And the spokesman, a grave squire of sixty, with countenance solemnly sad,

Spoke thus, while the children all listened, with all of the ears that they had:

"We've come here, school-master, intendin' to cast an inquirin' eye 'round,

Concernin' complaints that's been entered, an' fault that has lately been found;

To pace off the width of your doin's, an' witness wha you've been about,

An' see if it's payin' to keep you, or whether we'd best turn ye out.

"The first thing I'm bid for to mention is, when the class gets up to read;

You give 'em too tight of a reinin', an' touch 'em up more than they need ;

You're nicer than wise in the matter of holdin' the book in one han',

An' you turn a stray g in their doin's, an' tack an odd d on their an';

There ain't no great good comes of speakin' the words so polite, as I see,

Providin' you know what the facts is, an' tell 'em off jest as they be:

An' then there's that readin' in corncert, is censured from first unto last;

It kicks up a heap of a racket, when folks is a-travellin'

past.

Whatever is done as to readin', providin' things go to

my say,

Sha'n't hang on no new-fangled hinges, but swing in the old-fashioned way."

And the other four good district fathers gave quick the

consent that was due,

And nodded obliquely, and muttered, "Them 'ere is my sentiments tew."

"Then, as to your spellin': I've heern tell, by them as has looked into this,

That you turn the u out o' your labour, an' make the word shorter than 'tis ;

An' clip the k off o' yer musick, which makes my son Ephraim perplexed,

An' when he spells out as he ought'r, you pass the word on to the next.

They say there's some new grafted books here that don't take them letters along;

But if it is so, just depend on 't, them new-grafted books is made wrong.

You might just as well say that Jackson didn't know all there was about war,

As to say that old Spellin'-book Webster didn't know what them letters was for."

And the other four good district fathers gave quick the consent that was due,

And scratched their heads slyly and softly, and said, "Them's my sentiments tew."

Then, also, your 'rithmetic doin's, as they are reported

to me,

Is that you have left Tare an' Tret out, and also the old Rule o' Three;

An' likewise brought in a new study, some high-steppin' scholars to please,

With saw-bucks an' crosses and pot-hooks, an' ws, x, y's,

an' z's.

1

We ain't got no time for such foolin'; there ain't no great good to be reached

By tiptoin' childr'n up higher than ever their fathers was teached."

And the other four good district fathers gave quick the consent that was due,

And cocked one eye up to the ceiling, and said, "Them's my sentiments tew."

"Another thing, I must here mention, comes into the question to-day,

Concernin' some things in the grammar you're teachin' our gals for to say.

My gals is as steady as clockwork, and never give cause for much fear,

But they come home from school t'other evenin' a-talkin' such stuff as this here:

'I love,' an' 'Thou lovest,' an'' He loves,' an'' Ye love,' an' You love," an' 'They—'

An' they answered my questions, 'It's grammar '-'t was all I could get 'em to say.

Now if, 'stead of doin' your duty, you're carryin' mat

.ters on so

As to make the gals say that they love you, it's just all that I want to know ;-"

IV.

Now Jim, the young heaven-built mechanic, in the dusk of the evening before,

Had well-nigh unjointed the stove-pipe, to make it come down on the floor;

And the squire bringing smartly his foot down, as a clincher to what he had said,

A joint of the pipe fell upon him, and larruped him square on the head.

The soot flew in clouds all about him, and blotted with black all the place,

And the squire and the other four fathers were peppered with black in the face.

The school, ever sharp for amusement, laid down all their cumbersome books,

And, spite of the teacher's endeavors, laughed loud at their visitors' looks.

And the squire, as he stalked to the doorway, swore oaths of a violet hue;

And the four district fathers, who followed, seemed to say, "Them's my sentiments tew."

WILL CARLETON IN HARPER'S WEEKLY.

GOOD READING.

[Extract from an address by Prof. John S. Hart, LL. D., late Lecturer on Shakespeare, in the National School of Elocution and Oratory.]

THERE is one accomplishment, in particular, which

THERE

I would earnestly recommend to you. Cultivate assiduously the ability to read well. I stop to particularize this, because it is a thing so very much neglected, and because it is so elegant, charming, and lady-like an accomplishment. Where one person is really interested by music, twenty are pleased by good reading. Where one person is capable of becoming a skilful musician, twenty may become good readers. Where there is one occasion suitable for the exercise of musical talent, there are twenty for that of good reading.

The culture of the voice necessary for reading well, gives a delightful charm to the same voice in conversation. Good reading is the natural exponent and vehicle

of all good things. It is the most effective of all com mentaries upon the works of genius. It seems to bring dead authors to life again, and makes us sit down familiarly with the great and good of all ages.

Did you ever notice what life and power the Holy Scriptures have when well read? Have you ever heard of the wonderful effects produced by Elizabeth Fry on the criminals of Newgate, by simply reading to them the parable of the Prodigal Son? Princes and peers of the realm, it is said, counted it a privilege to stand in the dismal corridors, among felons and murderers, merely to share with them the privilege of witnessing the marvellous pathos which genius, taste, and culture could infuse into that simple story.

What a fascination there is in really good reading! What a power it gives one! In the hospital, in the chamber of the invalid, in the nursery, in the domestic and in the social circle, among chosen friends and campanions, how it enables you to minister to the amusement, the comfort, the pleasure, of dear ones, as no other art or accomplishment can. No instrument of man's devising can reach the heart as does that most wonderful instrument, the human voice. It is God's special gift and endowment to his chosen creatures. Fold it not away in a napkin.

If you would double the value of all your other acquisitions, if you would add immeasurably to your own enjoyment and to your power of promoting the enjoyment of others, cultivate, with incessant care, this divine gift. No music below the skies is equal to that of pure, silvery speech from the lips of a man or woman of high culture. JOHN S. HART.