EDUCATION.

Practical Remarks on Infant Education. By the Rev. DR. and MISS MAYO. 12mo. pp. 105. Seeley and Burnside.

THIS is a very small and unpretending little book; but nevertheless it is one which every person at all versed in educational science must admit to be highly valuable,—-inasmuch as it is what has long been wanted a practical treatise. To train children properly-a commencement should be made in very early life, before bad habits have been contracted and erroneous prejudices formed, before vicious example has polluted their young minds and taught them to tread the paths of sin and death. This has long been ac- ! knowledged as an undeniable truth by all, who admit the general proposition, that education at all is useful and necessary; and the only point of difference between parties is the how, the means by which the object is best to be attained. We are not by any means certain, that the little book now under consideration, is well adapted in every particular as a teacher's manual,—especially as it inculcates much as being requisite to religious instruction, which savours of sectarian enthusiasm. Let it not be supposed, however, that we object to religious teaching,-for we entertain quite as strong an opinion as the much respected principal of Cheam School respecting its high importance; -but we hold the cultivation of the religious affections-the pure love of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ-to be more the business of an infant's teacher than the developement of doctrines which at any rate admit of dispute, and which, admitting them to be true, require the exercise of a strong and cultivated understanding properly to comprehend. Miss Mayo, no doubt, acts conscientiously in recommending what she finds most accordant with the results of her own scriptural studies; but still it somewhat savours of exclusiveness to make her own creed the basis on which infant education is to rest. What Mr. Wyse says on the subject, seems to us judicious and important. "Without the aid of religion, without this purifying and preserving salt,' there is no soundness in any country. Morals die with religion, and even our more economic virtues sooner or later drop off with that on which they grew. True religious education, far deeper than sectarianism, far wider, is also more powerful in its re-organizing effects. It has to do, not with factions, but with the nation, nor with transitory or local pretensions, but with real and inward strength, with the natural and enduring character of man." We advocate religion, but repudiate sectarianism in general education, and for this reason have ventured to make a few strictures on a book which in every other respect is unexceptionable.

The second chapter of Miss Mayo's practical remarks on moral education is extremely well drawn up, and marks its authoress to be a person of great experience as well as of sound good sense. We cannot do better than quote the short opening paragraph, in which the grounds of moral obligation are explained.

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This branch of education consists in the cultivation of right feelings and sentiments; and the formation of principles and habits. It cannot be too strongly enforced that the paramount object in every Infant School should be to call into action the affections of the children, and to engage them on the side of religion and morality. It is the greatest honour to these establishments that they have taken precedence of all our public institutions in recognising the unspeakable value of this branch of education. Most equivocal indeed would be the advantages they offer, if they aimed at mere intellectual attainment; or if the religious instruction was addressed only to the understanding. No! the ground on which Infant Schools have a claim upon our

* Wyse's Education Reform, vol. i, p. 27!.

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gratitude and our support, is their moral training on the principles of the gospel.

"If religious instruction be carried on in a right manner, it will undoubtedly tend to the formation of good principles; but it must be the constant aim of the teacher to strengthen the connexion, and to point out how religious knowledge ought to produce moral habits. One of the most powerful auxiliaries in the cultivation of the character is the force of example; children not only imitate what those around them do and say, but involuntarily acquire their habits and manners. It is not enough, therefore, that a teacher speak of love and recommend it; he must habitually exhibit it in his conduct; he must display untiring good humour, sympathizing tenderness, and playful vivacity, keeping up in the school-room an atmosphere of cheerfulness and love. The force of example alone, however, is not sufficient for the formation of moral character; the consciences of the children must be exercised in determining between right and wrong, in choosing the good and rejecting the evil, and the power of resisting temptations strengthened. They should therefore be carefully watched, and yet at the same time allowed a freedom of action; trials and temptations will arise in their intercourse with each other, especially in the play-ground, and their conduct should be brought to the test of scripture precepts, and made the subject of affectionate admonition, or fatherly correction, as the case may require.

"One of the first impressions that a teacher should endeavour to make on children's minds, with a view to their moral education, is the conviction of their responsibility to God. Teach them that they are not at liberty to sin,that it is not a matter of indifference how they behave, so that they injure no one, but, on the contrary, that they will be called to account for the omission of what is right, as well as the commission of what is wrong. With the knowledge of their responsibility, connect the impression that the eye of the Lord is ever upon them, that their habitual feeling may be, Thou God seest me.'

"It is very important also to accustom them to consider what is their right position in society, and their consequent duties. Teach them that the different grades of rank are established by the Lord, and that each has its appointed work, as each member of our body has its peculiar office. By leading them to look to God as the disposer of their lot, and themselves as unworthy recipients of his mercies, you will promote a spirit of cheerfulness and contentment, and a desire of rendering to all their due. In order to correct that selfish principle which causes us to view things through a false medium, considering more what others owe to us than what we owe to them, you should lead them to reflect upon what are the claims of their companions, what of their master, what of their parents, what of God. Teach them to consider their actions in reference to these claims, and see that they not only acknowledge the principle, but that they carry it out into practice, for it is essential, besides awakening feelings and instilling principles, to cultivate moral habits, and habits are formed by the frequent repetition of an action."

