Iowa.
In my opinion, it is well calculated by its system of analysis to develop those rational
faculties which in the old systems were rather left to develop themselves, while the
memory was overtaxed, and the pupils discouraged.
From B. A. Cox, School Commissioner, Warren County, Illinois.
I have examined 150 teachers in the last year, and those having studied or talught
Clark's System have universally stood fifty per cent better examinations than those
having studied other authors.
From M. II. B. BuET, Principal Mfasonec Institute, Georgetown, Tennessee.
I traveled two years amusing myself in instructing (exclusively) Grammar classes
with Clark's system. The first class I instructed fifty days, but found that this was
more time than was required to impart a theoretical knowledge of the science
During the two years thereafter I instructed classes only thirty days each. Invariably
I proposed that unless I prepared my classes for a more thorough, minute, and accu
rate knowledge of English Grammar than that obtained from the ordinary books and
in the ordinary way in from one to two years, I would make no charge. I never
failed in a solitary case to far exceed the hopes of my classes, and made money and
character rapidly as an instructor.
Prom A. B. DOUOLASS, School Commissioner, Delaware County, New York.
I have never known a class pursue the study of it under a live teacher, that has not
succeeded; I have never known it to have an opponent in an educated teacher who
had thoroughly investigated it; I have never known an ignorant teacher to examine
it; I have never known a teacher who has used it, to try any other.
From J. A. DoriE, Teacher and Lecturer on English Grammar, Kentucky.
We are tempted to assert that it foretells the dawn of a brighter age to our mother.
tongue. Both pupil and teacher can fare sumptuously upon its contents, however
highly they may have prized the manuals into which they may have been initiated,
and by which their expressions have been moulded.
From W. T. CHAPMAN, Superintendent Public Schools, Wellington, Ohio.
I regard Clark's System of Grammar the best published. For teaching the analysis
of the English Language, it surpasses any I ever used.
From F. S. LYON, Principal South NLorwalk Union School, Connectwut.
I)uring ten years' experience in teaching, I have used six different authors on the
subject of English Grammar.  I am fully convinced that Clark's Grammar  is better
calculated to make thorough grammarians than any other that I have seen.
From CATALOGUE  OF ROEFR'S  COMMERCIAL COLLEGE, St. Louts, Jfissourt.
We do not hesitate to assert, without fear of successfld contradiction, that a better
knowledge of the English language can be obtained by this system in six weeks than
by the old methods in as many months.
From A. PICKETT, President of the State Teachers' Association, Wvisconsin.
A thorough experiment in the use of many approved authors upon the subject of
English Grammar has convinced me of the superiority of ClarkV When the pupil has
completed the course, he is left upon a foundation of principle, and not upon the dic.
tam of the author.
rom  Gmo. F. McFARLAND, Prin. -,eAllisterville Academy, Juniata Co., Penn.
At the first examination of public-school teachers by the county superintendent,
when oneof our student teachers commenced analyzing a sentence according to Clark,
the superintendent listened in mute astonishment until he had finished, then asked
what that meant, and finally, with a very knowing look, said such work wouldn't do
here, and asked the applicant to parse the sentence right, and gave the lowest certifi.
eates to all who barely mentioned Clark. Afterwards, I presented him with a copy,
and the next fall he permit ted it to be partially used, while the third' last fall, he
openly cwamended the system, and appointed three of my best teacherr to explain it
at the two Institutes and one County Convention held since September.
For further testimony of equal force, see the P'blishers' Speci) Circuilar. 
Aurreut numbers of the Educational Bulletin.
11 
Muse.1u/ioyzal  Series of 8t'aydar-d Se$A ooz-e  oots.
GE O GRAPHY.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIOAL SYSTEM.
THE SERIES.
I. Monteith's First Lessons in Geography,
II. Monteith's New Manual of Geography,
II. McNally's System of Geography,
INTERMEDIATE OR ALTERNATE VOLUMES.
1*. Monteith's Introduction to Geography,
2*. Monteith's Physical and Political Geography,
ACCESSORIES.
Monteith's Wall Maps 2 sets (see page 15),,
Monteith's Manual of Map-Drawing (Allen's System)
Monteith's Map-Drawing and Object-Lessons,
Monteith's Map-Drawing Scale,
1. PRACTICAL  OBJECT TEAOHING.  The infant scholar is first introduced
to a picture whence he may derive notions of the shape of the earth, the phenomena of day and night, the distribution of land and water, and the great natural
divisions, which mere words would fail entirely to convey to the untutored mind.
Other pictures follow on the same plan, and the child's mind is called upon to grasp
no idea without the aid of a pictorial illustration.   Carried on to the higher
books, this system culminates in Physical Geography, where  such matters as
climates, ocean current;, the winds, peculiarities of the earth's crust, clouds and
rain, are pictorially explained and rendered apparent to the most obtuse. The
illustrations used for this purpose belong to the highest grade of art.
2. CLEAR, BEAUTIFUL, AND CORRECT MAPS. In the lower numbers the
Laps avoid unnecessary detail, while respectively progressive, and affording the
pupil new matter for acquisition each time he approaches in the constantly en.
larging circle the point of coincidence with previous lessons in the more ele.
mentary books. In the Physical and Political Geography the maps embrace many
new and striking features. One of the most effective of these is the new plan for
displaying on each map tihe relative sizes of countries not represented, thus obvisting much confusion which has arisen from the necessity of presenting maps in
tie same atlas drawn on different scales. The maps of "McNally" have long been
celebrated for their superior beauty and completeness. This is the only school.
book in which the attempt to make a complete atlas also clear and distinct, has
been successful.  The map coloring throughout the  series is also noticeable.
Delicate and subdued tints take thle place of the startling glare of inharmonious
colors which too frequently in such treatises dazzle'the eyes, distract the attention, and serve to overwhelm the names of towns and the natural feature. of thb
6lndscape.
12
-- - - - o, 
-The Xational Series of Standard Sehool —ooks.
GEOGRAPHY-Continued.
3. THE VARIETY OF MAP-EXERCISE. Starting each time from a different
basis, the pupil in many instances approaches the same fact no less than six times,
thus indelibly impressing it upon his memory. At the same time, this system is
not allowed to become wearisome-the extent of exercise on each subject being
graduated by its relative importance or difficulty of acquisition.
4. THE CHARAOTER AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE DESCRIPTIVE
TEXT. The cream of the science has been carefully culled, unimportant matter
rejected, elaboration avoided, and a brief and concise manner of presentation cultivated. The orderly consideration of topics has contributed greatly to simplicity.
Due attention is paid to the facts in history and astronomy which are inseparably
connected with, and important to the proper understanding of geography-and
guch only are admitted on any terms.  In a word, the National System teaches
geography as a science, pure, simple, and exhaustive.
5. ALWAYS  UP  TO  THE  TIMES.   The authors of these books, editorially
speaking, never sleep. No change occurs in the boundaries of countries, or of
counties, no new discovery is made, or railroad built, that is not at once noted
and recorded, and the next edition of each volume carries to every school-room the
new order of things.
6. SUPERIOR  GRADATION.  This is the only series which furnishes an available volume for every possible class in graded schools. It is not contemplated
that a pupil must necessarily go through every volume in succession to attain
proficiency. On the contrary, two will suffice, but three are advised; and, if the
course will admit, the whole series should be pursued. At all events, the books
are at hand for selection, and' every teacher, of'every grade, can find among them
one exactly suited to his class.  The best combination for those who wish to
abridge the course consists of Nos. 1, 2, and 3, or where children are somewhat advanced in other studies when they commence geography, Nos. 1*, 2, and 3. Where
but two books are admissible, Nos. 1* and 2*, or Nos. 2 and 3, are recommended.
7. FORM OF THE VOLUMES AND MECHANICAL EXECUTION.  The maps
and text are no longer unnaturally divorced in accordance with the time-honored
practice of making text-books on this subject as inconvenient and expensive as
possible. On the contrary, all map questions are to' be found on the page opposite
the map itself, and each book is complete in one volume. The mechanical execution is unrivalled. Paper and printing are everything that could be desired, and
the binding is-A. S. Barnes & Company's.
8. MAP-DRAWING.  In 1869 the system of Map-Drawing devised by Professor
JEROME ALLEN was secured exclusively for this series.  It derives its claim to originality and usefulness from the introduction of afixed unit of measurement applicable to every Map. The principles being' so few, simple and comprehensive, the
subject of Map-Drawing is relieved of all practical difficulty. (In Nos. 2, 2*, and 3,
and published separately.)
9. ANALOGOUS OUTLINES. At the same time with Map-Drawing was also
introduced (in No. 2) a new and ingenious variety of Object Lessons, consisting of a
comparison of the outlines of countries with familiar objects pictorially represented.
13 
Yre Vationat Tertes of Ytandard 8echool-ooes.
GEOGRAPHY-Continued.
MONTEITH'S INDEPENDENT COURSE.
Elementary Geography
Comprehensive Geography (with 103 Maps)
These volumes are not revisions of old works-not an addition to any
series-but are entirely new productions —each by itself complete, independent,
comprehensive, yet simple, brief, cheap, and popular; or, taken together, the most
admirable "series" ever offered for a common-school course. They present the
following features, skillfully interwoven-the student learning all about one country
at a time.
LOCAL GEOGRAPHIX, or the Use of Maps. Important features of
the Maps are the coloring of States as objects, and the ingenious system for laying
dowrn a much larger number of names for reference than are found on any other
Maps of same sizedand without crowding.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, or the Natural Features of the Earth,
illustrated by the original and striking Relief Maps, being bird's-eye views or
Qhotographic pictures of the Earth's surface.
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGtRAPHY, including the Physical; with some
account of Governments, and Races, Animals, etc.
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY, or a brief summary of the salient
,oints of history, explaining the present distribution of nations, origin of geographical names, etc.
MATHEIUATICAL GEOGRAPHY, including ASTRONOMICAL,
which describes the Earth's position and character among planets; also the Zones.
Parallels, etc.
COM -PARATIVE GEOGRAPH3Y, or a system of analogy, connecting new lessons with the previous ones, Comparative sizes and latitudes are
shown on the margin of each Map, and all countries are measured in the "fra'ns
of Kansas."
TOPICAL GEOGRAP-Y,' consisting of questions for review, and
testing the student's general,and specific knowledge of the subject, with sugges.
tions for Geographical Compositions.
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY.  A section devoted to this subject, with
Maps, will be appreciated by teachers.  It-is seldom taught in our common schools,
because it has heretofore required the purchase of a separate book.
GRAPHXIC GEOGRAPHY, or MAP-DRAWING by Allen's "Unit of
Measurement" system (now almost universally recognized as without a rival) is
introduced throughout the lessons, and not as an appendix.
CONSTRUCTIVET  GEOGRAPY,-X' or GLOBE-MAKING. With each
book a set of Map Segments is furnished, with which each student may make his
own Globe by following the directions given.
RAILROAD GEOGRAPHY, with a grand Map illustrating routes
of travel in the United States. Also, a "Tour in Europe."
14 
Y'he Vaional Series o' Stacndard School-.ooks.
MAP DRAWING.
Monteith's Map-Drawing Made Easy.
A neat little book of outlines and instructions, giving the "corners of States" in
suitable blanks, so that Maps can be drawn by unskillful hands from any atlas; with
instructions for written exercises or compositions on geographical subjects, and
Comparative Geography.
Monteith's  Manual  of Map-Drawing  (Allen's System).
The only consistent plan, by which all Maps are drawn on one scale. By its use
much time may be saved, and much interest and accurate knowledge gained.
Monteith's Map-Drawing and Object Lessons.
The last-named treatise, bound with Mr. Monteith's ingenious system for committing outlines to memory by means of pictures of living creatures and familiar
objects. Thus, South America resembles a dog's head; Cuba, a lizard; Italy, a boot;
France, a coffee-pot; Turkey, a turkey, etc., etc.
Monteith's Map-Drawing Scale.
A ruler of wood, graduated to the "Allen fixed unit of measurement."
WALL  MAPS.
Monteith's Pictorial Chart of Geography.
The original drawing for this beautiful and instructive chart was greatly admired
in the publisher's "exhibit" at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. It is a picture
of the Earth's surface with every natural feature displayed, teaching also physical
geography, and especially the mutations of water. The uses to which man puts the
earth and its treasures and forces, as Agriculture, Mining, Manufacturing Commerce, and Transportation are also graphically portrayed so that the young learner
gets a realistic idea of "the world we live in," which weeks of book-study might
fail to convey.
Monteith's School Maps, 8 Numbers.
The "School Series" includes the Hemispheres (2 Maps), United States, North
America  South America  Europe, Asia, Africa.-Price, $2.50 each.
Each map is 28 x 34 inches, beautifully colored, has the names all laid down, and
is substantially mounted on canvas with rollers.
Monteith's Grand Maps, 8 Numbers.
The "Grand Series" includes the Hemispheres (1 Map), United States, South
America, Europe, Asia, Africa, The World on Mercator's Projection, and Physical
Map of the World.-Price, $5.00 each. Size 42 x 52 inches, names laid down, colored, mounted, &c.
Monteith's Sunday School Maps,
Including a Map of Paul's Travels ($5.00), one of Ancient Canaan ($3.00), and
Modern Palestine ($3.00), or Palestine and Canaan together ($5.00).
MONTEITH'S GEOGRAPHIES
Have been adopted, by official authority, for the schools of the following States
and Cities-in most cases for exclusive and uniform use.
CALIFORNIA,      TENNESSEE,    IOWA,            ARKANSAS,    NORTH CAROLINA,
MISSOURI,        TEXAS,          LOUISIANA,    FLORIDA,        KANSAS,
ALABAMA,         VERMONT,        OREGON,        MINNESOTA,    MISSISSIPPI.
CITIES.-New York City, Brooklyn, Chicago, New Orleans, Buffalo, Richmond,
Jersey City, Hartford, Worcester, San Francisco, Louisville Newark, Milwaukee,
Charleston, Rochester, Mobile, Syracuse, Memphis, Salt take City, Nashville,
Utica, Wilmington, Trenton, Norfolk, Norwich, Lockport Dubuque, Galveston,
Portland, Savannah, Indianapolis, Springfield, Wheeling, Toledo, Bridgeport, St.
Paul, Vicksburg, &c.
15 
The  Vational Series of Standard 8chool- ooX-s.
Monteith & MoNally's National Geograpbies.
CRITICAL OPIINTION 01'S.
From R. A. ADAMs, Merner of Board of Education, N2Vew York.
1 have found, by examination of the Book of Supply of our Board, that consld
erably the largest number of any series now used in our public  schools is thp
National, by Monteith and MecNally.
From BRO. PATRICK, Chief Provincial of the Vast Educational Society of t/e
CHRISTYA BRcTHErS in the United States.
