said, "never," but that he thought it requisite to allow for possible cases, under the present absence of preliminary training to good habits by milder means; his own opinion, confirmed by large experience, being that it is quite feasible to carry on education without the infliction of bodily pain. If in any case it is to be allowed, he would at least confine it to cases of moral delinquency, and never permit it as a stimulus to literary exertion. We most heartily concur in this suggestion; and we fully believe that the time is not distant when it will be utterly banished from every well regulated school.

The third maxim is, That a teacher is so to arrange the business of his school that no child shall ever be idle; a proposition easily admitted, but which, in the skilful hands of our author, furnishes, as do the two former, materials for much valuable and philosophical remark, which every person concerned in education will do well to weigh with serious attention. The writer also discusses the causes which have prevented the improvement of scholastic education in Scotland, such as the following the want of public provision for the education of schoolmasters; the want of suitable books for school reading; the little countenance shewn to parish teachers by persons of influence in their neighbourhood; their depressed condition, and inadequate emolument; and the prejudices of parents, especially their aversion to the monitorial system, and the habit of estimating the value of a school by the number of the hours of attendance. We could earnestly wish that the work had been of a religious as well as philosophical cast. True philosophy loses nothing and gains much by making the Bible its standard; and on no subject is this more necessary than on that of education.

Mr. Pillans illustrates his suggestions respecting the intellectual training of children, by an interesting account of the far and justly famed Sessional School at Edinburgh, and

the practical improvements of Mr. Wood; particularly with regard to the process of elementary instruction in English, in which the excellencies of his system especially appear. The whole detail is too long for citation, and cannot be intelligibly abridged. Mr. Wood's own account is also before the public; and to it we refer our readers, for much important information respecting the art and mystery of conducting a public school for the poorer classes of society: and the general principles apply equally to schools of a more select character, and we trust they will be widely experimented upon throughout the kingdom.

As we cannot quote largely, we will select for notice some of those parts of the book which explain the peculiar and distinguishing excellencies of Mr. Wood's system. The work is the more entitled to attention as being not a mere statement of principles, but also a record of an actual experiment in successful operation. The effects of the system are conspicuous in awakening the attention of the boys, in exciting a lively interest in their pursuits, in. calling forth and cultivating their mental powers, and in communicating to them a large stock of valuable knowledge, as regards both natural and spiritual things.

The general principles upon which the conductors of the Sessional School proceed are briefly stated as follows:

by which all the advantages of superior "To open up a royal road to learning, education might be attained, without any trouble on the part either of the teacher or scholar, undoubtedly never for a single But they were by no means on that acmoment entered into their contemplation. count less anxious, to do every thing in their power, to render the duties of both as easy, as pleasing, and profitable as possible; and particularly to study the capacity and the inclinations of the learner. In all their arrangements they have regarded their youngest pupil, not as a machine, or an irrational animal, that must be driven, but as an intellectual being who may be led; endowed not merely with sensation and memory, but with per

ception, judgment, conscience, affections, and passions; capable, to a certain degree, of receiving favourable or unfavourable impressions, of imbibing right or wrong sentiments, of acquiring good or bad habits; strongly averse to application, where its object is unperceived or remote, but, on the other hand, ardently curious, and infinitely delighting in the display of every new attainment which he makes. It has, accordingly, been their anxious aim to interest no less than to task,-to make the pupil understand (as much as possible) what he is doing, no less than to exact from him its performance,--familiarly to illustrate, and copiously to exemplify the principle, no less than to hear him repeat the words of a rule,--to speak to him, and by all means to encourage him to speak, in a natural language, which he understands, rather than in irksome technicalities, which the pedant might approve, to keep him while in school not only constantly, but actively, energetically employed, to inspire him with a zeal for excelling in whatever is his present occu pation, (whether it be study or amusement,) and, even where he is incapable of excelling others, still, by noticing with approbation every step, however little, which he makes towards improvement, to delight him with the consciousness of excelling his former self.

