JUVENILE LITERATURE. 511 



children of the day, as to the merits or demerits of the books 

 written for their amusement or instruction, whilst their offspring are 

 left to their own critical wisdom. Now'this state of things appears 

 to us to be not a little absurd. We tell the public by implications, 

 that they are unfit to judge of books for themselves : we waste a 

 great deal of time, and go through no small amount of labour, to 

 give them our opinions, and yet none of us ever think it needful to 

 guide them as to the selection of school and domestic literature for 

 the juniors. One bad effect of the absence of all control is, that an 

 immensity of trash is thrown into the hands of young people. The 

 enormous amount of the school trade demands an incessant supply 

 of trifles : of these many have an ephemeral existence, and are 

 chiefly written by ladies or teachers themselves : upon productions 

 of this class it would be silly to give a detailed criticism ; they have 

 all one character tales of very good little boys and girls, and tales 

 of very bad little boys and girls useful things in their way, and 

 fitted to some extent for the infantile capacity. 



It is the productions written for children of from eight to fourteen 

 years of age, and which are especially important to future character, 

 that demand the closest criticism. At this period of life, intellect 

 and morals begin to exercise themselves in an independent fashion, 

 and the impressions made upon the mind are never eradicated ; and 

 yet strange as it certainly is, parents are left without any guide in 

 the selection of books. It is true, indeed, that there exists an ably 

 conducted journal of education, but it does not come down to that 

 point where its labours could alone be useful. It is of course 

 impossible, in a periodical like our own, to enter at length or con- 

 tinuously upon such a subject; but we shall never permit any 

 important work, whether as regards merit or pretension, intended for 

 school and family reading, to pass us unnoticed. 



The Instructor is a work of this stamp, appearing in parts and in 

 volumes ; it is intended to form a complete system of progressive 

 readings, and will be in point of fact, when completed, a Juvenile 

 Cyclopaedia. With these pretensions, and the immense circulation 

 given to it, it becomes an especial object of examination. The 

 third volume was briefly noticed in the last number of the Monthly, 

 and we take up the fourth, which includes an account of the 

 almanack, of the months, and of the seasons, for a more extended 

 review. 



We are amongst those who think that education should be in- 

 separably united with religious sentiments; not that children are to 

 be made subjects for canting hypocrisy, but that every opportunity 

 should be taken to impress upon them the being and attributes of 

 the Creator. In this respect, this volume of the Instructor is 

 singularly beautiful. The Author, in speaking of changes in the 

 weather, says : 



" We are very apt to blame and find fault with the weather: we com- 

 plain equally of the cold of winter, of the dampness of spring, of the heat 

 of summer, and of the chill, frosty air of autumn. 



" When every thing about us looks cheerful, when the earth is clad in 

 verdure, when the air is filled with the song of birds, and when the sky 



