4. But the 18th section of the Supplementary School Act provides another mode of distributing the school fund among the school sections of a township. It enacts, "That for and notwithstanding anything contained in the Upper Canada School Act of 1850, the Chief Superintendent of Schools shall have authority to direct the distribution of the common school fund in any township among the several school sections or parts of school sections entitled to share in said fund, according to the length of time in each year, during which the school shall have been kept open, by a legally qualified teacher, in each of such sections or parts of sections." In the course of my visit to the several counties of Upper Canada, last year, I was assured by practical and experienced persons, that, in some townships, thinly-settled school sections could not compete with thickly-settled ones in regard to the average attendance of pupils at school, but they could, if each school was aided according to the length of time the school is kept open by a qualified teacher. To give the weak every facility possible to compete with the strong, this provision has been introduced into the act; and it appears to me to be equitable, especially since the Supplementary School Act (13th section), limits all rate bills throughout Upper Canada to one shilling and threepence per month, for each pupil attending school, and leaves it with the school electors in each section to decide whether they will even retain a rate-bill to that amount or not. It is therefore no longer in the power of short-sighted and selfish persons to exclude any class of children from the schools, by imposing high rate-bills; and as the schools are now, by the general law of the land, made so nearly free to all classes of children, it is most desirable to encourage the keeping of each school open, by a legally qualified teacher, during as large a portion of the year as possible.

5. But I must request and authorize you to exercise your own discretion as to which of these two modes you will adopt the present year, in the distribution of the school fund to the schools under your superintendence. I must, however, remark that the two modes of distributing the school fund cannot both be adopted in any one township; the one or the other mode must be adopted for all the schools in each township for the whole year, and be based upon either the length of time, or average attendance reported in the semi-annual return of the

trustees.

6. Some complaints were made to me last year on the part of Trustees of both public and separate schools, that the Local Superintendent refused to make an apportionment to them, because their semi-annual returns were not made on the exact day required by law. Now, although the law requires these returns to be made on the 30th of June and the 31st of December, of each year; yet I think you can and ought to

tendents, whether, in townships where the basis of average attendance in distributing the school fund to school sections is adopted, they should take into account the length of time the schools have been kept open. We answer, yes; the principle of the law being to give the most help to those that help themselves most, and to encourage the keeping open of schools the full year. This principle of the law was fully explained and illustrated in the circulars issued in this Journal last year, and in the Chief Superintendent's annual report for 1851, pages 170-174, as well as in the note to the circular accompanying the apportionment of the current year, and the instruction to local superintendents at the foot of the trustees' half-yearly return. The law directs that (where average attendance is adopted) the mean average of the several schools shall determine the amount to be apportioned to each school, and this mean average can only be obtained by taking into account the comparative length of time-months and dayssuch school has been kept open. Where length of time alone is adopted, the school open for the longest period, will, of course, obtain the largest share."

allow a few days indulgence—say a fortnight, for the making out and transmission of these returns, before you proceed to the half-yearly distribution of the School Fund.

7. As to union sections, the 14th section of the Supplementary School Act provides that "local superintendents of adjoining townships shall have authority, and they are hereby required, to determine the sum or sums which shall be payable from the school apportionment and assessment of each township in support of schools of union school sections, consisting of portions of such townships; and they shall determine the manner in which such sum or sums shall be paid; and in the event of one person being local superintendent of two or more townships, he shall act in behalf of such townships; and in the event of the local superintendents of townships, thus concerned not being able to agree as to the sum or sums to be paid to each such township, the matter shall be referred to the warden of the county or union of counties for final decision."

8. In regard to the apportionment to separate schools, the provisions of the 4th section of the Supplementary School Act,in connection with the 19th section of the school Act of 1850, are so explicit, that I need only observe that one-half of what a separate school may be entitled to for the year, according to average attendance, should be paid at the end of the first half year, and the other half (more or less) should be paid at the end of the second half-year-in each case after receiving the semi-annual return required by the second proviso in the 4th section of the Supplementary Act, and on being satisfied of its accuracy. It is to be observed that separate schools are subject to the same inspections, visits, and regulations in regard to reports, &c., as are public common schools.

9. The Supplementary School Act provides for the expenditure of a sum not exceeding £500 per annum "in special aid of common schools, in new and poor townships." The local superintendent of any such township is requested to communicate before the end of August, at the latest, any cases of peculiar need and desert, and the circumstances connected with it; and when I shall have examined and compared all the cases thus submitted, I will make the best distribution in my power of the £500 in question, and notify the parties concerned accordingly.

