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ite, a crystal of quartz, a lump of anthracite, a splinter of rosewood or mahogany, a leaf from an oak or willow, or a wild flower from the hillside, had been placed in her hand, who can deny that an interesting and useful lesson might have been learned from it, characterized throughout by the all-important element of truth? And which lesson would any judicious parent prefer for his child, the false one from the atlas, or the true one from the simple objects of nature?

It would be no very difficult task to make out a list of subjects sufficient to employ usefully all the time that any one may regard as wasted in our schools by the monotonous pursuit of what is unintelligible, and therefore comparatively worthless, or even injurious. And it cannot be regarded as harmless to suppress the working of those faculties by which the child gains intelligible knowledge, in attempting to torture into exercise those which, at the time, are capable of producing little else than mere mechanical results. We need not wholly exclude any subject taught at present. What is necessary is to stop at that point beyond which the subject ceases to be clearly understood, and to defer the further pursuit of it until a period of increased ability shall enable the pupil to comprehend it. Many of the simpler definitions and facts of geography might be retained. Operations in simple numbers might be performed both orally and upon the slate, directing the attention particularly to the how, and saying comparatively little about the why. Geometrical forms. and defiinitions might be taught from the black-board, and imitated by the pupils upon the slate. Something might be done in teaching the classification of words and their simpler combinations, in brief oral and written exercises. And thus, in addition to the too much neglected branches of reading and spelling, the rudiments of all the studies usually taught could be learned, and a large surplus of time be left for the pursuit of other subjects. These last can always be found amid the inexhaustable resources of

nature. Innumerable objects for interesting and useful study, either by the child or the adult, can always be found within her wide domains. They abound in the animal, the vegetable and the mineral world. They are calculated to call into healthful exercise just those faculties which nature intended for action during the period of childhood, and they are forever at hand for our use. Whether portrayed or not in appropriate descriptions upon the printed page, they everywhere crowd the open pages of nature's exhaustless volume, so that he that runs may read." There is not a pebble without its lesson. A stone, a crystal, a shell, a piece of glass, a brick, a nail a section of wood, a leaf, a twig, a flower, a feather, an insect, a worm, a bird, a fish, a quadruped; each of these and thousands of other objects are always at hand from which the teacher can teach lessons of lasting interest and value, calculated to strengthen the minds of his pupils, to promote their habits of observation, to stimulate their desire for knowledge, to purify and elevate their nature, to lay the foundations for eminence of attainment in science, and to foster an undying veneration and love for the Creator of the universe, the beauty and excellence of whose works they have learned to study with ever fresh delight.-R. I. Schoolmaster.

A PEDAGOGUE'S EXPERIENCE.

"Delightful task," the poet sings
"The tender thought to rear;"
And happy he whose nursing hand
Doth sprout the young idea.

I wish he'd try it but an hour,
Some dark, head-aching day,
When young ideas are shooting out
The most heart-rending way.

The bright ideal seems very clear
To Cowper in his study,

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A novice in the noble art to flog,-
A trembling, embryotic pedagogue,

To an up-mountain, rural district bound

At twelve a month and "Teacher boarded 'round,"
Well booked in every theory or hint

To thresh or teach or both and prosper in't,-
Stuffed full, to suit each turn his luck may take,
His head with maxims, and his trunk with cake;
What he shall say, now thrice repeated oe'r,
He timid knocks at the Committee's door.
"Oh, hey," says Jones, with fingers in his wool,
"Then you're the master what's to keep our school?"
"Yes sir." "Sit down and warm ye-it's plaguey cold.
D'ye ever teach afore?" "No sir."

"How old

D'ye say ye was? That all! You'd oughter had
Some whiskers and looked stout-our boys are bad.
Last winter (this I s'pose you'd like to know)-
They took and stuck the master in the snow;
We'd got another, but they'd turned him out,
So we broke up and got along without.
Perhaps first thing they do they'll tackle you,
But you must make 'em mind, and put 'em through.
There's only ten or twelve that raise a squall-
The other sixty are no care at all.

