more difficult task of deciding how these subjects can best be handled and applied by the teacher to the end he has in view. It is the methods of teaching which will make all the difference between a good and a bad middle-class school. With regard, of course, to some of the subjects, no method is required specially applicable to pupils of the middle class. Middle class boys must be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, geometry. &c., just as other boys are or should be taught. Thoroughness, intelligence, animation, ingenuity of resource, are the qualities which the teacher should exhibit, and if he is careful in his manipulation, patient in his processes, and clear in his explanation, he will not fail of the desired result. It must, however, be remarked in passing, that a great deal more ought to be made of reading than has, as far as we know, ever been done or attempted in middle schools. It is generally dealt with very mechanically. When boys have so far advanced that they can read fluently, as it is called; that is, without tripping, stopping, mis placing, or mispronouncing their words; the reading lesson too often sinks into abeyance, or is repeated at intervals few and far between. Im+ pressiveness of utterance or refinement of elocution is seldom aimed at. Hence, as a rule, the middle classes are very indifferent readers: 80 much so, that the great majority are not qualified to contribute to the entertainment or instruction of their fellows by taking part in public readings. We desire, therefore, to see elocution more distinctly recognised in the education of all classes. The time devoted to it would be well spent. The accomplishment of good reading does much to refine its possessor, and to make him in love with books and self-improvement. To return, however, to the point more immediately under consideration: if there are some subjects, the methods of teaching which | must needs be the same in schools of all grades, there are others again which require to be treated with especial reference to the circumstances of the middle classes. 6 That this is a sufficiently extended programme, most people will readily admit. If any think that it is too extensive, they are bound to say what they would choose to omit, and it would be difficult to point to any subject on the list which has not a strong claim to occupy a place there. Our convictions, as already hinted, are strongly against a multiplicity of subjects in school work. Shallowness, inaccuracy, confusion, and conceit are, we believe, the inevitable fruits of that fashionable pretension to teach every thing in literature, science, and art, that can be taught. But some variety is as beneficial to the mind as change of food is to the body, or rotation of crops to the soil; and there are a certain number of subjects that can no more be excluded from the school syllabus than bread, beef, mutton, and potatoes, can be omitted from the ingredients of a whole-mercial and industrial relations. It is especially some and generous dietro #teagen But the settlement of the subjects of study is but cas partial-solution of the problem we have undertaken to deal with. There remains the Such a subject is geography. It is a very wide one, and may be exhibited in a great many dif ferent points of view. To ascertain which is the one most applicable to middle-class education, we must consider in reference to what things geography is of most concern to the middle classes. and there can be no doubt that it is so in its com important that they should know where the great centres of trade and manufactures are, foreign as well as domestic; what is the staple of each country; what are the native homes of the dif ferent productions which form the material of science which, once understood and thoroughly commercial interchange; and what are the direc-imprinted on the mind, would preserve the learner tions and specific features of those great streams of commerce that are ever flowing over the face of the globe. from many serious mistakes in his future career as a man of business. The questions of competi tion and co-operation, and the relations between capital and labour, are vital questions of the day, and will furnish matter for discussion and ex Physical science, again, seems an especially suitable subject for middle class education. It calls attention to phenomena, and developes the faculty of observation; and this is a result which it is very desirable to bring about in the case of those who are for the most part our national producers and inventors. The teaching of geography, therefore, in middle schools should be adapted to this end. The first step, indeed, necessarily is the mastering of gene-periment in this country for a long time to come. ral outlines. The pupil must, to begin with, be made acquainted with the relative position of different countries, and with the ordinary physical features of the world generally. But when this is done, attention should be given to the special points referred to above. Thus with reference to his own country, the middle class boy should know the situation and limits of the cotton, woollen, hardware, silk, and linen manufactures; the position and physical features of the coal, iron, and other mineral districts; the agricultural character of the different divisions of the kingdom; and all that pertains to our multiform national industry. He should be led to trace the great highways and thoroughfares of trade, the courses of