10. The organization of our common school system being now complete by the provision and regulations for the establishment of public libraries, and its success, even when but partially organized, having exceeded general expectation, I hope our united exertions this year will contribute still more to its improvement and extension, that in schools and intelligence, as in civil liberty and the materials of physical comfort, the people of Upper Canada may have no reason to envy the condition of the people of any other country. I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

E. RYERSON.

ADVERTISEMENTS inserted in the Journal of Education for one halfpenny per word, which may be remitted in postage stamps, or otherwise. TERMS: For a single copy of the Journal of Education, 5s. per annum; back vols. neatly stitched, supplied on the same terms. All subscriptions to commence with the January number, and payment in advance must in all cases accompany the order. Single numbers, 74d. each.

All communications to be addressed to Mr. J. GEORGE HODGINS, Education Office, Toronto. TORONTO: Printed by LOVELL & GIBSON, Corner of Yonge and Melinda Streets.

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VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.-A Mound is in the Grave Yard (Poetry.) 2. The Canada Beaver. 3. Young Folks at School. 4. The Town of Odessa. 5. Incitement to Perseverance. 6. The Lazy Boy. IX. EDITORIAL.-1. Grammar Schools in Upper Canada. 2. Documents sent to Local School Officers. 3. Official Answers to Questions proposed by Local School Authorities. 4. The Art of Education -past and present. 5. Elequent Passages from Distinguished Orators. 6. State of Education in European Continental Countries. 7. On the Study of Latin and Greek in Grammar Schools ... 104

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X EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.-1. Canada, Trinity College. 2. Victoria College. 3. British and Foreign Monthly Summary. 4. Trinity College, Dublin. 5. Statistics of Popular Education in England. 6. United States Monthly Summary... XI. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.-1. Monthly Summary. 2. History of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." 3. L'Ecole des Beaux Arts 106 XII. Advertisements

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Among its curiosities are-Luther's Hebrew Bible, the copy from which he made his translation, with marginal notes in his own hand. The MS. of his translation of the psalms, with his corrections in red ink. The bible and prayer-book which Charles I. carried to the scaffold, and gave before his death to Bishop Juxon: Gutemberg's bible of forty-two lines, (on parchment, date 1450-55,) the first book on which moveable type was used. A consular dyptich of ivory, with reliefs, date 416, one of the earliest known. The codex Wittekindii, a MS. of the four Gospels, given, it is said by Charlemagne to Wittekind; it is of the ninth or tenth century, and the ivory carvings in the binding are in the style called Byzantine. An

Two hemispheres of metal, with which Otto Guericke made the experiments which led him to discover the air pump, are also preserved here. When he had exhausted the air between them, he found that the force of thirty horses was unable to separate them.

There is a public and private reading room connected with the library in which the new books and principal journals of Europe are deposited. The public reading room is open to the citizens and resident strangers properly recommended, who are allowed to take books home with them. To the private reading room, admission is had by ticket.

In addition to the Royal Library, the University of Berlin has a library of 35,000 volumes. There are, also, four public libraries in different parts of the City, for popular reading. Thus there are six great public libraries in Berlin, with a population of 400,000 inhabitants.

The City of Berlin itself, is the literary and scientific metropolis of Germany, and in the various walks of literature, philosophy, science, and art, and can show a galaxy of names, such as few Cities can equal. Since the time of Frederick the Great, it has been the policy of Prussian kings to attract to their capital, either through professorships in the university, or otherwise, learned men in every department of knowledge. Consequently, though but a city almost of yesterday, the number of eminent men who have labored, or who still labor, within the walls of Berlin is very great. Of those who are world-renowned, may be named :-Leibnitz, who founded the Academy of Sciences, in 1700, and became its first president; the pious Spener, the Historian Puffendorf; the Philosophers Fichte, Schleiermacher, F.A. Wolf, and Hegel; the Theologians-Neander, Twetsten, and Hengstenberg; the Historians-Rankè and Von Raumer; the Geographers-Ritter, and Leipsius; the linguists Bopp, Zumpt, the brothers Grimm, and many others. In the natural sciences, stands unrivalled in the present or any other Alexander von Humboldt; and after him are many brilliant names, as Poggendorf, Ermann, Mitscherlich, Rose, Erichson, Ehrenberg, and Link. Many others might be mentioned; but it may suffice, further, to name the Poets Tieck and Rückert the famous Sculptors, Rauch and Schadon; and the Composer, Felix Mendelssohn.