You'll find the school-house getting rather old,

And p'rhaps it's tore to pieces so it's cold.

We meant to have some wood what's dry, and should
But had'nt time, so did the best we could
And got some green. I've been so drove
I hav'nt yet had time to fix the stove.
I guess you'd better go to Higgins' first

To board; they've got ten scholars, and the worst.
Schoolmasters think sometimes they're rather rough,
But you will find them clever folks enough.
You know you'll have to board there quite a while-
It's t'other side the hill-not quite a mile."

At Higgins's he halts, a greeting grip
The puppies give him on the slippery step.
Next Higgins greets him, and his wife;
And all the dirty children stop their strife
To see the "master." Jack, the eldest heir,
Punches his younger brother, while they stare
To think how easy they could "pitch him out."
The other dozen, scattered all about,
Renew the work by which to earn a slap-
He loathing, takes the youngest in his lap.
With hard forced courage that can scarcely bear
The thousand odors that make thick the air,
He waits for supper-sees the children rush
To bolt their share and more of milk and mush.
Hears Higgins comment on his breed of dogs,
The chicken-pox, and pedigree of hogs.
Creeps to his bed-a cheerless comfort-where,
Brief as the candle end that lights him there,
His sleep comes late, and full of ugly sights,
Where pedagogues wage unsuccessful fights.

He's up betimes, and yet with scarce a minute
To eat a breakfast with a baby in it;

Hastening to wade the mile with aching feet,
In season there his graceless charge to meet.
Finds that Confusion has arrived before him;
"A pile of holes "-the edifice that's o'er him.
Crowds to the narrow desk, and shouts aloud
Ere e'en a lull affects the bedlam crowd;
The utmost stillness that succeeds the riot,
Is but a satire on the ordered quiet.
The opening prayer is made, not very long,
And quite responsive are the giggling throng.
A moment's stillness reigns the while his cause,
He's propping up with certain stringent laws;
Then all their looseness is again at play,
And labored carelessness usurps the day.
Three in a seat-three studies for a scholar-

(The pay per diem only half a dollar.)
The door is off-the fire too wet to go-
The stove is smoking-chimney full of snow;
Joseph is laughing-Jim wants setting right,
And John and Ed. are angling for a fight.
Lida is pinching-Samuel is kicked,

And full two-thirds are needing to be "licked."
His oft commands, which they but little heed,
Can scarce restrain them from a grand stampede ;
Yet, much enduring, he defers his sorrow,

Frets through the day, and threatens for to-morrow.
Retracing, sick at heart, the weary track,

(Some accidental snow-balls hit him on the back,)
He, tired and starved, his efforts all to crown
Steps on the cat, and knocks a baby down.
Then the good lady, to regale his cars,

Tells how some 66 master" flogged her little dears,
And how her big ones turned "that master" out-
(Sly hints for him to ruminate about.)
He eats his supper from a dirty plate
And, since the hour's already somewhat late,
Glad to get off with an unbroken head,

He shrinks away, and shivering seeks his bed.
Now, should you ask him, while he restless lies
Thinking hard thoughts of every shape and size,
Whether, from what he knew of actual things-
He deemed it was a-as the Poet sings-

Delightful task to rear the tender thought."
Perhaps he'd answer "yes!"-more likely not.

W.

SCHOOL LEGISLATION.

"An act entitled an act to restore to the people some of their original rights and privileges," was the caption to a bill introduced into our legislature during its last session. The real meaning and intention of this bill is not revealed in its title. "To restore to the people some of their rights and privileges," implies that they have been wronged, and, without a knowledge of the facts in the case, we might infer that some despotic tyrant had sway. ed his cruel sceptre over the freemen of Vermont, and that the wrongs iuflicted had not been redressed; and still further, that some distinguished patriot like Wash

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