LETTER TO PUPIL TEACHERS, No. VII. My dear young Friends, There are many other points on which I should like to offer a few suggestions; but I feel that to devote a separate letter to each would take too much time and space. Very many are included in the simple direction,Be circumspect in all your conduct. You have your own character to maintain; to a certain extent, you have to maintain the credit of the school. Many eyes are upon you, besides the One Eye that never closes; take care then how you behave at all times. For instance, in the School, let the children never see anything in you that is unbecoming a Pupil Teacher. Strive that your treatment of them may always be regulated by the best principles. Children are often thoughtless and troublesome, and you may have much sometimes to vex and annoy you, but aim to keep an unruffled temper; never let them see you in a passion, nor let any child be able to say,-My Teacher behaves differently to me from what he would do if he were in a better humour; he finds fault with that, not because it's wrong, but because he's out of temper. I hope I need not say to any Pupil Teacher, never strike a child,-much less pinch, or in any other way cause it pain as a punishment, which I have sometimes known monitors do, or I should be ashamed even to mention such a thing. I should presume that in every school where Pupil Teachers are employed, corporal punishment, if used at all, is intrusted only to the Master or Mistress, as it should certainly never be inflicted at the moment of irritation, but in a calm and serious manner, and there fore would be forbidden altogether to the Pupil Teachers. Avoid also all appearance of partiality; perhaps you cannot help feeling more interest in one than in another,the docility and attention of some children, and some peculiarities of disposition which may be congenial to your own mind, will naturally excite your esteem and affection for them in a way that you cannot feel for others, but never show it in your conduct towards the children; ti eat them all in exactly the same manner, and never let it be said that some are favoured, and others disliked. If no general rule is laid down in the school upon the subject, I would advise you to make it a rule yourself never to take any pre sents from the children: in many cases they may be offered in a right way, and be the tokens of a kindly spirit which you would wish to encourage, (and of course in refusing a present so offered, you would do it in a way not to hurt the feelings of the child ;) but they are not unfrequently given as bribes, and, even where not so intended by the parties who give them, may be viewed in that light by others, and cause jealousy and distrust,-while at all times you would find that they render it more difficult for you to act with that strict impartiality which you must ever strive to exhibit. In all your behaviour towards the children, let them see too that you are acting upon principle; that you are as earnest and as interested in teaching them when you are not under the eye of the Master or Mistress, or even when they are out of the room, as you are while you know that they are noticing how you are going on. In short, be in everything what you would teach the children to be; let truth and honesty, wisdom and purity, simplicity and godly sinecrity mark all that you do and say before the children, that you may be able in spirit, though not in words, to use towards them the language of St. Paul,-" Those things which ye have both learned and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you." Be very careful also to set them a good example in your behaviour towards your Master or Mistress; let the children see in you that constant respect, and prompt obedience, and hearty following out of all their directions which may lead them to feel not that it is the privilege of those who are a little older to get unruly and self-willed, but that they are to be distinguished by knowing better how to behave them selves, and being more ready to practice that which they have had more opportunity to learn. I had intended to add a few remarks upon your conduct towards each other, and also when out of School, but I must reserve these to a future letter, and subscribe myself, Yours, very faithfully, J. G. EXTRACT. "We should do all we can to make religion pleasant to men. There is no way so effective of making men hate evil, as teaching them to rejoice in good. Christianity is called in the Bible 'Glad tidings of great joy,' 'the glorious Gospel of the blessed God;' and till we feel that it is so, we have not learnt its true spirit. We must learn to find a great pleasure in religion, which will show itself in the spirit of all our teaching, and will lead others to find pleasure in it also. When we are about to teach in church, or in Bible-classes, or in any other way, let us pray that God may teach us to find pleasure in so doing. Let us endeavour to feel that we are speaking with our family whom we love, on subjects most blessed to all of us. Let us seek for the spirit to shed abroad in our hearts that love of God, whereby our hearts may live and breathe freely."