EDITORIAL MISCELLANY.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.-This body has now been in session one month, and a large number of bills are in the hands of the several committees. The fact that not a bill has been introduced amending or affecting the provisions of the general school law, indicates a commendable disposition on the part of the members to let the law stand as it is, without further amendment. The legislation now called for is that which shall add new elements of efficiency to the school system, first and foremost among which is an efficient system of professional training for the teachers of the State, including a State Normal School, Normal Institutes, etc. A special report upon this subject by the Commissioner of Common Schools, was presented to the General Assembly on the 29th ult., and ordered to be printed. We shall refer to the report more at length next month.

All our readers will be glad to know that the School Committees in the Senate and House are composed of staunch school men, who will faithfully guard the school interests of the State. The Committees are composed as follows:

Senate Messrs. DOAN, MARTIN, BROWN, IRION, CUMMINS, MAY and GODFREY.

House-Messrs. STANTON, KIBBEE, PIATT, ENCELL, ALEXANDER, DRESBACH and

RUTTER.

Mr. MARTIN, who rendered the cause of education such efficient service as Chairman of the School Committee of the last Senate, is President pro tem. of the Senate.

TRUANCY.-The following resolution offered by Mr. KERR, of Jefferson county, has been adopted by the House of Representatives:

WHEREAS, There are many parents and guardians who are grossly negligent of duty in regard to giving youth under their care the benefits arising from our common schools; and,

WHEREAS, Said neglect is not only a wrong to said youth, but also a source of erime and an act of injustice to the community at large: Therefore,

Resolved, That the Committee on Common Schools be instructed to inquire into the propriety and necessity of providing by law that the habitual truancy and non-attendance at school be greatly lessened, if not effectually prohibited, and to report by bill or otherwise at their earliest convenience.

At the late meeting of the Ohio Teachers' Association at Cincinnati, Messrs. REINmund, Cowdery, Stevenson, TapPAN and HANCOCK were appointed a committee to memorialize the General Assembly, praying for the passage of an efficient and practicable law for the suppression of this great evil. It is hoped that the memorial of the committee may be laid before the General Assembly at an early day.

DESERVED PRAISE.-We have clipped from our exchanges commendatory notices of the schools of Norwalk and Middletown. The former is by a stranger who visited the Norwalk schools, and was in want of superlatives to express his admiration of what he saw and heard. Friend STEVENSON'S Work will bear inspection. Some one has been looking in upon Mr. WOOLLARD's schools at Middletown, and seeing the evidence of an artist's handiwork, publishes the fact, and invites others to go and see for themselves. Good advice, and we hope it will be heeded.

FREMONT PUBLIC SCHOOLS.-The report of the Superintendent, WM. WALLACE Ross, for the term ending December 1, 1865, indicates that the schools are making commendable progress. The Board have adopted a systematic course of study-an important matter in the management of a system of Graded Schools-and the Superintendent and teachers are trying to improve the attendance.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOL.-In the City Court of New Haven, Conn., a decision was lately rendered in which the following rule was laid down respecting the legal right of a teacher to punish a pupil:

"While the master, to a certain extent, and for certain purposes, stands in loco parentis, and has, for sufficient cause, the right to inflict reasonable corporal punishment, while the pupil is under his charge, he must exercise a reasonable judgment and sound discretion in determining when to punish, and to what extent; but the punishment must not be excessive or cruel, nor inflicted for the purpose of gratifying private malice or his own evil passions.

"Punishments may be severe, yet entirely reasonable; and on the other hand, even moderate punishments may, under certain circumstances, be unreasonable; but excessive and cruel punishments are not only unreasonable but unlawful, and for their infliction the master may be held criminally responsible."

This ruling is in accordance with the almost uniform decisions of the courts upon this subject.

