The teacher makes his mark at recitation.

relied on for nutrition. As an example of its usefulness, I have known a rapid reader tamed into due moderation by being put in companionship with others of slower speech, just as we tame a friskful colt by harnessing him into a team of grave old horses. But aside from some such definite purpose, I have seen no good come of this innovation. I am satisfied its prevalence is an evil, and worthy of the careful consideration of teachers.

By the foregoing means, and others which will suggest themselves to the thoughtful teacher's mind, he can arouse the interest of his classes so that study will be more attractive than play. For this object every teacher should labor. It is of course impossible to give specific rules to meet every case; it is not desirable to do it. The teacher, put upon the track, will easily devise his own expedients; and his own, be it remembered, will usually be found the best for him.

As a motive for every teacher to study carefully the art of teaching well at the recitation, it should be borne in mind that then and there he comes before his pupils in a peculiar and prominent manner; it is there his mind comes specially in contact with theirs, and there that he lays in them, for good or for evil, the foundations of their mental habits. It is at the recitation in a peculiar manner, that he makes his mark upon their minds; and as the seal upon the wax, so

Attitude of attention important.-How secured.

his mental character upon theirs leaves its impress behind!

During the recitation, pupils should be kept in an attitude of constant attention, and this end may usually be secured as follows: Much is gained by massing pupils. There is always a great dissipation of nervous force in attempting to teach pupils who are scattered over a large area, for inattention is sure to result from such isolation. A long line should be broken up into two or three shorter lines, the shortest pupils in front, the tallest in the rear. In carrying forward the work of the recitation, the questions should always be asked before pupils are summoned to answer them; and in calling up pupils to recite, there should be no fixed order, or no order that can be foreseen; and where there is a strong tendency to inattention, one call should not exempt a pupil from further service. There are decided advantages in calling up pupils by means of cards on which their names are written.

CHAPTER IX.

EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY.

T is ever an interesting question to the teacher,

care "How can I excite among my pupils an interest in their studies?" The intelligent teacher feels that this is the great question; for he foresees that, if he fails here, his difficulty in governing his school will be very much increased. He therefore turns his attention with deep solicitude to the motives he may present, and the methods he may employ to awaken and keep alive the interest of the school.

If he has reflected at all upon the subject, he has already arrived at the conviction, that it is necessary for the good of all concerned that the interest awakened should be an abiding one; that it should not only not abate during the term of school, but continue-nay, grow stronger and stronger - even after school-days have passed away. There is probably no greater mistake in education, than that of raising in school an artificial excitement, which may aid perhaps in securing better recitations, but which will do nothing toward putting the mind into such a state, that it will press on in the pursuit of

A common mistake.-Emulation.-Perplexity.

knowledge even after the living teacher has closed his labors.

The higher principles of our nature being aroused with difficulty, are too apt to be neglected by the teacher, and thus they remain in their original feebleness; while he contents himself with appealing to our lower characteristics,-thus doing a lasting injury by unduly cultivating and strengthening them, at the same time that he awakens, after all, but a temporary interest.

In view of the importance of the subject, and the difficulty of judging aright upon it, I shall make no apology for devoting a few pages to the consideration of

SECTION I.-INCENTIVES TO STUDY-EMULATION.

The teacher will find, in a greater or less degree, in the mind of every child, the principle of EMULATION. It is a question very much debated of late, What shall he do with it? Much has been said and written on this question, and the ablest minds, both of past ages and the present, have given us their conclusions respecting it; and it often increases the perplexity of the young teacher to find the widest difference of opinion on this subject among men upon whom in other things he would confidingly rely for guidance. Why, asks he, why is this? Is there no such thing as truth in this matter? or have these men misunderstood each other? When they have writ

Experimenting.-Its evil consequences.

ten with so much ability and so much earnestness, some zealously recommending emulation as a safe and desirable principle to be encouraged in the young, and others as warmly denouncing it as altogether unworthy and improper,—have they been thinking of the same thing? Thus perplexed with conflicting opinions, he is thrown back upon his own reflection for a decision; or what is more common, he endeavors to find the truth by experimenting upon his pupils. He tries one course for one term, and a different one the next; repeats both during the third, and still finds himself unsettled as he commences the fourth. Meantime, some of his experiments have wrought out a lasting injury upon the minds of his pupils; for, if every teacher must settle every doubt by new experiments upon his classes, the progress that is made in the science and art of teaching must be at the untold expense of each new set of children;-just as if the young doctor could take nothing as settled by the experience of his predecessors, but must try over again for himself the effect of all the various medical agents, in order to decide whether arsenic does corrode the stomach and produce death,-whether cantharides can be best applied inwardly or outwardly,-whether mercury is most salutary when administered in ounces or grains, or whether repletion or abstinence is preferable in a fever! When such is the course of a young practitioner in a community, who does not confidently expect