the presence of her pupils, this unconscious teaching be-suspicion of his associates. A man or woman resents nothgins. The silent lessons are doing what no words willing so much as to have his statements questioned. He ever undo. The swift mysterious process by which im- who questions a man's veracity groundlessly offers him the pressions are produced from action, has pictured the real greatest of insults. character of the teacher upon the minds of the children so correctly that she would not recognize herself. If her dress is careless, manners coarse, voice harsh, or soul unsympathetic, it is as quickly reflected upon the child mind as real objects are mirrored upon the retina of the eye; with this difference, they are not displaced by the next object, but are permanent. Yet there are many teachers who will accept no pupil's statement as true, unless it is supported by tangible and undeniable proof. The very teacher who addresses some pupil of this common fashion, "How do I know, John, that what you tell me is true?" would be in a towering rage if the same words were addressed to him by an acquaintance. We believe that an undue vigilance on the part of teachers We may deceive each other by our skillful "make-up" on examination-day, a watchfulness that is advertised and but we have very little success in covering the truth from paraded before the pupils, has a tendency to make them the children. The only evidence they may ever give may dishonest. They will try to "get ahead of the teacher." be an unconscious, instinctive shrinking away from the It is easy to make pupils dishonest. It is not so easy to teacher. A teacher who feels this silent turning away from make them honest. But we can at least make the attempt. her should be startled by it into a most unsparing search of We should let each pupil feel we expect him to do someher heart to find what is or is not there, that the children thing noble, to be noble. The teacher must be all that he act thus. require of his pupils. sorry and surprised. It is the surprise quite as much as pure and noble and tends towards the promotion of pub. the sorrow that puts them on their feet again. All children, even those of a larger growth, endeavor (though perhaps unconsciously) to make their lives corre spond with the verdict which their acquaintances have passed upon them. If a man lic morality. This being granted (and no one will seek to contradict it) then, the teacher should not engage in the popular amusements that have caused so many moral wrecks upon the shores of time. The popular amusements we have chief reference to, are suddenly finds that his friends have dancing and card playing. It is argued that a teachercan inplaced a higher estimate upon him than he in strict justice dulge in a dance at a private party, in the parlor of a deserves, he will desire nothing so much as to be really friend, without harm. This cannot be, her reputation as worthy of their higher opinion. If on the contrary, he a model teacher will be assailed by patrons who criticise finds his word persistently doubted, his every act misin unfavorably all dancing, and her example will be followed terpreted and distorted, the probabilities are that he will by some of her pupils who look upon her as a model of exbecome reckless of consequences, and soon deserve the cellence and virtue, thus leading them to form a love for 213 that which may prove fatal to their leading a pure noble begun, and then looked around for something to fill up life. Besides, the teacher who dances until the small hours of the morning is unfitted for active wide awake work, such as teaching, the next day. Teachers are human, hence they are just as liable to become fascinated with dancing to such an extent that they neglect their duties, as others are. We have heard of teachers neglecting the County Institute in order to attend a ball, this is a very forcible illustration of our last statement. Card-playing is just as damaging to the morals of the people as dancing. Yet it is becoming so popular to play Pedro, Hearts, and Sintch that he who does not engage in these games is pronounced "a crank " by the majority of the young people, and by many who are older. It is argued that there is no more harm in playing a game with the cards of the Euchre deck than in playing Authors, or any other innocent game. The same arguments used against dancing, can be used against cards. They are instruments that Satan has used for years to aid in luring from man his soul. Every teacher should feel this to be true, and ought to look upon the mere sight of these cards with as much much horror as he would look upon the guillotine or headsman's ax. One is just as surely destructive as the other. The headsman's ax destroys the body only, but the cards have caused many to gamble away their very souls. their spare time. The something generally took the form of mischief. They used their fingers to convey their answers to others; they looked on the nearest boys' slates, and if they did not tell them, they could scarcely restrain an exclamation, showing that the wrong figure was put down. This gave rise to complaints. Those boys who had very little chance of ever getting up a place took very good care not to lose that chance, while the sharp boys seemed perfectly indifferent whether they were