just education. The parent who finds himself a sufferer from his own lack of education, will find in this fact alone, a strong inducement to secure, through a proper attendance upon the schools, the exemption of his children from the like evils or disabilities.

Secondly. The State, The State, by unsparing efforts to perfect the internal organization and operation of the schools, may do much to render them so attractive to both parents and children, as to make an object of interest and ambition to secure the best benefits to be derived from them. It may thus offer a direct inducement to a regular and faithful attendance. Make the schools what they should be, and a loss of any of their advantages may come to be considered as in itself a deprivation, a misfortune.

Thirdly. Inasmuch as the State is bound to secure that these schools shall not be impeded or thwarted in seeking the great end sought in their establishment and support, there is no reason why truantship should not be made to work the forfeiture of the pupils' right to a place in the school, and to the enjoyment of its advantages. Let truantship be declared to be a sufficient ground of summary exclusion from the public school, provide that the pupil excluded for this cause from one school, shall be ineligible for admission to any other under the control of the State, from the lowest to the highest, and there are few who would not feel themselves holden by the strongest considerations of self-respect and self-interest, to see to it that their children are punctual and steady in the matter of school attendance.

Lastly. Let the presence of enrolled pupils, in the streets or places of public resort, during school hours, be considered and held as presumptive vagrancy, subjecting the offender, as in other cases, to arrest and confinement until released upon proper examination and exculpation, and the evil is at once attacked in its most vulnerable point. It is not to be believed that, under such a firm and summary oversight and control of the truant youth of the community, the evil in question could long continue to any important extent. It would become too thoroughly odious to be habitually indulged.

In these ways, then, it would seem practicable and proper for the State to reach the evil, and in these ways only. Nor does it appear that there are any difficulties in the way of thus reaching it, other than those found in the ignorance of the people, the timidity of legislators, or the actual demoralization of the public sentiment. The

very existence of such difficulties, however, only goes to urge more imperatively the need of the more prompt attention of every intelligent educator to the subject, and the more strenuous effort to secure the inaguration of the required measures.

F. L. J.

THE CHILDREN.

When the lessons and tasks are all ended,
And the school for the day is dismissed,
The little ones gather around me

To bid me good night and be kissed;
O, the little white arms encircle

My neck in the tender embrace;
O, the smiles that are halos of heaven.
Shedding sunshine of love on my face.

And when they are gone, I set dreaming
Of my childhood, too lovely to last;
Of love that my heart will remember
While it wakes to the pulse of the past;
Ere the world and its wickedness made me
A partner of sorrow and sin,

When the glory of God was about me,
And the glory of gladness within.

O, my heart grows as weak as a woman's,
And the fount of feeling will flow,
When I think of the paths steep and stony,
Where the feet of the dear one must go;
Of the mountains of sin hanging o'er them,
Of the tempests of Fate blowing wild;
O, there's nothing on earth half so holy
As the innocent face of a child.

They are idols of hearts and of households;
They are angels of God in disguise:
His sunlight still sleeps in their tresses;
His glory still gleams in their eyes;
O, those truants from home and from heaven,

They have made me more manly and mild;
And I know now how Jesus could liken

The kingdom of God to a child.

I ask not a life for the dear ones

All radiant, as others have done,

But that life may have just enough shadow
To temper the glare of the sun;

I would pray God to guard them from evil,

But my prayers would bound back to myself;
Ah, a seraph may pray for a sinner,

But a sinner must pray for himself.

The twig is so easily bended,

I have banished the rule and the rod;

I have taught them the goodness of knowledge,
They have taught me the goodness of God;
My heart is a dungeon of darkness,

Where I shut them for breaking a rule;

My frown is sufficient correction,

My love is the law of the school.

I shall leave the old house in the autumn,
To traverse its shadows no more;
Ah, how I shall sigh for the dear ones

That met me each morn at the door;

I shall miss the "good nights" and the kisses,
And the gush of their innocent glee,

The group on the green, and the flowers
That are brought every morning for me.

I shall miss them at morn and at even-
Their song in the school and the street;
I shall miss the low hum of their voices,
And the tramp of their delicate feet.
When the lessons of life are all ended,
And Death says
"The school is dismissed!
May the little ones gather around me,
To bid me good night and be kissed.