"These obvious principles may be grafted on a variety of systems of external arrangement, adapted to the particular circumstances and object of each individual seminary; but, for any defect of the principles themselves, or of a due sense of their paramount importance, we conceive that no system of external arrangement, however beautiful-no selection of books, however judicious-no talents or accomplishments on the part of the instructor, however brilliant and transcendent, can ever in any degree compensate." pp. 2, 3.

Mr. Wood is a strenuous advocate for the good old Scottish custom, now too much neglected both north and south of the Tweed, of catechising; but he insists strongly upon the necessity of the children being made to understand what they repeat. He thinks also that children may be made to comprehend the truths of religion much sooner and more easily than is generallysupposed.

"But it may be asked, 'What is meant by making a child understand the truths of religion? Hath not an Apostle acknowledged, that "great is the mystery of godliness," and what he found to be mystery shall we pretend to make plain even

to the conceptions of children?' Such questions we admit to be at once perti

nent and highly important. In order to answer them, it will be necessary to keep in recollection, that there are more senses than one, in which we may be said to understand a thing. We are said, for example, to understand the narrative of any remarkable phenomenon, when we have received a just conception of the appearances described, though neither ourselves nor the narrator have the slightest notion of the cause of these appearances. A physician is said to understand his profession, when he knows the circumstances, under which certain remedies ought to be applied, in order to effect a cure, and the method of their application, though he may not in many cases be able to account for the mode of their operation. We may, in short, perfectly understand a thing, in so far as we have any concern in it, while, in other respects, it is itself involved in obscurity. This is a distinction, which cannot be too much attended to in the religious instruction of children, and we might also add of those of riper years, for all in this imperfect state are at best but grown children. We ought ever to remember, that, in the department of religion, no less than of nature, there are secret things that belong unto the Lord our God,' as well as things which are revealed, that belong unto us and our children for ever.' Thus we are bound to make those entrusted to our care understand as a revealed truth, that by the death of Christ pardon has been secured to sinners, and to point out to them the authority upon which we make this statement-to shew them no less clearly, by the same authority, that in the benefits of his death, no impenitent sinner can ever have the slightest hope to participateand to render them well acquainted with the appointed means by which these benefits may be made available to themselves. But it is quite unnecessary, and would indeed be highly improper, to perplex their minds with any subtle and idle inquiries about the method, in which this sacrifice, so clearly revealed, can operate for salvation." pp. 56, 57.

The system of explanation pervades all the pursuits of the school, especially reading. Its object is threefold: first, To render more easy and pleasing the acquisition of the mechanical art of reading; secondly, To turn to advantage the particular instruction contained in every individual passage which is read; and, above all, thirdly, To give the pupil, by means of a minute analysis of each passage, a general command of his own language. The following illustration will shew the application of the system in practice :

6

"For example, if in any lesson the scholar read of one having done an unprecedented act,' it might be quite sufficient for understanding the meaning of that single passage, to tell him that no other person had ever done the like;' but this would by no means fully accomplish the object we have in view. The child would thus receive no clear notion of the word unprecedented, and would therefore, in all probability, on the very next occasion of its recurrence, or of the recurrence of

other words from the same root, be as much at a loss as before. But direct his

attention to the threefold composition of this word, the un, the pre, and the cede. Ask him the meaning of the syllable un in composition, and tell him to point out to you (or, if necessary, point out to him) any other words, in which it has this signification of not (such as uncommon, uncivil), and, if there be leisure, any other syllables which have in composition a similar effect, such as in, with all its modifications of ig, il, im, ir, also dis and non, with examples. Next investigate the meaning of the syllable pre in composition, and illustrate it with examples (such as previous, premature). Then examine in like manner the meaning of the syllable cede, and, having shewn that in composition it generally signifies to go, demand the signification of its various compounds, precede, proceed, succeed, accede, recede, exceed, intercede The pupil will in this manner acquire not only a much more distinct and lasting impression of the signification of the word in question, but a key also to a vast variety of other words in the language. This too he will do far more pleasingly and satisfactorily in the manner which is here recommended, than by being enjoined to commit them to memory from a vocabulary at home as a task. The latter practice, wherever it is introduced, is, we know, regarded by the children as an irksome drudgery; the former, on the contrary, is an amusement." pp. 145, 146.