at the bottom or top of the class. It was only a temporary displacement, which broke the monotony, as they were soon back to their old places. In fact, they were surfeited with the honor of being at the head of the class. And so the sharp ones took next to no time in doing their sums, and the dull ones took an unconscionable time. There is nothing like hammering away at an idea or a problem, if you only hammer long enough you will hammer out a solution. There is nothing like keeping the germ of an idea in your head. If you only keep it long enough it will produce not only flower but fruit. And so the master, by continually asking himself, "How can I keep those boys employed?" at length succeeded in getting an answer from himself. Of course there are many means of keeping boys employed in such conditions if you have the conveniences, and he had to make the most (or more than that) of what he had got. He noticed that those sharp boys if they were not watched closely drew animals (such as are seen only in nightmares) below their sums, The red color upon the Euchre deck is very appropriate. It fitly represents the blood that has flowed from millions of wounds made by knife or bullet in hundreds of gambling and when they had spent a fair time in drawing put down dens in the world and even in this country. Teachers their slates just in time not to appear too conspicuous by ought to look with actual horror upon these tools of Satan being last. One rule was that each boy had to put his and teach the pupils so to do. slate on the floor as soon as he had finished his sum, and When Cromwell petitioned Parliament for soldiers in- was not allowed to touch it afterwards. But when boys stead of the old wine-loving men who filled the Common-had done their sums hastily in order to begin drawing, and Wealth army, he demanded that they should be men who afterwards happened to see or have telegraphed the answer "made some conscience of what they did." We as teachers should put conscience into the smallest duty and into every act of our lives. there was nothing to prevent their changing a figure or figures which they thought were not correct. Sometimes when they had a doubt they did the sum over again. This was not satisfactory. But then it seemed rather cruel to condemn the quick boy to a period of inactivity simply be We must teach as complements of morals by our exam ple both in school and society habits of neatness, politeness, obedience, punctuality, a love for good reading and com-cause he was quick and others were slow, and the slow pany, Temperance, honor, truth, and reverence for God. HOW TO KEEP BOYS BUSY DURING CLASS boy not being hurried naturally took his time over the matter. How to remedy all this was the question that the master set himself to solve. Why not let them draw. It would occupy their spare time and keep them out of misThe teacher was at his wit's end. There were chief. It is true that drawing deformed horses, dogs, cats sharp boys and several stupid ones. The sharp ones had and cows would not do them much good, but then they generally finished the sum before the stupid ones had well might as well be doing that as doing something worse. some On the other hand if once impromptu drawing, which is usually raphy is a description of the surface of the earth, its counlooked upon as an illicit business, were recognized as law-tries, and their inhabitants." At the present time it is a difficult matter to define primary geography, or describe its limits, so completely does it touch and mingle with all other subjects. are However, he tried the experiment. The boys were told that when they had their sums finished they might draw Not long after entering school, the child's mind is fasciwhat they liked on the other side of their slate, but must nated with the story of the wonderful ball and the people not touch their sums again. There was a general waking on it, and he is made acquainted one by one, with the litup-even the woodenest displayed signs of animation. The tle sisters who live upon different parts of it. The books sum was done in remarkably quick time, with the result that of Jane Andrews, "Seven Little Sisters" and "Each and there was very little time for drawing as the last boy was All," are unsurpassed by any other stories for this line of done soon after the first. Of course the woodenest boy work. forgot that the others had finished before him, for as soon Interest is heightened by work in illustration. The as he had done his sum he began to draw, and the master children draw pictures of Eskimo huts, the mother seal and said, "Slates down," and began to do the sum on the her baby, tents, camels, etc. Descriptive statements board. The quick working did not prove satisfactory as written under the drawings. most of the answers were wrong. Then a clause was added to the rule. All might draw when they had finished their sums, provided they had been right the previous time This worked admirably. The last boy was not allowed to Study common minerals;-gold, silver, coal, iron, etc. draw of course. And as those who were wrong the pre-Talk of their value, uses, and where they are found. vious time had put their slates down and did nothing, they Take up work in connection with familiar animals. The kept a sharp eye on the last boy, and as soon as