THEORY AM) l'KA n- 



Itf 



portion to the ge of th>< |.n;..l :m.l tlio time during which he 

 it likt-ly .<> r.-iiiuin m. . :!in-inro. Thua we bare the 



primary school*, attended \>y tli -In, r*, ser- 



vant*, and the vast body of skilled iiml un-kiil-l urtiaana, 

 whoso average age on luuvintr school in barely eleven yeani; 

 the aecoiidu , where children of the lower mi I'll- 



nlaaifta stay until tlu-y ra-h an average age of fifteen 

 teen years ; tli- hurli-i- schools, where the age at leaving varies 

 n years to twenty; and the universities, fro- 



1 by those who oithor boloug to the wealthiest classes 

 or are ink'nd-l f T th. lr;mi-l profession*. It is quite niani- 



it OH- programme of studies i-->uld n-v-r !- rendered 



- fur all these various olasso*. Th- dinVronces in age, 

 in homo culture, in rank and probable position in mature life, 

 all combine to show the absurdity of any such idea. But \v- 

 muflt not omit the notice of still another department in th- 

 aphere of educational action. A rapidly increasing number of 

 our young people, employed in various occupation* during 

 many hours <rf the day, are devoting their leisure time to perse- 



and laborious mental application. The existence of 

 .: colleges, the institution of evening classes at other 

 colleges and scientific institutions, the flourishing Art and 

 Technical schools in so many places, and the large number 

 of youths in addition to these who are spending their spare 

 hours in private study, furnish abundant proofs of this asser- 

 tion. The motives which prompt to this laudable course are 

 various in their nature. Some are actuated by a sincere love 

 of knowledge for its own sake ; many seek to improve them- 

 selves with a view to bettering their position in life ; others, 

 that they may worthily fill their present position ; and some, 

 it may be, from a faint glimmering of the great truth enun- 

 ciated in our first paper that education, both of body and 

 mind, is a process which can only end with life itself and 

 therefore strive to keep out evil by daily communion with what 

 is right and good. 



Reading, writing, and arithmetic should undoubtedly be the 

 leading items in the work of the primary or common day- 

 school. Where children leave at the early age of from ten to 

 twelve years, their average school-life being not more than 

 about three years, and their destination to earn their bread 

 by the labour of their own hands, it is manifestly absurd to 

 cram their tender and half-developed minds with scraps and 

 fragments of science, which can only leave vague and ill-de- 

 fined impressions, and serve rather to cloud and mystify their 

 mental faculties than to train and develop them. Still, wo 

 hope to show, before this article is concluded, that even with 

 this humble programme, accompanied by skilful and earnest 

 exertions, a fair amount of mental training may be effected, 

 and a desire for further advancement implanted, so that the 

 pupils in many instances will leave the benches of the day- 

 school only to enter some of those ( evcning classes to which 

 we have more than once adverted. 



Beading is the art of associating printed or written signs of 

 words with the words for which they stand ; while words, again, 

 are but the signs of ideas which exist, or have existed in the 

 minds of one or more persons, at some time or other. It follows, 

 therefore, that if the reader has learnt to join visible signs 

 with their appropriate words, and if these call up before his 

 mental vision the thoughts which they represent, the process, 

 when carried far enough, and exercised on worthy material, 

 muet have a wonderful effect in storing his mind with ideas, and 

 in developing, training, and strengthening his intellect. It is 

 for these reasons that the art of reading ought to stand fore- 

 most in the list of suitable subjects for instruction, at least in 

 every elementary school. On the best methods in use for 

 teaching this most valuable art we must not linger now. In 

 a future article we hope to give some attention to this matter : 

 a few remarks as to the results to be aimed at while teaching 

 this art must now suffice. In the first place, the student 

 should be taught to utter every word clearly. For this purpose 

 the teacher should often direct his attention to the organs of 

 speech, and show the way in which they are employed to fashion 

 oach word ; and the reading should, especially at first, be very 

 distinct and slow, each word, as it were, standing by itself, | 

 the initial and final consonants especially being well marked, ] 