To carry the experiment into effect, an elementary book was prepared and printed, containing no unmeaning sounds, but words only which were familiar to the children, and which they were called upon to explain. No sooner was it introduced, than its good effects in inspiring animation and activity, where all had hitherto been cold and spiritless, were immediately apparent, and excited no small astonishment, both among the elder pupils and the visitors of the seminary. The children were greatly delighted in finding themselves already able to read the words which they had

been accustomed to speak. In explaining, in the early stages of instruction, it is a special instruction to the monitors, never to exact any regular definition, but to be satisfied with any explanation given by the child himself, which indicates his knowledge of the meaning, though it be conveyed in his own ordinary or homely language, or by mere signs. A little child is not laughed at for defining an ox "a muckle coo;' or saying that us means you and me. But, says Mr. Wood,

"A young teacher, who had heen sent to visit our school, on witnessing this part of our proceedings, turned round, observing with a sneer, Who gives the children such definitions as those?''Sometimes,' we replied, they are given by themselves; sometimes by their monitor; sometimes by the master.' They are no definitions at all. Perhaps not: but which of them do you object to ?' To all of them.' 'Have the goodness to specify one which you consider most objectionable.' Us, for example.' Well! what did they say of us?' 'You and me that is no definition.' 'What would you have had them say?' 'Oh, I certainly never should have taught them that.' What, then, would you have taught them?' I would have told them it was a pronoun !!!' That child' (probably not above five years of age) would certainly have been made much wiser by what you call a definition.' pp. 181, 182.

་

The education at the Sessional School is religious: the business both commences and concludes every day with prayer. All the books used in the school contain a large proportion of religious and moral instruction. The earliest of them are in a great measure composed of little incidents selected from Scripture history. From the time that the children are able to read it with tolerable ease, the Bible itself is put into their hands: it is thenceforward read as a part of their daily instructions, along with any other exercises which may be required of them; and, while they remain in the school, it never ceases to form an important part of their studies. The plan of the daily religious exercises appears to be very judicious.

The plan of teaching grammar is by viva-voce communication and examination in the course of their daily reading, without using a grammar. It appears to be very effective, and teaches the children to reflect upon what they read. In arithmetic their attainments greatly excite the admiration of visitors, particularly from the quickness and accuracy with which they perform sums mentally. Their exertions in this department may have had an important effect in promoting habits of close attention, and in strengthening their mental powers. In geography, the chief peculiarity in the plan of teaching is making them draw maps on blank boards.

We have thus cursorily noticed a few of the features of Mr. Wood's system :-we call it his; for though there is, perhaps, no portion of it which may not have been partially adopted elsewhere, yet to him chiefly is the merit due of forming the scheme into one consistent whole, and bringing it before the public in the shape of a palpable and successful experiment. It does

not derogate from the fame of Dr. Bell, or the success of his labours in England, that Madras children wrote on sand for ages before he was born. The inventor, to all practical purposes, is the man who develops and applies an important principle. Gas lights would have been only a philosophical experiment, had not Winsor introduced them into our streets: the plan of mutual instruction, though no new invention, had never been worked into a system, or spread over the civilized world, had not a Lancaster been found to press it upon the attention of mankind: and to a similar honourable fame is Mr. Wood entitled for the happy experiment of the Sessional School, which bids fair to inoculate with sound principles the whole of Scottish, and, we trust, English and Irish parochial education. We differ from his opinions on some points, but we will not derogate from the effect of the general impression of the preceding statements and extracts by minor criticisms.

GREAT BRITAIN.

the forty-sixth chapter of Jeremiah, which Mr. Penn considers unintelligible in the present Hebrew text, and in every version except the Greek of the Septuagint, xlvi. 17, derives all its obscurity from a fruitless attempt to interpret as Hebrew a clause in that verse which is not Hebrew, but pure Egyptian: which Egyptian clause the Alexandrian interpreters have correctly preserved and transmitted, as it was originally written by the Prophet himself in Egypt. The writer argues, that the clause was introduced by the Prophet into his denunciations against Egypt for the purpose of affixing on its sovereign, Pharaoh Necho, or Necos, a taunting designation, in his own language, popularly descriptive of his fugitive retreat into Egypt from the armies of the king of Babylon, whose territories he had invaded. He considers

that the import of the clause is readily attainable, by resorting to the Egyptian language for its interpretation, in which it literally signifies intro-mutavit-viam; and that the verse, as preserved by the Septuagint, ought to be rendered, "Call ye the name of Pharaoh Nechao, king of Egypt; he turned his course inwards."

