ture, the necessity of repentance, &c., were cited with great readiness, and repeated with admirable accuracy. "It is proper to add, that in addition to their direct religious instruction, the teachers who practise the explanatory method are careful to draw and enforce the moral and religious lessons suggested by the passages read from the collection, or other secular class books; and although the surveillance of even the most zealous of them does not extend beyond school hours, it may be stated that several make it a part of the business of every Monday morning to ascertain how far their pupils have profited by the public ordinances of religion. "It will be perceived that in several of the schools a considerable amount of biblical knowledge has been communicated; but till the teachers, as a class, have opportunities of becoming acquainted with the best modes of classification and of organization, and of being thereby convinced of the practicability of accomplishing, by a proper application of the means at their disposal, and in an equally short space of time, more than even the most diligent and zealous of these can, by their present arrangements and methods, effect, it is not probable that great or beneficial changes in the mode of conducting this department will be made. "The improvements which, under present circumstances, I would venture to suggest, are,— "First, That the pupils should be arranged in two, or at most three, sections for a certain amount of time daily, during which they shall all be occupied in receiving religious instruction. "Second, That for each of these sections a systematic course of lessons, adapted to their respective ages and capacities, should be prepared by the clergyman or teacher, and rigidly adhered to. "Third, That lessons of a mixed character, partly hortatory and partly catechetical, embracing explanations of the parables and discourses of our Lord, readings in biography, readings and illustrations of prophecy, &c., are arranged according to some plan, should on certain days be simultaneously given to the whole school. "The method of accomplishing the business, were those or some such arrangement adopted, is this:-While the senior sections, arranged under monitors in small manageable divisions, are occupied in repeating their psalms, catechism, and other exercises. -and it will be confessed by the opponents of the monitorial system, as usually practised, that this may be sufficiently done by such instrumentality-the master will have more leisure orally, and in a simple and familiar style, to communicate to all, who are unable to read, the information suited to their age and stage of progress; this should not occupy more than ten or fifteen minutes. The business of the other sections will then be taken up; those who are reported by the pupil-teachers as having failed to repeat with perfect accuracy the prescribed lessons, are now heard by the teacher himself, who will affirm or annul the judgment of the monitor; this, if vigorously and systematically conducted, will not occupy more than a few minutes. The various exercises will then be thoroughly analysed and explained. "The object of the third arrangement is rather to impress upon the minds of the children the great importance of attending upon those things that belong to their eternal peace,' than to increase their knowledge. While the latter of these objects will not even in these exercises be neglected, special attention will be given to the culture of the heart. The whole should not occupy more than thirty minutes. "By such arrangements, I think that, while retaining all the advantages of the methods that are now common even in the best schools, greater consistency and method would be given to the religious lessons, and, by being divested of the air of merely intellectual exercises, there would be imparted to them the sanctity and unction which ought to be their characteristics." EXAMINATION PAPERS. 1835-43. ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND LITERATURE. 1835. MILTON'S PARADISE LOST.-BOOK I. 1. 1-26. Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit With loss of Eden, till one greater Man That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen In the beginning how the heavens and earth Fast by the oracle of God; I thence 1. Read these lines. That with no middle flight intends to soar pure, Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings out- Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss, QUESTIONS. 2. On what syllables of a line does the accent commonly fall in English verse? 3. Give examples of this measure in lines of 10, 8, and 6 syllables each. 4. Give an example of lines where the accent falls on every third syllable. 5. What is Epic Poetry? 6. Name the most famous Epic poets, ancient and modern. 7. In whose reigns did Milton flourish? a |