Jesus meant to convey. (This story was told because one boy had said he could be good enough, even if he were engaged in getting riches.) There was a good deal of conversation on this subject, and as it closed, Mr. Alcott asked them if they were sorry to hear such kind of conversation? If any of them did not like it, he wished they would hold up their hands. No one held up his hands.

The word pall led to the consideration of the source of palling. It was explained as arising from previous selfneglect when life palled upon the soul. It was because the soul was not alive and active. The other meanings of the word were also told.

The word palm led to the consideration of palmistry and its absurdity; and to an inquiry into the true sources of knowledge, which opened out an interesting field of remark. The word pain led to a consideration of the uses of pain. He spoke of Pain as a good angel with a mask.

.

The word pang first led to a consideration of the word sensation, for it was defined a sudden sensation, and sensation the boy said was a feeling. Then one said, a pang is a sudden sensation of pain. Another said, two boys were swimming, one had a sudden pang of the cramp. Another said, when a master says he is going to keep me after school, I feel a pang. Mr. Alcott quoted Coleridge's "keen pangs of love." It was decided that pang did not refer to bodily pain, so often as to mental, and especially to moral pains. One boy said, that men felt pangs when they were turned out of heaven. Mr. Alcott asked him if he thought God turned people out of heaven? A little girl said, that was a pang that came when one told a lie. A boy said, a murderer felt a pang. Mr. Alcott then returned to the turning out of heaven, and said, whenever you are angry, you turn yourself out of heaven. The boy said he did not mean heaven in that sense. Mr. Alcott asked him if heaven was a place, and God sitting there, tumbling people out of heaven; is that the picture in your mind? All the boys seemed to feel the absurdity of this. Mr. Alcott said, wicked things turn the soul out of heaven, for heaven is a state.

Pant led to a consideration of the state of mind described in the sentence, "As a hart panteth after the water-brooks,

so doth the soul after God;" and he asked one boy if he ever desired goodness enough to be said to pant after it? While talking of this, he interrupted himself and said, but you are tired of this conversation: they all burst forth that they were not. Show it to me then by your attentive looks, said he, and he went on, and told a short story which had the word pelt in it, in order to illustrate the word. The story was of a boy stealing apples. The three oldest boys seemed to think they should have done as the boy did, because they thought the stealing showed the boy's courage and spirit. And his impudence to an old man in the story, seemed to be more admirable still, in their eyes; and they said they would not have acknowledged the fault and asked pardon. Mr. Alcott made some remarks to lead them to think that it was really magnanimous to ask pardon when in the wrong. But they did not acknowledge themselves convinced.

After recess, I took my Latin scholars into the other room, and Mr. Alcott heard the others read and parse, and gave them arithmetic lessons.

January 1st. 1835.-I arrived a few minutes past nine, and found most of the children at the school. There were many exclamations as the children entered, one by one, of "Happy new year!" which Mr. Alcott allowed, although it is generally the rule that not a word should be spoken. The older scholars were writing their journals, and the younger, the words of the spelling lessons.

As Mr. Alcott was walking round, mending the pens, and preparing the pencils, he talked to the children as he passed them, about the difference between happiness and pleasure; and the sources of happiness. Pleasure, he said, was bodily, happiness was mental.

Having suggested the grammatical exercise to the elder scholars, as a means of filling up the hour, if they should learn their lesson in spelling and defining, before he was ready to hear it, Mr. Alcott attended to the division of the class before him. First, he pronounced all the words in the lesson, and then each of the class pronounced them. Having done this, he directed their attention to the marks of accent, sound, and quantity over the words, and asked them if they knew what they meant; they said, No. He

7*

said, sometime, he would tell them what they meant. He then described these little marks, and led them to observe their forms, and told them he should ask them to describe them to him another day.

It is very important in teaching young children, to direct their attention very carefully to things in detail, and to each detail at a separate time, for the synthetic is the first mode of perception; it is an effort for the mind to analyse the tout-ensemble of sensation or of thought into the parts. The intuitive act of the mind puts things together. A child not only associates outward things with each other very rapidly, but associates the actual picture with the ideal whole; and merges the boundaries of the finite in the great infinite from which it has lately drawn its being. Other people cannot aid the intuitions of the mind, so much as its analyses, and its understanding. In one sense, however, the intuitions of the mind may be aided: they may be helped by sympathy, and by removing all the hindrances of development. But the understanding process can be helped a good deal, and it must be done by directing the attention to details, by directing the senses, for (although this is a fact that teachers do not generally advert to,) the education of the senses in children is naturally behind that of the higher faculties of the soul. Emotions, feelings, intuitions, come first, and interfere with the perceptions of the external world, by their over-mastering predominance.