Having been convinced for some tilac past that the series of Geographies iD
nse in our schools were not giving satisfaction, and came far short of meeting
our most reasonable expectations, I have felt it my imperative duty to examine
into this matter, and see if a remedy could not be found.
Copies of the different Geographies published in this country have been placed
at our command for examination. On account of other pressing duties we have
not been able to give as much time to the investigation of all these different series
as we could have desired; yet we have found enough to convince us that there are
many others better thanthose we are now using; but we cheerfully give our most
decided preference, above all others, to the National Series, by Monteith & McNally.
Their easy gradation, their thoroughly practical and independent character,
their comprehensive completeness as a full and accurate system, the wise discrimination shown in the selection of the subject matter, the beautiful and copious
illustrations, the neat cut type, the general execution of the works, and other ex,
celencies, will commend them to the friends of education everywhere.
From the "HoE MONTHrLY," Nashville, Tenn.
MowrrrH's AND  MCNALLY's  GEoGRArHIES.-Geography is so closely con.
nected with Astronomy, History, Ethnology, and Geology, that it is difficult to
define its limits in the construction of a text-book. If the author confines himself
strictly to a description of the earth's surface, his book will be dry, meager, and
unintelligible to a child. If, on the other hand, he attempts to give information
on the cognate sciences, he enters a boundless field, and may wander too far. It
seems to us that the authors of the series before us have hit on the happy medium
between too much and too little. The -irst Lessons, by applying the system of
object-teaching, renders the subject so attractive that a child, just able to read,
may become deeply interested in it.  The seconid book of the course enlarges the
view, but still keeps to the maps and simple descriptions. Then, in the third
book, we have Geography combined with History and Astronomy. A general
view of tle solar system is presented, so that the pupil may understand the
earth's position on the map of the heavens. The first part of the fourth book
treats of Physical Geography, and contains a vast amount of knowledge compressed into a small space. It is made bright and attractive by beautiful pictures
and suggestive illustrations, on the principle of object-teaching.  The maps in
the second part of this volume are remarkably clear, and the map exercises are
copious and judicious.  In the fifth and last volume of the series, the whole sub.
ject is reviewed and systematized. This is strictly a Geography. Its maps are
beautifully engraved and clearly printed. The map exercises are full and comprehensive. In all these books the maps, questions and descriptions are given in
the same volume. In most geographies there are too many details and minute
descriptions-more than any child out of purgatory ought to be required to learn.
The power of memory is overstrained; there is confutsion-no clearly defined idea
is formed in the child's mind. But in these books, in brief, pointed descriptions,
and constant'ise of bright, accurate maps, the whole subject is photographed oo
the mind.                             16 
he Xational Series of Standiarcd School —ooks.
MATHEMATICS.
DAVIES' NATIONAL COURSE.
ARITHMETIC.
1. Davies' Primary Arithmetic,
2. Davies' Intellectual Arithmetic,
3. Davies' Elements of Written Arithmetic,.
4. Davies' Practical Arithmetic,
Key to Practical Arithmetic,
5. Davies' University Arithmetic,
Key to University Arithmetic,
ALGEBRA.
I. Davies' New Elementary Algebra,
Key to Elementary Algebra,
2. Davies' University Algebra,
Key to University Algebra,
3. Davies' New Bourdon's Algebra,
Key to Bourdon's Algebra,
GEOMETRY.
I. Davies' Elementary Geometry and Trigonometry,
2. Davies' Legendre's Geometry,
3. Davies' Analytical Geometry and Calculus,
~. Davies' Descriptive Geometry,
5. Davies' New Calculus,
MENSURATION.
1. Davies' Practical Mathematics and Mensuration,
2. Davies' Elements of Surveying,
3. Davies' Shades, Shadows, and Perspective,
MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE.
Davies' Grammar  of Arithmetic, 
Davies' Outlines of Mathematical Science,.
Davies' Nature and Utility of Mathematics,
Davies' Metric System,
Davies & Peck's Dictionary of Mathematics,
t7 
atz'onal Serges of Standard 3School-ooks.
DAVIES' NATIONAL COURSE of MATHEMATICS,
ITS RECORD.
In claiming for this series the first place among American text-books, of what
ever class, the Publishers appeal to the magnificent record which its volume#
have earned during the thirty-five years of Dr. Charles Davies' mathematica
labors. The unremitting exertions of a life-time have placed the modern series of
the same proud eminence among competitors that each of its predecessors ha!
successively enjoyed in a course of constantly improved editions, now rounded to
their perfect fruition-for it seems - lm:st that this science is susceptible of na
farther demonstration.
During the period alluded to, many authors and editors in this department have
started into public notice, and by borrowing ideas and processes original with Dr.
Davies, have enjoyed a brief Popularity, but are now almost unknown.  Many of
the series of to-day, built upon a similar basis, and described as "modern books,"
are destined to a similar fate; while the most far-seeing eye will find it difficult to
fix the time, on the basis of any data afforded by their past history, when these
hooks will cease to increase andt[ prosper, and fix a still firmer hold on the affection
of every educated American.
One cause of this unparalleled popularity is found in the fact that the enterprise
of the author did not cease with the original completion of his books. Always a
practical teacher, he has incorporated in his text-books from time to time the advantages of every improvement in methods of teaching, and every advance in
science. During all the years in which he has been laboring, he constantly submitted his own theories and those of others to the practical test of the class-room
-approving, rejecting, or modifying them as the experience thus obtained might
suggest. In this way he has been able to produce an almost perfect series of
class-books, in which every department of mathematics has received minute and
exhaustive attention.
Nor has he yet retired from the field.  Still in tlin prime of life, and enjoying a
ripe experience which no other living mathematician or teacher can emulate, hls
pen is ever ready to carry on the good work, as the progress of science may de,
mand.  Witness his recent exposition of the "Metric System," which received
the official endorsement of Congress, by its Committee on Uniform Weights and
Measures.
DAVIES' SYSTEM  IS  THE  ACKNOWLEDGED  NATIONAL S7~ tDRD  FOR  THo
UtTrD STATES, for the following reasons:  1st.  It is the basis of instruction in the great national sheools at West Point
and Annapolis.
-2d. It has received the quasi endorsement of the Natioan(,l Congress.
3d. It is exclusively used in the public schools of the Nltional Capital.
4th. The officials of the Government use it as authority in all cases involving
mathematical questions.
5th. Our great soldiers and sailors commanding the national armies and navies
Were educated in this system. So have been a majority of eminent scientists in
this country.  All these refer to " Davies" as authority.
6th.  A larger number of American citizens have received their education from
this than from any other series.
7th.  The series has a larger circulation throughout the whole coantry than any
other, being extensively used in every State in the anion.
18 
,Vztional Series of 8tanda'rd Sckool —ooks.
Davies' National Course of Mathematics.
TESTIMONIALS.
From L. Vim BO=KELEN, State Superintendent Public Instruction, Maryland.
The series of Arithmetics edited by Prof. Davies, and published by your firmn
:ave been used for many years in the schools of several counties, and the city ol
baltimore, and have been approved by teachers and commissioners.
Under the law of 1865, establishing a uniform system of Free Public Schools
these Arithmetics were unanimously adopted by the State Board of Education
after a careful examination, and are now used in all the Public Schools of Mary
]and.
These facts evidence the high opinion entertained by the School Authorities of
the value of the series theoretically and practically.
From HORACE WEBSTER, President of the College of New York.
The undersigned has examined, with care and thought, several volumes of Da.
vies' Mathematics, and is of the opinion that, as a whole, it is thie most complete
and best course for Academic and Collegiate instruction, with which he is ac,
,uainted.
From'DAvID N. CxAr, State Superintendent of Common Schools, Connecticut.
I have examined Davies' Series of Arithmetics wvith some care.  The language
is clear and precise; each principle is thoroughly analyze(ld and the whole so ar
ranged as to facilitate the work of instruction.  HIaving observed the satisfaction
and success with which the different books have been used by eminent teachers
it gives me pleasure to commend them to others.
From J. O. WrLsoN, Chairman Committee on Text.Books, Washington, 1). C.
I consider Davies' Arithmetics decidedly superior to any other series, and in
this opinion I am sustained, I believe, by the entire Board of Education and Corps
of Teachers in this city, where they have been used for several years past. 
From Jokm  L. CAM BELL, Professor of Mathematics, Wabash  College, Indiana.
A proper combination of abstract reasoning and practical illustration is the
chief excellence in Prof. Davies' Mathematical works.  I prefer his Arithmetics,
Algebras Geometry and Trigonometly to all others now in use, and cordially re.
commenA them to all who desire the advancement of sound learning.
From MAJOR J. H. WMTTLESEY. eiovernment Inspector of Mililtary Schools.
Be assured, I regard the works of Prof. Davies, with which I am acquainted, as
by far the best text-books in print on rne subjects which they treat.  I shall cer.
tainly encourage their adoption wherever a word from me may be of any avail.
Fromn T. McC. BALLANTInE, Prof. Mathemcatics Cumbertand College, Kentucky.
have long taught Prof. Davies' Course of Mathematics, and I continue to like
their working.
From Jo[w M[cLEA  BELL, B. A., Prin. of Lower Canada CoTlege.
I have used Davies' Arithmetical and Mathematical Series as textsboo,ks in the
schools under my charge for the last fix years.  These 1 have found of great efficacy in exciting, invigorating, ancl concentrating the intellectual fac-lties of the
young.
y Each treatise serves as an introduction to the next higher, by the Similarity of
its reasonings and methods; and the student is carried forward, by easy and
gradual steps, over the whole field of mathematical inquLiry, [nd that, too, in a
shorter time than is usually occupied in mastering a single department. I sinere.ly and heartily recommend them to the attention of my fellow-teachers in Canada.
From D. W. STEELE, Prin. Phziekoian Academy, Cold Springs, Texas.
f have used Davies' Arithmetics t;l I know them nearly by heart.  A better
eries of school-books never were published.  I have recommended them until
they are now used in all this region (.f country.
A large mass of similar "Opinions " may be obtained'by addressing the pub
fishers for special circular for Davies' Mathematics.  New recommendations arf
puablished in current numbers of the Educationat Bulketin.
19
.1 
Ye Xational Series of St81andard School-.ooks.
MATH E MATICS-Continued.
PECK'S ARITHMETICS.
By the Prof. of Mathematics at Columbia College, New York.
1. Peck's First Lessons in Numbers,
Embracing all that is usually included in what are called Primary and Intellectual Arithmetics; proceeding gradually from object lessons to abstract nunmbers; developing Addition and Subtraction simultaneously: with other attractive novelties.
2. Peck's Manual of Practical Arithmetic,
An excellent "Brief" course, conveying a sufficient knowledge of Arithmetic
for ordinary business purposes.
It is thoroughly "practical," because the author believes the Theory cannot be
studied with advantage until the pupil has acquired a certain facility in combining numbers, which can only be had by practice.
3. Peck's Complete Arithmetic,
The  whole subject-theory and practice-presented within very moderate
limits. This author's most remarkable faculty of mathematical treatment is
comprehended in three words: System, Conciseness, Lucidity. The directness
and simplicity of this work cannot be better expressed than in the words of a
correspondent who adopted the book at once, because, as he said, it is "free
from that juggling with numbers" practiced by many authors.
From the" (Galaxy," New York.
In the "Complete Arithmetic" each part of the subject is logically developed.
First are given the necessary definitions; second, the explanations of such signs
(if any) as are used; third, the principles on which the operation depends;
fourth, an exemplification of the manner in which the operation is performed,
which is so conducted that the reason of the rule which is immediately thereafter
deduced is made perfectly plain; after which follow numerous graded examples
and corresponding practical problems. All the parts taken together are arranged
in logical order. The subject is treated as a whole, and not as if made up of
segregated parts. It may seem a simple remark to make that (for example) addition is in principle one and the same everywhere, whether employed upon simple
or compound numbers, fractions, etc., the only difference being in the unit involved; but the number of persons who understand this practically, compared to
the number who have studied arithmetic, is not very great. The student of the
Complete Arithmetic" cannot fail to understand it.  All the principles of the
science are presented within moderate limits. Superfluity of matter-to supplement defective definitions, to make clear faulty demonstrations and rules ex.
pressed either inaccurately or obscurely, to make provision for a multiplicity of
cases for which no provision is requisite-has been carefully avoided. The
definitions are plain and concise; the principles are stated clearly and accurately;
the demonstrations are full and complete; the rules are perspicuous and comprehensive; the illustrative examples are abundant and well fitted to familiarize the
student with the application of principles to the problems of science and of
every-day life.
The Definitions constitute the power of the book. We have never seen
them excelled for clearness and exactness.-Iowa School Journal.
20 
'he  ational serges of Standard SchooZ —ooks.
MATHEMATICS-Continued.
PECK'S HIGHER COURSE.
Peck's Manual of Algebra,
Bringing the methods of Bourdon within the range of the Academic Course.
Peck's Manual of Geometry,
By a method purely practical, and unembarrassed by the details which rather
confuse than simplify science.
Peck's Practical Calculus,
Peck's Analytical Geometry,
Peck's Elementary Mechanics,
Peck's Mechanics, with Calculus,
The briefest treatises on these subjects now published. Adopted by the great
Universities; Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, &c.
ARITHMETICAL EXAMPLES.
Reuck's Examples in Denominate Numbers,
Reuck's Examples in Arithmetic,
These volumes differ from the ordinary arithmetic in their peculiarlypractica
character. They are composed mainly of examples, and afford the most severe and
thorough discipline for the mind. While a book which should contain a complete
treatise of theory and practice would be too cumbersome for every-day us, the
insufficiency of practical examples has been a source of complaint.
HIGHER MATHEMATICS.
Macnie's Algebraical Equations,
Serving as a complement to the more advanced treatises on Algebra, giving special attention to the analysis and solution of equations with numerical coefficients.
Church's Elements of CaIculus,
Church's Analytical Geometry,
Church's Descriptive Geometry, 2 vols.,
These volumes constitute the "West Point Course" in their several departments.
Courtenay's Elements of Calculus,
A standard work of the very highest grade.
Hackley's Trigonometry,
With applications to navigation and surveying, nautil and practical geometry
and geodesy.
21 
yhe ~ational Series of Standard 8$'ooZ-ookles.
P E NIA N S H I P.
Beers' System of Progressive Penmanship.
Per dozen
This "round hand" system of Penmanship in twelve numbers, com   mends itself by its simplicity and thoroughness. The first four numbers
are primary books. Nos. 5 to 7, advanced books for boys. Nos. 8 to 10,
advanced books for girls. Nos. 11 and 12, ornamental penmanship.
These books are printed from steel plates (engraved by MeLees), and are
unexcelled in mechanical execution. Large quantities are annually sold.
