in the mean time, the same desirable object, is the design of the pub lication which is now proposed.

The proposed work will contain more information on the business of school-teaching, than can be obtained, at the same expense, in any other way. An account will be given of the methods which are employed, by the most distinguished and successful instructers, in teaching and managing schools. Each of the various branches of study will come under consideration; and suggestions will be offered in regard to the mode of teaching most proper to be adopted.

It is hoped that the proposed work will be a means of exciting, in the breasts of teachers, a deeper interest in their employment; of leading them to feel a more lively satisfaction in the improvement of their pupils; and enabling them to instruct and govern their schools in such a way, as will inspire the learner with greater ardor in his studies, and render the task of the teacher more easy and pleasant.

The work will treat of the physical, moral, and religious, as well as the literary and intellectual education of the young; and will, therefore, be adapted to assist parents, as well as school teachers, in the discharge of their duty. Nor will those parts, which are particularly designed for school-teachers, be uninteresting to parents, who desire the improvement of their children at school, and who would be competent judges of the qualifications which a school-teacher ought to possess.

As a scientific acquaintance with the human mind is the basis of the Art of Teaching, the proposed publication will contain so much information on this subject, as is needful to parents and teachers; and it will be the object of the Editor, so to simplify and illustrate the general principles of intellectual philosophy, as to make them easily understood by those who might not be prepared to read, with advantage, the pages of Stewart and Brown. In this way, his readers will have the benefit of the most important instruction contained in the best works that have been published on education; with few of which they would probably have had, otherwise, an opportunity to become acquainted.

An account will also be given of the various school-books in use; and of books designed for the perusal of children. And a few advertisements, relating to schools, school-books, and school-teachers, will be admitted.

In designing a work for the benefit of teachers, all females, who engage in the business of teaching, are of course included. Even those whose labors are confined to the instruction of young children, will become convinced, by the perusal of our pages, if they are not already, that much skill is needed in teaching the first rudiments of knowledge.

Preceptors of Academies and instructers of Female Seminaries are respectfully solicited, so far as they approve the work, to recommend it to the attention of those youth under their tuition, who expect to become teachers.

From ministers of the gospel also, a share of patronage is expected. It will be in their power to influence many school-teachers among their people to become readers of the work.

There is already in existence, a most valuable periodical publication, devoted to the interests of education. We allude to the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, published monthly at Boston, at $4 a year, and commenced in January last. The conductors of the Journal have been consulted on the expediency of issuing another publication, on a smaller scale, and devoted more particularly to the improvement of academies and common schools; and have expressed their cordial approbation of the design, and their warmest wishes for its success.

CONDITIONS.

1. The work will be published semi-monthly, in an 8vo. form, and on paper of a superior quality.

2. The price to subscribers will be one dollar a year, to be paid within the year. If delayed beyond that time, it will be $1 50.

3. Any person who shall pay in advance, (that is, on the receipt of the first number,) for five copies, shall receive a sixth copy gratis.

ADDRESS TO SCHOOL TEACHERS.

The business of school-keeping possesses an importance, of which few are sufficiently aware; and it involves duties and is attended with difficulties far more numerous and complicated than those can conceive who have not had actual experience. If you entered on this employment with an idea that you should find in it an exemption from toil and anxiety, you have probably been disappointed. You may indeed, by indolence, and by an

indifference to the behavior and improvement of your scholars, make the task an easy one. But how can you be indolent in such a situation?-how can you with feelings of indifference see your pupils wasting their time, and contracting habits of idleness, irregularity, and aversion to their studies? These habits will have an influence, it may be a very important influence, on their future character and destiny. Unless counteracted, they will lead to ignominy, vice, and wretchedness. A due degree of solicitude and of effort on your part, may prevent these fatal consequences; may give a salutary direction to the intellectual and other habits of your pupils; and thus prepare them to be respectable, useful, and happy. In education, perhaps more than in any thing else, "great effects result from little causes." The young and thoughtless are not aware of this; they are not aware of the value of knowledge, of the value of time, or of the danger of ruining themselves by habits of idleness and irregularity, and by suffering the season of instruction to pass unimproved. And their parents, with all the solicitude which they feel for the welfare of their offspring, are probably very incompetent to judge of the skill and fidelity of an instructer. It is not enough, then, that your pupils, or their parents and friends, are satisfied with the manner in which you discharge your duty. You must seek to secure the approbation of your own conscience. And you must remember, that there is a still higher tribunal, at which you must render an account of your faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the children and youth committed to your care. Be entreated, then, to do all in your power for the promotion of their best interest. With a deep sense of your responsibility and a lively solicitude for the improvement and welfare of your pupils, you may do more good, than you would, without these, though you possessed superior skill in the art of teaching and a more thorough knowledge of the branches in which you undertake to give instruction. Be indefatigable and persevering in your efforts, and you will not labor in vain. The force of your example will be great on the susceptible minds exposed to its influence, and you will be able to inspire at least some of them with your own feelings. When you have done this, the great point is gained. The desire of improvement will infallibly lead to improvement itself.