At ten o'clock, Mr. Alcott told the rest of the school to turn round; but not until he had remarked that there was a wrong and a right way of doing it. He then told the

small division of the class to open their books, and look upon them while he heard the older division spell. He first spelled the words himself and required them to pronounce them, and this led to some remarks upon particular words whose pronounciation is disputed. He required them afterwards to spell the words to him.

After the words were spelled, Mr. Alcott asked those to hold up their hands, who had been as attentive as they would have been to a coasting frolic. Some held up their hands and some did not. He then said that whoever interrupted him while the definitions were talked about, should be deprived of the pleasure of recess. He asked if that

He

was just; they all held up their hands that it was just. The word nook was put out and defined corner. then asked if there was a nook in the room, which led to a doubt of the perfect accuracy of this definition. He asked if any one remembered a line of poetry in which the word nook occurred, for it was a word oftener used in poetry than in prose. One boy remembered a line. Mr. Alcott asked if they had any nooks in their minds. Some said they had. Mr. Alcott said he was sorry, that a perfect mind had no nooks, no secret places.

The word nose led to a consideration of its uses; and its convenient situation in our own faces, and also in the heads of those animals, who need a still more perfect organ for their purposes. There was a long conversation about cultivating the senses, and on the abuse of the senses by cultivating them too much.

The word note was referred to its Latin original to know. Mr. Alcott said he should like to have them give a practical definition of it, he wished they would note him and his instructions. All the derivatives, notion, notice, notary, &c. were considered.

The word noun was referred to its Latin original nomen. Mr. Alcott defined noun as the name of any object in the mind, or out of the mind; as the verbal type of the object of thought, whether existing in, or shaped out of the mind; and then he asked each one to tell him what a noun was, and they all gave answers, some of which he corrected, filling up those that were inadequate. He then took up a book, and asked what that was; some said a book, and some said a noun. He said, what! is this book a noun? they replied, no, the word book is a noun. He asked, if the book was existing in or shaped out of the mind? they replied, shaped out. He asked if the hour-glass was existing or shaped out? they said, out. He asked how it was with virtue? and they said, in the mind. New year, they said, was both out and in. He then took up Frank and read words which they referred to the right classes, whether denoting in or out of the mind.

The word null was defined annihilate; but the word annihilate was not pronounced right, and it was evidently a mere dictionary definition. Mr. Alcott said null meant

void, without force or meaning: some people's words are null; some people's whole characters are null. He then spoke of the derivatives nullify and nullification, but he did not enter into their signification very fully.

It was eleven o'clock; and they began to fidget; Mr. Alcott asked who was tired of explaining these words? and one of the boys held up his hand. Mr. Alcott asked another boy, what a word was? He replied, something made out of letters. The next boy said, a word is a thought shaped out by letters. Mr. Alcott replied, or a feeling; feeling may be denoted by inarticulate sounds also; as oh! ah! &c. Why do you come to school? To learn, said several. Yes, said he, to learn words; to learn to word your thoughts; this is a word shop. What do you come to school for, then? he repeated. To buy words, said one. I said, to word your thoughts. Words, then, are the signs of thoughts. What great things words are! a word has saved a life when spoken at the right time. Mary, said he, do you remember that it is said somewhere, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;-What does Word mean there? It means God, said she. Yes, language is a representation of God in the world, said he: how important then are words; how sacred should be our use of them how carefully should we learn their meanings; how carefully should we express our thoughts in words. He added, that he was sorry he had not time to talk longer of the passage of the Bible he had quoted, as it had a great deal of meaning. I was sorry he did not take time to observe to them, that Word, in that passage was probably used in a still more general sense than Language, meaning the expression of Truth in all ways, including action as the highest.

n;

The word park led to a description of the chase, which afforded many animating pictures. These were the most important words defined.

At twelve o'clock, all the children came in, and found their slates ready; those around Mr. Alcott's table had sums to do from Fowle's Child's Arithmetic. The rest, except the seven oldest, found their slates ready for a grammatical exercise, for which the words were to be found in Frank.