Beers' Slated Copy Slips, per set
All beginners should practice, for a few weeks, slate exercises, familiar   izing them with the form of the letters, the motions of the hand and arm,
&c., &c. These copy slips, 32 in number, supply all the copies found in a
complete sesies of writing-books, at a trifling cost.
Payson,Dunton&Scribner's Copy-B'ks.P. doz.,
The National System of Penmanship, in three distinct series-(1) Com   mon School Series, comprising the first six numbers; (2) Business Series,
Nos. 8, 11, and 12; (3) Ladies' Series, Nos. 7, 9, and 10.
Fulton & Eastman's Chirographic Charts,
To embellish the school room walls, and furnish class exercise in the
elements of Penmanship.
Payson's Copy-Book Cover, per hundred
Protects every page except the one In use, and furnishes "lines" with  proper
lope for the penman, under.  Patented.
National Steel Pens, Card with all kinds
Pronounced by competent judges the perfection of American-made pens, and
superior to any fi)reign article.
SCIIOOL SERIES.                  Index Pen, per gross...  75
School Pen, per gross,..$  60              BUSINISS SERIES.
Academic Pen,  do..   63      Albata Pen, per gross,..  40
Fine Pointed Pen, per gross    TO       Bank Pen,    do                 70
POPULAR SERIES.                   Empire Pen,  do..  T70
Capitol Pen, per gross,.. 1 00       Commercial pcn, per gross.   60
do   do  pr. box of 2 doz.   25     Express Pen,          do.   75
Bullion Pen (imit. gold) pr. gr. 75     Falcon Pen,          do.   70
Ladies' Pen                do   63      Elastic Pen,         do.   75
Stimpson's Scientific Steel Pen, per gross  $1 50
One forward and two backward arches, ensuring great strength, well  balanced elasticity, evenness of point, and smoothness of execution. One
gross in twelve contains a Scientific Gold Pen.
Stimpson's Ink-Retaining Holder, per doz. 1 50
A simple apparatus, which does not get out of order, withholds at a
single dip as much ink as the pen would otherwise realize from a dozen
trips to the inkstand, which it supplies with moderate and easy flow.
Stimpson's Gold Pen, $3 00; with Ink Retainer 4 50
Stimpson's Penman's Card,  $0 25
One dozen Steel Pens (assorted points) and Patent Ink-retaining Pew
holder.
22
\ - 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Yhe W~tional Series of St1a'ndard School —ooks.
HISTORY.
Monteith's Youth's History.
A History of the United States for beginners.  It is arranged upon the catechetical
plan, with illustrative maps and engravings review questions, dates in parentheses
(that their study may be optional with the younger class of learners), and interesting
Biographical Sketches of all persons who have been prominently identified with the
history of our country.
Willard's United  States, SchoolandUniversity Editions.
The plan of this standard work is chronologically exhibited in front of the titlepage; the Maps and Sketches are found useful assistants to the memory, and dates,
usually so difficult to remember, are so systematically arranged as in a great degree
to obviate the difficulty. Candor, impartiality, and accuracy, are the distinguishing
features of the narrative portion.
Willard's Universal  History.
The most valuable features of the ", 7United States" are reproduced in this. The
peculiarities of the work are its great conciseness and the prominence given to the
chronological order of events. The margin marks each successive era with great
distinctness, so that the pupil retains not only the event but its time, and thus fixes
the order of history firmly and usefully in his mind, Mrs. Willard's books are constantly revised, and at all times written up to embrace important historical events
of recent date.
Lancaster's English  History,
By the Master of the Stoughton Grammar School, Boston. The most practical of
the "brief books."   Though short, it is not a bare and uninteresting outline, but
contains enough of explanation and detail to make intelligible the cause and effect of
events.  Their relations to the history and development of the American people is
made specially prominent.
Willis' Historical Reader,
Being Collier's Great Events of History adapted to American schools. This rare
epitome of general history, remarkable for its charming style and judicious selection
of events on which the destinies of nations have turned, has been skillfully manipulated by Prof. Willis, with as few changes as would bring the United States into its
proper position in the historical perspective.  As reader or text-book it hag few
equals and no superiors.
Berard's History of England,
By an authoress well known for the success of her History of the Uniited States,
The social life of the English people is felicitously interwoven, as in fact, with the
civil and military transactions of the realm.
Ricord's History of Rome
Possesses the charm of an attractive romance. The Fables with which this history
abounds are introduced in such a way as not to deceive the inexperienced, while
adding materially to the value of the work as a reliable index to the character and
institutions, as well as the history of the Roman people.
Hanna's Bible History.
The only compendium of Bible narrative which affords a connected and chronological view of the important events there recorded, divested of all superfluous detail.
Summary of History;  American,  French and  English.
A well-proportioned outline of leading events, condensing the substance of the
more extensive text-book in common use into a series of statements so brief, that
every word may be committed to memory, and yet so comprehensive that it presents
an accurate though general view of the whole continuous life of natlofts.
Marsh's Ecclesiastical History.
Affording the History of the Church in all ages, with accounts of the pagan world
during Biblical periods, and the character, rise. and progress of all Religions, as well
as the various sects of the worshipers of Christ.  The work is entirely non-sectarian,
though strictly catholic. A separate volume contains carefully prepared QuEsTioNs
for class use.
23 
She  actional Series of Sta1ntarg 8e/ool-o-ooks.
V iSTORY-Continued.
BARNES' ONE-TERM HISTORY.
A Brief History of the United States,
This is probably the MOST ORIGINAL SCHOOL-BOOK published for many years,
in any department. A few of its claims are the following:
1. Brevity.-The text is complete  for Grammar School or intermediate
classes, in 290 12mo pages, large type. It may readily be completed, if desired, in
one term of study.
2, Comprehensiveness.-Though so brief, this book contains the pith of ai
the wearying contents of the larger manuals, and a great deal more than the mem ory usually retains from the latter.
3. Interest has been a prime consideration. Small books have heretofore
been bare, full of dry statistics, unattractive. This one is charmingly written,
replete with anecdote, and brilliant with illustration.
4. Proportion of Events.-It is remarkable  for the discrimination with
which the different portions of our history are presented according to their im portance.  Thus the older works being already large books when the civil war
took place, give it less space than that accorded to the Revolution.
5. Arrangement.-In six epochs, entitled respectively, Discovery and Settle ment, the Colonies, the Revolution, Growth of States, the Civil War, and Current
Events.
6. Catch Words. —Each paragraph is preceded by its leading thought in
prominent type, ss'nding in the student's mind for the whole paragraph.
7. Key Notes.-Analogous with this is the idea of grouping battles, etc.,
about some central event, which relieves the sameness so common in such de scriptions, and renders each distinct by some striking peculiarity of its own.
8. Foot Notes.-These are crowded with  interesting matter that is not
strictly a part of history proper. They may be learned or not, at pleasure. They
are certain in any event to be read.
9. Biographies of all the leading characters are given in full in foot-notes.
10. Mans.-Elegant and dist-ict Maps from engravings on copper-plate, and
beautifully'colored, precede each epoch, and contain all the places named.
1 1. Questions are at the back of the book, to compel a more independent use
, f the text.  Both text and questions are so worded that the pupil must give int iligent answers IN HIS  OWN WORDS.  "Yes" and " No" will not do.
12. Historical Recreations.-These are additional questions to test the stadent's knowledge, in review, as: "What trees are celebrated in our history?"
"When did a fog save our army?"  "What Presidents died in office?" "When
was the Mississippi our western boundary?"  "Who said,'I would rather be
right than President? "etc.
13. The Illustrations, about seventy in number, are the work of our best
artists and engravers, produced at great expense. They are vivid and interesting, and mostly upon subjects never before illustrated in a school-book.
14. Dates.-Only the leading dates are given in the text, and these are so
associated as to assist the memory, but at the head of each page is the date of the
event first mentioned, and at the close ofeach epoch a summary of events and dates.
15. The Philosophy  of History is studiously exhibited-the causes  and
effects of events being distinctly traced and their interconnection shown.
16. Impartiality. -All sectional, partisan, or denominational  views are
avoided.   Facts are stated after a careful comparison of all authorities without
the least prejudice or favor.
17. Indez.-A verbal index at the close of the book perfects it as a work of
reference.
It will be observed that the above are all particulars in which School Histories
have been signally defective, or altogether wanting. Many other claims to favor
it shares in common with its predecessors.
24 
She Wational Series of Standard School —ooks.
BARNES' ONE-TERM HISTORY-Continued.
From PROF. WM. F. ALLEN, State  Univ. of Wisconsirn.
I think the author of the new "Brief History of the United States" has been very
successfuil in combining brevity with sufficient fullness and interest.  Pa?-ricularly,
he has avoided the excessive number of names and dates that most histories contain. Two features that I like very much are the anecdotes at the foot of the page
and the " Historical Recreations"in  the Appendix.  The latter, I think, is quite a
new feature, and the other is very well executed.
From S. G. WRIGrT, Assist.-Supt. Pub. Inst., Kansas.
It is with extreme pleasure we submit our recommendation of the "Brief History
of the United States."  It meets the needs of young and older children, combiniig
concision with perspicuity, and if "brevity is the soul of wit," this "Brief History" contains not only that well-chosen ingredient, but wisdom sufficient to en.
lighten those students who are wearily longing for a "new departure" from certain
old and uninteresting presentations of fossilized writers. We congratulate a progressive public upon a progressive book.
From HON. NEWTON BATEMAN, Supt. Pub. Inst., 7llinois.
Barnes' One-Term History of the United States is an exceedingly attractive and
spirited little book.  Its claim to several new and valualle features seems well
founded. Under the form of six well-defined Epochs, the History of the United
States is traced tersely, yet pithily from the earliest times to the present day.  A
good map precedes each epoch, whereby the history and geography of the period
may be studied togete,ather   s they always should be.  The syllabus of each paragraph
is made to stand in such bold relief, by the use of large, heavy type, as to be ot
much mnemonic value to the student. The book is written in a sprightly and
piquant style, the interest never flagging from beginning to end-a rare and difficult
achievement in works of this kind.
From the "Chicago Schoolmaster" (Editorial).
A thorough examination of Barnes' Brief History of the United States brings the
examiner to the conclusion that it is a superior book in almost every respect. The
book is neat in form, and of good material. The type is clear, large, and distinct.
The facts and dates are correct. The arrangement of topics is just the thing needed
in a history text-book.  By this arrangement the pupil can see at once what he is
expected to do.  The topics are well selected embracing the leading ideas or principal events of American history.... The book as a whole is much  superior
to any I have examined.  So much do I think this, that I have ordered it for my
class, and shall use it in my school.                  (Signed)   B. W. BAKER.
A  Brief History of France,
By the author of the "Brief United States," with all the attractive features of that
popular work (which see), and new ones of its own.
It is believed that the history of France has never before been presented in such
brief compass, and this is effected without sacrificing one particle of interest.  The
book reads like a romance, and, while drawing the student by an irresistible fasci nation to his task, impresses the great outlines indelibly upon the memory.
Gilman's First Steps  in General  History,
A "suggestive outline" of rare compactness.  Each country is treated by itself,
and the United States receive special attention. Frequent Maps, contemporary
events in Tables, References to Standard Works for fuller details and a minute
Index constitute the "Illustrative Apparatus." From no other work that we know
of can so succinct a view of the world's history be obtained. Considering the neces sary limitation of space, the style is surprisingly vivid, and at times even ornate.
In all respects a charming, though not the less practical, text-book.
Gilman's  "Seven  Historic Ages,"
This book is written in the style used by a father talking with his children on the
progress of history. As one Age after another is taken up the author brings before
the young reader the prominent men and characteristic events by which it is to be
remembered. The object is to stimulate the pupil in school or the child at home to
study history, to think of it as a lively picture of the doings of men, and not as a
dead list of uninteresting dates.
Baker's Brief History of Texas,
On the plan of "Barnes' Brief Histories," with Constitution of the State, for
schools.
25 
.'e X~tlional Series of Standard School —ooks.
D R AWIN N G.
Chapman's American Drawing Book,
The standard American text-book and authority in all branches of art. A corn.
pilation of art principles. A manual for the amateur, and basis of study for the pro
essional artist. Adapted for schools and private instruction.
CONTENTS.-" Any one who can Learn to Write can Learn to Draw."-Primary
Instruction in Drawin,g.-Rudiments of Drawing the Human Head.-Rudiments in
Drawing the Human Figure.-Rudiments ofDrawming. -The Elements of Geometry. Perspective.-Of Studying and Sketching from Nature.-Of Paintilg.-Etching and
Engraving.-Of Modeling.-Of Composition-Advice to the American Art-Student,
The work is of course magnificently illustrated with all the original designs.
Chapman's Elementary Drawing Book,
A Progressive Course of Practical Exercises, or a text-book for the training of the
eye and hand. It contains the elements from the larger work, and a copy should
be in the hands of every pupil; while a copy of the "American Drawing Book,"
named above, should be at hand for reference by the class.
The Little Artist's Portfolio,
25 Drawing Cards (progressive patterns), 25 Blanks, and a fine Artist's Pencil,
all in one neat envelope.
Clark's Elements of Drawing,
A complete course in this graceful art, from the first rudiments of outline to the
finished sketches of landscape and scenery.
Fowle's Linear and Perspective Drawing,
For the cultivation of the eye and hand, with copious illustrations and directions for the guidance of the unskilled teacher.
Mlonk's Drawing Books-Six Numbers, per set,
Eachi Coak contains eleven large patterns, with opposing blanks. No. 1. Elernen,
tary Studies.  No. 2. Studies of Foliage.  No. 3. Landscapes.  No. 4. Animals, L
No. 5. Animals, II. No. 6. Marine Views, etc.
Allen's Map-Drawing,                                            Scale,
This method introduces a new era in Map-Drawing, for the following reasons:1. It is a system. This is its greatest merit. -2. It is easily understood and taught.
-3. The eye is trained to exact measurement by the use of a scale.-4. By no special effort of the memory, distance and comparative size are fixed in the mind.5, It discards useless construction of lines.- 6. It can be taught by any teacher, even
though there may have been no previous practice in Map-Drawing.-7. Any pupil
old enough to study Geography can learn by this System, in a short time, to draw
accurate maps.-8. The System is not the result of theory, but comes directly from
the school-room. It has been thoroughly and successfully tested there, with all
grades of pupils.-9. It is economical, as it requires no mapping plates.  It gives
the pupil the ability of rapidly drawing accurate maps.
Ripley's Map-Drawing,
Based on the Circle.  One of the most efficient aids to the acquirement or a
knowledge of Geography is the, practice of map-drawing.  It is useful for the same
reason that the best exercise in orthography is the writing of difficult words.
Sight comes to the aid of hearing, and a double impression is produced upon the
memory.  Knowledge becomes less mechanical and more intuitive.  The student
who has sketched the outlines of a country, and dotted the important places, is little
likely to forget either. The impression produced may be compared to that of a
tra~-ller who has been over the ground, while more comprehensive and accurate in
;ltuP,
26
- 0. 