he fin- animals of other lands will be noticed in connection with ished they gave prompt notice to the master, so that he the reading. Plant work may consist of a study of the might begin, without loss of time, to work the sum on the flowers of the vicinity, lessons on germination, and obser. board, and that they might find out if they would be al-vation of roots, stems and leaves. lowed to draw the next time. Children, who are far enough advanced for work in letter writing, are much pleased to correspond with these far away little folks. Notice constantly the change of seasons. Supplement What anxiety those boys displayed to get their sums this with many season songs. right and how soon they got into the habit of working quickly and correctly! The master had only to give out Give field lessons, studying forms of land and water which are near at hand. the sum and then attend to his other duties until he reIn all this work, literature lends an ever-ready, helping ceived notice that the last boy had finished. The slow hand. For the little ones, see how many "place words" ones woke up and the sharp ones were put on their mettle are used in the single poems, Whittier's "In School Days." to hold their own. The last was so little behind the first Longfellow's "Wreck of the Hesperus," and "The Boy that it was scarcely worth while drawing. Besides, when a and the Brook, are very helpful. horse or other domestic animal had to be drawn in sections Other books read to the children furnish much material the process ceased to be interesting. The delight in rapid for geographical thought. work, the pleasure of being constantly employed, and the One book will serve as an illustration, viz., "Little Lord excitement occasioned by the fact that places in class were Fauntleroy." Pupils are much interested in his voyage to no longer fixtures banished all idea of "drawing." And it England and their attention is easily directed to the Engdawned upon the master that the cause of all the trouble lish castles and why the people live in them.-Ex. (as is the case in most school trouble) arose from allowing the children to stagnate; that energy is to be absorbed, not repressed.-C. R. in Catholic Educator. GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL SCIENCE. AFTER ALL, WHAT IS EDUCATION? "I remember the sneer of the first campaign, that Lincoln had only got 'six months' education.' It was wrong; it should have been 'six months' schooling;" he had only Several years ago, the child's entrance into so-called that but he was the best educated man of his time."-Mc geography was marked by learning the definition, "Geog-Intyre. Shakespeare's lack of education has often been referred asked,-how can you distinguish a moth from a butterfly? It is said that he knew a "little Latin and less Greek; There are several distinguishing marks, but the most that he did not know the classic writers. And some one constant as well as the most noticeable is the possession of replies that, what was of great moment, the classic writers did not know Shakespeare. knobbed or club-like antennæ by the butterflies, while the moths do not possess these. The following points may be found interesting to young readers:-The most obvious It is a current remark about a class of people who stand characteristic after the colors, is the covering of hairs and out from their fellows because of great power of thought, scales with which the body and wings are clothed. The skill in using faculties and depth of experience but who eyes are compound, having, according to Mr. Scudder, from 1500 to 4000 facets in a square millimetre. The have had little schooling, that they lack education. mouth parts are adapted to sucking. A great deal of their We often hear it said of men in important positions in school food is obtained from flowers, into which their suckingwork, who "by force have made their merit known" but have weak. Do you often see a butterfly walking? When the tubes and the nectar drawn up. Their legs are small and not gone through the formal college curriculum, that they insect is resting, what is the position of the wings? Butterlack education. The superintendent of a school who brings flies often migrate to the South on the approach of cold all his energies to bear on the problem before him may be July; these hatch in four or five days and the young caterweather. They deposit their eggs on leaves in June and therein deprived of pursuing Latin, Greek and mathemat-pillars begin at once to eat their egg-shells and the leaves ics in a college, but in these days when one subject is on which the eggs were laid. In about three weeks the thought to have as much educational virtue as another, if caterpillar has reached its full size. Its stumy legs have properly pursued, who will admit that such a man lacks ready to become a pupa or chrysalis, it spins a mass of tiny hooks. Try to lift a caterpillar from a leaf. When schooling? Does education consist in knowing certain de-silk, fastening it to some object, and then attaches itself to finite things or in power and versatility of thought and the silk by means of the last pair of hooked legs. When emotion, which elevate the life into truth and virtue and in this position its skin splits and eventually forms a covering for the chrysalis. It remains in this pupa stage about which may come from any form of true and deep exper-twenty days. When it first breaks its case it is weak and ience a person has with the world about him? Shall we timid but in good sunlight a few hours give it strength to revise such a man's education or our own notion of edu-ly away a perfect butterfly or moth. Some of the moths, however, remain in their cocoons nine months or more.cation?