age:

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THE INFLUENCE OF CHILDHOOD UPON THE FUTURE MAN. Those who deny the influence of childhood upon the future man greatly misunderstand their being. Those who think that early ideas and associations have little or nothing to do with the ultimate character, ignore altogether the effect of thought and habit upon it; and by such a theory cut off, as it were, their childhood from the history of their being and endeavour to place the first formation of character in a period of that history which could never have been attained had they not first thought and felt as a child. At each successive period of man's history this influence affects him in a greater or less degree; since that history is one continued chain of unbroken links. "As the morning shews the day, so the child bespeaks the man."

But in making these remarks, it is not forgotten that there are many points at which the character receives additional biases which, while they by no means materially alter, effectually direct in a particular or given course; and these points may be found in the accidental circumstances of life, or turns of fortune, from the influence of which no mind is altogether free. But what is contended for, is simply that the fundamental principles or cardinal outlines of character, which were received in childhood, remain unaltered either by the vicissitudes of fortune or the experience of age. These may modify and mould the man, so that apparently, to the eye on the superficies, some difference may seem to exist between the boy and him; but to those better acquainted with him, no real difference will be evident. The surface, from motives of interest, or the peculiarity of events, may indeed have the appearance of change in its aspect; yet in regard to the deep recesses or substratum of character, where live the first principles imbibed in childhood,

no real change has happened. The manifestation in the one state may be diverse from the other, while the reality continues untransformed. How often has it been remarked by persons who have some skill in estimating character, that there exist no new features in the early manhood of their friend, no particular distinction between it and his childhood, except the unfoldings and improvements resulting from a long course of education, and other attendant causes, and so they express themselves when speaking of him in the short but comprehensive and truthful sentence-"he was the same from a child." The influ ence of childhood on the ideas and associations from whence it emanates, is something like the incision made in the young tree, which will abide and be apparent in the oak after the growth of centuries; or similar to the waves of the ocean, which gradually approach and burst upon the shore with all their accumulated weight and force. The lives of great men may furnish many illustrations of our point. Of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the great painter, it is said, that at an early age he eminence. And of Robert Hall, who for pulpit oratory and exalted formed a taste for his art, in which he afterwards attained so great piety and learning stands pre-emirent in the list of modern divines, that when quite a child he evinced an inveterate tendency for books. Often would his nurse find him away in some solitary place, with his pinafore loaded with them, and his mind wholly engaged in conning them over; and when he subsequently became the charge of a tutor, he so rapidly acquired his lessons, that his tutor was often obliged to sit up nights to prepare new ones for him. And if in another department we look at the early boyhood of Napoleon the Great, our point receives still further illustration We see him at that period practising, he afterwards became so memorable at the siege of Toulon and else with his little brass cannon, those first principles of artillery, for which where. The artillery was his charm in boyhood, and his profession when he served in the army of the Republic. Those little solitary ex ercises which he performed on the shores of Corsica, deeply impressed upon his mind the principles of gunnery, and determined his choice of a regiment when his commission was granted. And again, it is said of Sir William Jones, the great linguist, that his habits of thought and his good mother. The plan she adopted was a simple one, but in his reflection were early formed under the educating and judicious care of case very salutary and effectual. She habitually gave him a portion of the Bible to read every day, and then required of him, though young Sometimes he came to a difficulty; he immediately sought the aid of as he was, an account of the facts it related or the doctrines it taught. his mother, but this aid she uniformly refused, telling him he must in doing so, she would give her exposition, and not till then: and thus think it out for himself; and when he had made every effort, and failed she succeeded in forming the reflective habits of her son-the celebrated master of about one hundred and twenty different languages. In hood upon the character and pursuits of the future man; and not a these few instances we have bright examples of the influence of childfew of those who have appeared upon the stage of life, eminent in arts, learning, or arms, owe their eminence to that influence, to the ideas and associations which attended their early years. But these examples may be said to be extraordinary, or rather the exception than the general rule. In this, as in other cases, the exception proves the rule. The common principles of our nature are uniformly the same, only they exist in particular men with a greater degree of strength and perfection than in others; and so never fail in those particular instances in producing characters able and eminent. And these principles first begin to evince themselves in childhood, and become stronger with the growth of years, as "Streams their channels deeper wear.'