"THE CHILDREN OF THE BATTLE-FIELD."-In our notice of the teachers' excursion to Gettysburg, in August last, we alluded to the singing of a song entitled "The Children of the Battle-Field" by Prof. CLARK, of New York, the composer. Mr. J. C. BURNS, of Waynesboro, Pa., has sent us a copy of their photograph. It is a picture of three little children, two boys and a girl. The original was found in the hands of a dead sergeant, which he had held so as to let it meet his dying gaze. It is a pleasing memento of one of the most touching incidents of the war. The photograph is sold for 25 cents, and the proceeds are to be applied to the founding of an Orphans'. Home to be at Valley Forge or at Gettysburg. $25,000 has already been raised by the sale of the photograph and by donations.

DR. DIO LEWIS' SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES.-This school was started a little over a year since. The plan was and is to combine moral, intellectual and physical culture in such a manner as to give more prominence to physical culture than is given in any school for ladies in our country. The number was, at first, limited to thirty-five, and that number entered at once on the opening of the school. During the summer vacation, Dr. LEWIS was induced to extend his accommodations, and admit eighty. Eighty engaged rooms before the opening of the fall term; and now over one hundred are in the school. Let western educators profit by the experiment.

S. W. NORMAL SCHOOL.-The present number of students at this well-known institution is 275. Mr. HOLBROOK has richly earned the prosperity which he now enjoys, by long and faithful service. They who sow shall in due season reap, if they faint not. We are glad that the S. W. Normal School is obliged to enlarge its borders.

MILLERSBURG.-The new school house is approaching completion, and is a fine structure. It has been a great undertaking for a town of the size of Millersburg, but will prove the best investment it has ever made. The citizens will always bless the name and memory of the few live men who have zealously labored to secure this much needed improvement.

NATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION.-The State Teachers' Association of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana have adopted resolutions in favor of a National Bureau of Education. The meeting of the National Association of School Superintendents meets at Washington, D.C., on the 6th inst.

ANTIOCH COLLEGE.-JOHN E. CLARK, formerly Professor of Mathematics in the State University of Michigan, takes the chair of Mathematics; and S. B. LONGLY, teacher of Chemistry at Harvard College, the chair of Chemistry. This would seem to indicate that Prof. YOUMANS, who was first offered the chair of Chemistry, declined its acceptance.

BROOKLYN, N. Y.-We learn from an exchange that the Board of Education of Brooklyn, New York, propose a complete reorganization of the public school system of that city. The plan is to divide the schools into primary, intermediate and grammar departments, each department to occupy a separate building. The adoption of this plan, as proposed, will change the entire school system of Brooklyn, and it is believed will give accommodations for ten thousand additional pupils in the public schools, without any extra cost to the city.

THE LATE DR. WORCESTER, the lexicographer, gave to the American Bible Society of New York and to the American Peace Society the copyright of his Quarto Dictionary of the English Language, each to have one-half of the annual income thereof, subject to any incumbrances, charges or contracts existing at his death,said devise to take effect after the death of his wife.

THE FRIENDS of Philadelphia have given $125,000 in aid of the institute for colored youth in that city. The institute is on Shippen street, and is now ready to be opened with accommodations for 1200 pupils.

THE Boston School Committee have amended their rules so as to forbid any teacher from accepting presents from the graduating class or any other class.

BOOK NOTICES.

YOUMANS' NEW CHEMISTRY: A Class-Book of Chemistry, in which the latest facts of the science are explained and applied to the arts of life and the phenomena of nature. A new edition-entirely rewritten. By EDWARD L. YOUMANS, M.D. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

The earlier editions of this work contained many imperfections and some inaccuracies, most of which have been removed or corrected in this new, enlarged, and wellillustrated edition. Many teachers, especially those who have no chemical apparatus, prefer even the old editions to all other class-books. The author's style is so concise and perspicuous, his choice of facts and illustrations so judicious, his arrangement of topics and particulars so logical, that the student becomes acquainted with the principles underlying the science, and learns the philosophy and use of its nomenclature, without much apparent effort. We are pleased to see that, in advance of all others, Dr. Youmans has adopted the new doctrine of Force, given a clear statement of its leading features, and changed his terminology to accord with its requirements. This, alone, is a sufficient recommendation for the work. We trust other authors and compilers will follow his example. It is time many old and worse than meaningless terms were swept from our Chemistries and Natural Philosophies.

