be said chiefly to depend, and which should consequently claim special attention from the Superintendent; they are, mechanical and intellectual training. In the former are included all the various details of discipline, the classification of the pupils, a careful division of time for each object of study, regularity in passing to and from the desks, mode of standing when engaged in any lesson, particularly the due inculcation of habits of neatness and order, &c. Intellectual training enables the Teacher to address himself to and educate all the faculties of the mind, instead of depending altogether on the memory. It is exercised to most advantage in classes, and the great secret then is, to awaken and keep alive attention, which may easily be effected by a spirited energetic method and unvarying good temper on the part of the Teacher. Whenever such a mode of teaching by lecture is adopted, each individual of a large class, will be found to learn more speedily, and with greater ease to himself, than he would alone.

To all these points the attention of the Superintendent should be carefully directed. Besides examining the classes himself, he should require the Teacher to, give instruction in his presence, with the view of being enabled to form a satisfactory estimate of his efficiency, he should endeavour to make each visit a source of gratification to the pupils, and in general require the school during his inspection to go as nearly as possible through its usual daily course. For this purpose he should call out each class himself, observe how far the pupils adhere to the required discipline, and show themselves familiar with it from constant practice, coming out from their seats without confusion, and arranging themselves in their accustomed places with regularity and precision. He should ascertain by personal examination, not merely the literary progress of the classes, but how far that progress has been produced by the adoption of system. He should be careful to do all this without entertaining, and above all, without exhibiting, any suspicion of the Teacher's efficiency. Certainly the mere fact of the necessity of inspection on the one hand infers the possibility of neglect on the other; but it would be most ungracious and unfair to proceed at once, as if impressed with the conviction that such neglect existed. All this can be effected by the exercise of good humoured kindness, coupled with firmness and tact; indeed, I know no qualifications more essentially necessary for a Local Superintendent of Schools than these. I have known Inspectors, partly from natural temperament, partly from a mistaken desire to discharge their duty strictly, exhibit so much harshness in the course of their visits, as absolutely to terrify both scholars and Teacher, and consequently in the end to leave the school with a most unfavourable impression of its merits. This is in every sense unjust and unwise, and should be most carefully avoided. The Teacher should invariably be treated with courtesy and respect, particularly in presence of his scholars, and whenever a Superintendent may deem it necessary to find fault, it should always be in private, and with kindness as well as firmness; any other course will lessen the Teacher's authority, and consequently impede his utility. Besides being a public servant, the Teacher, as well as the Superintendent, is an officer appointed by law to administer the system under which they both act, and no difference of official rank should for an instant be admitted as an excuse for a harsh and overbearing exercise of authority.

In addition to his actual duties in the school, as above alluded to, a Superintendent should endeavour to make himself acquainted with the feeling of the neighbourhood on the subject of education, with the view of removing prejudice, supporting the authority of the Teacher where necessary, and obtaining such local information as will enable him to afford valuable advice and suggestions on the occurrence of occasional difficulties. The more kindly feeling a Superintendent exhibits towards the Teachers and pupils in his district, and the more anxious he shows himself for their welfare, the more efficient and valuable will his services be, provided of course that he is in other respects competent.

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HINTS ON THE SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS.

In the arrangement of a system of school inspection, there are two material points deserving of consideration; one is, the number of inspections that should be given in each year, and the other, the propriety of giving previous notice of each visit. On both these, but little deliberation is requisite to enable any one of sufficient experience to arrive at a correct conclusion.

For the purposes I have named, fewer than four Inspections each year will be found insufficient. I speak with reference exclusively to the superintendence of the appointed officers, and without consideration of the visits of individuals or committees in the neighbourhood locally interested.

With reference to the other point, the expediency of giving previous notice, I have no hesitation in stating my conviction, that such a practice must, to a certain extent, defeat some of the objects of inspection; one of which confessedly is to see the school in its every day working order, otherwise the Inspector is deceived, and a false impression produced on his mind. It is scarcely possible for the best Teacher, if informed of the intended visit of the Superintendent, to avoid preparing for it, and the more carefully in proportion to his anxiety to produce a satisfactory result. He has the school-room cleaned up, the children warned to attend punctually, and their personal appearance specially looked to. He also sends round to collect all his scholars, and thus the school is exhibited under the aspect it may be made to assume by undue preparation for a particular purpose, but which may be, and usually is, very different from its general condition; and the Teacher unconsciously injures himself by introducing among his classes a number of children, belonging doubtlessly to the school, but who, having attended irregularly, and been called in only for that particular day, are unable to answer with the requisite precision. Moreover, such a mode is apt to foster a system of general slovenliness by affording opportunities for preparation on show days, and also offers to ill inclined Teachers great facilities for deception. Nor can any Teacher justly complain that by not receiving previous notice he is defrauded of the means of exhibiting his school to the best advantage; the true test of the superiority of his school undoubtedly being its fitness for inspection at any moment. Moreover, Teachers should recollect, that the object of such inspection is not to afford them opportunities for display, but to procure satisfactory evidence as to the real state of the schools for those appointed to administer for the public benefit the funds allocated by the state for the education of the people.