THE DIGNITY OF THE TEACHER'S WORK.

It is a pleasant fancy of Swedenborg, that angels in heaven are employed in teaching the youthful spirits that enter prematurely the sphere of immortality. It is no childish fancy that would assign the teacher's work to the choicest spirits of earth, and exalt this work to the rank of the most angelic of human employments. A proper idea of the dignity of his work is needful to the teacher as a motive to fidelity, in his perplexing, and often ill-requited labor; and especially to reconcile him to an employment, which by some strange mistake has come to be generally rated immeasurably below its proper rank. It is not easy to account for the fact, that the calling of the teacher is gene rally ranked, not only below the other professions, but even below some of the more common industrial pursuits. The origin of this preposterous notion may be found far back in some barbarous feudal age, when all peaceful occupations were held in contempt: when the office of chaplain and king's fool were interchangeable, and when some "Dominie Sampson" or "Ichabod Crane " was the impersonation of pedagogical dignity. But such a preposterous idea does not belong to an age of refinement. Public sentiment has considerably improved, of late years, and the employment of teachers has received a much more generous consideration.*

* Macaulay in his unrivalled History of England draws a graphic picture of the inthey could scarcely be believed.-ED. Journal of Education. ferior position of clergymen two centuries ago. Were his facts not matters of history,

The correction of public sentiment when it has once taken a wrong direction, is a work of time; years must elapse before the subject will be viewed in its true light; in the mean while, much will depend upon the character and qualifications of those who are engaged in this work. If they resort to teaching from merely mercenary motives, as a last resort, or to pass an idle winter, it will be a long time before the profession will enjoy a very large share of public favor; the teacher will be merely tolerated as a sort of necessary evil. In the want of suitable encouragement from other sources, the teacher may find ample motive to fidelity in the dignity of his calling. An employment is elevated in dignity in proportion to the importance of its subject, or the materials with which it has to do. The magistrate, or the commander of an army, ranks above the herdsman, for the one governs brutes, the other, men. The maker of chronome ters takes rank above the blacksmith, because he is employed with more costly and delicate materials. Upon this principle, the work of teaching, especially if we include in this term the work of the ministry, surpasses all other occupations in point of dignity. The farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, are employed with material and perishable things. The legal profession is busied with forms and precedents, with crimes and penalties, and, with the exception of its pleading, it has but little to do directly with mind. Medical skill is employed almost exclusively upon the outer man, the temporary habitation of the soul. But the subject of the teachers work is mind, the masterpiece of the great Architect, delicate in structure, transcendent in value, immortal in destiny. The employment of teaching, if rightly pursued tends strongly to develope the better principles of our nature. This may be seen by contrasting the work of the teacher with other employments. The merchant or the stock-jobber, in every individual transaction in the routine of his daily occupation, has an eye to "Profit and Loss." This is his business. Such employment tends strongly to develope a covetous disposition. But the teacher is subject to no such sordid tendency. His daily duties are made up of efforts to cultivate and adorn the minds of his pupils, and to fit them for their high destiny. He must be bad indeed who does not improve under the influence of such an employThe triumphs of art over nature are the more easily achieved, since they are the conquest of mind over matter. But in the work of teaching, mind acts upon mind, and achieves its victories by the force of truth and reason upon intelligent, thinking beings. To curb the waywardness and rouse the flagging energies of the pupil, to awaken a thirst for knowledge, and set the timid and retiring on a career of improvement, is a work possessing all the elements of true dignity. Philosophers tell us that thought is imperishable; that the faintest mental impressions are securely treasured up in the storehouse of the soul, and need only a favourable condition to be distinctly reproduced upon the table of memory. If this be true, we have in this fact a thrilling illustration of the importance of the teacher's work. He is tracing the lines of thought upon the susceptible mind cf childhood, which "Time's effacing fingers" cannot erase. "I paint for futurity" said the old Grecian artist, when blamed for the tardiness of his work. The teacher's work is not to rescue from oblivion the changing lineaments of the countenance, and to give immortality to the transient beauties of the human face divine, but to impress upon the deathless spirit, the features of intellectual and moral beauty.

ment.

The Daguerrean artist places the polished metallic plate in the focus of his "Camera," and forthwith, as by magic, there starts to view a perfect and unalterable impression of the original. Whether the countenance be radiant with smiles or clouded with sadness, beautiful or ugly, the magic pencil of nature draws it with unerring accuracy, and no art can improve the picture.

