plex," and another, “compound," in relation to the same class of sentences; some grammarians employ the word "active" as the exact synonym for what others call "transitive;" while a third class of writers, including Dr. Morell and Dr. Angus, use the two words in different senses; so that a verb may be at once "active" and "intransitive." A mere routine student thinks much about these unimportant differences, and asks anxiously whether “antithetical," is a better or worse term than “adversative," as if the main purpose of grammar were to enable him to use technical phrases, and not to give him a knowledge of the things to which those phrases refer.

Of course the scientific language of grammar must be employed, and it is of great importance that the learner should become early familiar with the use of it. It is quite true also that there is great room for criticism as to the propriety of using certain terms, and that good reasons can be and ought to be given by advanced students for preferring one kind of phrase to another. But in the early stages it is only necessary that the learner should take the phrases of whatever text-book he uses; be sure that he understands the distinctions which they indicate, and then use them with precision. It is more important in grammar to adhere to one set of terms than even to choose the best.

It is well also that, in all parsing lessons, the teacher should fix upon a certain definite order in which the facts are to be enunciated, and cause that order to be habitually observed. In one sense, it may be said to matter very little whether a learner, in mentioning the gender and the case of a noun, speaks of the gender first and the case afterwards, or the reverse. But there is another sense in which even this matter becomes of importance. One great object of learning grammar is to promote orderliness of mind. Now, this is only to be secured by taking a given word and assigning to it all its several attributes, in a methodical way. Let the word be a pronoun, for instance. It has gender, number, and person, all of which can be determined by looking at the form of the word itself; but in these three particulars it necessarily agrees with the noun or antecedent for which it stands. But its case can only be determined by looking at the position which it occupies among other words. Now it is evident that of these four attributes, three describe the qualities of the person or thing represented by the word, and one (the case) the relation which the word bears to the rest of the sentence. A systematic thinker will not confuse these things, but will perceive that if one arrangement is more logical than another it should be always observed. So he will first mention the gender of the pronoun, as, if it possesses gender at all, it will be a prominent fact, obvious from the form of the word; then the number and person. He will then refer to the antecedent with which it agrees in these three particulars, and afterwards mention the case, and quote any rule which may be specially illustrated by the word and its position. In all other departments of parsing, the same rule should be observed. The teacher may easily lay out for himself, once for all, the best order in which to parse a verb

Gennetike, not genike. Nor does the genitive express the relation of son to father; for, though we may say, the son of the father,' we may also say, 'the father of the son.' Genike, in Greek, had a much wider, a much more philosophical meaning. It meant casus generalis, the general case, or Iather the case which expresses the genus or kind. This is the real power of the genitive. If I say 'a bird of the water,' of the water' defines the genus to which a certain word belongs; it refers it to the genus of water-birds. Man of the mountains,' means a mountaineer. In phrases such as, son of the father,' or 'father of the son,' the genitives have the same effect. They predicate something of the son, or of the father; and if we distinguish between the sons of the father and the sons of the mother, the genitives would mark the class or genus to which the sons respectively belonged; they would answer the same purpose as the adjectives, 'paternal' and 'maternal.' It can be proved etymologically that the termination of the genitive is, in most cases, identical with those derivative suffixes by which substantives are changed into adjectives."-Max Müller "Lectures on the Science of Language."

The professor might have added that our own term possessive is no better a term for the casus generalis than genitive. It is clear that the idea of possession belongs as little to the possessives in Malton's" Paradise Lost," his father, a native of Europe, as the idea of birth or generation. It is always a misfortune to a science when the notion conveyed by a term is not co-extensive with its technical use. Hence the extreme importance of making the wider or conventional meaning of a word like "possessive" understood, as well as its narrow and more obvious signification.

