in' is here placed? The like inquiry is made with regard to the prepositions' of' and 'by.'

"The pupils, being now made acquainted with verbs and prepositions, are at length in a condition to understand the nature and object of cases, which are therefore explained to them. In addition, accordingly, to the other questions regarding nouns and pronouns, those which relate to their cases are now asked. Thus, of what case is object?' why? Of what case is the pronoun 'we?' what if it had been objective? what if it had been possessive? Of what case is the noun Fingal's?' Of what number is it? what would have been the difference if it had been the plural possessive? what if it had been the plural objective? what if it had been the plural nominative? Of what case is 'cave?' why?-[And here, if the child be sufficiently advanced he may be farther called upon to enumerate, in his own way, the various occasions on which a nominative case is used.] Of what case is 'isle?' why? what other words besides prepositions govern an objective case? Of what case is it?' why? What if it had been possessive? what if it had been objective? So also with regard to the other nouns and pronouns.

"The pupils are next instructed in the nature of ADVERBS, and the distinction betwixt them and adjectives. Having mentioned the word 'most' as the first adverb in the passage, they are next asked what words the adverb is used to qualify? what word the adverb 'most' here qualifies? what degree of comparison 'most' is? what is the positive? what the comparative? whether 'most' is ever any other part of speech? whether they can give any example of this? why the word is an adjective in the example so given? The children will then be required to point out the next adverb in the passage, which is yet. With regard to this word, if they had previously been made acquainted with conjunctions, we should have asked whether it is ever any other part of speech? and when?

"The next part of speech to which the pupil's attention is particularly called is the CONJUNCTION, of which, in the present case, they will give as an example the word and,' and be required to say what it connects.

INTERJECTIONS form the last subject of consideration,

and as these but rarely occur in the course of ordinary reading, it becomes necessary to furnish extraneous examples.

"After the children have learned all parts of speech, or at least all the principal ones, the practice of classing the same parts of speech is entirely dropt, and each word is parsed according to the common method in its own order. Thus the,' the definite article prefixed to 'object' grandest, an adjective in the superlative degree qualifying object;' the,' the definite article prefixed to object;' most,' an adverb in the superlative degree qualifying sublime ;' 'sublime,' an adjective qualifying 'object; and,' a conjunction connecting 'sublime,' and 'extraordinary; object,' a noun, neuter, singular, nominative to 'is;''we,' a personal pronoun, plural, nominative to have;' have, a verb, indicative mood, present time, plural number, and first person; 'yet,' an adverb qualifying seen;'is,' a verb, indicative mood, present, singular, third person; 'Fingal's,' a noun, masculine, possessive, singular; cave, a noun, neuter, nominative, because it follows the verb 'is' preceded by a nominative; in,' a preposition governing 'isle ;'' the,' the definite article prefixed to 'isle;' isle,' a noun, neuter, singular, objective, governed by the preposition 'in;' 'of,' a preposition governing Staffa;' Staffa,' a noun, neuter, singular, objective, governed by the preposition 'of. This routine, however, is very often broken in upon, (much oftener, indeed, than otherwise,) as the state of the class, the particular answer given, or any other circumstances, may suggest the propriety of more particular questions.

"Nothing can possibly be more satisfactory than the result of this experiment. There is, however, a very great difference betwixt teaching the grammar of one's own language, and that of a foreign tongue. In the latter case, and even in teaching the grammar of a vernacular language more complicated than our own, we should consider it absolutely necessary to put the pupil in possession of a book of grammar, from which he may learn the various inflexions and rules. Those, too, who are less practised in that method of oral instruction, which pervades our whole system, may perhaps derive greater

benefit, than our school would, from the use of some judicious systematical treatise. But, even where such a book is used, whether in teaching a vernacular or foreign tongue, it ought never to be forgotten, that grammar is not solely, nor even chiefly to be acquired from what a child learns at home to repeat, but from what he is practically taught by a judicious master in school; not from the rules contained in the systematic work, but from the application of the principles to the daily lessons. We can, accordingly, by no means approve of that method of teaching any language, which is now every day becoming more and more exploded, whereby a long and irksome preliminary process of grammar was gone through, before a book was put into the hands of a pupil to read. Before leaving the subject of grammar, we would remark, that, in our opinion, after the pupil has been practically instructed in its leading principles, he may then with great advantage peruse some of the systematic treatises on this subject."