Yhe Va/ional Serges of Staniard School-.-ooks,
BOOK-KEEPING.
Folsom's Logical Book-keeping,
Folsom's Blanks to Book-keeping,
This treatise embraces the interesting and important discoveries
of Prof. Folsom (of the Albany "Bryant & Stratton College"'), the par   tial enunciation of which in lectures and otherwise has attracted so
much attention in circles interested in commercial education.
After studying business phenomena for many years, he has arrived
at the positive laws and principles that underlie the whole subject of
Accounts; finds that the science is based in Value as a generic term   that value divides into two classes with varied species; that all the
exchanges of values are reducible to nine equations; and that all the
results of all these exchanges are limited to tairteen in number.
As accounts have been universally taught hitherto, without setting
out from a radical analysis or definition of values, the sciehce has
been kept in great obscurity, and been made as difficult to impart as
to acquire.  On the new theory, however, these obstacles are chiefly
removed.  In reading over the first part of it, in which the governing
laws and principles are discussed, a person with ordinary intelligence
will obtain a fair conception of the double entry process of accounts.
But when he comes to study thoroughly these laws and principles as
there enunciated, and works out the examples and memoranda which
elucidate the thirteen results of basiness, the student will neither fail
in readily acquiring the science as it is, no. in becoming able intelli   gently to apply it in the interpretation of business.
Smith & Martin's Book-keeping,
Smith & Martin's Blanks,
This work is by a practical teacher and a practical book-keeper.
It is of a thoroughly popular class, and will be welcomed by every
one who loves to see theory and practice combined in an easy, con   cise, and methodical form.
The Single Entry portion is well adapted to supply a want felt in
nearly all other treatises, which seem to be prepared mainly for the
use of wholesale merchants, leaving retailers, mechanics, farmers
etc., who transact the greater portion of the business of the country,
without a guide.  The work is also commended, on this account, for
general use in Young Ladies' Seminaries, where a thorough ground   ing in the simpler form of accounts will be invaluable to the future
housekeepers of the nation.
The treatise on Double Entry Book-keeping combines all the ad   vantages of the most recent methods, with the utmost simplicity of
application, thus affording the pupil all the advantages of actual ex  perience in the counting-house, and giving a clear comprehension of
the entire subject through a judicious course of mercantile trans  actions.'
The shape of the book is such that the transactions can be pre.
sented as in actual practice; and the simplified fomn of Blanks  three in number-adds greatly to the ease experienced in acquiring
the science. 
rhe.rational Ser'es of Stand'ar  SchooZ —ooks.
NATURAL
FAMILIAR SCIENCE.
Norton & Porter's First Book of Science,
By eminent Professors of Yale College.   Contains the principles of NaturE
Philosophy, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physiology, and Geology. Arranged on the
Catechetical plan for primary classes and beginners.
Chambers' Treasury of Knowledge,
Progressive lessons upon-first, common things which lie most immediately
around us, and first attract the attention of the young mind; second, common objects
from the Mineral, Animal, and Vegetable kingdoms, manufactured articles, and
miscellaneous substances; third, a systematic view of Nature under the various
sciences. May be used as a Reader or Text-book.
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
Norton's First Book in Natural Philosophy,
By Prof. NORTON, of Yale College. Designed for beginners. Profusely illustrated
and arranged on the Catechetical plan.
Peck's Ganot's Course of Nat. Philosophy,
The standard text-book of France, Americanized and popularized by Prof. PEcK,
of Columbia College.'The most magnificent system of illustration ever adopted in
an American school-book is here found.  For intermediate classes.
Peck's Elements of Mechanics,
A suitable introduction to Bartlett's higher treatises on Mechanical Philosophy,
and adequate in itself for a complete academical course.
Bartlett's SYNTHETIC, AND ANALYTIC, Mechanics,
Bartlett's Acoustics and Optics,
A system of Collegiate Philosophy, by Prof. BARTLETT, of West Point Military
Academy.
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in Philos. (see p. 34)
Steele's Philosophical Apparatus,
Adequate to performing the experiments in the ordinary text-books.  The articles
will be sold separatelj. if desired. See special circular for details.
GEOLOGY.
Page's Elements of Geology,
A volume of Chambers' Educational Course. Practical, simple. and eminently
calculated to make the study interesting.
Emmons' Manual of Geology,
The first Geologist of the country has here produced a work worthy of his repu.
tation.
Steele's 14 Weeks Course (seep.34)
Steele's Geological Cabinet,
Containing 125 carefully selected specimens. In four parts. Sold separately, it
,esired.  See circular for details.
28
SCIENCE. 
'he.ationa, Ser'es of,ta'ard $e] oon — ook:.
~~~~~~~.               t    ra   8ceo -D o s
Peck's Ganot's Popular Physics.
From  ROF. ALONZO COLLN, Cornell College, Iowa.
I am pleased with it. I have decided to introduce it as a text-book.
Fro  H. F. JomNsox, President Madison College, Sharon, Ho
I am pleased with Peck's Ganot, and think it a magnificent book.
From PROF. EDWARD BaOOiS, Pennsylvania State Normal Sc)ax.
So eminent are its merits, that it will be introduced as the text-book upm  M
inentary physics in this institution.
From H. H. LocKwooD, Professor Natural Philosophy U. S. Yarat Academy.
I am so pleased with it that I will probably add it to a course of lectures given to
the midshipmen of this school on physics.
PFromn GEO. S. MAcmm, Professor Natural tfetory Universoity of Niashville, Tenn.
I have decided on the introduction of Peck's Ganot's Philosophy as I am satlS
fled that it is the best book for the purposes of my pupils that I have seen, con
bining simplicity of explanation with elegance of illustration.
From W. S. McRAE, Superintendent Vevay Public Schools, Indiana.
Having carefully examined a number of text-books on natural philosophy, I da
not hesitate to express my decided opinion in favor of Peck's Ganot. The matter.
style, and illustration eminently adapt the work to the popular wants.
From REv. SAMxUEL McK   EY, D.D., Pres't Austin College, Iluntsville, Texas.
It gives me pleasure to commend it to teachers. I have taught some classes wit'
it as our text, and must say, for simplicity of style and clearness of illustration, ]
have found nothing as yet published of equal value to the teacher and pupil.
From C. V. SPEAR, Principal Maplewood Institute, Pittsfield. Mass.
I am much pleased with its ample illustrations by plates, and its clearness and
simplicity of statement. It covers the ground usually gone over by our higher
classes, and contains many fresh illustrations from life or daily occurrences and
new applications of scientific principles to such.
From J. A BANFIELD, Superintendent Marshall Public Schools, Michiga,
I have used Peck's Ganot since 186S, and with increasing pleasure and salsfas.
tion each term. I consider it superior to any other work on physics in its a laptation to our high schools and academies.  Its illustrations are superb- better
than three times their number of pages of fine print.
From A. SCXrLER, Prof. of Mathemnatics in Baldwin University, Berea,  4hio.
After a careful examination of Peck's Ganot's Natural Philosophy, and ar actual
test of its merits as a text-book, I can heartily recommend it as admirably hAapted
to meet the wants of the grade of students for which it is intended. Its diagrams
and illustrations are unrivaled. We use it in the Baldwin University.
From D. C. VAN NORMAN, Principal Van Normana  Institute, New York.
The Natural Philosophy of M. Ganot. edited by Prof. Peck, is, in my opinion,
fthe best work of its kind, for the use intended, ever published in this country.
Whether regarded in relation to the natural order of the topics, the precision and
clearness of its definitions, or the fullness and beauty of its llustrations, it is cel
tainly, I think, an advance.
M   For many similar testimonials, see current numbers of' tdw Nistrated E5
aLcational Bvl etm.
29
mESTIMONIALS. 
Y     he Vational Series of 81andcrd S8chool-ooks.
NATURAL SCIENCE-.Continued.
CHEMISTRY.
Porter's First Book of Chemistry,
Porter's Principles of Chemistry,
The above are widely known as the productions of one of the most eminent scien tific men of America. The extreme simplicity in the method of presenting the
science, while exhaustively treated, has excited universal commendation.
Darby's Text-Book of Chemistry,
Purely a Chemistry, divesting the subject of matters comparatively foreign to it
(such as heat, light, electricity, etc.), but usually allowed to engross too much atten tion in ordinary school-books.
Gregory's Chemistry, (Organic and Inorganic, each)
The science exhaustively treated. For colleges and medical students.
Steele's Fourteen Weeks  Course,
A successful effort to reduce the study to the limits of a s8ingle term. (See page 34.)
Steele's Chemical Apparatus,
Adequate to the performance of all the important experiments.
BOTANY.
Thinker's First Lessons in Botany,
For children.  The technical terms are largely dispensed with in favor of an easy
and familiar style adapted to the smallest learner.
Wood's Object-Lessons in Botany,
Wood's American Botanist and Florist,
Wood's New Class-Book of Botany,
The standard text-books of the United States in this department. In style they
are simple, popular, and lively; in arrangement, easy and natural; in description,
graphicandstrictly exact. The Tables for Analysis are reduced to a perfect system.
ore are annually sold than of all others combined.
Wood's  Plant Record,
A simple form of Blanks for recording observations in the gLeld.
Wood's Botanical Apparatus,
A portable Trunk, containing Drying Press, Knife, Trowel, Microscope, and
Tweezers, and a copy of Wood's Plant Record-composing a complete outfit for the
collector.
Willis's Flora of New Jersey,
Cats 8  Plantarum in Nova COarea-repertarum."   This remarkable flora
is of great interest to all botanists, and the Jersey Pines have been termed "the
Mecca to which every young botanist hopes some day to make a pilgrimage."  This
work is indispensable to those botanizing onthe ground, and is the most useful
book of reference ever published for collectors in all parts of the country.  It contains also a Botanical Directory, with addresses of living American botanists.
Young's Familiar Lessons,
Combining simplicity of diction with some degree of technical and scientific
knowledge for intermediate classes. Specially adapted for Texas and the Southwest.
Darby's Southern Botany,
Embracing general Structural and Physiological Botany, with vegetable products,
and descriptions of Southern plants, and a complete Flora of the Southern States.
30 
The  Vationta Series of Sta'dctrd Scltool —ooks.
NATURAL SCIENCE-Continued.
WOOD'S BOTANIES.
T E S by' I 1VI 0 N I A L S.
Fro07m PROF. RICHARD OWEN, Tniversity of Indiana.
I am well pleased with the evidence of philosophical method exhibited in the
general arrangement, as well as with the clearness of the explanations, the ready
intelligibility of the analytical tables, and the illustrative aid furnished by the
numerous and excellent wood-cuts.  I design using the work as a text-book with
my next class.
From PRrN. B. R. ANDERSON, Columbus Union School, WTsonsie.
I have examined several works with a view to recommending some good textbook on Botany, but I lay them all aside for "Wood's Botanist and Florist." The
arrangement of the book is in my opinion excellent, its style fascinating and attractive, its treatment of the various departments of the science is thorough, and last
but far from unimportant, I like the topical form of the questions to each chapter.
It seems to embrace the entire science.  In fact, I consider it a complete, attractive,
and exhaustive work.
From M. A. MARSHALL, New Haven tqitg Sc7ool, Conn.
It has all the excellencies of the well-known Class-Book of Botany by the same
author in a smaller book. By a judicious system of condensation, the size of the
Flora is reduced one-half, while no species are omitted, and many new ones are
added. The descriptions of species are very brief, yet sufficient to identify the
plant, and, when taken in connection with the generic description, form a complete
description of the plant. The book as a whole will suit the wants of classes better
than anything I have yet seen. The adoption of the Botanist and Florist would
not require the exclusion of the Class-Book of Botany, as they are so arranged thai
both might be used by the same class.
romn PROF. G. H. PERKINS, University of Vermont and State Aqric?dltural Col'ee.
I can truly say that the more I examine Wood's Class-Book, the better pleased I
am with it. In its illustrations, especially of particulars not easily observed by the
student, and the clearness and compactness of its statements, as well as in the territory its flora embraces, it appears to me to surpass any other work I know of.
The whole science, so far as it can be taught in a college course, is well presented.
and rendered unusually easy of comprehension.  The mode of analysis is excellent'
avoiding as it does to a great extent those microscopic characters which puzzle the
beginner, and using those that are obvious as far as possible. I regard the work as
a most admirable one, and shall adopt it as a text-book another year.
AGRICULTURE.
Pendleton's Scientific Agriculture,
A text-book for colleges and schools; treats of the following topics: Anatomy
and Physiology of Plants: Agricultural Meteorology; Soils as related to Physics:
Chemistry of the Atmosphere; of Plants; of Soils; Fertilizers and Natural Manures; Animal Nutrition, etc.  By E. M. PENDLETON, M.D., Prof. of Agriculture in
the University of Georgia.
From President A. D. WHIIITE, Cornell University.
De,er Sir: I have examined your "Text-book of Agricultural Science," and it
s(enms to me excellent in view of the purpose it is intended to serve.  Many of your
chapters interested me especially, and all parts of the work seem to combine scieitific instruction with practical information in proportions dictated by sound common sense.
From President ROBINSON, of Broian Tniversity.
It is scientific in method as well as in matter, comprehensive in plan, natural and
logical in order, compact and lucid in its statements, and must be useful both as a
text-book in Agricultural colleges, and as a hand-book for intelligent planters and
farmers.
31 
77he Vational Series o0' Stazdargd S3c/ool —ooks.
- NATURAL SCIENCE-Continued.
PHYSIOLOGY.
Jarvis' Elements | Physiology,
Jarvis'  Physiology  and  Laws  of Health,
The only books extant which approach this subject with a proper view of the
true object of teaching Physiology in schools, viz., that scholars may know how to
take care of their own health. In bold contrast with the abstract Anatomies, which
children learn as they would Greek or Latin (and forget as soon), to discipline the
mind, are these text-books, using the science as a secondary consideration, and only
so far as is necessary for the comprehension of the laws of iealth.
Hamilton's  Vegetable  and  Animal   Physiology,
The two branches of the science combined in one volume lead the student to a
proper comprehension of the Analogies of Nature.
Steele's Fourteen Weeks Course,
In the popular style, avoiding technical and purely scientific formulas. It con tains beautiful and vivid illustrations, some of them colored, and a blackboard
analysis of the skeleton. The sections on diseases and accidents, and their prompt
home treatment, give the book great practical value (see p. 34).
ASTRONOMY.
Willard's School Astronomy,
By means of clear and attractive illustrations, addressing the eye in many cases
by analogies, careful definitions of all necessary technical terms, a careful avoidance
of verbiage and unimportant matter, particular attention to analysis, and a general
adoption of the simplest methods. Mrs. Willard has made the best and most at tractive dementary Astronomy extant.