Composition should be taken up early, not reserved as a supplement to grammar, but studied co-ordinately with it. The simple elementary exercises in both should receive great attention. Many teachers skip over and are disposed to despise the numerous exercises which are given in the early part of such a book as Cornwell's "Young Composer," for example. They think it so easy to distinguish a subject from a predicate, or to make a sentence in which the subject is enlarged by an adjunct, that they become impatient of any delay, content themselves with one or two illustrations of each, and think it unnecessary to write out so many examples of each truth as are prescribed in the book. But this is a great mistake. No time is wasted which is spent in thoroughly grounding the learner in the elements; and it must be remembered that every exercise which requires him to invent or construct a sentence of his own, is of great value in setting him to think, and in giving him greater command of language generally. Our advice therefore is, to the teacher who has the care of an apprentice, "Do not omit any of the early exercises in either grammar or composition, because they are simple. Attach special value to all those exercises which require the student to supply his own words in elliptical sentences, or to make sentences for himself." If he does not do this systematically in detail, he will not do it well when he comes to deal with composition as a whole.

Besides the exercises prescribed in books, there should be many in the simple paraphrase of short sentences or easy narratives. Now that the meanings of single words are no longer arranged in columns, or learned by heart from the dictionary by scholars, the necessity for paraphrase has become greater than ever; for, by some means or other, it is indispensable that the student should be led to understand the right meaning of words. At first, it is better that he should do this by seeing the words in short sentences, and translating those sentences into his own language. Little by little, the sentences may become more complex and difficult, and then it will be well to give practice in dealing with separate words, and giving their precise meaning. The power to define a word exactly is a most useful one, but it comes after rather than before the power to reproduce the meaning of a short

sentence.

All teachers know that though it is easy to set a lesson in paraphrase, it is not easy to correct one. There are so many ways of going wrong, and so many of being right; and of the faults in taste and expression which occur, there are so many which cannot easily be proved to be faults by any rule, and which are yet felt to be so by an intelligent teacher. Paraphrase and composition exercises should at first be very short and very definite. They should refer rather to matters of fact than to sentiments, arguments, or reasons. There should be no excuse for the use of inflated or pompous language, and no room given for it. Above all, the sen tences should be short, and great care should be taken to secure the perspicuousness of the language. Its meaning should be unmistakeable. The relatives, and all the connective elements in the sentence, should be so placed that if the learner be called upon to parse them, he should do so without difficulty. Indeed, if a sentence is found to be entangled or obscure, the learner may often be more easily convinced of his fault by being called upon to parse the words he has misplaced, or to assign the case to pronouns which he has improperly used, than by any other method. As to "themes," or essay-writing on speculative or moral subjects, it would generally be premature and unwise to attempt it at all during the pupil-teacher's course.

It is very earnestly recommended that the definitions of the parts of speech, the fundamental rules of syntax, and the lists of words which characterize the different classes of sentences in composition, be learned by heart, and not merely read and understood. These are matters to which the mind needs constantly to return without difficulty, just as in arithmetic it finds occasion to revert to the multiplication

table. The definite statements of grammatical truth which are embodied in the form of rules and definitions are expressed in much more concise and accurate language than that of the learner himself is likely to be, and it is very valuable to have them constantly at hand, both as guides in practice and as tests of the accuracy of our own work.

From the first, it is necessary that many exercises should be done in writing. Lord Bacon's famous dictum, "Writing maketh an exact man," is as true now as ever; and since exactness is one of the great desiderata in grammatical studies, every oral explanation and questioning in grammar should, from the first, be habitually followed up by a written exercise, adapted to fix on the mind the truth which has been taught. The great rule, which is so widely applicable elsewhere, is specially so here. "As soon as a thing is known, let something be done in which the knowledge is turned to account." The teacher's language to his pupils is, "Now you have listened to my explanation and followed my reasoning, I want you to prove that you understand it by taking this exercise and working it out by yourselves." Till a learner can do this, it is not certain that he has thoroughly appropriated the lesson, however attentively he may have seemed to listen to it.