To the remarks which we have addressed to teachers, we will subjoin a few extracts from an "Address to Schoolmasters," written by an able advocate for improvement in the business of education.

* Rev. ASA RAND. See Christian Mirror, Vol. 3, p. 74.

"Suffer me to present to you a few hints, on the manner of giving instruction, and of conducting your pupils forward profitably to them and pleasantly to yourselves.

Teach them familiarly. Use the language which they can understand; and let your illustrations be drawn from topics within their knowledge. It is entirely out of place, in a common elementary school, to employ the language of a professor in the university; or to affect the use of terms understood only by the advanced student. You must use the language of children.Let it be pure and grammatical; but you convey no instruction, if it is above their comprehension. Few realize the importance of a rule like this. When you compare one unknown subject with another equally unknown, how much wiser is the child who listens to you? Take, for instance, the fashionable practice of committing definitions of words. The definition itself often needs to be defined, to the understanding of a child; and he may commit a volume of definitions, and be not a whit the wiser. In fact, much of your employment lies in talking with your pupils; in which you must use their own phraseology, and condescend to their capacities. In the art of enunciation, whether of single words, or of connected sentences, rules will effect nothing without example. They learn to pronounce solely by imitation; at least, while they are obtaining the elements of the art.

Let your instructions be thorough. Let children proceed no farther, or faster, than they understand what they do. Then every step will render the next more easy and pleasant. But if they pass rapidly and superficially over a variety of subjects, they acquire much vanity and affectation of learning, but no real knowledge. Some teachers have a high ambition of having scholars in the higher branches of education, and attending to many of them at one time. This practice is sure to defeat, in a great measure, the purposes of instruction. Such scholars must be superficial. They may hereafter "remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly"; they may have a smattering of knowledge on a variety of subjects, but will not be masters of one out of them all. On the other hand, begin with the most easy lessons, make them familiar to the mind, advance to another and then to another by the same thorough process; their progress in some instances may be slow, but it will be sure and real. If genius and application aid your endeavors, you will soon be favored with correct and intelligent pupils, who will advance with all desirable rapidity.

It may be objected that the preceding rule requires too much drilling; that it is a tedious method, will tire the patience of children, and extinguish their ambition and ardor. Take, then, another rule, which may abate the force of the objection, if not remove it entirely. Teach your pupils to study, to examine, to inquire, to think. One great fault in our mode of education, from the lowest to the highest school, is this: youth are taught to read and remember, but not to think. They treasure up the results of others' inquiries; but do not learn to investigate for themselves. The mind is filled and loaded, rather than cultivated, strengthened, and expanded. It takes things upon trust, but of itself acquires little. Hence it never becomes master of its own powers, and can but poorly apply its treasures to any practical use. The habits your pupils form under your guidance, will give a direction to their studies, and thoughts, and acquisitions, through life. Should any of them advance through bigher schools, to the highest in our country, it is probable the mental propensities they now acquire, will remain, and influence all their pursuits. Let me entreat you then, teach them to think. Excite inquiry; encourage them to ask questions; frequently demand of them, not only what, but why and wherefore things are so. It is of the first importance to excite, and keep alive, the curiosity of children, a spirit of inquiry, a desire to understand what they read and hear. This will prompt them to investigate for themselves; it will quicken their powers of apprehension; and its frequent gratification will afford them pleasure, and stimulate to further exertions. Thus come a desire for knowledge and a love of study; which, it is perfectly obvious, will be of more avail than all other inducements combined. It is a very desirable art for a teacher, to be able to excite this inquisitive spirit, and to keep it in continual exercise, by hinting at something before them which they do not know, but which they may know by diligent application. It also requires some skill, to commit so much labor of investigation to the pupil as he can bear; and to afford him help at the proper time and of the proper kind. He must often be assisted out of his perplexities; but I would lift him out by a strong hand, only when he is extremely involved. I would always, when practicable, come in aid of his own exertions. It is better to give him a clue for the solution of a mystery, than to unravel and explain it at once. Aid ali his endeavors; but at any rate, make him try his own powers. He will be better pleased with his discovery, and it will make a far deep