Mcintyre's  Astronomy  and  the  Globes,
A complete treatise for intermediate classes. Highly approved.
Bartlett's Spherical Astronomy,
The West Point course, for advanced classes, with applications to the current
wants of Navigation, Geography, and Chronology.
Steele's Fourteen Weeks Course,
Reduced to a single term, and better adapted to school use than any work heretofore published. Not written for the information of scientific men, but for the
inspiration of youth, the pages are not burdened with a multitude of figures which
no memory could possibly retain. The whole subject is presented in a clear and
concise form. (See p. 34.)
NATURAL HISTORY.
Carll's Child's Book of Natural History,
Illustrating the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms, with applicatien to
the Arts. For beginners. Beautifully and copiously illustrated.
ZOOLOGY.
Chambers' Elements of Zoology,
A complete and comprehensive system of Zoology, adapted ror academic instruction, presenting a systematic view of the Animal Kingdom as a portion of external
Nature.
Steele's Fourteen Weeks Course,
Notable for its superb and entertaining illustrations, which include every animal named; blackboard tables of classification and tabular review of the whole
animal kingdom; interesting and characteristic facts and anecdotes; directions for
collecting and preserving specimens, etc., etc. (See p. 34.)
32 
Wational Series of Standard School-ookos.
Jarvis' Physiology and Laws of Health.
TESTIMONIALS.
From SAU'L B. MoLANE, Superintesdent Public Shools, Keokuk, Iowa.
I am glad to see a really good text-book on this much neglected branch. This is
oear, concise, accurate, and eminently adapted to the class-room.
Prom WILLIAM F. WYEms, Principal of Academy, West Chester, Pennsylvana.
A thorough examination has satisfied me of its superior olaima as a text-hook to the
attention of teacher and taught   I shall introduce it at once.
From H. R. SANFO.n, Pincipal of East Genesee Conference Soemirxy,.V. Y.
"Jarvis' Physiology" is received, and fully met our expectations.  We immediately
adopted it.
rom Isec T. GOODNOW, State Supeo'ntenden,t of Kansas-published in connectio
with the "Schluol Law."
"Jarvis' Physiology," a coamon-sense, practical work, with just enouih of anatomy to understand the physiological portioins& The last six pages, on Man's Respon
sibility for his own health, are worth the price of the book.
From D. W. STEvENS, Superintendent Public Schools, Fall River, Mass.
[ have examined Jarvis' "Physiology and Laws of Health," which you had the
kindness to send to me a short time ago. In my judgment it is far the best work of
the kind within my knowledge. It has been adopted as a text-book in our public
schools.
From HENRv G. DENNY, Chairman Book Committee, Boston, Mass.
The very excellent "Physiology" of Dr:. Jarvis I had introduced into our High
School, where the study had been temporarily dropped, believing it to be by far the
best work of the kind that had come under my observation; indeed, the reintroduction of the study was delayed for some months, because Dr. Jarvis' book could not be
had, and we were unwilling to take any other.
From Psof. A. P. PEABODY, D.D., LL.D., Harm     Vn4versitjy.
*  I have been in the habit of examining school-hobka with great eare, and I
hesitate not to say that, of all the text-books on Physiokgy whieb have been given to
the public, Dr. Jarvis' deserves the first place on the score i  aecasaey, throuaghness,
method, simplicity of statement, and constant reference to topics of practicaL interest
and utility.
From JAMEs N. TOWNSmEND, Superintsdvnt Pubic S'&h s, ltdsn, X   Y.
Every human being is appointed to take harge of his owl body; and of all books
written upon this subject, I know of no  which will sa well prepare one to, do this as
,'Jarvis' Physiology"-that is, in so s&,,rc  a composs of metten.  It considers the
pure, simple laws of health paramouna  to secene; and though thle workl is thoroughly
scientific, it is divested of all euom,ous a teehlcalit.es, End  presents the sulieet f physical life in a manner and style rea!d  eahming,. It is uquestionably the best textbook on physiology I have ever seen. It is gving, great sa'etios'hi i*a ~o so;
this city, where it has been adopted as the standard.
F,rom L. J. Sioi,   1. D., Prof. Anatomy and Phys'   in  Ycle Collre
Books on human physiogy, designed for the use of schools, are more generaly a
failure perhaps than are scosolboks o0 most other subjects. 
The great want in this department is met, we think, in the well-written treatise of
Dr. Jarvis, entitled'"Physiology aec Laws of Health."  *      The work is not too
detailed nor too expansive in any department, and is clear and concise in all. It in
not burdened with an excess of anatomical desoription, nor rendered discursive by
many zoological references Anatomnical atatetments are made to the extent of qualifying the student to attend, understandingly, to an expos,ition of those fmnctional pro,
messes which, Electively, make tp health; thus the 1,ws of health are enunciated,
and many suggestions are given which, if heede4, wll tend to its preservastion.
For further testimony of umlimar character, see CVt'qt numbrs QOf tue 4U
%mtod ]Educational DuUetiu.
33 
Wke Vational Series of Standard School-l0ooks.
NATURAL SCIENCE.
"FOURTEEN WEEKS" IN EACH BRANCH,
By J. DORMAN STEELE, A. M.
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in
Steele's 14 Weeks Course in
Our Text-Books in these studies are, as a general thing, dull and uninteresting.
They contain from 400 to 600 pages of dry facts and unconnected details. They
abound in that which the student cannot learn, much less remember. The papil
commences the study, is confused by the fine print and coarse print, and neither
knowing exactly what to learn nor what to hasten over, is crowded through the
single term generally assigned to each branch, and frequently comes to the close
without a definite and exact idea of a single scientific principle.
Steele's Fourteen Weeks Courses conitain only that which every well-informed
person should know, while all that which concerns only the professional scientist
is omitted. The language is clear, simple, and interesting, and the illustrations
bring the subject within the range of home life and daily experience. They give
such of the general principles and the prominent facts as a pupil can make familiar as household words within a single term. The type is large and open; there
is no fine print to annoy; the cuts are copies of genuine experiments or natural
phenomena, and are of fine execution.
In fine, by a system of condensation peculiarly his own, the author reduces each
branch to the limits of a single term of study, while sacrificing nothing that is essential, and nothing that is usually retained from the study of the larger manuals
in common use. Thus the student has rare opportunity to economize his time, or
rather to employ that which he has to the best advantage.
A notable feature is the author's charming "style," fortified by an enthusiasm
over his subject in which the student will not fail to partake. Believing that
Natural Science is full of fascination, he has moulded it into a form that attracts
he attention and kindles the enthusiasm of the pupil.
The recent editions contain the author's "Practical Questions" on a plan never
before attempted in scientific text-books. These are questions as to the nature
and cause of common phenomena, and are not directly answered in the text, the
design being to test and promote an intelligent use of the student's knowledge of
the foregoing principles.
Steele's General Key to his Works.
This work is mainly composed of Answers to the Practical Questions and Solu
tions of the Problems in the author's celebrated "Fourteen Weeks Courses" il
the several sciences, with many hints to teachers, minor Tables, &c. Should b#
on every teacher's desk.
34
Chemistry (New Ed.)
Astronomy
Philosophy
Geology
Physiology
Zoology 
.ke Xational Senes of Standard School-oooks.
Steele's 14 Weeks in each Scoience.
TESTI M ON I A L S.
From L. A. BnLE, President N. C. College.
! have not been disappointed. Shall take pleasure in introducing this serie&
From J. F. Cox, Prest. Southern Female College, Ga.
I am much pleased with these books, and expect to introduce them.
From J. R. BR,AT Prin. Brownsville Female College, Tenn.
They are capital little books, and are now in use in our institution.
From W. H. GOODALE, _Pofessor Readvelle Seminary, La.
WVe are using your 14 Weeks Course, and are much pleased with them.
From, W. A. BOLES, Supt. Shelbyville Graded School, Ind.
They are as entertaining as a story book, and much more improving to the mind
From S. A. SNow, Principal of fli7ty Scltooe, Uxbridge, Mass.
Steele's 14 Weeks Courses in the Sciences are a perfect success.
PFrom JOHN W. DOUGeTY, Newvburg Free Academy, N. Y.
I was prepared to find Prof. Steele's Course both attractive and instructive. MS
highest expectations have been filly realized.
From J. S. BLACKWELL, Prest. Ghent College, Ky.
Prof. Steele's unexampled success in providing for the wants of academic classes,
has led me to look forward with high anticipations to his forthcoming issue.
From J. F. Coos, Prest. La Grange College, Mo.
I am pleased with the neatness of these books and the delightful diction. I have
been teaching for years, and have never seen a lovelier little volume than the Astronomy.
Prom M. W. SMITu, Prin. of Sigh School, Morrison, Ill.
They seem to me to be admirably adapted to the wants of a public school, containing, as they do, a sufficiently comprehensive arrangement of elementary principles to excite a healthy thirst for a more thorough knowledge of those sciences.
From J. D. BAP.TLEY, Prin. of High School, Concord, N. H.
Thay are just such books as I have looked for, viz., those of interesting style,
not cumbersome and filled up with things to be omitted by the pupil, and yet suff~cietitly full of facts for the purpose of most scholars in these sciences in our high
schools; there is nothing but what a pupil of average ability can thoroughly
master.
From ALONZO NOr,TON LEWis, Principal of Parker Academy, Conn.
I consider Steele's Fourteen Weeks Courses in Philosophy, Chemistry, &c., the
beat scho(l-b),)oks that have been issued in this country.
As an introduction to the various branches of which they treat, and especially
for that numerous class of pupils who have not the time for a more extended
course, I consider them invaluable.
Friom EDWARD BROOts, Prin. State Normal School, M"Illersvilke, Pa.
At the meeting of Normal School Principals, I presented the following resolntion, which was unanimously atdopted:  "iResolved,. That Steele's 14 Weeks
Courses il Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, or an amount equivalent to what
is contained in them, be adopted for use in the State Normal Schools of Pennsylvania." The works themselves will be adopted by at least three of the schools,
and, I presume, by them all.
35 
,Vational Series or St1andard Scheool —ooks.
L. I TERAT U RE.
Gilman's First Steps in English Literature,
The character and plan of this exquisite little textbook may be best understood
from an analysis of its contents:
INTRODUCTION. Chapter I, Historical; II, Definition of Terms; III, Languages
of Europe, with Chart.
PERIOD OP IlMATURE ENGLISH, with Chart.  Chapter IV, Original English; V
Broken English; VI, Dead English; VII, Reviving English.
PERIOD OF MATURE ENGLIsH, with Chart.  Chapter VIII, The Italian Influence;
IX, Puritan Influence; X, French Influence; XI, Age of Pope; XI1, Age of Johnson; XIII, Age of Poetical Romance; XIV, Age of Prose Romance.
The volume concludes with a Chart of Bible Translations, a Bibliography or
Guide to General Reading, and other aids to the student.
Cleveland's Compendiums,
ENGLISH LITERATURE.                      AMERICAN  LITERATURE.
ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE XIXTH CENTURY.
In these volumes are gathered the cream of the literature of the English-speaking
people for the school-room and the general reader. Their reputation is national.
More than 125,000 copies have been sold.
Boyd's English Classics,
MILTON'S PARADISE LOST.                      THOMSON'S SEASONS.
YOuNG'S NIGHT THOUGEHTS.                    POLLOK'S COURSE OF TIME.
COWPER'S TASK. TABLE TALK, &C. LORD BACON:S ESSAYS.
This series of annotated editions of great English writers, in prose and poetry,
is designed for critical reading and parsing in schools. Prof. J. R. Boyd proves
himself an editor of high capacity, and the works themselves need no encomium.
As auxiliary to the study of Belles Lettres, etc., these works have no equal.
Pope's Essay on Man,
Pope's Homer's Iliad,
The metrical translation of the great poet of antiquity, and the matchless "Essay
on the Nature and State of Man," by ALEXANDER POPE, afford superior exercise in
literature and parsing.
ST HE TIC S.
Huntington's  Manual  of the  Fine  Arts,
A view of the rise and progress of Art indifferent countries, a brief account of
the most eminent masters of Art, and an analysis of the principles of Art.  It is
complete in itself, or may precede to advantage the critical work of Lord Kames.
Boyd's Kames' Elements of Criticism,
The best edition of this standard work; without the study of which none may be
considered proficient in the science of the Perceptions.  No other study can be pursued with so marked an 4ffect upon the taste and refinement of the pupil.
36
_cc_ 
Yke.Vational Series of' S1atZlard School-ookls.
CLEVELAND'S COMPENDIUMS.
TESTIEOZNTIALS_
F'rom the New Englander.
This Is the very best book of the kind we have ever examined.
From GEORGE B. EMERSON, Esq., Boston.
The Biographical Sketches are just and discriminating; the selections are admir.
able, and I have adopted the work as a text-book for my first class.
From PROF. MOSES COIT TYLER, of the Michigan University.
I have given your book a thorough examination, and am greatly delighted with
It; and shall have great pleasure in directing the attention of my classes to a wore
which affords so admirable a bird's-eye view of recent "English Literature."
From the Saturday Review.
It acquaints the reader with the characteristic method, tone, and quality of all the
chief notabilities of the period, and will give the careful student a better idea of the
recent history of English Literature than nine educated Englishmen in ten possess.
Fromn the Methodist Quarterly Review, New York.
This work is a transcript of the best American mind; a vehicle of the noblest
American spirit.  No parent who would introduce his child to a knowledge of our
country's literature, and at the same time indoctrinate his heart in the purest principles, need fear to put this manual in the youthful hand.
From REv. C. PEIRcE, Pridwipal, West Newton, Mass.
I do not believe the work is to be found from which, within the same limits, so
much interesting and valuable information in regard to English writers and English
literature of every age, can be obtained; and it deserves to find a place in all our
high schools and academies, as well as in every private library.
From the Independent.
The work of selection and compilation-requiring a perfect familiarity with the
whole range of English literature, a judgment clear and impartial, a taste at once
delicate and severe, and a most sensitive regard to purity of thought or feeling-has
been better accomplished in this than in any kindred volume with which we are
acquainted.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Champlin's Lessons on Political Economy,
An improvement on previous treatises, being shorter yet containing everything
essential, with a view of recent questions in finance, etc., which is not elsewhere
found.
From J. L. BOTEHWELL, Prin. Public School No. 14, Albany, V. Y.
I have examined Champlin's Political Economy with much pleasure, and shall be
pleased to put it into the hands of my pupils. In quantity and quality I think it
superior to anything that I have examined.
From PRES. N. E. COBLEIGR, East Tennessee Wesleyan University.
An examination of Champlin's Political Economy has satisfied me that it is the
book I want. For brevity and compactness, division of the subject, and clear statement, and for appropriateness of treatment, I consider it a better text-book than
any other in the market.
From the Eveningq Mail, 2ew York.