I am aware that the mode of inspection now described in general terms would occupy considerable time; in fact, a well-organized school of fifty children cannot be satisfactorily examined under two hours and a half; and one of a similar size, but undisciplined, and under a Teacher unaccustomed to improved methods of teaching, would require a much longer space, from the necessity of affording to such a Teacher the requisite information and instruction. But I have spoken throughout with reference to inspection in general, without limitation to any particular country, and under the conviction that the important and onerous duties of school inspection in a large district are sufficient to occupy the time and engross the attention as thoroughly as can possibly be the case in any other profession. I need scarcely add that the above remarks are of a general character, all minute details being omitted,-my object being to bring specially under notice the consideration of a thorough system of supervision, embracing a careful examination of the schools, conducted with uniformity of action as regards method of teaching and school organization, that thus the improvements going on around us may be generally introduced, the deserving teacher brought prominently forward, and the standard of popular education gradually elevated.

NOTE.-The specific heads of inquiry and examination in the inspection of schools, are given in detail in the extract from the Circular of the Chief Superintendent to Local Superintendents on pages 158, 159.

XI. SELECTIONS FOR RECITATION IN SCHOOLS. Part I. Extracts from Canadian Speeches and Addresses. From successive volumes of the Journal of Education for Upper Canada, we have made the following Selections and Extracts, for the use of pupils in these Grammar and Common Schools in which public speaking and recitation form a part of the weekly exercises. These selections are divided into three classes: The first contains extracts from various speeches and addresses delivered by public men in Canada. The second are English and Miscellaneous Extracts from other sources, which have been published in the Journal; and the third embraces a few of the pieces of poetry which have appeared from time to time in that periodical.*

I. THE RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. Extract from Lord Elgin's Speech on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the Upper Canada Normal School Building, 2nd July 1851.

Sir, [addressing the Chief Superintendent] I understand from your statements-and I come to the same conclusion from my own investigation and observation—that it is the principle of our Common School educational system, that its foundation is laid deep in the firm rock of our common Christianity. I understand, sir, that while the varying views and opinions of a mixed religious society are scrupulously respected, while every semblance of dictation is carefully avoided, it is desired, it is earnestly recommended, it is confidently expected and hoped, that every child who attends our Common Schools shall learn there that he is a being who has an interest in eternity as well as in time ; that he has a Father towards whom he stands in a closer, more affecting and more endearing relationship than to any earthly father, and that Father is in heaven; that he has a hope far transcending every earthly hope-a hope full of immortality—the hope, namely, that that Father's kingdom may come; that he has a duty which, like the sun in our celestial system, stands in the centre of his moral obligations, shedding upon them a hallowing light which they in their turn reflect and absorb,-the duty of striving to prove by his life and conversation the sincerity of his prayer, that that Father's will may be done upon earth as it is done in heaven. I understand, sir, that upon the broad and solid platform which is raised upon that good foundation, we invite the ministers of religion, of all denominations-the de facto spiritual guides of the people of the country-to take their stands along with us. That, so far from hampering or impeding them in the exercise of their sacred functions, we ask and we beg them to take the children-the lambs of the flock which are committed to their care-aside, and to lead them to those pastures and streams where they will find, as they believe it, the food of life and waters of consolation. Permit me in conclusion to say, both as an humble Christian man, and as the head of the Civil Government of the Province, that it gives me unfeigned pleasure to perceive that the youth of this country, of all denominations, who are destined in their maturer years to meet in the discharge of the duties of civil life upon terms of perfect civil and religious equalityI say it gives me pleasure to hear and to know that they are receiving an education which is fitted so well to qualify them for the discharge of those important duties, and that while their hearts are yet tender, and their affections green and young, they are associated under conditions which are likely to promote among them the growth of those truly Christian graces-mutual respect, forbearance and charity.

This portion of the pamphlet can be had in a separate form. Price $1.50 per dozen.