Let the teacher consider well what lines he traces upon the susceptible minds committed to his care, for the light of eternity will give distinctness and permanence to the image.

High moral principles and sincere piety are indispensable qualifications of the model teacher.-Massachusetts Teacher.

COPIOUS KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO GOOD INSTRUCTION. [We copy the following excellent remarks from an address delivered before the students of the Merrimack Normal Institute, by Prof. John S. Woodman, of Dartmouth College, and published in the Massachusetts Teacher. Prof. Woodman has held the office of Secretary of the Board of Education for New Hampshire, and is at present President of that body.]

Copious knowledge is necessary to good instruction. A long-experienced and distinguished teacher declares that copious knowledge lies at the foundation of all good instruction.

It is sometimes said that tact and skill in teaching will go a great way' and make up for a deficiency of knowledge. There is no doubt these qualities will do a great deal with a little material. But if so, how much more usefulness and efficacy will they add to abundant

knowledge. It is very rare to find a man of such peculiar temper of mind that he will not prove an acceptable and profitable teacher of that subject in which he is thoroughly versed and liberally informed. It is of consequence that the teacher should be above the standard to which he is expected to elevate his class. The business of instruction is no heedless pastime. In all subjects the scholar must be watched with a quick perception, and checked with a prompt and ready hand, from his constant tendency to deviate to the right hand and the left, and kept in the middle highway of his pursuit. Who can do this easily but the teacher of copious knowledge? And who knows best where the middle highway lies? he who has only travelled through it, or he who, besides that experience, has also surveyed all the surrounding country, and contemplated the journey from all the overlooking hills? With such a guide every step is progress in the right direction. For instance, in teaching the subject of Arithmetic, some may suppose it will answer very well to know the rules and be able to work the examples. But in such a case it generally happens that both teacher and scholar move carelessly and without much interest over the simple rules and fractions and all the more useful parts of the book, and come down with great zeal upon the Progressions, Positions, and Almanac questions in the last part, and finally close the book with a kind of triumph at having discovered its mysteries and got possession of its jewels. Such instruction is liable to two very serious objections. The simple and most useful rules are never well learned, and although the student may solve the difficult problems with considerable skill, yet he even cannot write figures so that others may read them with tolerable convenience, or cast the interest on a note with sufficient promptness to encourage his friends to request such a favour a second time. What he ought to know from the book is not well enough understood to be of much practical utility. The next objection is, that the student becomes impressed with the idea that the point of the subject lies in the difficult problems and more complicated rules, that are often feebly demonstrated, and injudiciously placed in the arithmetic when they belong more properly to some other subject. He looks upon the subject as a kind of collection of Hobb's locks to be picked for the exercise of his skill. And this is not all the disadvantage. The student often carries the same idea into other matters and looks for the point and substance of everything else in some cunning riddle or mysterious puzzle. False views of many things will stand in the way of his success and usefulness. In the ordinary business of life men will not seem to succeed so much from upright conduct and industrious habits as from lucky thoughts and out-of-the-way expedients. But the welltaught pupil is made to place more importance upon the elements of the subject, and to spend the time which others devote to the difficult problems upon higher subjects where the difficulties properly belong and are easily overcome.

A teacher also wants copious knowledge so as to furnish abundant illustration. Different minds are differently affected by the same view of a subject, and that teacher has a great advantage who can furnish the illustrations which suit the occasion. Some subjects need to be expanded and enlivened so that the barren meagreness with which they first strike the learner shall be covered with some degree of life and interest. Others appear complicated and confused, and are to be condensed and thrown into a single sentence or a single word. How can the teacher of narrow knowledge do this well? Suppose a class are reciting in geography. The lesson in the book may be interesting, but how much more so if the teacher's extensive knowledge of the history of the region and of travellers' accounts of the appearance and manners and customs enable him to add some pleasing information of his own. How much such assistance would add to the ordinary lessons on the geography of Holland, Italy, or Switzerland. There is another reason why the teacher ought to be liberally informed. It is that the knowledge is eloquent. Whatever a man is full of will be impressed upon others in many ways. It will seem to clothe him like a garment. How much the trades, professions and pursuits of men contribute to give them character. The farmer, the clergyman, and the trader, cannot meet you without recalling to your mind much that belongs to their various pursuits. They may not speak of them, but the engrossing subject of the mind will speak through the dress, the countenance, the gait, the language, and almost every motion. So is the copious knowledge of the good teacher. It is eloquent, though he may not be upon that subject. Every anecdote and illustration has some turn or allusion that calls it to mind. This is true in regard to the branches commonly taught in the school, but it is especially important in regard to manners and propriety, and in regard to moral and religious instruction. Copious knowledge on these important subjects cannot well be supposed to exist without a practical illustration of them in the life and conduct of the teacher. And it will be found that the most valuable instruction in these things, which do more than all besides in forming a truly excellent character, is given more by the example, intercourse, and silent eloquence of worthy and respected men, than by all the books and lessons recited ever so much.

