there, (and I staid nearly two hours,) the teacher scarcely left his seat. All the questions were asked and all the directions given, in a tone of voice never above that used in common conversation. There was no screaming, nor scolding, nor striking upon the desk. Whenever the teacher spoke, he was listened to and obeyed, and all the operations of the school were conducted quietly and without confusion. Now the difference between these two teachers seems to me to be simply this, that one of them made a great deal of noise himself and the other did not.

There is a clergyman, not a thousand miles from New buryport, who makes it an invariable rule, never to proceed with any of the services on the Sabbath until the congregation are perfectly still, and the result is that he always has a quiet and attentive audience. The people do not rush out of the house before the benediction is half finished, as though there had been an alarm of fire. So in school-keeping, simply waiting will do a great deal towards securing and maintaining good order. In the outset, I am aware that it will cost time and patience, but in the end it will save both. One of the best disciplinarians I ever knew, assured me that the whole secret of his remarkably successful government consisted in this waiting process. Whenever there was any noise or confusion, all the other exercises of the school were suspended until it ceased. He would neither hear recitations, nor grant recess, nor dismiss school even, until all were still and attentive. If he called a class to recite and they came out in a disorderly manner, he would send them back and let them try again, and so repeat the process and keep them training until the thing was done

properly. In recitation, too, if there was whispering or inattention, he would immediately stop until it ceased. The result was, that for the few first days he had very few recitations and very little was done; most of the time was spent in waiting. But at length, finding the teacher mild but decided, his pupils concluded that they must either comply with his terms or consent to have nothing done. And they did comply, and he had a very pleasant school, remarkable for its excellent order. It is true that the scholars, in this case, were young ladies, and many of them somewhat advanced. Still I think the teachers of other and different kinds of schools may derive much valuable instruction from this man's example; and especially by this waiting process may teachers prevent most of the bustle and confusion which are so apt to occur before recess or dismission. Scholars will be pretty careful to avoid all unnecessary noise and disturbance, if they distinctly understand that all the time thus lost is just so much to be subtracted from their hours of recreation.

I have more than intimated, that all the orders of the school should be given in a low, but distinct tone of voice. I will also add, that it is equally important that they should be expressed in few words and not be too often repeated. Much talking always weakens authority. I have known teachers repeat a command two or three times, without even allowing the scholar time to comply, however disposed to obedience he might be. And mark it where you will, every repetition diminishes the force of a command. Even reproof, to have any effect, should be sparingly administered. The rules and directions of a school should be few and simple, and prompt

and cheerful obedience should be quietly, but firmly

insisted upon.

I might also mention, as another means of securing good order in school, giving the scholars full and constant employment. The idle need continual watching, or they will be in continual mischief. To prevent this and to secure constant diligence on the part of the pupils, it is exceedingly important that the teacher should make what I call a map of his school; that is, he should mark out precisely his day's work, so arranging the several exercises that each class shall have assigned to it something to be learned or something to be recited, during each and every hour of the day. That this can easily be done, even in a school where the studies are exceedingly various, I know from long experience. But after all there may be too much government as well as too little. It should never be forgotten, that what is called discipline in schools, is a means, not an end. The real object to be accomplished, the real end to be attained, is to assist the pupil in acquiring knowledge-to educate the mind and the heart. To effect this, good order is very necessary. But when order is made to take the place of industry, and discipline the place of instruction, where the time of both teacher and pupils is mostly spent in watching each other, very little good will be accomplished. And I am ready to hazard the strange remark, that the stillest schools are not always the best, though they generally are. Bees, when most busily at work, generally buzz a little, and so do boys. On the other hand, I am willing to acknowledge, that where there is the most hum there is not always the most honey. Nevertheless the activity of life is better than the stillness

HOWS

of death. I have no doubt but there are those who, by dint of constant effort and energy, can keep their pupils on their seats almost as motionless as so many statues ; and their pupils meanwhile may seem, like the Irishman's owl, to keep up a tremendous thinking; but I imagine they are thinking more of their teacher than their studies. Such a school is not worth much. And whenever I hear a man boasting of the profound stillness of his school, asserting that his scholars rarely cough and never whisper, I cannot help suspecting that he is consulting his fancy for his facts. But allowing what he says to be literally true, (though it contradicts all my teaching experience,) he is boasting of a small matter and may be an indifferent instructor, more desirous to keep his pupils still than to urge them forward in their studies. Such a

school will appear well on paper and be a pleasant thing to talk about, but I don't believe that more knowledge is acquired or more good accomplished, than in others where there is less constraint and a more cheerful and wide-awake obedience. Good order and thorough discipline should by all means be maintained, but it should still be remembered that on this subject, as on almost all others, virtue is the medium between extremes.

But it is time that I should pass to the other comprehensive "how" or head proposed, which was, to make a few suggestions in regard to conducting recitations in school. And on this branch of my subject, were I asked to give a teacher briefly, one general, practical direction, it should be, Don't talk too much yourself; in other words, make the class do most of the talking. There is no fault of teachers more common, and scarcely any one more pernicious than this. And yet it is one which I

do not recollect to have seen noticed in any of the lectures on school-keeping I have met with. It is a fault of mine, and it is a fault of others: all talk too much I mean most of us do.

we

This

Many teachers during recitation are constantly asking, what the lawyers call, leading questions, leaving little for the scholar to say, except yes or no. An example, occured under my own observation which will illustrate what I mean. I had occasion, not long since, to visit one of the public schools in this Commonwealth. school, by the way, contained about five and twenty scholars, and nearly as many classes. Perhaps the teacher did not approve of emulation in school. At any rate there was very little of it, nearly every scholar being the first in his class—and the last. But to the example in point. The teacher called the class-I mean the scholar-in Colburn's First Lessons. The boy came forward with book in hand, and at the request of his teacher read the following example :-"A man being asked how many sheep he had, said that he had them in two pastures; in one pasture he had eight; and that 3 fourths of these was just 1 third of what he had in the other. How many were there in the other?" In other words: "3 fourths of 8 is 1 third of what number?" The boy paused, looked wise, scratched his head and said nothing.

2.

"Well, my boy," said the teacher, "1 fourth of 8 is 2, isn't it?" "Yes sir," said the boy. "Well, if 2 is 1 fourth, 3 fourths will be three times as many, won't it?" "Yes sir," was the answer. "And three times 2 are 6?" asked the teacher; and the boy said again, "Yes sir." Then another long pause. "Well,"