Miss Mayo's observations on the intellectual training to which young children should be submitted are based on the experience of several years. They are not ruminations in the closet, or theories based on the perusal of other books. The writer of this notice has frequently seen her in the midst of her pupils both in the class room and in the fields, so that he speaks confidently to her ability as a teacher of young people, as a teacher who seeks-not to load the mind with facts beyond its powers of digestion,—but to unfold in proper harmony all the nascent faculties of her pupils. She recommends that things should be taught before words, that the powers of observation should be cultivated and strengthened by stimulating and properly directing that curiosity and love of novelty, which are characteristic of childhood.

We have no room to follow the Christian instructress through the minutia of the scheme :-we are content to have developed the general plan of a work

which deserves better than any other that we have seen to be generally used among teachers; but we cannot resist the temptation of extracting her concluding observations, which in all respects are highly admirable :—and with these, we take leave of this valuable little manual.

"Before closing these remarks it may not be unprofitable to address a few words to Teachers. You have undertaken a work of great difficulty and high responsibility, one perhaps, which if you had fully appreciated you would scarcely have considered yourselves competent to fill. Nevertheless be not discouraged, you yet may do much by industry to qualify yourselves for the duty you have engaged in, but especially seek strength, seek grace, seek di- ! rection from above, Sow the good seed carefully, preparing well the soil, and trust to the Lord, that he will, when he sees fit, bless it to his own glory. Avail yourselves of every opportunity of acquiring knowledge that may prove useful to you in teaching. Whenever you meet with what appears to you valuable information, note it down for future use. The questions of children often lead us to see our own ignorance; let them also lead you to seek for knowledge upon points in which they prove you deficient. You should consider that your work is by no means over when you close your school-room doors; your evenings should be devoted to self-improvement and to preparing your materials for the next day. It is very important before you enter upon your work, that you have the instruction you propose giving, carefully arranged, and ready to be produced when you require it. Those who do not attend to this point, either go over their old lessons day after day, till they have lost all freshness and interest both with themselves and their scholars, or depending upon their own resources, they leave it for the moment that they are to give a lesson, to decide what it shall be and how it shall be treated; the consequence is that they are occupied in these matters, when their minds ought to be free to watch their pupils, and to keep up their attention; and if visitors come in, they lose their self-possession, and know not what they ought to be doing. It is therefore recommended that you should review every evening the state of your school during the past day, consider what plans seemed to succeed, what to fail, then endeavour to gain something new for future use, at the same time determine what lessons you will give on the morrow; what aim you propose in the lessons, and how you ought to treat them. If you find your pupils not improving, getting disorderly, inattentive, &c., do not become angry with them, but look for the fault in yourselves; there has been, you may feel assured, something deficient in your teaching or your discipline; if you allow yourselves to get out of humour with the children, the evil will only increase; if, on the contrary, you look to yourselves as the cause of what is wrong, you will try some new lesson, something more interesting, you will use gentleness instead of harshness, and, seeking a strength not your own, your school will no doubt recover its usual tone.

"Punishment should be resorted to as seldom as possible; consider it as an evil, though sometimes a necessary one, for the sake of example, or to subdue a bad spirit that is gaining ground; but recollect that its office is not to stimulate to good, but to prevent the recurrence of wrong conduct. There cannot be a greater proof of a school being badly managed than the necessity of frequent punishment. Again, never punish a child when you are irritated against him, or you will completely do away the good effects of the chastisement; he will be much more inclined to attribute the pain he suffers to your temper, than to his own misconduct. When you are convinced that punishment is necessary let it be evident that it is (what it ought to be) a grief to you to inflict it. Imitate the example of your heavenly Father, who afflicteth not willingly the children of men, but chastises in love.

"Study simplicity not only in your language, using the most plain words, but also in the manner in which you present a subject to the children; this should be natural and easy, setting before them only one difficulty at a time. Whatever injury may have been done to children, it has seldom arisen from