the rivers, the lines of railway; and he should be taught to see the connection between the natural features of a district and the form of industry which belongs to it. In like manner there are certain aspects in which history should be presented to the minds of the middle classes. It must be remarked, however, that we strongly insist on teaching one branch of science thoroughly as opposed to the favourite practice of imparting a smattering of all the ologies. Shreds and patches of science are of little use except to make a man fancy that he is a universal genius, and to make everybody else sure that he is an insufferable coxcomb. To which of the sciences preference should be given is not so easy to decide. Our vote is for geology, but much is to be said for chemistry and mechanics. Some schools, however, may very well select one branch, and others another, and in the same school, where the arrangements will permit, different pupils may pursue different sciences according to the probable nature of their future callings. There are several other points that ought to be referred to if we wish to give any thing like completeness to our survey. For instance, in connection with methods of teaching there suggests itself the question how far oral instruction on the one hand, or the use of text-books on the other, ought to prevail? Hitherto undoubtedly the text-book system has predominated in middle schools, and the teaching bas been on that very account dull, mechanical, and unawakening. We do not wish to see the use of text books banished from schools of any grade, but we heartily desire that the abuse of them should be rectified. For those manuals of question and answer, which are very popular in some quarters, we confess to an especial aversion. They make the art of teaching and the art of learning equally mechanical. On the other hand, oral teaching carried to excess is a hollow and delusive process. Some little intelligence may, under all It is not the record of wars, the rivalry of kings, the factions of the nobility, that greatly concern them. In adapting history to their educational wants, other materials must be fitted into the framework of names and dates by which historical facts are held together. Such are the progress of invention, the rise of commerce, the develop ment of the various industries. They may be led to see, so far as opportunity affords, how trade has at one time been hindered by unjust or unwise, at another time helped by wise and liberal, legislation. Then again, they should be made to have an intelligent acquaintance with the chief political institutions of their country. The rise of the House of Commons, the principles of popular representation, the features of constitutional monarchy, the sources of national revenue, the responsibilities and rights of citizenship, should all be made special points by the instructor whose business it is to teach history to the middle classes. We have already hinted at the advantage of in-circumstances, be elicited by the voice and mancluding political economy in the middle class programme. It is not indeed an easy subject to teach successfully to boys, but a really able educator may turn it to excellent practical account. There are a few great laws and principles of the ner of the teacher, but there is a great danger of the oral lesson degenerating into verbose and shallow declamation. That is, we believe, the sound method which combines the two processes and fills up the spaces left by the ele mentary text-book with the oral explanations, comments, and additions of the teacher. Certainly if history and geography are to be taught as we suggest in middle schools, a good deal of the instruction given in them must be given orally; and there can be no doubt that for these two subjects oral teaching, assisted by illustrations, is the most effective method. But it is as important a part of the educator's work to test knowledge as to impart it. No exexplorer through a new country ventures to go forward without in some degree feeling his way. Hence the importance in connection with school work of frequent and reiterated examination. Systematic provision, therefore, should be made for this in every middle class school, and if a regular plan of weekly, monthly, and quarterly examinations be adopted, the time devoted to them will be well employed; and even though in consequence less ground is covered, less matter gone through in a given time, yet both teacher and scholar will speedily discover that in this as in many things the paradox of Hesiod is true which says, that the half is greater than the whole. It may be added, that the practice of reproducing in writing the instruction given, will be found a great aid towards securing thoroughness and accuracy. Written abstracts of lessons are at once tests of the amount of knowledge retained by the pupil, a practical training in habits of reflection and reasoning, and effective exercises in English composition. It will also greatly assist to make the instruction regular, methodical, and thorough, if a systematic course of study be laid down arranged in sections or stages in harmony with the 'classification of the school: Not only the subjects to be studied, but the particular portions of them suitable for each division should be mapped out, and no pupil should be allowed to pass from the study of the subjects contained in one section to those belonging to the next above it till his teacher is satisfied that he is