A new interest has been imparted to the science of political economy since we
have been necessitated to raise such vast sums of money for the support of the goverrment. The time, therefore, is favorable for the introduction of works like the
above. This little volume of two hundred pages is intended for beginners, for the
common school and academy. It is intended as a basis upon which to rear a more
elab:)rlie soperstructure.  There is nothing in the principles of political economy
abl)ove the comprehension of average scholars, when they are e learly set forth.  This
seems to have been done by President Champlin in an easy and graceful m-uioer.
37 
ace lVational Series o/ Standard School —ooks.
ELOCUTION.
Thwing's Vocal Culture.
A Drill-Book for voice and gesture, by Rev. Prof. Thwing, of Brooklyn Tabernacle
Lay College. Price 50 cts.
Taverner Graham's Reasonable Elocution,
Based upon the belief that true Elocution is the right interpretation of THOUGHT,
and guiding the student to an intelligent appreciation, instead of a merely ulechanical knowledge, of its rules.
Zachos' Analytic Elocution.
All departments of elocution-such as the analysis of the voice and the sentence,
phonology, rhythm, expression, gesture, etc.-are here arranged for instruction in
classes, illustrated by copious examples.
Sherwood's Self Culture.
Self-culture in reading, speaking, and conversation-a very valuable treatise to
those who would perfect themselves in these accomplishments.
SPEAKERS.
Northend's Little Orator-Child's Speaker.
Two little works of the same grade but different selections, containing simple and
attractive pieces for children under twelve years of age.
Northend's Young Declaimer.
Northend's National Orator.
Two volumes of Prose, Poetry, and Dialogue, adapted to intermediate and grammar classes respectively.
Northend's Entertaining Dialogues.
Extracts eminently adapted to cultivate the dramatic faculties, as well as entertain
an audience.
Swett's Common School Speaker.
Selections from recent literature.
Raymond's Patriotic Speaker,
A superb compilation of modern eloquence and poetry, with original dramatic exercises.  Nearly every eminent living orator is represented, without distinction of
place or party.
COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC.
Brookfield's First Book in Composition,
Making the cultivation of this important art feasible for the smallest child. By a
new method, to induce and stimulate thought.
Boyd's Composition and Rhetoric.
This work furnishes all the aid that is needful or can be desired in the various departments and styles of composition, both in prose and verse.
Day's Art of Rhetoric,
Noted for exactness of definition, clear limitation, and philosophical development
of subject; the large share of attention given to Invention, as a branch of Rhetoric,
and the unequalled analysis of style.
38 
She Xational Series o] Standard 8ScooZ —ooks.
MIND AND IORALS.
Mahan's Intellectual Philosophy.
The subject exhaustively considered. The author has evinced learning, candor,
and independent thinking.
Mahan's Science of Logic
A profound analysis of the laws of thought.  The system possesses the merit
being intelligible and self consistent.  In addition to the author's carefully elaborate views, it embraces results attained by the ablest minds of Great Britain, Germany, and France, in this department.
Boyd's Elements of Logic
A systematic and philosophic condensation of the subject, fortified with additions
from Watts, Abercrombie, Whately, &C
Watts on the Mlind
The Improvement of the Mind, by Isaac Watts, is designed as a guide for the
attainment of useful knowledge.  As a text-book it is unparalleled; and the discipline it affords cannot be too highly esteemed by the educator.
Peabody's Moral Philosophy
A  short course; by the Professor of Christian Morals,'Harvard University-for
the Freshman Class and for High Schools.
Fletcher's Practical Ethics
A topical analysis of each of the Virtues and Graces, famrnishing outlines for the
pupil to illustrate from his own experience or reading.
Alden's Text-Book of Ethics
For young pupils. To aid in systematizing the ethical teachings of the Bible
and pomt out the coincidences between the instructions of the sacred volume and
the sound conclusions of reason.
Willard's Morals for the Young
Lessons in conversational style to indicate the elements of moral philosophy.
The study is made attractive by narratives and engravings.
GOVERNiENT.
Howe's Young Citizen's Catechism
Explaining the duties of District, Town, City, County, State, and United States
Officers, with rules for parliamentary and commercial business.
Young's Lessons in Civil Government
A comprehensive view of Government, and abstract of the laws showing the
rights, duties, and responsibilities of citizens.
Mansfield's Political Manual.
This is a complete view of the theory and practice of the General and State Governments, designed as a text-book.  The author is an esteemed and able professor
of constitutional law, widely known for his sagacious utterances in the public press.
Martin's Civil Government
Emanating from Massachusetts State Normal School.  Historical and statistical.
Each chapter summarized by a succinct statement of underlying principles on which
good government is based.
39 
She jatiooZal Serges of $landard 8chool —ooks.
MODERN LANGUAGE.
Illustrated  Language  Primers,
FRENCH AND ENGLISH.                        GERMAN AND ENGLISH.
SPANISH  AND ENGLISH.
The names of common objects properly illustrated and arranged in easy lessons.
Ledru's French Fables,
Ledru's French Grammar,
Ledru's French Reader,
The author's long experience has enabled him to present the most thoroughly
practical text-books extant, in this branch.  The system of pronunciation (by phonetic illustration) is original with this author, and will commend itself to all American teachers, as   itenabes their pupils to secure an absolutely correct pronunciation
without the assistance of a native master. This feature is peculiarly valuable also
to "self-taught" students.  The directions for ascertaining the gender of French
nouns-also a great stumbling-block-are peculiar to this work, and will be found
remarkably competent to the end proposed. The criticism of teachers and the test
of the school-room is invited to this excellent series, with confidence.
Worman's French Echo,
To teach conversational French by actual practice, on an entirely new plan, which
recognizes the importance of the student learning to think in the language which he
speaks. It furnishes an extensive vocabulary of words and expressions in common
use, and suffices to free the learner from the embarrassments which the peculiarities
of his own tongue are likely to be to him, and to make him thoroughly familiar with
the use of proper idioms.
Worman's German Echo,
On the same plan. See Worman's German Series, page 42.
Pujol's Complete French Class-Book,
Offers, in one volume, methodically arranged, a complete French course-usually
embraced in series of from five to twelve books, including the bulky and expensive
Lexicon. Here are Grammar, Conversation, and choice Literature-selected from
the best French authors. Each branch is thoroughly handled; and the student,
having diligently completed the course as prescribed, may consider himself, without
further application, au fait in the most polite and elegant language of modern times.
Pujol's French Grammar, Exercises, Reader,
These volumes contain Part I, Parts II and III, and Part IV of the Complete ClassBook respectively, for the convenience of scholars and teachers. The Lexicon is
bound with each part.
Maurice-Poitevin's Grammaire  Francaise,
American schools are at last supplied with an American edition of this famous
text-book.  Many of our best institutions have for years been prbcuring it from
abroad rather than forego the advantages it offers. The policy of putting students
who have acquired some proficiency from the ordinary text-books, into a Grammar
written in the vernacular, cannot be too highly commended. It affords an opportunity for finish and review at once; while embodying abundant practice of its own
rules.
Joynes' French Pronunciation,
Willard's Historia de los Estados  Unidos,
The History of the United States, translated bv Professors TOLON and DE TORNOS,
will be found a valuable, instructive, and entertaining reading-book fur Spanish
classes.
40 
.he.Vationat'er'es or,Vtandard Sehoo.-_book.
Pujol5s Complete French Class-Book.
T E S TI M O NI A L S.
From PROF. ELIAS PEISSNER, Union Coltege.
I take great pleasure in recommending Pujol and Van Norman's French Class
Book, as there is no French grammar or class-book which can be compared with
it in completeness, system, clearness, and general utility.
FZom EDWARD NORTH, Preident of Hamilton College.
I have carefully examined Pujol and Van Norman's French Class-Book, and am
satisfied bf Its superiority, for college purposes over any other heretofore used
,We shall rpit fail to use it with our next class in French.
Fr    A. CURTiS, Pres't of Cincinnati Literary and Scientifc Institute.
I am confident that it may be made an instrument in conveying to the student,
fr)m six months to a year, the art of speaking and writing the French with
ialmost native fluency and propriety.
From  iRAM ORCUTT, A. M., Prin. etlenwood and Tilden Ladies' Seminaries.
I have used Pujol's French Grammar in my two seminaries, exclusively, for
snore than a year, andc have no hesitation in saying that I regard it the best text,
book in this department extant.  And my opinion is confirmed by the testimony
of Prof. F. De Launay and Mlademoiselle,Iarindin.  They assure me that the
book is eminently accurate and practical, as tested in the school-room.
From PROF. THEO. F. DE FuiAT. Hebrew Eilucational Institute, Memphis, Tenn.
M. Pujol's French Grammar is one of the best and most practical works.  The
French language is chosen and elegant in style-modern ard easy.  It is far superior to the other French class-books in this country.  The selection of the conversational part is very good, and will interest pupils; and being all completed in
only one volume, it is especially desirable to have it introduced in our schools.
From PROF. JAMES H. WORMAN, Bordentown Female College, N. ZJ.
The work is upon the same plan as the text-books for the study of French and
English published in Berlin, for the study of those who have not the aid of a
teacher, and these books are considered by the first authorities, the best books.
In most of our institutions, Americans teach the modern languages, and heretofore the trouble has been to give them a text-book that would dispose of the
difficulties of the French pronunciation. This difficulty is successfully removed
by P. and Van N., and I have every reason to believe it will soon make its way
into most of our best schools.
From lPRo. CinLrS S. I)oD, Ann Smith Academy, Lexitngton, Va.
I cannot do better than to recommend'" Pujol and Van Norman."  For comprehensive and systematic arrangement, progressive and thorough development of
all grammatical principles and idioms, with a due admixture o' theoretical knowledge and practical exercise, I regard it as superior to any (other) book of the kind.
From A. A. FORSTER, Prin. Pi,nehurst School, Toronto, C. W.
I have great satisfaction in bearing testimony to M,. IPuLjol's System of French
Instrction, as given in his complete class-book.  For clearness and comprehensiveness, adapted for all classes of pupils, I have found it superior to any other
work of the kind, and have now used it for some years in my establishment with
great success.
Fom PROF. OTTO FEDDER, Maplewood Institute, Pittsfield, Ma8ss.
The conversational exercises will prove an immense saving of the hardest kind
et labor to teachers.  There is scarcely any thing more trying in the way of
teaching language, than to rack your brain for short and easily intelligible bits
of conversation. and to repeat them time and again with no better result than
extorting at long intervals a doubting  "oni," or a hesitating' non, monsieur"
For further testimony of a similar character, see  pecial tircalar, 0
currenit numbers of the Educational Bulletin. 
Y'e Vatiozal Series of Sta'ndcad Sekool —ooks.
G E R  A N.
A COMPLETE COURSE IN THE GERMAN.
By JAMES H. WORMAN, A.M.
Worman's Elementary German Grammar
Worman's Complete German Grammar
These volumes are designed for intermediate and advanced clacses respectively.
Though following the same general method with "Otto" (that of' Gaspey').
our author differs essentially in its application.  He  is more practical, more Lys
tematic, more accurate, and besides introduces a number of invaluable features
which have never before been combined in a German grammar.
Among other things, it may be claimed for Prof. Worman that he has beer
the first to introduce in an American text-book for learning German, a system
of analogy and comparison with other languages. Our best teachexrs are also
enthusiastic abouthis methods of inculcating the art of speaking, of understanding
the spoken language, of correct pronunciation; the sensible and convenient origin
ltal classification of nouns (in four declensions), and of irregular vet bs, also de,
serves much praise. We also note the use of heavy type to indicate e tymological
changes in the paradigms snd, in the exercises, the parts which specialy illustrate
preceding rules.
Worman's Elementary German Reader
Worman's Collegiate German Reader
The finest and most judicious compilation of classical and standard German
Literature. These works embrace, progressively arranged, selections from the
masterpieces of Goethe, Schiller, Korner, Seume, Uhland, Freiligrath, Heine,
Schlegel, Holty, Lenau, Wieland, Herder, Lessing, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Win.
kelmann, Humboldt, Ranke, Raumer, Menzel, Gervinus, &c., and contains complete Goethe's " Iphigenie," Schiller's "Jungfrau;" also, for instruction in modern conversational German, Benedix's' Eigensinn."
There are besides, Biographical Sketches of each author contributing, Notes,
explanatory and philological (after the text), Grammatical References to all leading grammars, as well as the editor's own, and an adequate Vocabulary.
Worman's German Echo
Consists of exercises in colloquial style entirely in the German, with an adequate vocabulary, not only of words but of idioms.  The object of the system dcveloped in this work (and its companion volume in the French) is to break up the
laborious and tedious habit of translating the thoughts, which is the student's
most effectual bar to fluent conversation, and to lead him to think in the language
in which he speaks. As the exercises illustrate scenes in actual life, a considerable knowledge of the manners and customs of the German people is also acquired
from the use of this manual
Worman's German Copy-Books, 3 Numbers,
On the same plan as the most approved systems for English penmanship, wita
)rogressive copies.
42 
Y'ze Vational Series of Stazdard Shekool —ooks.
Worman's German Grammars.
TIOSTIxONIALS.
From?  Prof. r,. W. JONES, Petersburg Female College, Ia.
From what I have seen of the work it Is almost certain I shall introduce it int(
this institution.
Fromn Prof. G. CA.MPBELL  lUniversity of Minnesota.
A valua(ble addition to our school-books, and will find many friends, and do gre.'
good.
From Prof O. II I. CORPPFW, J,lary lfilit(lary Jnst, Md.
I am better pleased with them than any I have ever taught. I have already ordere d
through our booksellers.
F,omn Priof. r. S. KFNI)ALL, TVier,on Academy, Conn.
I at once put the Elementary Grammar into the hands of a class of beginners, and
have used it wvithl great,ati.factiou.
From Prof. D. E. IIOL.MES, Berl?s Academy,  Wis.
Worman's German works are superior.  I shall use them hereafter in my German
classes.
F,-om Prof. MAGNUS BUcillOLTZ, lIIrcam, College, Ohio.
I have examined the Complete Grammar, and find it ex cellent.  You may rely that
it will be used here.
From Prin. Tuos. W. TonBFY, Pa(duc(t7h Femnale Seminary, Ky.
The Complete German Grammar is worthy of an extemfiive circulation.  It is ad
~ mirably adapted to the class-room.  I shall use it
From Prof. ALEX. ROSENSPITZ, Houston Academy, Tecas.
Bearer will take and pay for 8 dozen copies. Mr. Worman deserves the approbation
and esteem of the teacher and the thanks of the student.
From Prof. G. MALMENE, Augusta Seminar7y, Maite.
The Complete Grammar cannot fail to givg great satisfaction by the simplicity
of its arrangement, and by its completeness.
From Prin. OVAL PIRKEY, Christian University, Mo.