Etymology is a great stumbling-block to many pupil-teachers. They sometimes learn "roots of words," without knowing what a "root" is, or how that root is related to the modern meaning. Now, it must not be forgotten that the mere knowledge of the fact that a certain English word comes from a certain Latin or Greek word, is, as a piece of information, worth nothing at all. If a student can take a modern word—edification, for instance—can recognize it by its termination as an abstract noun derived from a verb (ædificare, to build)—can analyze this into ades, a house, and facere, to make—can perceive that primitively the word related to actual building, but that, in course of time, it became used metaphorically, and is now applied to the process of imparting knowledge, and thus of increasing the strength and stability of a human mind; if, after comparing it with such a word as ædile, and being told of its meaning, he perceives here an illustration of the tendency of many words to part with their literal or physical, and acquire a figurative or metaphysical meaning, then the investigation of the history of this word has really played some part in his education, and the facts he has learned have a true value. But the learning by heart of a few Latin or Greek words, and the simple knowledge of the fact that they are severally the roots of such and such English words, are, of themselves, worth nothing. They are barren and pretentious pieces of information, which, though they overawe the ignorant, merely excite the ridicule of a true scholar. Besides, etymology, unless properly learned, is simply misleading and bewildering to the student, as far as the knowledge of the meanings of words is concerned. The meaning of a word depends on usage rather than on its derivation, and unless a teacher has the knowledge and the skill requisite to trace a given root through the changes of signification it has undergone, and the associations which have clustered round it, or have separated from it, the knowledge of that root will often give an utterly false impression respecting the meaning of a word. Our space will not permit us here to give further illustrations of this fact, but we may sum up our remarks on etymology by giving two or three simple rules, by attending to which the study of the derivation of words may be made a useful part of the pupilteacher's course.

I.-Always spell and pronounce the Latin or the foreign word with special care and exactness. The difference of a letter is much more important in a Latin than in an English word.

II.-Attend carefully to the meaning of the prefixes and suffixes, as they largely determine the class and the right use of the derivative words.

III.-Always give the exact modern meaning of the derived word, as well as its root. Custom has often more to do with the signification of a word than its origin; and,

after all, the great object of examining the history of a word is that you may better understand how to use it. It is a good plan to place the words whose roots have been examined into sentences.

The following remarks on composition, from Dr. Angus's new" Handbook to the English Tongue," are very valuable, and will be read with interest.

"Grammar differsfrom composition, as a knowledge of the rules of building differs from architecture. Grammar is based on material laws and on custom-composition, on insight and taste.

“Grammar is largely mechanical: composition, organic.

"The one shapes sentences according to external rule; the other, according to feeling and sentiment. Grammar teaches us to speak and write accurately; composition clearly, impressively, efficiently. Grammar is a means; composition the end.

"The first essential of all good composition is thought. An earnest man, with a subject in which he feels a deep interest, will nearly always be an acceptable speaker. There are exceptions to this rule; but, generally, to have something to say is essential, if we wish to say it. The art of seeming to say something when we mean nothing, is for the most part an attainment, and not a gift. Eloquence is the speaking out of something within. If there is nothing, we call it loquacity; a poor power-froth, indeed-without substance. The man who wishes to write must have something to write of, and that something must be at once a feeling and thought.

"The next stage in composition is to define, in our minds, at least, what we intend to prove or to illustrate. If an argument is to be set forth, it must be shaped into propositions; if an illustration, the details must be carefully grouped and clearly described. Unless this is done, we shall write or speak without force. Before we commence a journey, it is necessary to decide where we go, especially when it is part of our business to show others how to get there, and to convince them that we are on the road. If the books and chapters of books that have been written in violation or in forgetfulness of this rule could be set forth in a visible, architectural form, there would scarcely be room for the follies which would abound on all sides.'