master of what has so far occupied his attention. The highest division in the programme of study should, we think, be so 1 arranged as to enable the pupil, during the final portion of his school time, to confine himself to two or three subjects only, so that, besides having secured a competent acquaintance with the general subject of the school course, he may carry away with him a deeper, wider, and more thorough knowledge of some one advanced branch of literature and of science. Among the other benefits resulting from such an arrangement, one is that the scholar would be more likely to continue his study of that subject in after life, and to carry on the work of self-improvement. A still stronger impulse in this direction would be given if opportunities for private study and encourage, ments to the pursuit of it were judiciously afforded to the senior and most advanced boys in the school. Something like the principle of bifurra, tion, as the French educationists call it, should also be adopted in connection with the highest section in the programme of studies.. There should, that is, be the option at this stage of selecting a particular branch of study, and concentrating the attention chiefly on that. Thus one pupil, on arriving at this stage in the course, might be allowed to declare for physical science, another for mathematics, a third for literature. In large institutions, at all events, such a plan would be feasible, and would be attended by excellent results. " But after coming to the end of our survey, which might indeed have been longer and more elaborate if space had permitted, we are especially impressed by one truth, affected by one consideration, and that is, the deadness and ineffectiveness of all methods, programmes, and organisations, without the presence and influence and pervading inspiration of a genuine teacher. The best system that can be devised will be like the beautiful but cold and lifeless image of clay modelled by Prometheus till fire is brought down from heaven to animate and to warm it. The living voice, the living example, the living and true man, this above all things else is what education demands, and without which it cannot thrive. L'otật c'est moi! The teacher, he is the school!. THE ENGLISH SCHOOLROOM.* HERE is a lack of thoroughly good books on education in this country. Admirable works have occasionally made their appearance, and have received a fair amount of attention; but a considerable proportion of those which have seen the light have been of a flimsy character, unphilosophical, and frequently exceedingly shallow. Besides this, even the good books which have discussed the subject have not settled all the questions which are discussed, and the doctrines on which philosophical educationists are agreed, have not yet come home to the minds of even the intelligent portion of our public. We, therefore, hail any attempt to discuss educational topics afresh, and we are particularly pleased when such an attempt is made in an honest spirit, and with clear insight. The work whose full title we give below, deserves very high commendation. Mr Thomson is evidently a man who has made good use of his experience, who has just ideas of what sound education is, and who thinks with unusual force and independence. He writes too with great case and clearness. We do not abate a jot of this approbation, when we say that we dissent from many of his opinions, and feel inclined to question some of his statements. Differences of opinion will always exist in this world, but when these differences are clearly stated, and there is genuine thought evolved, we are certainly on the road to agreement. Mr Thomson's book may be divided into two portions. These two portions are not kept separate in the book, but they interlace each other, or perhaps we should say rather that the one portion pushes its way into the other, as the strong current of a river can make itself evident far into the sea, or when passing through a lake. The one portion is the expression of opinion with regard to the relative efficiency of public and private education, the other is a discussion of the best methods of instruction. The first is entirely unsatisfactory. Mr Thomson has expressed himself very strongly on the subject, but he has given no full exposition of his reasons for his opinion. We should like to have known whether he has based his dislike to public schools, simply on his experience as head master The English Schoolroom; or, Thoughts on Private Tuition, practical and suggestive. By the Rev. Anthony F. Thomson, B.A., Lincoln College, Oxford, sometime Head-Master of St John's Foundation School, London. London: Sampson, Low, Son, and Marston. of St John's Foundation School, London, or whether he has extended his range far beyond this. We should like to have known whether he has taken into consideration the public schools of Scotland or of Germany, where there is a combination of direct family superintendence with the best appliances of instruction. In fact, we should wish he had either not said a word about the matter at all, or had gone fully into the arguments on which he has based his opinions. Besides this, his opinions do not seem consistent. In the preface he says, preface he says, "Indeed he is persuaded that education, properly so-called, can hardly be secured in a school, however well managed." But in p. 41 he seems not to have such a strong opinion in regard to the matter, for he says in a passage which