Chemical apparatus is very desirable, but it will be many years before all the schools in which the science of Chemistry should be taught are furnished with it. With such a carefully prepared treatise as this as a text-book, both teacher and pupil will scarcely consider it a necessity.

T. W. H.

THE ALPHABET MADE EASY. Introductory to any Series of Readers. By Wч. R. WHITE, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, West Virginia. Cincinnati : Sargent, Wilson & Hinkle.

This is a little primer in which the word method and the ABC method are combined. The pupil commences with the names of familiar objects, and in a few lessons is able to read simple sentences. He then reviews learning the names of the letters and spelling the words previously learned. He then advances combining both methods. He may also be taught to analyze the words by sounds-i. e., to spell by the phonie method. The system of teaching primary reading upon which the book is based is, in our judgment, the true one.

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. No. CCX. January, 1866. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

Each number of this standard quarterly seems an improvement upon its predecessor in interest and in the sound practical character of its articles. The following is the table of contents of the January number:-I. "The Conditions of Art in America." 11. "Climatic Influences as bearing upon Secession and Reconstruction." III. “Ducal Mantua." IV. "Our Financial Future." V. "Courts of Conciliation." VI. "Henry Clay." VII. "Hours of Labor." VIII. "The Present State of the Prison Discipline Question." IX. "Children's Books of the Year." X. "The President's Message." XI. "Critical Notices."

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY, Devoted to Literature, Science, Art, and Politics. February, 1866. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

This number of the ever-welcome "Atlantic" presents this excellent table of contents: "English Opinion on the American War;" "Two Pictures; "The Freedman's Story;' ""The Origin of the Gipsies; ""Passages from Hawthorne's NoteBooks-II;" "Court Cards;" "A Landscape Painter;" "Riviera di Ponente; " "Doctor Johns-XIII;" "The Chimney Corner for 1866-II; ""Griffith Gaunt; or, Jealousy-III;" "Three Months among the Reconstructionists;" ""Reviews and Literary Notices."

EVERY SATURDAY. A Journal of Choice Reading selected from Foreign Current Literature. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

A new enterprise, designed to present to American readers choice selections, embracing critical and descriptive essays, incidents of travel, serial tales, short stories, poems, biographies, etc., from European periodicals. The merit and variety of the articles which it contains, will win for this weekly visitor a general welcome by the reading public. The general plan is deserving of high commendation.

HARPERS' NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. February, 1866.

HARPERS' WEEKLY. A Journal of Civilization. Harper & Brothers, New York. The following is the table of contents of the "Monthly " for February: "Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum;" "Euthanasy; "Heroic Deeds of Heroic Men-X;" "Charles Ellet and his Naval Steam Ram ;' ""Indian Summer;" "An International Affair;" "Sweet Clover;" "The Red Jacket Medal; "The Witnesses; "Anuadale;" "To the Unreturning Braves;" "Diamonds and other Gems;" "Christmas Guests;" "The Holidays-II;" "The March to the Sea;' "Charlotte Bronte's Lucy Stone;" "Winning his Spurs ; Names of Places;" "Editor's Easy Chair; " "Monthly Record of Current Events; ""Editor's Drawer."

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Both of these publications have won a high place for themselves among American periodicals, and supply a want which would be widely felt in their absence. Their matter is interesting and generally excellent, and is illustrated with fine wood engravings. As a record of passing events simply, each is of high value.

In a log school-house, elegantly roofed with clapboards-in the last stage of decay, having a door on one side which moved majestically on its rusty hinges, while through three small windows peered the bright face of the King of Day, as he went forth dispensing light and warmth to all the school-houses in the land,— furnished, too, with magnificent (?) slab benches,—the round side down, except in coasting time in winter, when the benches were used on the hill side, and I must not forget those unpatented, economical writing-desks, resting on inclined pins driven in the wall, it was in this very school-house, the scene of my apprenticeship to school teaching, that the learned employers of the district assembled about thirty years ago, to settle the important question "How many hours per day should the schoolmaster be confined in the school-room, that his employers might receive a

* Professor of Languages in West. Military Institute.