-Ordination Sermon, by Hon. and Rev. W. H. Lyttleton. "It is a truth in human nature, that children and the great mass of mankind have but little knowledge of their own character and dispositions, and quickly form that idea about themselves which is suggested by the conduct of others towards them. They see themselves, as in a mirror, in the treatment they receive; they become accustomed to a view of themselves borrowed from without, and on that view they act; they see it is taken for granted they will do wrong, and think they therefore must do wrong; they lose self-respect, and with that a large portion of the desire to do right. It is remarkable to observe how much a man's opinion of himself affects his conduct; how much he tests his acts and motives by the standard of himself; and this being true, it is of the first importance to let a child see we expect good of him and not evil, truth not falsehood.”—Monro, CHURCH SCHOOLMASTERS' ASSOCIATION. By an advertisement, in another part of our paper, it will be seen that the Prize offered by the Committee of this Association has been awarded to a Schoolmistress, and we are asked to call upon the Masters to exercise a more vigorous pen in competing for a second Prize which the Committee have it in contemplation to offer. We understand that Her Majesty's Inspector, in his note to the Committee, says of the 24 papers sent in, that many of them, indeed nearly all, refiect great credit upon the industry and intelligence of the writers, and are a most satisfactory indication of the state of Scrip tural knowledge among the Schoolmasters and Mistresses; but that most of them are not possible lessons, or even so far in conformity with the advertisement as to be notes of a short series of lessons, but are rather epitomes of a large and important portion of Holy Scripture, instead of condensed and practical applications; while the one chosen, although incomplete in some important particulars, and requiring revisal before publication, is a lesson, and has, from beginning to end, an object in view adapted to the minds and characters of children. GENERAL EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR CERTIFICATES OF MERIT. (MASTERS.) EASTER 1851. (Continued from the last Number.) SECTION IV. "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." "Make to yourselves friends of the when ye fail they may receive you Mammon of unrighteousness, that into everlasting habitations." "For David is not ascended into the Heavens: but he saith himself: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." 2. Asia Minor, illustrative of the journeys of St. Paul. 3. British India, shewing its chief SECTION II. I. Give the meaning of the follow-provinces and cities. 2. Give the context and meaning of 1. What counties border on Staf fordshire; and what are separated from one another by the Thames? (To be continued in our next Number). CORRESPONDENCE. To the Editor of the ". SIR,-I have noticed that hardly any letters from teachers have been inserted in your Papers; and I am, therefore, perhaps, presumptuous in hoping that this which I am writing will find a place. Your little periodical reaches me monthly (would that it did so weekly), and you will not be displeased to hear that I highly enjoy the perusal of it, as I sit at tea in my room when school is over. The chief fault I find with it is its littleness; it is so soon read: I have hardly finished my third cup (I am a disciple to a certain extent of Dr. Johnson in tea drinking) before I come to the end of it. I hope to see it one day a periodical of "larger growth," but I have fears as well as hopes, and these fears have suggested this letter. Will you, Mr. Editor, peep into my small library? You will be glad to find that I have a select and good one, though it is small. That library is the ornament of my room, and the pride of my heart; but if you look carefully you will find that, though some works go on Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, even to Vol. 12, there are others which say Vol. 1, or at most Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and then they abruptly stop. These are volumes highly prized and well bound; I have looked to that because my conscience tells me I have been guilty of some injury to them. They are volumes of once active but now extinct Educational Periodicals: extinct after a year or two, I verily believe because of inadequate support, though the Editors don't say so. I remember the time when the Numbers used to come, and how, after a hasty glance at them, they used to be thrown into the cupboard beneath my book-shelves. But as soon as I found no more were to come, I gathered up the scattered numbers well pleased to find them, by some miracle, all safe and sound, and now, as I told you, they are in substantial leathern jackets. I have often looked at them as at the handwriting of a departed friend, whose counsel I could no longer have: and read them as I would listen to the last dear echoes of a voice I could hear no more. And often have I upbraided myself that when the time was, I did not exert myself to keep my councillors alive, but suffered them, by my neglect and want of recommendation, to die away. I hope no such fate awaits my little Mentor that visits me monthly from your hands: but as I don't know your circulation you may smile, but you must excuse me, if I have my fears as well as hopes. I should sincerely regret its loss, and I do really believe that we who take it in, might prevent such an occurrence, by a few words spoken now and then to the Masters, Mistresses, Pupil Teachers, Sunday School Teachers, and others interested in education, who come in our way. If it has its defects, as it may have, though there's not much room for them, a wide circulation will perhaps remove them; and if it is too little, as Mr. Editor, in my opinion, it certainly is, kind treatment will make it grow. I am, Sir, with sincere gratitude, YOUR WELL-WISHER. To the Editor of the "Papers for the Schoolmaster." SIR, On reading the remarks on "Teaching Geography," in one of your early numbers, it occurred to me that it might not be uninteresting to some of your readers to know the results of a plan which I have adopted in my School for some years past. I teach Geography almost entirely from the Black Board. We begin in the third class (children from 7 to 9) by sketching the outlines of a Country, or part of a Country or Continent, with the principal Rivers, Mountains, and Towns; referring them to the map for their positions. The nature, productions, &c. of the country are explained, and the names learned. On a second time going over the same map. the children are called on to draw it themselves on their slates; very faint, at first, will the imitation be, but it daily improves, and they are interested. The plan is continued in the second and first classes, taking whole Countries or Continents; and here they are not only required to copy, but to reproduce a sketch of what they have drawn, or a given map, on their slates at home, and bring it the next morning; sometimes delineating the natural features, sometimes the political divisions of a country. By these means the boys not only get well acquainted with the Geography of every part of the world, but are delighted with the exercise; and the correctness of many of their maps is to me quite surprising, and has appeared to many incredible. I send you two sketehes on paper (not drawn for the occasion, as you will see), as average specimens from the first class, observing that the boys have three or four other lessons to prepare at home every evening, and that the pen does not move so smoothly as the slate pencil. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, H. D. No. 9. NOVEMBER 1, 1851. The present Scheme of Education and its Antagonists. Upon the occasion of making the Annual Grant for the purpose of elementary Education, the Premier, in his place in Parliament, alluded to the present system of supporting and extending Education as but a temporary measure, which might possibly ere long be superseded by one of a more comprehensive and national charcter. The simple obstacle, but formidable as it is simple, he told the country, arose from the difficulty of introducing the religious element so as to unite the zeal, without exciting the jealousy, of different denominations. The country will owe a lasting obligation to that man who will suggest to the Committee of Council on Education such a scheme as shall disarm religious antipathies, and remove the hindrances under which the present system labors. Gladly as we shall hail it when it comes, we hope that, unless it be discovered in all its integrity, the present will be a final one. Meanwhile it has, and this proves perhaps its excellence, many antagonists. There is the antagonism of populo-phobia, a political dread of recognising the proper relation of the working classes to the body politic, and preparing them, after their measure, for the intelligent discharge of their social duties. There is the antagonism arising from an opinion entertained by some, we hope only a few, religious people, which, if it mean anything, means that increased intelligence produces, among the labouring classes, some undefined mischief, though it is this very intelligence, which preserves the more educated from the purer animalism of those beneath them. Neither of these forms of antagonism are likely to exercise much influence among thoughtful persons either in or out of Parliament. We must look towards the North-west of the land, the smoke and din of Manchester, if we would examine the more serious forms of antagonism. We meet it in three shapes: First, There is the antagonism which, without offensiveness, we will call politico-religious, and which is previously committed to a course of action hostile to all State interference with religious matters. With it, consistency requires that to this abstract vital principle, the severance of Church and State, and the overthrow of what is viewed as a dominant section, must be sacrificed the nation's |