ORAL TEACHING.

[THE following extract from an essay on oral teaching, read before the American Normal Association, by Edwin C. Hewett, is worthy the careful perusal of every teacher. ED.]

I have dwelt thus long upon the importance of oral teaching, - which by the way, is about the only teaching; for, to read questions from a book and to hear the answers from a book about

as much resembles real teaching as whitewashing a barn resem

bles the painting of Angelo's frescoes. I might add to what I have already said that there are many things important for the pupil to learn in his school-days that he will not find in his school-books. I have no doubt that we have prescribed studies enough in our schools already; but, by attending to judicious oral lessons, not only will the pupil's mind be waked up, the words of his book have a meaning, and his power to investigate for himself be developed and strengthened, but he will acquire a fund of knowledge supplemental to that in his books, and not less essential to him.

It now only remains to make a few suggestions respecting the preparing and conducting of oral lessons; and I remark,- They must be well considered, and carefully prepared, beforehand. Mere rambling talks are of but little value any where; and the hours of school are too few to allow any part of them to be thus wasted. Each exercise ought to have some definite aim,—some one or more leading things which it is proposed to teach; and the steps by which the grand result is to be reached should be carefully arranged. Not that the whole conversation can well be devised beforehand, for it is desirable that conversation between pupils and teacher should be full and free; but the conclusions in every case can be fixed in the mind of the teacher, and should be cast in exact and perspicuous language, -words fit to be written down by the pupil and treasured in his memory. All that was said about words as compared to coins-and more, too-should be regarded now.

Again, not only should the teacher see clearly the point he intends to reach, but he must take the utmost care that the point be really attained by the mind of the pupil; no side questions must be allowed to obscure the main thought; no apparent comprehension on the pupil's part must satisfy till it is known to be real. Some of you remember the story of the Sunday-school teacher's illustration of the meaning of Faith, and its result. To make the subject clear, he called the attention of his class to a boat floating on a neighboring stream, which could be seen through the window. "Boys, do you see that boat?" "Yes, sir." "Can you see the bottom of it?" "No, sir." "Do you know what is on the bottom of it?" "No, sir." "Well, if I should tell you that a leg of mutton is on the bottom of that boat, would you believe it?" "Yes, sir." Well, that would be faith." On the next Sunday, wishing to review his instruction, the first question was, "Well, who can tell me what

66

faith is?" Every hand was raised. "Johnny, you may tell." leg of mutton in a boat, sir," was the prompt reply.

"A

Besides knowing clearly what he means to do, the teacher must take good care not to undertake too much at one time. Perhaps, -especially with a young teacher—this mistake is more likely to occur than almost any other. Do not forget that all of your own clear thoughts and ideas have taken much time in their elaboration; and is it fair to suppose that the pupils can grasp the subject fully in much less time than you required, no matter how well you may present it?

Again, your oral lessons should follow one another logically, and should be progressive. I have no doubt that many a teacher, whose oral lessons have begun with much promise, has given them up in disgust, and settled down to the humdrum book-drill, much to the relief both of himself and pupils, simply from disregard to this point. In not a few schools in our cities and large towns, where oral lessons, or object lessons, are required by the school authorities, it is no strange thing to find the pupils of a comparatively high grade going through the same lessons as those in a grade far below them, and often with a listlessness and lack of interest that are more painful than the dullest memoriter recitation.

Another frequent cause of failure lies in the fact that the pupil is required to do no part of the work. Certain things are told him, and some times told in such a way as neither to excite his interest nor to reach his comprehension. If the exercise be a successful one, it must begin with something already familiar to the learner; each new thing must follow from the last, and no result must be reached till the pupil's mind has been put on the stretch for it; and finally, the results must be clearly grouped and secured, so that they may be ready for use hereafter.

The lesson, therefore, is a mutual work of both teacher and pupils ; and this leads me to say that there must be great sympathy between the two, both in feeling and thought. The teacher must not place himself on a high plane, and say authoritatively "Come up hither;" but, descending to the pupil's own plane, he must take the steps with him, however often he may have trodden the same path. He must be ready to meet every obstacle with his pupil, guide him or lift him just enough to enable him to surmount it, and no more; and, when the top is reached, they must share a common triumph.