Just such a series as is positively necessary. I do hope the author will succeed as
well in the French, &c., as he has in the German.
From Prof. S. D. IIILLMAN, Dickinson College, Pa.
The class have lately commenced, and my examination thus flar warrants me in saying that I regard it as the best grammar for instruction in the German.
From Prin. SILAS LIVERMORE, Bloom.feld Semir' ary, Jfo.
I have found a classically and scientifically educated Prussian gentleman whom I
propose to make German instructor. I have shown him both your German grammars.
He has expressed iis approbationi of them generally.
Fron Prof Z. TEST, Ilowland School for Young Latdies,. Y.
I shall introduce the books. From a cursory examination I have no hesitation in
pronouncing the Complete Grammar a decided improvement on the text-books at
present in use in this country.
Front Prof. LEWIS KISTLER, North7western University, Ill.
Ilaving looked through the Complete Grammar with some care I must say that you
have produced at good book; you may be r.warded with this gratification —that your
grammar promotes the facility of learning the German language, and of becoming
acquainted with its rich literature.
Fromt Pres. J. P. Rous, Stockwell Collegiate Inst., Ind.
I supplied a class with the Elementary Grammar, and it gives complete sattsfactioc.  The conversational and reading exercises are well calculated to illustrate the
principles, and lead the student on an easy yet thorough course   I thik the Comn
plate Grammar equally attractive.
4,3 
,ational Series o/'f Stazndart Selool-fooks.
THE CLASSICS.
LA T IN.
Silber's Latin Course,
The book contains an Epitome of Latin Grammar, followed by Reading Exercises,
with explanatory Notes and copious References to the leading Latin Grammars, and
also to the Epitome which precedes the work.  Then follow a Latin-English Vocabul.try and Exercises ill Latin Prose Composition, being thus complete in itself, and a
very suitable work to put in the hands of one about to study the language.
Searing's Virgil's Eneid,
It contains only the first six books of the Rneid.  2. A very carefully constructed
Dictionary. 3. Sufficiently copious Notes. 4. Grammatical references to four leading Grammars. 5. Numerous Illustrations of the highest order, 6. A superb Map
of the Mediterranean and adjacent countries.  7. Dr. S. H. Taylor's "Questions on
the ineid."  8. A Metrical Index, and an Essay on the Poetical Style.  9. A photographic fac simile of a, early Latin M.S. 10. The text according to Jahn, but paradgraphed according to Ladewig.  11. Superior mechanical execution.
"Have examined it with great pleasure and can safely say it is the best edition
of Virgil with which I am acquainted."-PROF. LESLIE WAGGOENIER, Bethel College, Ky.
"Am very much pleased. In following points think it surpasses: instructive
illustrations, pointed and sensible notes where they are convenient to use, and a
vocabulary that gives the derivation of Latin words."-PRIN. E. L. RICEARDSON,
Additson Union School, N. Y.
"A fine specimen of art, and edited in a masterly manner."-SuPT. W. C ROTE,
Lawrence Public Schools, Kansas.
"Of Searing's Virgil I cannot speak in too high terms. While as a text-book
it contains as many excellences as any I have ever seen, the fineness of the paper
and the beauty of typography and exceeding neatness make it an ornament for the
centre-table."-PSN. E. C. SPALDING, Nunda Academy, N. Y.
Forfurther testimonials, see page 45.
Blair's Latin Pronunciation,
An inquiry into the proper sounds of the Language during the Classical Period.
By Prof. Blair, of Hampden Sidney College, Va.
GREEK.
Crosby's Greek Grammar,
Crosby's Xenophon's Anabasis,
MYTHOLOGY.
Dwight's Grecian and Roman Mythology.
School edition,                        University edition,
A knowledge of the fables of antiquity, thus presented in a systematic form, is as
indispensable to the student of general literature as to him who would peruse intelligently the classical authors.  The mythological allusioins io frequent in literature -"
readily understood with such a Key as thi.
44 
2]he Xatiooel Series of Str.t?drtrd,?chool-oooks.
SEARING'S VIRGIL.
SPECIMEN FRAGMENTS OF LETTERS.
"I adopt it gladly."-PRIN. V. DABNEY, Laudoun School, Va.
"I like Searing's Virgil."-PROF. BRISTOL, Ripon Coglege, Wis.
"Meets my desires very thoroughly."-PROF. CLARK, Berea CoULege, Ohio.
"Sup rior to any other edition of Virgil."-PREs. HALL, Macon College, Mo.
" Shall adopt it at once."-PRIN. B. P. BAKER, Searcy Female Institute. Ark.
"Your Virgil is a beauty."-PROF. W. H. DE MOTTE, Illinois Female College.
"After use, I regard it the best."-PRrN. G. H. BARTON, Rome Academy, N. Y.
"We like it better every day."-PRIN. R. K. BUEHRLE, Allentown Academy, Pa.
"I am delighted with your Virgil."-PlrN. W. T. LEONARD, Pierce Academy, Mass,
" Stands well the test of class-room."-PRiN. F. A. CHASE, Lyons Col. Inst., Iowa.
"I do not see how it can be improved."-PRYN. N. F. D. BROWNE, Charl. Hall, Md.
"The most complete that I have seen."-PRiN; A. BROWN, Columbus  igh School,
Ohio.
"Our Professor of Language very highly approves."-SuPT. J. G. JAxEs, Texas
Militaly Institute.
"It responds to a want long felt by teachers. It is beautiful and complete."PROF. BROOKs, Unive7sity of Minnesota.
"The ideal edition. We want a few more classics of the same sort."-PRiN. C. F.
P. BANCROFT, ookoutt Mountain Institute, Tenn.
"I certainly have never seen an edition so complete with important requisites for
a student, nor with such fine text and general mechanical execution."-PRES. J. R.
I'AIR. University of Deseret, Utah.
It is charming both in its design and execution. And, on the whole, I think it
,s the best thing of the kind that I have seen."-PRoF. J. DE F. RICHARDs, Pres.
pro tern. of University of Alabama.
"In   beauty of execution. in judicious notes, and in an adequate vocabulary, it
merits all praise. I hall recommend its introduction."-PRES. J. K. PATTERSON,
Kenttacky A    ll  and Mec/tanical College.
"Containing a good vocabulary and judicious notes, it will enable the industrious
studen't to acquire an accurate knowledge of the most interesting part of Virgil's
works."'-PRoP. J. T. DUNKLIN, East Alabama College.
"It wants no element of completeness.  It is by far the best classical text-book
with which I am acquainted. The notes are just right. They help the student
when he most needs help. "-PRIN. C. A. BuKER, Caledonia Grammear School, Vt.
"I have examined Searing's Virgil with interest, and find that it more nearly
meets the wants of students than that of any other edition with which I am ac a,uted.  I am able to introduce it to some extent at once."-PnIN. J. EASTER,
East Genesee Conference Seminary.
"I have been wishing to get a sight of it, and it exceeds my expectations. It is
abeautiful book in every respect, and bears evidence of careful and critical study.
The engravings add instruction as well as interest to the work.  I shall recommend
it to my classes.'"-PRrN. CRAS. H. CHANDLER, Glenwood Ladies' Seminary.
"A. S. Barnes & Co. have published an edition of the first six books of Virgil's
Eneid, which is superior to its predecessors in several respects.  The publishers
have done a good service to the cause of classical education, and the book deserves
a larve circulation."-PRox. GEORGE W  COLLORD, Brooklyn Pclytechnic, N. Y.
"My attention was called to Searing's Virgil by the fact of its containing a voca
bulary which would obviate the necessity of procuring a lexicon. But use inII th6
class-room has impressed me most favorably with the accuracy and just proportion
of its notes, and the general excellence of its grammatical suggestions   The general character of the book in its paper, its typography, and its engravings is highly
commendable, and the fac-simile manuscript is a valuable feature.  I take great
pleasure in commending the book to all who do not wish a complete edition of
~Viril. It suits ouri short school courses admirably." —I:zit L. EJo-TwooI), Mhase
qt Princ  &f, Hh.    Ob
4i,b 
ATe Xational Series of Standard Secool-5Vooks.
R E     R D S.
Cole's Self-Reporting Class-Book,
For saving the Teacher's labor in averaging.  At each opening are a full set of
Tables showing any scholar's standing at a glance and entirely-obviating the neces.
si+y of computation.
Tracy's School-Record,                                 Pocket edition,
For keeping a simple but exact record of Attendance, Deportment, and  Scholar
ship. The larger edition contains also a Calendar, an extensive list of Topics for
Compositions and Colloquies, Themes for Short Lectures, Suggestions to Young
Teachers, etc.
Brooks' Teacher's Register,
Presents at one view a record of Attendance, Recitations, and Deportment for the
whole term.
Carter's Record and Roll-Book,
This is the most complete and convenient Record offered to the public.  Besides
the usual spaces for General Scholarship, Deportment, Attendance, etc., for each
name and day, there is a space in red lines enclosing six minor spaces in blue for
recording Recitations.
National School Diary,
A little book of blank forms for weekly report of the standing of each scholar,
from teacher to parent. A great convenience.
REWARDS.
National School Currency,
A little box containing certificates in the form of Money.  The most       entertaining
and stimulating system of school rewards. The scholar is paid for his merits and
fined for his shortcomings.  Of course the most faithful are the most successful in
business. In this way the use and value of money and the method of keeping
accounts are also taught. One box of Currency will supply a school of fifty pupils.
TACTICS.
The Boy Soldier,
Complete Infantry Tactics for Schools, witb iliuskralons, i1 the use of those who
would introduce this pleasing relaxation from the confniig duties of the desk.
46 
E?te WationalZ Seires of' Standard,-eool —ooks.
CH A R T S.
McKenzie's Elocutionary Chart,
Baade's Reading Case,
This remarkable piece of school-room furniture is a receptacle containing a num,
,)er ot primary cards.  By an arrangement of slides on the front, one sentence at D
Ltime is shown to the class.  Twenty-eight thousand transpositions may be made,
affording a variety of progressive exercises which no other piece of apparatus
offers. One of its best features is, that it is so exceedingly simple as not to get out
of order, while it may be operated with one finger.
Marcy's Eureka Tablet,
A new system for the Alphabet, by which it may be taught without fail in nine
lessons.
Scofield's School Tablets,
On Five Cards, exhibiting Ten Surfaces. These Tablets teach Orthography,
Reading, Object-Lessons, Color, Form, etc.
Watson's Phonetic Tablets,
Four Cards, and Eight Surfaces; teaching Pronunciation  ad Elocution phoneticany-for class exercises.
Page's Normal Chart,
The whole science of Elementary Sounds tabulated. By the author of Page's
Theory and Practice of Teaching.
Clark's Grammatical Chart,
Exhibits the whole Science of Language in one comprehensive diagram.
Davies' Mathematical Chart,
Mathematics made simple to the eye.
Monteith's Reference Maps, School series,    Grand series,
Eight Numbers. Mounted on Rollers. Names all laid Qo'wn in small type, so
that to the pupil at a short distance they are Outline Maps, while they serve as
their own key to the teacher.
Willard's Chronographers,
Historical.  Four Numbers.  Ancient Chronographel,; English (hronographer;
American Chronographer; Temple of Time (general). Dates and Events represented to the eye.
APPARAT US.
Harrington's Geometrical Brool3
These patented blocks are hinged, so that each:- m can be dissected
barrington's Fractional Blocks,
Steele's Chemical Apparatus,
Steele's Philosophical Apparatus, (see p.28)
Steele's Geological Cabinet, (see p.28)
Wood's Botanical Apparatus, (see p.30)
Bock's Physiological Apparattus,
0 
5ahe  ational Series of Standard School —ooks.
MUSIC.
The National School Singer,
Bright, new music for the day school, embracing Song Lessons, Exercise Songs,
Songs of Study, Order, Promptness and Obedience, of Industry and Nature, Patri otic and Temperance Songs, Opening and Closing Songs; in fact, everything needed
il the school-room.  By an eminent Musician and Compose,.
Jepson's Music Readers. 3 vols.
These are not books from which children simply learn songs, parrot-like, but
teach the subject progressively-the scholar learning to read music by methods sim ilar to those employed in teaching him to read printed language. Any teacher,
however ignorant of music, provided he can, upon trial, simply sound the scale, may
teach it without assistance, and will end by being a good singer himself.  The' Elementary Music Reader," or first volunme, fully develops the system. The two companion volumes carry the same method into the higher grades, but their use is not
essential.
The First Reader is also published in three parts, at 30 cents each, for those who
prefer them in that form.
Bartley's School Hymn and Tune Book.
A selection of appropriate Hymns, of an unsectarian character, carefully classified
and set topopular and "singable" Tunes, for opening and closing exercises.  The
National, Anniversary, and Parting Hymns form a valuable feature.
Nash & Bristow's Cantara,
The first volume is a complete musical text-book for schools of every grade.  No. 2
is a choice selection of Solos and Part Songs.  The authors are Directors of Music
in the public schools of New York City, in which these books are the standard of
instruction.
The Polytechnic
Collection of Part Songs for High and Normal Schools and Clubs.  This work contains a quantity of exceedingly valuable material, heretofore accessible only in sheet
form or scattered in numerous and costly works.  The collection of" College Songs"
is a very attractive feature.
Curtis' Little Singer,-School Vocalist,
Kingsley's School-Room Choir,-Young Ladies' Harp,
Hager's Echo (A Cantata).
DEVOTION.
...
Brooks' School Manual of Devotion,
This volume contains daily devotional exercises, consisting of a hymn, selections
of Scripture for alternate reading by teacher and pupils, and a prayer. Its value for
opening and closing school is apparent.
Brooks' School Harmonist,
Contains appropriate tune8 for each hymn in the "Manual of Devotion" described
above.
48 
S. BARNES & Co.'s CAT LOGUE.
DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL LITERATURE.
PRICES INCLUDING POSTAGE.
THE TEACHERS' LIBRARY.
Object Lessons-Welch,                                                       $1 oo
This is a complete exposition of the popular modern system of  object-teaching," for teachers of primary classes.
Theory and Practice of Teaching-Page,   -    -! 50
This volume has, without doubt, been read by two hundred thousand teachers,
and its popularity remains undiminished-large editions being exhausted yearly.
It was the pioneer, as it is now the patriarch, of professional works for teachers.
The Graded School-Wells,                                        -              I 25
The proper way to organize graded schools is here illustrated.  The author has
availed himself of the best elements of the several systems prevalent in Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and other cities.
The Normal-Holbrook,                     -    -    -    -    -    1 50
Carries a working school on its visit to teachers, showing the most approved
methods of teaching all the common branches, including the technicalities, explanations, demonstrations, and definitions introductory and peculiar to each branch.
School  Management-Holbrook,    -                      -       -       -       I 5o
Treating of the Teacher's Qualifications: How to overcome Difficulties in Self
and Others; Organization;  Discipline; Methods of inciting Diligence and Order;
Strategy in Management; Object Teaching.