We are happy to learn that this highly respectable literary institution has determined to afford its support to a proposal for publishing the ancient version of the Old Testament attributed to Wycliffe. That eminent man translated the whole Bible into the vernacular tongue; and his labours are still happily preserved in manuscript, but only the New Testament has ever been printed. We trust that, in an age like the present, encouragement will not be wanting to remunerate the labour and expense of collecting and publishing these interesting and valuable remains of our early biblical literature.

Sir James Mackintosh, in the first volume of his History of England just published, makes the following remarks, which may offer a useful suggestion to clergymen, in making their sermons intel. ligible to unlettered hearers." From the Anglo-Saxons we derive the names of the most ancient officers among us, of the greater part of the divisions of the kingdom, and of almost all our towns and villages. From them also we derive our language; of which the structure, and a majority of its words, much greater than those who have not thought on the subject would at first easily believe, are Saxon. Of sixty-nine words which make up the Lord's Prayer, there are only five not Saxon the best example of the natural bent of our language, and of the words apt to be chosen by those who speak and write it without design. Of eighty-one words in the soliloquy of Hamlet, thirteen only are of Latin origin. Even in a passage of ninety words in Milton, whose diction is more learned than that of any other poet, there are only sixteen Latin words. In four verses of the authorized version of Genesis, which contain about a hundred-and-thirty words, there are no more than five Latin. In seventy-nine words of Addison, whose perfect taste preserved him from a pedantic or constrained preference for any portion of the language, we find only fifteen Latin. In later times the language has rebelled against the bad taste of those otherwise vigorous writers, who, instead of ennobling. their style, like Milton, by the position and combination of words, have tried to

raise it by unusual and far-fetched expressions. Dr. Johnson himself, from whose corruptions English style is only recovering, in eighty-seven words of his fine parallel between Dryden and Pope, has found means to introduce no more than twentyone of Latin derivation. The language of familiar intercourse, the terms of jest and pleasantry, and those of necessary business, the idioms or peculiar phrases into which words naturally run, the proverbs, which are the condensed and pointed sense of the people, the particles on which our syntax depends, and which are of perpetual recurrence ;-all these foundations of a language are more decisive proofs of the Saxon origin of ours, than even the great majority of the Saxon words in writing, and the still greater majority in speaking. In all cases where we have preserved a family of words, the superior significancy of a Saxon over a Latin term is most remarkable. Wellbeing arises from well-doing,' is a Saxon phrase, which may be thus rendered into the Latin part of the language: Felicity attends virtue ;' but how inferior in force is the latter! In the Saxon phrase the parts or roots of words being significant in our language, and familiar to our eyes and ears, throw their whole meaning into the compounds and derivations; while the Latin words of the same import, having their roots and elements in a foreign language, carry only a cold and conventional signification to an English car. It must not be a subject of wonder that language should have many closer connexions with the thoughts and feelings which it denotes, than our philosophy can always explain."

The committee of the Society for abolishing the cruel Practice of sweeping Chimneys by living Machines vouch for the truth of the following dialogue and fact. There is, it seems, some peculiar disease incident to climbing boys." A cadet applied to a physician in Madras for advice, and was found by him completely out of health. The following conversation took place :Dr., 'I have a question I wish to put, but am ashamed to ask it.' Cadet, 'I beg you will feel no delicacy.' Dr., 'Well, I'll think of your case till to-morrow.' The next day he was reminded of his inquiry, and, after a good deal of apology and preparation, said, 'Were you ever a climbing-boy?' Cadet, 'I was stolen from my parents in England; I was too young to find them out, and they could not discover me, and I worked four years as a chimney-sweeper.' Dr., I knew that