Lord Chesterfield has the following remarks on self-instruction in grammar.

"It is of great importance for every one to speak and write their own language correctly and elegantly. In order to this, young people should get an habitual but unaffected purity, correctness, and elegance of style in their common conversation; they should seek for the best words, and take care to reject improper, inexpressive, and vulgar ones. They should read the greatest masters of oratory, both ancient and modern, and observe their choice of words, their harmony of diction, and their method; they should never cease improving and refining their style upon the best models, till at last they become models of eloquence themselves, which by care it is in every man's power to be. If they set out upon this principle, and keep it constantly in their mind, every company they go into, and every book they read, will con

*It is curious that Lord Chesterfield should have committed an offence against grammar in this sentence.

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tribute to their improvement, either by showing them what to imitate or what to avoid. Are they to give an account of any thing to a mixed company? Are they to endeavour to persuade either man or woman? This principle, fixed in their minds, will make them carefully attend to the choice of their words, and to the clearness and harmony of their diction. Whenever they doubt of the propriety or elegancy of a word, they should search the dictionary or some good author for it. So long ago as when I was at Cambridge, whenever I read pieces of eloquence, I used to write down the shining passages, and then translate them as well and as elegantly as ever I could; if Latin or French, into English; if English, into French. Perhaps the best way to acquire a good style is to lay down a rule, to translate every day only three or four lines from any book, in any language, into the correctest and most elegant English that is possible. It cannot be imagined how this will insensibly form the style, and give an habitual elegance, without taking up more than a quarter of an hour a day. I am not of the opinion, generally entertained in this country, that man lives by Greek and Latin alone; that is, by knowing a great many words of two dead languages, which nobody living knows perfectly, and which are of no use in the common intercourse of life. Useful knowledge, in my opinion, consists of modern languages, history, and geography; some Latin may be thrown into the bargain in compliance with custom and for closet amusement."

LESSONS TO BE COMMITTED TO MEMORY.

The reasons for requiring certain portions of necessary knowledge to be committed, verbatim, to memory, are thus concisely and happily stated in an anonymous work, entitled "Thoughts on Domestic Education.'

"Let whatever can be fixed on the memory, through the aid of the understanding, be inculcated by conversation, assisted by the reading of books.

"But some parts of knowledge cannot be so instilled; such, for instance, are the tables of arithmetic, the rules of grammar, the dates of history, and the propositions of science. These must be learned in precise terms; and such precision can only be obtained by repetition of the terms until they are fixed in the memory. It is very long before, by the association of ideas, and the rapid calculation of numbers, we acquire the power of answering arithmetical questions by reflection. A child must, therefore, learn to do it by rote. An adult can tell that four times six is twenty-four, because he knows six is the half of twelve, and twice twelve is twenty-four; or, because he knows, four sixpences make two shillings, and two shillings is twenty-four pence. But a child, before he can make this apparently long, but really rapid, calculation, has often to answer the question, and must give the result, without entirely understanding how it is such. For this purpose he learns the arithmetical tables.

"The rules of grammar are necessary to be learned from another principle; viz. that by the precise words of the rules recurring to the recollection, the sense they convey may be always ready for use when wanted. On the same principle, the precise terms in which the propositions of science are worded should be known by rote; such as the three laws of motion,' the rule to discover the celerity with which bodies fall,' &c. &c.

But though the tables of arithmetic may be learned before they are understood, the rules of grammar, and the propositions of science, must not be committed to memory till their meaning is perfectly intelligible, or their repetition will not serve to restore to the mind the infor mation of which they are the concise expression."

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.

The author last quoted has the following judicious observations on the importance of connecting the study of geography with that of history.