 and the vowel sounds given purely ; so that every word may 

 be like a froshly-cut coin, just dropped from the mint. In 

 the second place, ths pronunciation of each word should be 



carefully noticed ; all pronneialisma, incorrect 



.placed accent*, etc., should aa quiekiy aa possible b* 

 corrected, and a sufficient amount of practice under the obeer 

 f the teacher be provided, to produce a ready recog- 

 nition of every printed or written word-ign : from aneh aeoorae 

 of training a fluent and correct atyle of reading may fairly 

 be expected. But result* auch an these, however highly they 

 deaerve to be prised, are but the preparation for others utill more 

 important. The chief object for which the art of reading must 

 be uiught, if it ia ever to take its true place among the 

 instrument* of education, ia to enable the pupil to aee the real 

 meaning and intent of the author, whether that tim^njpy be 

 openly declared, or hidden and implied under more or Ins anbtle 

 forma of expression. Some writer*, indeed, scarcely know their 

 own meaning in what they write, and to these we mnat not 

 be supposed to allude ; but it ia clear that the moat important 

 advantage to be obtained from the poaeeaaion of the power of 

 reading is the ability to appropriate the thought* of the greatest 

 and best of mankind, as they are recorded in their works. 

 Heading becomes in this way not only a potent inatnxment fcr 

 the purpose of mental culture, but it confers the ability to 

 amass an endless amount of useful information without the 

 further aid of the living teacher, to hold converse with the aagen 

 and heroes of the past, and the great thinkers and illustrious 

 actors of the present. 



But so great a gift is liable to fearful abuse. The preaent 

 age is distinguished by the vast number of persons who pos- 

 t-ess the power of reading ; and it ia remarkable also for the 

 immense supply of trash, of weak, vapid, and vicious publica- 

 tions, which pour from the press with the rapidity of a filthy 

 torrent. It is, then, the duty of the educator to seek to instil 

 along with this reading power a love for what is useful, inno- 

 cent, and good, and a disgust for what can only demoralise 

 and debase. 



Writing is another indispensable element in the list of 

 primary studies. Its uses are various and important. It enables 

 its possessor to place on paper the thoughts which crowd 

 through his mind, and to record in a permanent form the ideaa 

 which otherwise might pass away and be forgotten for ever. It 

 establishes a means of easy communication with absent person! 

 and far distant nations, and facilitates to an incalculable extent 

 the operations of trade and commerce. Nor are ita subjec- 

 tive uses of small importance. It trains the hand and eye to 

 act in unison, in obedience to the dictates of the mind. Being 

 essentially a process of imitation, it becomes an instrument 

 whereby that mental faculty is cultivated and developed, and 

 thus tends to promote habits of accuracy, neatness, and care. 

 by compelling patient attention to detail. And in the com- 

 paratively few instances where fine writing becomes the object 

 sought after, and beanty of form is sedulously studied, it takes 

 its place as a kindred art to drawing, ministers to the education 

 of the aesthetic emotions, and thus leads to a higher and more 

 exact appreciation of linear beanty and grace. We must briefly 

 notice another valuable use which the art of writing may be 

 made to serve. It is an indispensable auxiliary in acquiring the 

 power to spell correctly. Oral spelling should by no means be 

 neglected, since it forms a most useful exercise for the organs 

 of articulation, and furnishes, when properly taught, an in- 

 estimable aid to correct pronunciation ; but as a means for fixing 

 indelibly on the mind the component parts of a word in their 

 proper order, its efficacy falls far below that of writing. The 

 young pupil should first be set to copy sentences from his 

 reading book, and great care should be taken to ensure correct- 

 ness as to the words written down in this exercise. Wben a fair 

 amount of proficiency is attained, short sentences should be 

 given to be spelt orally, and afterwards the learner should write 

 down these sentences on slate or paper ; errors must then b 

 underlined, and each mis-spelt word bo written out in its correct 

 form some eight or ten times. 



Arithmetic is another of the studies mentioned above, and is 

 the only part of mathematics which in taught to the great 

 majority of the people. It should therefore be used by the 

 teacher not only as a mechanical art, acquired for the purpose of 

 facilitating the conduct of business, but should be employed aa 

 one of the means of training the reasoning faculties a work 

 for which it is admirably adapted when rightly taught. We 

 shall say moro on this point before the conclusion of this article, 

 and will, therefore, only mention now the order in which the 