-Indiana School Journal. Exchange. BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. There are no more interesting objects in Natural History, for study, than these beautiful insects. In richness and variety of color they are probably not surpassed in the animal creation. For observational work they are preferable to any other group of the insects, being larger than the majority, while the different stages of their development can be easily observed. Boys can be made to take an intense interest in them by collecting and feeding their larvæ,-caterpillars, and watching them pass to the pupa and imago stages. It is unfortunate for our Senior Leaving Science Students that these insects are most abundant in July and August-a time when their school work is over and they are wrestling with examinations. Cabinet specimens can be utilized, however, with a little care, as follows: Two or three days before the specimens are required, cover the bottom of a dish with wet sand, over which lay tissue paper, then place the dried specimens on this, and cover. The body, wings, and legs become pliable and observational work can be satisfactorily done. Butterflies and moths belong to a class of the Insects called Lepidoptera,-scaly-wings. The question is often Elocutionary. ARBOR DAY. Plant in the spring-time the beautiful trees, EDUCATIONAL NEWS. EDITORIAL NOTES. What has become of the no-recess plan? A few A WEEKLY EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL, years ago this was one of the educational hobbies; SEE THIS OFFER. PREMIUM BOOKS. Editcr latterly we have heard nothing of it. It may be that the plan of no-recess has been found to work well, but we doubt the expediency of such a plan. We are quite fully aware of the arguments urged against recess but we doubt if the dangers of moral contamination and all that are half so threatening as the actual harm which must inevitably result from keeping 75 children indoors a half day without the usual recess. We have recollections of our own schooldays, and some of the most pleasant of them cling round the recess period. Don't let us put hardships on the children where it is possible for them to enjoy themselves in an innocent way. $1 50 We give below the names of twenty-six extra good standard books, any one of which will be sent free as a premium to each subscriber to the WEEKLY EDUCATIONAL NEWS who will send $1.50 in advance for the paper for one year and 10 cents to pay postage on the book. 1. Robinson Crusoe. 2. Arabian Nights Entertainments. 3. Swiss Family Robinson. 4: Don Quixote. 5. Vicar of Wakefield. 6. Dickens' Child's History of England. 7. Last Days of Pompeii. 8. Ivanhoe. 9. Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby. Grimm's Popular Tales. 10. 11. Grimm's Household Stories. 12. Pickwick Papers. 13. Speeches of Webster. 14. Life of Daniel Webster 15. Lifeof Washington. 16. Life of Patrick Henry. The Central Journal says a sensible thing when it states that "Too many books and teachers proceed and upon the idea that language is born in the child, that the school must draw it out of him by ingeniously devised exercises." After all, the child acquires its language by association. Place it with illiterate companions with limited vocabularies and it will be equally illiterate. Place it, on the contrary, with those who are more learned, and a corresponding improvement will be the result. But with all this, language teaching if properly conducted may be of great benefit to the child. Let it, however, be language teaching in its true sense. Object lessons are valuable, but they do not constitute the chief value of the language lesson, as so many seem to suppose. Language lessons ought to be valuable, not because they arouse thought but chiefly because they teach how to express that thought in correct form. In this respect they are the basis of grammar and rhetoric and all that is elegant in speech. We may not accord with the general opinion of the day, but we think we are right when we say that every language lesson should look forward to a higher study of grammar and rhetoric, just as numFor $4.00, we will send the Forum and the weekly ber lessons should look forward to the science of EDUCATIONAL NEWS one year, the cash must accom- arithmetic. pany the order. 17. Jane Eyre: 18. Lucile. 19. Anderson's Fairy Tales. Tom Brown at Oxford. John Halifax, Gentleman. 2. Tennyson's Poems. 23. Plain Thoughts on the Art of Living. 24. Esop's Fables. 25. Swineford's Literature for Beginners. 26. Hints and Helps on English Grammar. These books are all bound in cloth and well printed. They will grace any one's library. Box 1258. EDUCATIONAL NEWS CO., Philadelphia. For three dollars, we win send the EDUCATIONAL NEWS weekly for one year, and Macaulay's History of England 5 vol, cloth, worth alone $3.75. The government of both little children and grown students may be rendered least difficult by winning |