"Having resolved what it is we intend to prove or to illustrate, the next concern of a writer should be to mark, in a general way, the successive stages of his progress.. These may not all be clearly marked, some of them will; and of the rest, the writer will have a general impression, hereafter to be modified or confirmed. Chapters and paragraphs will indicate these stages, and the writer will take care that the whole are connected, either in logical sequence, or in such order as shall make the narrative or the argument consecutive, impressive, and complete.

Macaulay's History' is an admirable illustration of this general principle. His third chapter (vol. i.) may be taken as a. sample. The theme is, the state of England on the accession of James II. He affirms, at the outset, that the country has undergone such a change as is without a parallel in the history of the old world, and he closes with a general lesson, involving a repetition of that statement, in the form of a summary of the benefits which the common people have derived from the progress of civilization. He illustrates his statements by a large number of classified facts, arranged under the head of population, revenue, growth, and condition of large towns, &c. Each paragraph is a picture, carefully drawn, skilfully grouped, and nobly painted; the whole a magnificent gallery, with one subject-England in 1685 and in 1860. The student may sketch and paint for himself, beginning with the district or town with which he is most familiar, describing its physical aspects, its population, its trade or resources, and its antiquities or history, and then proceeding to fields more comprehensive. Subjects literary or logical will occupy his attention last.

"One of the most fatal mistakes in relation to style is to suppose that a writer who wishes to be natural must dispense with all toil and pains in composition. This mistake has been sanctioned by very different writers. "Never think,' says Cobbett, of mending what you write; let it go; no patching.' Endeavour,' says Niebuhr, 'never to strike out anything of what you have once written down. Punish yourself by allowing, once or twice, something to pass, though you see you might give it better.' But it is none the less to be condemned. Composition that costs little is generally worth little. Easy writing is very hard reading, and for young or unpractised writers to forget or neglect this principle is to make themselves and their work ridiculous.

"The history of literature abounds with illustrations. The Hebrews described poetry and all poetic composition by a term that was appropriated originally to the process of pruning. Greek and Latin authors spent years, as is well known, on those works which have come down to us as models of style. After eleven years of labour, Virgil regarded his ' Æneid' as still imperfect. Pascal often gave twenty days to the composition of a single letter, and some of those letters he wrote and rewrote seven or eight times. The result is that they are reckoned among the best specimens of the grace and flexibility of the French tongue. Tasso and Pope, Milton and Addison, Goldsmith and Hume, are known to have toiled in their task, and the manuscripts of most of them still attest the earnestness with which they perfected their works."

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BIBLICAL HOME LESSONS.

SIR,-I have, after numerous references and comparisons, selected many portions of Scripture of sufficient length to form a lesson, to be found either in the Old or New Testament, and which are regarded as subjects of primary importance. They may be seen to have the merit of being more consecutive and connected than other such lessons which have come under my notice, in print or otherwise. These latter are generally very scattered and consist of but one or two verses, which take considerable time to search out at the time of the reciting of each scholar's different lesson, and thus render the work very laborious, if not impracticable, in a large school.

I have given them in the annexed table, divided out school to commit to memory, twice a week or oftener. may be easily subdivided.

for senior scholars of a For junior pupils, they

It will be surprising to those teachers who have not adopted a similar method, what an extensive acquaintance the children will get with the Scriptures, especially the historical part-a subject which I have always found very attractive. When they have studied the whole of these lessons, McLeod's "Palestine" will be a good auxiliary. These may likewise be used for reading lessons in the school. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

H. H.

N.B.-Special attention should be paid to the verses given in the brackets.

I.-Ten Commandments. Exodus xx. 1 to 17 (7, 8, 12, 15).

II.-Lord's Prayer. Matthew vi. 5 to 15.

III.-Twelve Apostles. Matthew x. 1 to 10 (2, 3, 4).

IV. Twelve Tribes. Genesis xlix. 1, 7, 13, 21, 28 (10).

V.-Conversion and Life of Paul.

(a) Acts xxvi. 4, 13, 23 (23).

(a) 2 Cor. xi. 21 to 33.