The  Teachers'  Institute-Fowle,    -                   -      -       -       1 25
This is a volume of suggestions inspired by the author's experience at institutes,
in the instruction of young teachers. A thousand points of interest to this class are
most satisfactorily dealt with.
Schools and Schoolmasters-Dickens,   -    -    -    1 25
Appropriate selections from the writings of the great novelist.
The Metric System-Davies,                        -    -    -    -    1 50
Considered with reference to its general introduction, and embracing the views
of John Quincy Adams and Sir John Herschel.
The Student; The Educator-Phelps,  -    - each,    I 50
The   Discipline  of  Life-Phelps,    -   I                            -       1 75
The authoress of these works is one of the most distinguished writers on edllcation; and they cannot fail to prove a valuable addition to the School and Teachers'
Libraries, being in a high degree both interesting and instructive.
A  Scientific  Basis  of  Education-Hecker,                    -       -       2  50
Adaptation of study and classification by temperaments.
0            49 
Yke   altiozal   eaers' acibes     ry.
Teachers' Hand-Book-Phelps  -$ i 50
By WM. F. PHELPS, Principal of Minnesota State Normal SchooL  Embracing
the objects, history organization and management of Teachers' Institutes, followed
by Methods of Teaching, in detail, for all the fundamental branches.  Every young
teacher, every practical teacher, every experienced teacher even, needs this book.
From the New York Tribune.
"The discipline of the school should prepare the child for the discipline of life.
The country schoolmaster, accordingly, holds a position of vital interest to the des tiny of the republic, and should negle:t no means for the wise and efficient discharge
of his significant functions. This is the key-note of the present excellent volume
In view of the supreme importance of the teacher's calling, Mr. Phelps has presented
an elaborate system of instruction in the elements of learning, with a complete de tail of methods and processes, illustrated with an abundance of practical examples
and enforced by judicious counsels, which may serve as an aid to the teacher in the
performance of his arduous duties, and in the attainment of the highest excellence
in his profession.  The author's directions may not always be accepted without
challenge by experienced instructors, who, however, are encouraged to think for
themselves; but they are always suggestive, and cannot fail to be of signal value
to those who are just entering upon their profession and beginning to comprehend
its difficulties, as well as to discover its secrets."
American Education-Mansfield   -    -    -    -    1 50
A treatise on the principles and elements of education, as practised in this
country, with ideas towards distinctive republican and Christian education.
American  Institutions-De  Tocqueville   -                      -      -        I 50
A valuable index to the genius of our Government.
Universal Education -Mayhew                      -    -    -    -              I 75
The subject is approached with the clear, keen perception of one who has observed its necessity, and realized its feasibility and expediency alike.  The redeeming and elevating power of improved common schools constitutes the inspiration of
the volume.
Higher Christian  Education -   Dwight                  -       -      -       I- 50
A treatise on the principles and spirit, the modes, directions.nd results of all
true teaching; showing thqt right education should appeal to every element of enthusiasm in the teacher's nature.
Oral Training Lessons-Barnard   -                                               I oo
The object of this very useful swork is to furnish material for instructors to
impart orally to their classes in branches not usually taught in common schools,
embracing all departments of Natural Science and much general knowledge.
Lectures on Natural History-Chadbourne                             -    -   75
Affording many themes for oral instruction in this interesting scienceespecially
in schools where it is not pursued as a class exercise.
Outlines of Mathematical  Science-  Davies    -                        -        I oo
A manual suggesting the best methods of presenting mathematical instruction
on the part of the teacher, with that c)mprehensive view of the whole which is necessary to the intelligent treatment of a part, in science.
Nature and  Utility of  Mathematics     Davies    -                    -          50
An elaborate and lucid exposition of the principles which lie at the foundation
of pure mathematics, with a higidly ingenious application of their results to the development of the essential idea of the different branches of the science.
Mathematical Dictionary-Davies and Peck  -    -    5 oo
This cyclopoedia of mathematical science defines, with completeness, precision
and accuracy, every technical term; thus constituting a popular treatise on each
branch" and a general view of the whole subject. 
50 
Yhe Wationial Yeaclters' Library.
Liberal Education of Women-Orton.. *$1 50
Treats of " the demand and the method;" being a compilation of the best and
most advanced thought on this subject, by the leading writers and educators in
England and America.  Edited by a Professor in Vassar College.
Education Abroad-No6rthrop...........*1 5
A thorough discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of sending American
children to Europe to be educated; also, Papers on Legal Prevention of Illiteracy,
Study and Health, Labor as an Educator, and other kindred subjects.  By the HIon.
Secretary of Education for Connecticut.
The Teacher and the Parent-Northend.. -l 50
A treatise upon common-snchool education, designed to lead teachers to view their
Calling in its true light, and to stimulate them to fidelity.
The Teachers' Assistant-Northend *... *1 50
A natural continuation of the author's previous work, more directly calculated for
daily use in the administration of school discipline and instruction.
School Government-Jewell.......                                          *1 50
Full of advanced ideas on the subject which its title indicates. The criticisms
upon current theories of punishment and schemes of administration have excited
general attention and comment.
Grammatical Diagrams-Jewell.......                                          *1 00
The diagram system of teaching grammar explained, defended, and improved
The curious in literature, the searcher for truth, those interested in new inventions,
as well as the disciples of Prof. Clark, who would see their favorite theory fairly
treated, all want this book. There are many who would like to be made familiar
with this system before risking its use in a class. The opportunity is here afforded.
The Complete Examiner-Stone.......                                            *1 25
Consists of a series of questions on every English branch of school and academic
instruction, with reference to a given page or article of leading text-books where
the answer may be found in full.  Prepa red to aid teachers in securing certificates,
pupils in preparing for promotion, and teachers in selecting review questions.
School Amusements-Root..........                                              1 50
To assist teachers in making the school interesting, with hints upon the management of the school-room.  Rules for military and gymnastic exercises are ncluded.
Illustrated by diagrams.
Institute Lectures-Bates.........   *.   50
These lectures, originally delivered before institutes, are based upon  various
topics in the departments of mental and moral culture.  The volume is calculated
to prepare the will, awaken the inquiry, and stimulate the thought of the zealous
teacher.
Method of Teachers' Institutes-Bates.. *75
Sets forth the best method of conducting institutes, with a detailed account of the
object, organization, plan of instruction, and true theory of education on which
such instruction should be based.
History and Progress of Education...  *1 50
The systems of education prevailing in all nations and ages, the gradual advance
to the present time, and the bearing of the past upon the present in this regard, are
worthy of the careful investigation of all concerned in education.
51 
N~ational S8eool Library.
THE SCHOOL LIBRARY.
The two elements of instruction and entertainment were never more happily com.
bined than in this collection of standard books. Children and adults alike will here
und ample food for the mind, of the sort that is easily digested, while not degener.
ating to the level of modern romance.
LIBRARY OF LITERATURE.
Milton's Paradise Lost.  Boyd's Illustrated Ed., $1 60
Young's Night Thoughts.... do... 1 60
Cowper's Task, Table Talk, &c.. do..    1 60
Thomson's Seasons.......    do...                1 60
Pollok's Course of Time....                                   do...          *1 CO
These works, models of the best and purest literature, are beautifully illustrated,
and notes explain all doubtful meanings.
Lord Bacon's Essays (Boyd's Edition)...  1 60
Another grand English classic, affording the highest example of purity in lan.
guage and style.
The Iliad of Homer.  Translated by POPE...    80
Those who are unable to read this greatest of ancient writers in the original,
should not fall to avail themselves of this metrical version.
Compendium of Eng. Literature-Cleveland, 2 25
English Literature of XlXth Century  do.    2 25
Compendium of American Literature  do.    2 25
Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand volumes of Prof. CLEVELAND)'S inimitable
compendiums have been sold. Taken together they present a complete view of
literature.  To the man who can afford but a few books these will supply the place
of an extensive library.  From commendations of the very highest authorities the
following extracts will give some idea of the enthusiasm with which the works are
retarded by scholars:
With the Bible and your volumes one might leave libraries without very painful
regret.-The work cannot be found from which in the same limits so much ilteresting and valuable information may be obtained. - Good taste, fine scholarshipl,
familiar acquaintance with l'terature, unwearied industry, tact acquired by practice,
an interest in the culture of the young, and regard for truth, purity, philanthropy
and religion are united in Mr. Cleveland.-A judgment elear and impartial. a taste
at once delicate and severe.-The biographies are just and discriminating.-An
admirable bird's-eye view.-Acquaints the reader with the characteristic method,
tone, and quality of each writer.-Succinct, carefully written, and wonderfully cornprehensive in detail, etc., etc.
Milton's Poetical Works-CLEVELAND... 2 25
This is the very best edition of the great Poet. It includes a life of the author,
notes, dissertations on each poem, a faultless text, and is the only edition of Milton
with a complete verbal Index.
52 
.ational School Libragy.
- LIBRARY OF HISTORY.
Seven  Historic Ages-Gilman,                    -              - -     -         oo
Or, Talks about Kings, Queens, and Barbarians.  These delightful sketches of
notable events stir the imagination of the young reader, and give him a taste for further historical reading. Illustrated.
Outlines of General  History-Gilman,                    -      -      -       I  25
The number of facts which the author has compressed into these outline sketches
is really surprising; the chapters on the Middle Ages and Feudalism afford striking
examples of his power of succinct but comprehensive statement.  In his choice of
representative periods and events in the histories of Nations he shows very sound
judgment, and his characterization of conspicuous historical figures is accurate and
impartial.
Great Events of History-Collier,                -      -       -      -       I  50
This celebrated work edited for American readers by Prof. O. R. Willis, gives, in
a series of pictures, apleasantly readable and easily remembered view of the Christian era. Each chapter is headed by its central point of interest to afford association
for the mind. Delineations of life and manners at different periods are interwoven.
A geographical appendix of great value is added.
History of England-Lancaster,                   -      -       -      -       I  50
An arrangement of the essential facts of English History in the briefest manner
consistent with clearness. With a fine Map.
History of Liberty-Aiken,                                                     I 0Oo
Explaining the growth of the " fair consummate flower" of freedom in America
as the result of centuries of trial and experieuce in the Old World.
Critical  History of the Civil War-Mahan,                      -       -      3 oo
A logical analysis of campaigns and battles, and the causes of victory and defeat.
By Dr. Asa Mahan, first President of Oberlin College. Dr. Mahan never forgets that
history is "philosophy teaching by examples," and his work should be a text-book
for American youth.
History of Europe-Alison,                -                                    2  50
A reliable and standard work, which covers with clear, connected, and complete
narrative the eventful occurrences of the years A. D. 1789 to 1815, being mainly a
history of the career of Napoleon Bonaparte.
History of Rome-Ricord,                  -      -       -      -       -      I  75
An entertaining narrative for the young.  Illustrated.  Embracing successively,
The Kings; The Republic; The Empire.
Ecclesiastical  History-Marsh,  -               -       -      -      -       2  Oo
A history of the Church in all ages, with a comprehensive review of all forms of
religion from the creation of the world. No other source affords, in the same compass, the information here conveyed.
History of the Ancient  Hebrews-Mills,                  -      -       -      I  75
The record of "God's people" from the call of Abraham to the destruction of
Jerusalem; gathered from sources sacred and profane.
The  Mexican  War-Mansfield,                     -      -      -       -      I  50
A history of its origin, and a detailed account of its victories; with official despatches, the treaty of peace, and valuable tables. Illustrated.
Early History of Michigan-Sheldon,                      -      -       -      2  50
A work of value and deep interest to the people of the West. Compiled under
the supervision of Hon. Lewis Cass. Portraits.
History of Texas-Baker,                  -      -      -       -      -       I  25
A pithy and interesting resume. Copiously, illustrated.  The State constitution
and extracts from the speeches and writings of eminent Texans are appended.
53 
Wational ffistorieal Library.
NEW LIBRARY OF HISTORY.
Barnes'  Centenary  History,            -.*$6  oo
" One Hundred Years of American Independence."   This superbly illustrated
work, by the author of "Barnes' Brief Histories" (for schools), is appropriately
issued in the "centennial year" (1876). An extended Introduction brings down
the history from the earliest times.  The leading idea is to make American History
popular for the masses, and especially with the young.  The style is therefore
life-like and vivid, carrying the reader along by the sweep of the story as in a novel,
so that when he begins an account of an important event he cannot very well lay
down the book until he finishes.
Sold only by subscription.
Lamb's History of New York City.
One of the most important works ever issued. It opens with a brief outline of the
condition of the old world prior to the settlement of the new, and proceeds to give
a careful analysis of the two great Dutch Commercial Corporations to which New
York owes its origin.  It sketches the rise and growth of the little colony on Manhattan Island; describes the Indian Wars with which it was afflicted *gives color
and life to its Dutch rulers; paints its subjugation by the English, its after vicissitudes, the Revolution of 1689; in short, it leads the reader through one continuous
chain of events down to the American Revolution. Then, gathering up the threads,
the author gives an artistic and comprehensive account of the progress of the City,
in extent, education, culture, literature, art, and political and commercial importance, during the last century. Prominent persons are introduced in all the different periods, with choice bits of family history, and glimpses of social life. The
work contains maps of the City in the different decades, and several rare portraits
from original paintings, which have never before been engraved. The illustrations,
about 250 in number, are all of an interesting and highly artistic character.
The work is now being published, by subscription only, in about 30 parts, at 50
cents each.
Carrington's  Battles of the Revolution,    -                 -       -     $6  oo
A careful description and analysis of every engagement of the War for Independence, with topographical charts prepared from personal surveys by the author, a
veteran officer of the U. S. Army, and Professor of Military Science in Wabash
College.
Baker's Texas  Scrap-Book,              -                             -     $5  oo
Comprising the History, Biography, Literature, and Miscellany of Texas and its
people.  A valuable collection of material, anecdotical and statistical which is not
to be found in any other form.  The work is handsomely illustrated.  Sheep, $6.00.)
LIBRARY OF REFERENCE.
Home  Cyclopaedia  of  Literature  and  Fine  Arts,                    -     $3  oo
A complete index to all terms employed in belles lettres, philosophy, theology,
law, mythology, painting, music, sculpture, architecture, and all kindred arts.
The Rhyming Dictionary-Walker,                          -    -    -    I 25
A serviceable manual to composers, being a complete index of allowable rhymes.
f'he  Topical  Lexicon-Williams,                -       -      -       -       I  75
The useful terms of the English language clasifted by subjects and arranged according to their affinities of meaning, with etymologies, definitions, and illustrations. A very entertaining and instructive work.
Mathematical Dictionary-Davies and Peck,  -    -                                $ oo
A thorough compendium of the science, with illustrations and definitions.
54
I