The reference is to the celebrated American door and safe locks, exhibited at the London Exhibition of 1851.-ED. Journal of Education.

The influence of correct and copious knowledge cannot be concealed. It will exert its power though its possessor may be unconscious of it. Again, copious knowledge is useful to show the perfection of a subject and make it attractive. Almost every subject when seen in its higher perfection becomes so beautiful and fascinating that it immediately enkindles a desire to comprehend and partake of its excellencies. Even the severe subject of geometry, when seen in all its simplicity and completeness, when the absence of everything but what is strictly essential, and the absolute certainty of the demonstration are observed, becomes interesting and admirable in itself, as in many respects the most perfect human science and the standard model which all others may emulate, but can never equal. So it is with Music. It has a degree of interest in itself. But when a Paganini or a Jenny Lind shows its highest perfections, everbody is in raptures, and feels an impulse towards the art. The boys will bring into use again their old abandoned instruments, and all the children about the streets will try to sing and repeat the rapturous strains, and never give up their efforts till the remembrance of the divine perfection has faded from their memory and ceased to excite them. So it is with Painting and Sculpture. Artists visit Florence and Rome that they may look upon the master-works of Titian, Raphael and Michael Angelo, and there they see such expression and such execution as they had no conception of before. It is like a discovery. They feel themselves raised at the sight to a higher world, and at once agitated by new impressions and driven by new impulses. So is the perfection of all subjects. I might make the attempt to teach good reading and good speaking with a very limited knowledge of the subject of elocution. I might go through most of the instruction and gain moderate success but when the subject appears in its perfection in the hands of a proficient in the science, when all that is mirthful, gay, grand or terrible in human expression is made to pass in review at the hands of a master, you, ladies and gentlemen, will bear me witness that the subject itself becomes irresistible, and there is nothing, for the time being, that we feel such a strong desire to gain for ourselves. One such view as this of almost any subject, is a guarantee of very considerable

success.

For these reasons it is that good instruction requires copious knowledge, that the teacher may have a quick perception of the precise course the scholar ought to pursue, that he may abound in various illustration, that the subject may be eloquent in his hands, and that he may show somewhat of that perfection of it which is always er chanting to the view. But the teacher will ask, how is it possible at first to gain this copious knowledge on all the subjects taught? It will be impossible, and the teacher may well say that he feels embarrassed on those he is most familiar with. It is here that lies the teacher's task. Here is his duty and labour, to improve himself by constant study, and never think the work done while there is anything before him to be learned. This disposition more than anything else will characterise the good teacher, whose reward will be great both in the gratitude which others will bestow, and in the knowledge which he will gain for

himself.

DRAWING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Drawing is the art wherewith we express our ideas of form on a flat surface. To cultivate it there is as much need of intellectual power and exercise as in solving problems in mathematics. Drawing is based on form; its elements are simple, its laws few, and easy to understand, its uses without limit. There is not a single branch of commercial enterprise in which it is not available. There is not a science in which it is not required. There is not a country that is entirely without it. It should be taught in our public schools, and taught in such a way, that when the pupils go forth into the busy scenes of life, they may be enabled to make use of it with ease and certainty. To the teacher, it is an indispensable power; it is needed often for illustrations in subjects that can only be given imperfectly without the use of it. We often cry out about our want of taste, are very emphatic in blaming people for their want of appreciation of our own merits; buy all French furniture, or nearly so, or do something that is not quite so honorable,-borrow their designs; while if they were our own, and made the same use of by others, it would be stealing, and we should declare that they have no artistic talent. To some, this may appear truth. But for our own part, we declare that the children of this land, taken in the aggregate, have more refined innate artistic power, than those of any other country in the world. And we look forward to the day when Canada shall shine in Art, and shall glory in the sublime productions of her sons and daughters.