M

II. LORD ELGIN'S VALEDICTORY AT SPENCER WOOD.

For the last time I am surrounded by a circle of friends with whom I have spent some of the pleasantest hours of my life. For the last time I welcome you as my guests to this charming residence, which I have been in the habit of calling my home. I did not, I will frankly confess it, know what it would cost me to break this habit until the period of my departure approached, and I began to feel that the great interests which have so long engrossed my attention and thoughts were passing out of my hands. I had a hint of what my feelings really were upon this point-a pretty broad hint too-one lovely morning in June last, when I returned to Quebec after my temporary absence in England, and landed at the cove below Spencer Wood, and when with the greeting of the old people in the cove, who put their heads out of the windows, as I passed along, and cried "welcome home again" still ringing in my ears, I mounted the hill and drove through the Avenue to the house door. I saw the drooping trees on the lawn, with every one of which I was so familiar, clothed in the green of spring, and the river beyond, calm and transparent as a mirror, and the ships fixed and motionless as statues on its surface, and the whole landscape bathed in a flood of that bright Canadian sunshine which so seldom pierces our murky atmosphere on the other side of the Atlantic. I began to think that those persons were to be envied who were not forced by the necessities of their positions, to quit those engrossing retreats and lovely scenes, for the purpose of proceeding to distant lands, but who are able to remain among them until they pass to that quiet corner of the garden of Mount Hermon, which juts into the river and commands a view of the city, the shipping, Point Levi, the Island, Orleans, and the range of Laurentine hills, so that through the dim watches of that tranquil night which precedes the dawning of the eternal day, the majestic citadel of Quebec, with its noble train of satellite hills may seem to rest for ever on the sight, and the low murmur of the waters of the St Lawrance, with the hum of the busy life on their surface to fall ceaselessly on the ear. I cannot bring myself to believe that the future has in store for me any interests which will fill the place of those I am now abandoning. But although I must henceforward be to you as a stranger; although my official connection with you and your interests will have become in a few days a matter of history, yet I trust that through some one channel or another the tidings of your prosperity and progress may occasionally reach me, that I may hear from time to time, of the steady growth and development of those principles of liberty and order, of manly independence in combination with respect for authority and law, of national life in harmony with attachment to British connection which it has been my earnest endeavor, to the extent of my humble means of influence, to implant and to establish among you.

III. THE MONARCHICAL PRINCIPLE IN CANADA. Extract from the speech of the Honorable Sir John Beverly Robinson, Bart., Chief Justice of Upper Canada, at the inauguration of the Normal School--December, 1852.

It is common for us to hear of that great experiment in government in which the vast republic near us is engaged. But in Canada, and other provinces of British North America, we have an experiment of our own going on, in a smaller way to be sure, but still on a scale that is rapidly expanding—and an experiment of no light interest to our glorious mother country, or to mankind. We occupy a peculiar and somewhat critical position on this continent, and more than we can foresee may probably depend upon the manner in which our descendants may be able to sustain themselves in it. It will be their part, and it is now ours, to demonstrate that all such freedom of action as is consistent with rational liberty, with public peace, and with individual security, can be enjoyed under a constitutional monarchy as fully as under the purest democracy on earth-to prove that, in proportion as intelligence increases, what is meant by liberty

is better understood, and what is soundest and most stable in government is better appreciated and more firmly supported. The glorious career of England among the nations of the world demands of us this tribute to the tried excellence of her admirable constitution; it should be our pride to shew that far removed as we are from the splendours of Royalty and the influences of a Court, monarchy is not blindly preferred among us from a senseless attachment to antiquated prejudices, nor reluctantly tolerated from a sense of duty or a dread of change; but that on the contrary, it is cherished in the affections, and supported by the free and firm will of an intelligent people, whose love of order has been strengthened as their knowledge has increased -a people who regard with loyal pleasure the obligations of duty which bind them to the Crown, and who value their kingly form of government not only because they believe it to be the most favourable to stability and peace, but especially for the security it affords to life and property, the steady support which it gives to the laws, and the certainty with which it ensures the actual enjoyment of all that deserves to be dignified with the name of freedom.

IV. PROGRESS OF BRITISH AMERICA.

(Extract from the conclusion of the foregoing Speech.)

I close these observations by adverting to the very remarkable period in the history of this Province at which the Normal School of Upper Canada has taken possession of its magnificent home. We are advancing with a rapidity that surprises ourselves, scarcely less than the people of other countries who have been suddenly awakened to the truth of our astonishing, but inevitable progress. It was but a few weeks ago that I read in one of the leading English periodicals, an article written expressly for the purpose of impressing upon the British public a due sense of the importance of the North American Provinces, and of the great interests which with surprising rapidity are springing up within them, and claiming the attention of the mother country. In order to give force to his statements, the writer of this article speaks of it as a matter of surprise, that the British North American Provinces contain among them a population of not less than 1,700,000 souls; not imagining, that Canada alone contained nearly 150,000 more people than he gave credit for to all these Provinces.-In all of these extensive Colonies of the British Crown, distinguished as they are by a loyal and generous appreciation of their position as a portion of the British Empire, the same spirit of enterprize is at this moment in active employment with the aid of singular advantages, in developing their great national resources. Every thing that we can see and feel at the present time, or can discern in the future, is full of encouragement to the farmer, the mechanic, and the labourer,—and as for the liberal professions, it is impossible that they can languish among a prosperous people. The multiplying calls for intelligence in the varieties of employment which are daily increasing-the wonderful cheapness and facility which improvements in the art of printing have given in the production of books and newspapers, and the quickened circulation of intelligence which we derive from liberal postal arrangements and the magic wonders of the telegraph, must make the necessity of being able to read and write so great, and the desire so nearly universal, that the few who may remain without such instruction will be made to feel the marked inferiority of their position. And soon it will be literally true that in Upper Canada there will be no excuse for any person endowed with orninary capacity, being found in a condition so degrading to a freeman, and so unsuitable to an accountable being. With everything to urge and to tempt them to the acquisition of knowledge, and everything to aid them in obtaining it, it will be impossible that the people of Canada can do otherwise than feel that in their case emphatically "poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction."