upon as the primary aim. And I think a close examination of both will prove that while the pupils of those schools conducted on the Intellectual System possess a larger measure of information, and have their intellectual faculties more fully developed and strengthened, the pupils of schools conducted on the Training System greatly excel them in habits of cleanliness, of strict order, cheerful obedience, earnest attention, and steady application. In other words, under the one system intellectual culture is the chief aim of the master, and under the other the object and means of moral training and discipline are his first

care.

There can be little doubt as to the relative value of these results. And did not the present condition of the two Normal Seminaries of the Free Church prove that both series of results may be obtained under either system, it might be necessary to make a choice between them.

The history of the Glasgow Normal School proves, I think, that the intellectual development of the pupils may be carried, as far as is desirable or necessary, without interfering with their moral training and discipline. And the history of the Edinburgh Normal School also demonstrates, that by a gradual approximation towards the system of moral training, long in operation in Glasgow, the amount of instruction, and the degree of intellectual culture imparted, have not been diminished.

When called on to report on the Glasgow Normal Seminary, several years ago, I felt it necessary to point out what I then considered defects in the methods pursued, and to state, that the purely intellectual instruction was somewhat meagre and unsystematic. I then thought that some of the processes of instruction were so conducted as to induce habits of lax and careless thought; and that sufficient care was not taken to adapt particular processes to the degree of development reached by the class of pupils to whom they were applied. Since that period, I have had numerous opportunities of observing the whole series of operations conducted in that seminary, and while I have continued to be delighted with its external arrangements and aspect, and with the moral training and discipline by which the pupils are characterized, I have seen a most marked improvement in the mode of conducting the processes of intellectual culture, and a very great advance in respect of the information possessed by the children.

Again, in the Edinburgh Normal School, while I continue to find the intellectual department characterized by the same extent and accuracy of information, the same amount of mental energy, and the same admirable exposition of the rationale of the various subjects of instruction, I have observed a gradual, but very decided improvement, in the external aspect of the

school, in its internal arrangements, and in the cleanliness, cheerfulness, and order that pervade it. A thorough amalgamation is possible, without changing the character or impairing the value of what is really essential to either system. And surely, in education based upon the profoundest findings of philosophy, an enlightened Eclecticism should, if possible, be realized.

*

And, until it has been fully realized and embodied in the two Normal Seminaries, we cannot hope for the speedy disappearance of the phenomenon that has led me to make these remarks, viz.,† an undue and irrational attachment to all the peculiarities, both in reality and form, attaching to particular methods or systems.

In regard, first, to the intellectual method, many of those who have been trained in the Edinburgh Normal Seminary, or who have seen this method practised by an able and accom

"The true science of education implies a skilful observation of the past, and that long foresight of the future, which experience aud judgment united afford. It is the art of seeing, not the immediate effect only, but the series of effects which may follow any particular thought or feeling, in the infinite variety of possible combinations-the art often of drawing virtue from apparent evil, and of averting evil that may arise from apparent good. It is, in short, the philosophy of the human mind applied practically to the human mind,-enriching it, indeed, with all that is useful or ornamental in knowledge, but at the same time giving its chief regard to objects of yet greater moment; averting evil, which all the sciences together could not compensate, or producing good, compared with which all the sciences together are as nothing."-Dr. T. Brown's Lectures, vol. i. p. 61.

"The art of education is the noblest, though, in proportion to its value, the least studied of all the arts."-Ibid. p. 62.

"The most essential objects of education are the two following:-First, to cultivate all the various principles of our nature, both speculative and active, in such a manner as to bring them to the greatest perfection of which they are susceptible; and secondly, by watching over the impressions and associations which the mind receives in early life, to secure it against the influence of prevailing errors, and as far as possible to engage its prepossessions on the side of truth. It is only upon a philosophical analysis of the mind, that a systematical plan can be founded for the accomplishment of either of these purposes."-Dugald Stewart's Elements, p. 11.

"Too much care cannot be bestowed on method, since on it success chiefly depends; but it is of importance not to be prejudiced in favour of an exclusive method, as several ways may equally lead to the same end, and as it may be useful to change means and conduct according to circumstances. The Sabbath was made for man,” says the gospel. It is the same with method, which should only be a means, and not an end.

"It is necessary to have method, without being entirely devoted to any particular system; it is to have principle and apply it with discernment; to proceed with order and regularity; not to go by chance, but to walk towards an end, following a road marked out beforehand. But to follow an exclusive system, borrowed from another, whether it be named from Pestalozzi or Jacotot, and to apply it obstinately, without making any distinction as to times or places, and without regard to persons and circumstances, is perhaps the greatest misfortune that can happen to teachers and pupils. There are no good methods but such as are applied freely and independently. Methodism is fatal everywhere, because in adhering to means the end is neglected. The best method sup poses knowledge and experience; it can only be acquired by proper reflection and practice. Technical processes are to be learned as a trade; but the essential thing, even for these, is the spirit in which they are adopted; here, too, we must keep co stantly in view the great principles of education, and be inspired by a true idea of the art of teaching."— Willm, translated by Professor Nichol.

plished master, with a fair amount of skill, have been fascinated by its minute analysis of words and forms of speech; by its searching examinations into the relations, grammatical and logical, between one part of a sentence and another; by its dazzling enumeration and stately array of high-sounding words, traceable and traced to the same simple primary root; by its careful and systematic exposition of the rationale of each educational process, and by the preternatural nimbleness it is sometimes found to give to some of the inferior and more early developed intellectual faculties. Fascinated by these, and attending to them alone, they seek no other excellencies; they forget that there are objects, even more worthy of regard, than is the culture of the intellect; that the term education, while it includes that, embraces, too, the development, not only of the physical frame, but of the moral and religious sentiments of man; and that the educational system or method that does not definitely aim at this manifold culture, and that has not carefully examined and elaborated, for itself, processes by which this culture may be efficiently given, is unsatisfactory and incomplete, and cannot be pronounced to be, in any high sense, successful.

Many of those, again, who have been trained at Glasgow, or who have embraced the views of its enlightened and singularly benevolent founder, are delighted with the admirable external apparatus, the neatly-constructed and extensive gallery,-the elegant, spacious, and well-kept school-rooms, and the open, cheerful, shrub-adorned, and well-enclosed play-ground. Not less the objects of admiration are the skilfully contrived internal arrangements, the precision, quickness, and quiet with which all the school evolutions are performed; the cleanliness and tidiness of the children, the earnestness and attention with which they listen to their various lessons; the skill with which these lessons are imparted by the Rector and his accomplished coadjutors, and the extent of useful, interesting, and systematically arranged knowledge, which the pupils are found, upon examination, to possess. Here, too, in the fascinations of the system under which they have been trained, and with which they are best acquainted, if not blind to the excellencies, or even characteristics of every other, all but the very ablest among them are mainly attentive to the external and merely formal peculiarities by which the Training System is distinguished, and forget that, in so far as the processes of intellectual instruction are concerned, these peculiarities are for the most part merely forms or modes, in which it may be proper and desirable, occasionally, to present to the minds of children the objects of thought.

Hence, the undue value and prominence given, by almost all of them, to "Simultaneous" answering, to what has been

called the "Elliptical" method, to "Picturing out," to the "Training System" as distinguished, in this department of the teacher's work, from the Intellectual System.

In this concentration of the attention upon the peculiarly distinctive external features of both systems, do we find the explanation of the forgetfulness, by the admirers of each respectively, of the fact, that when any one of the processes of intellectual culture is conducted by an enlightened, a well-educated, and a truly skilful Teacher or Trainer, the process is, in all essential respects, and apart from the external apparatus and the distinctive peculiarity of form, identical. The object of the Teacher, in the one case, is to lodge and fix new truths in the minds of his pupils, in the most efficacious, and at the same time, in the most expeditious manner. The aim of the "Trainer," in the other case, is the same, and the means used by them respectively are not essentially different. When the one uses what has been called the Interrogative Method, the other employs what has been designated the Elliptical Method. When the one "explains," the other "pictures out." When the "Trainer" encourages and expects the whole gallery "Simultaneously" to fill up ellipses, or answer any question, or any series of questions, upon the lesson that has been carefully "pictured out," the Teacher, by means of different, and, it may be said, by not less efficacious expedients, ascertains that all have apprehended, and that all can carry away what has been "explained" and "taught." But it should ever be remembered that the Elliptical Method is only the Method Interrogative in another form ;-that, to " picture out." is not in any essential respect, more recondite, more rational, more philosophical, than to " explain ;"* that to "train," as applied to the subject of intellectual culture, includes nothing more than to "teach;" in a word, that these are not the peculiarities that favourably distinguish the Glasgow Normal Seminary from every other in the kingdom, and that entitle Mr. Stow, its distinguished founder, to the admiration, the love, and the gratitude of his countrymen.

Before leaving this subject, it may be proper to say that he best conducts the processes of intellectual culture, who com bines, most judiciously, these various forms of presenting truths to the minds of his pupils: and that in nothing is the really able and skilful master more easily discriminated from the sciolist, and mere adherent to a method or system, than by his ability to interchange these forms at will, and, when one mode of presenting the illustration or statement of a new truth or fact to the mind, does not succeed in rivetting attention

The latter is obviously more comprehensive than the former, and includes it— "explain" being the generic, while "picture out" is the specific term.;

and in securing its clear and vivid apprehension, to have recourse instantly, and with perfect naturalness and ease, to another and more suitable expedient. This is the true test of a skilful teacher; and, in the hands of such a man, the conduct of the processes of intellectual instruction will include the chief formal peculiarities of every rational method that has been propounded. Nothing can give this mastery of methods, but a complete and philosophical examination and a thoroughly intelligent appreciation of all. And to this lofty exercise, it is most desirable that the aspiring teacher should immediately and strenuously address himself.

Organization.-In very few of the schools now reported on had a complete and satisfactory organization been reached. Indeed, the want of this mainly operated in inducing the managers and teachers to apply to your Lordships for the apprenticeship of pupil-teachers in their schools. And I have considerable hope that in most of those in which pupilteachers are now employed, will a gradual and somewhat speedy approximation be made to the highest and most satisfactory form of organization.

It may not be amiss to give a brief statement of the general principles that ought to regulate the teacher in his endeavours to attain this.

It should ever be remembered, that the great object or aim of all these endeavours is, that each pupil shall be properly and usefully occupied during the whole time he is in the schoolroom. From this it is obvious, that the basis of a good school organization must be a careful and discriminating classification of the pupils. And to this, as a preliminary, the teacher cannot give too earnest attention and care. Nothing whatever should be permitted to regulate this classification, but a minute examination of the mental development and the technical acquirements of each child. The teacher's attention should, in the first place, be exclusively directed to the pupil's attainments in English, and, in the case of the elder and more advanced scholars, some regard may properly be had to their progress in the cognate branches of Grammar and Geography. The classification should, in the first instance, be regulated by

"The first element of superiority in a Prussian school,—and one whose influence extends throughout the whole subsequent course of instruction, consists in the proper classification of the scholars."-Horace Mann's Report, p. 92.

"The great question in the management of schools is, not how you can take one scholar and lead him forward most rapidly in a prescribed course, but how you can classify and arrange numbers, comprising every possible variety, both as to knowledge and capacity, so as to carry them all forward effectually together. The whole business of public instruction, if it goes on at all, must go on by the teacher's skill in multiplying his power by acting on numbers at once."-Abbott's Teacher.