She has, however, much to do ere that time can come. She must introduce the study of Drawing into all her public schools, and have it taught in such a way as will bring out the powers of those who are instructed there. This necessity has been deeply felt in the mother country, and only within a few months has the work been put in active operation.

The causes that have led to the movement will be understood by the following extracts from a Report before a Committee of the House of Commons of some years since. "W. J. Smith, of the firm of Harding, Smith & Co., Pall Mall, says,-There are many articles we are importing from France, which, were we in possession of designs, might be equally well manufactured here. I do not think a French article would sell without reference to its particular merit.' James Morrison, Esq., M.P., of the firm of Morrison & Co., says, 'I have been well acquainted with the manufactures of this country for more than twenty years. I have found, generally, that we have been much superior to foreign countries in the general manufacture, but greatly inferior in the arts of design. The great mass of the community in this country, not merely the lower and middle classes, but a great portion of the upper classes, have not had their taste cultivated in proportion to their education.' Another gentleman being asked to what cause he attributed the superiority of the manufacture of French gloves, replied,To the knowledge the manufacturer has of the shape of the hand.'” This is as true of America as of England, and is a reproach to both countries. Let both strive to remedy this evil, beginning in the right place, at the foundation, and a few years will show mighty results. For the first year there is not the least need of copy of any sort. Begin with the combination of form; perfect in that, go to perspective art, and afterwards either take nature for the model, or the rich prints of a well cultivated imagination.

Wherever manufacture seeks to expand the sale of its productions, art will be needed to beautify, and the laborer, to produce the highest kind of beauty, must possess a knowledge of Drawing.

We complain of the want of native designers, but give them no chance to grow up among us. Let Drawing be introduced as a branch of instruction into all our public schools, and we shall no longer need to rely on other lands for our artistic designs.

GOVERNMENT IN SCHOOLS.

In every system of government, there must be a governor, and the governed. The same is true in relation to schools. The former is the teacher, and the latter, the taught. Every governor should have been well governed, and know well how to govern himself, in order that he may govern those under his care. He who would govern, should first learn obedience. Every teacher should bear in mind, that he is dealing with rational, thinking, reasoning beings, and should treat them as such. He should endeavor to make them clearly understand that it is their duty to do what he requires, and it will be cheerfully done. The obligation of duty is a much stronger incentive to do right than the prospect of a reward, and much more effectual than the fear of punishment, in securing obedience and respect. The principle of duty may be urged upon the young, by frequent appeals to their conscience. There is in every human being, a natural, inherent preponderance to do right, and the pendulum of every heart is inclined to gravitate towards virtue. The principle of right is surely fixed in every heart, and by proper culture, will germinate and grow into vigor and luxuriance. The willow-branch of childhood is easily bent, and made to assume any direction; but the oak that has approximated to maturity, is stubborn and refuses to yield to the hand of instruction.

Encouragement is another great element in the government of a school. Kind words and a little commendation, (not flattery,) are great stimulants in a school-room. They secure the good will of the scholars, and cause them to feel that their good conduct is approved. A teacher should always be ready to approbate the right, and disapprobate the wrong, though more forward to approve than condemn, and should always see the good actions of his scholars, if not all their bad ones. He should express his approval, not grudgingly as though it cost him an effort, but cheerfully, convincing his scholars that he appreciates and esteems their conduct.

A teacher should never hire his scholars. Rewards, and more especially pecuniary rewards, tend to make them labor solely for the reward, while the love of knowledge should itself be a sufficient lure, from the consideration that knowledge is the only proper reward. Knowledge should be sought for the benefit it bestows, and not for some other object held out as a reward.

Never punish a scholar by trying to degrade him. A teacher should not be given to fault-finding. The surest way to discourage scholars, is continually to find fault, and underrate their abilities. When the teacher has to correct, he should make his scholars all feel that it is right, and that he is doing his duty. If the offender feels this, he will need less punishment, and even feel grateful to his teacher for inflicting less than he imagines he really deserves. A twofold advantage is thus realized. The teacher retains the affection of the scholar, and secures his obedience in future. Corporal punishment should only be resorted to in extreme cases, after all other means have proved abortive; and the outlandish practice of compelling scholars to stand on one foot, hold up a billet of wood, lie on the floor, sit under the table, etc., cannot be too severely reprehended.