contains a great deal of good sense, though not the whole truth : : "The first thing to be considered is the physical and mental health. School is no place for the deformed, the weakly, the timid, or the dull; nor is it a place for the really clever child. Who then should be sent to school? The boy or girl of fair average health and abilities, who is not too weakly to bear roughing it,' or too able not to suffer by the monotonous routine of most private schools, for at the age of seven the public school is out of the question. No child should be sent to school who is likely to suffer in body or mind. There are many high couraged children, of no great ability or love of instruction, who will really profit by school life, being gregarious in their habit and tone of mind. It is simply torture to expose the weakly, the dull, far less the deformed in body or mind, to the ordeal of an assembly of boys or girls all in sound health and high spirits. It is far worse to send the scholar by nature into a place where, do what he will, yearn as he may for light and help, he must perforce go through a routine which, if not positively injurious to his mind, may tend to throw it back on itself, and render a noble spirit morbid and cynical, or per haps utterly disgust it with what, under other circumstances, would have been a daily delight, No; the place for the weakly, the deformed, and the dull, is home. Home, where tenderness and kindness await them. Home, where every small advance towards good is hailed and fostered. Home, where no scorn or ridicule for what they feel is God's appointment, not their fault, ever falls witheringly upon the weak, the dull, the deformed. Home, too, is the place for the able, clever, industrious scholar. There he will find a quiet time for application, undisturbed by appeals to emulations for which his nature cares little, and unruffled by the jealousies of those he feels to be his inferiors in ability, however much his superiors in stature and strength. Home is the place for the scholar until he can use his tools as he feels he ought-until he can go forth to take his place among minds like his own, and strive in an arena worthy of him. Then let him pass to the great public school, and thence to the university. All the time apparently lost by absence from school will be found to have been saved, for the scholar's mind early takes its bent, and adheres to it. Just the reverse should be the fate of the ordinary schoolboy; let him be removed from school when adolescence comes on; let him be put under the special tutor, and have his groove in life made as easy for him as possible. Thus he will be saved much certain contamination and get early to his appointed work-the general physical or ordinary mental business of mankind -which can be well enough carried on by men of average ability and strong health." Cambridge will place no higher goal before him Before parting from Mr In opposition to the public school system, Mr Thomson sketches an ideal private or home school system of his own. The pupils are supposed to be five. For the instruction of these there are to be "If the statement in the Cornhill Magazine' a tutor and governess, and for their superinten-be true of English schools, tenfold more is it true dence at other hours a guardian and a duenna. Besides these, masters are occasionally to come in to teach special branches. Mr Thomson goes into a minute description of what each functionary is to do. He describes, moreover, how the schoolroom is to be built, what apparatus will be required, how the studies are to be divided, and so on. One objection will strike every reader. For the full accomplishment of Mr Thomson's scheme, every portion of his plan is necessary. If the guardian is not engaged, the tutor will have too much to do, and he will have to perform work which he ought not to perform. There must be a governess for the girls, but she also will fail if there is no duenna to relieve her. And then the whole four must be perfect. Mr Thomson is not so blind as not to perceive this objection, but he thinks that his plan might be modified to suit particular cases. The question is, Can it be modified without materially defeating his object? We think that it cannot. of foreign schools, which, without exaggeration, may be described as systematic contrivances for educating a boy in all that he should not learn, and in very little that he should. Nowhere is the tutor more wanted than on the continent, and that to ward off and defeat the multiplied evils arising from the covert infidelity, rampant superstition, utter want of discipline, moral vileness, and pretentious, but very shallow tuition, which are the characteristics of foreign schools, and which English parents only find out when too late, and when the deed is done. No one can be more sensible than the writer of the advantages of a continental residence, but it must be under the watchful eye of the parent, or failing this, under the constant guard of the tried tutor, and he, and he alone, must have the entire charge and control of English boys resident on the continent, if, that is, their parents desire to receive them as they sent them abroad-clean and pure in body and mind, unsteeped in deliberate deceit, uncontami-: nated by selfish cunning, untaught to play, at one and the same time, the part of the profligate and the hypocrite." " The second extract is a description of a "driving" school.” Take, for example, the day of a 'driving" |