intellectual culture having commenced too early, for children's minds are always in activity; but from this activity having been exercised upon subjects unsuitable to their age, and still more perhaps from presenting to them more than one difficulty to contend with at the same time, for this causes a perplexity and distress peculiarly injurious to the delicately-constituted minds of infants. On this ground, teaching children to count by balls of various colours, under the idea of practising their eyes upon colour, whilst they are also learning arithmetic, is decidedly objectionable. We also disapprove of early reading lessons which require any exercise of thought; it is quite sufficient labour for a child at one time to be practised upon sounds and their symbols. When it is a mechanical difficulty to be overcome, do not in the same lesson attempt an intellectual exercise; the relief afforded by a complete change in the character of their studies, is very essential to the mental and physical health of the children. Beware also of the snare of making a show of any particular pupil-never let one take too prominent a part and be called upon to display his little powers; and be careful not to excite a spirit of emulation in your school; in its train inevitably follow, vanity, envy, and ill-will; this is sacrificing moral to intellectual improvement, and is a fearful mistake in education, which has disfigured some of our best Infant Schools. Emulation is indeed a most powerful engine, a school may easily be kept alive and stimulated to great exertions by its aid; but recollect that it is not a Christian engine, and good cannot eventually result from its use. The great means by which the mental, moral, and physical powers are to be improved, is by exercising them; this is well set forth in a modern work on education, from which is taken the following concluding quotation. 'The law of exercise is of universal application. It is a fundamental law of nature, that all the capacities of man are enlarged and strengthened by being used. From the energies of a muscle up to the highest faculty, intellectual or moral, repeated exercise of the function increases its intensity. Inseparable from the very idea of exercising the faculties, and of course from the practice of that exercise, is the requisition of exercising each faculty upon the objects which nature points out as related to it. Muscular strength is to be gained by familiarizing the muscles with the resistance of external forces, and by the habit of conquering mechanical difficulties varied, to exercise all the muscles, which amount to several hundreds in the human frame. The senses are improved by long and particular training, applying each to its own object;—sight, by habitual looking at distant or minute objects; hearing, by accurate practice in the perception of sounds ;— taste, in the discriminating use of the palate. In the same manner, the observing faculties are rendered acute, and diversified by the constant practice of observation of details in existing objects, their qualities, and of passing events. The same law extends to the moral world. For the exercise of justice, the child must be made aware of his own and his neighbour's rights, and be habituated practically to respect them in all contingencies. For the exercise of benevolence, the habit of repressing the selfish feelings, and of actually doing good, kind, compassionate, and generous things, not by fits, but as a steady, unvarying principle of action, will be found indispensable.'

THEATRICAL REVIEW.

DRURY LANE.

THOSE who have witnessed the triumph of Madame Schroeder Devrient in Beethoven's "Fidelio," must have experienced a feeling of sorrow and regret at seeing her placed by that Baotian manager, Mr. Bunn, in characters utterly unsuited to her talents.

We must

confess that we approached the doors on the first representation of "Norma" with no very sanguine expectations respecting the success either of the opera or the singer. Bellini's music, owing to the improvements in the public taste, is not relished by the true lovers and competent judges of music, as the productions of his school used to be in times past. His vocal music-a species of professional shorthand, to be filled up by the singer to whom it is intrusted—can no longer be allowed to take the place of older and better compositions; and the clap-trap contrivances of double bands, deafening trumpets, and tinkling cymbals, which a vulgar taste is apt to desig nate as splendid instrumentation, will not satisfy an audience acquainted with the soul-stirring compositions of Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. The German music is essentially ideal, and admirably expressive of every passion that can animate the human breast; whereas the florid Italian music is wholly deficient in this essential quality of all good music. A singer brought up in either school is unfit to perform the music of the other: the Italian cannot soar to the simple but sublime grandeur of a Haydn or a Mozart, nor can the German task himself to execute all the minutia and exuberant embellishments required to give effect to the productions of Rossini, Mercadante, and Bellini. If Grisi or Albertazzi should attempt to personate Fidelio" or "Euryanthe," the result would be certain failure; Schroeder might have been sure of failure, and for the same reason. Her Norma," so far as respects the singing, was coldly correct; and the musical defects were imperfectly redeemed by her excellent acting. She certainly was ill-advised to attempt a character which has become in a manner identified with Pasta; and yet more injudicious, after her signal failure in "Norma," to try Malibran's part in the "Somnambula." We judge Mr. Bunn to be the person who imposed this unpleasant task on Madame Schroeder; and he has, no doubt, ere this, been made to repent of his folly, by the slender increase which these performances have brought to his treasury.

We have endeavoured to point out the reason of Schroeder's failure in "Norma." It must not be supposed, however, from our use of the word failure, that we would convey the idea of a disgraceful defeat or total incompetency. No:-in the midst of her defects she was noble still,-still the highly-gifted songstress of Germany, whom to see and hear is to admire. Her excellencies are all her own,→ her apparent defects are foisted on her by Messrs. Bellini and Bunn. So much for Schroeder's "Norma." Au reste, Miss Betts gave the forviture and cadences in her best style, and did all for "Adelgisa' which that mimic personage deserves :-Mr. Giubilei satisfied himself-if not his auditors with his declamatory singing and windmilllike action; and Mr. Wilson, whom we flatter by denominating a vocal automaton, did all that a moral freezing machine can be supposed to do in bringing down Schroeder's temperature to zero. By the way, why does not Mr. Bunn insist on better acting from this singer? He is mistaken, if he thinks that sweet warbling will alone for acting so bad as not only to disgrace the singer and disgust the audience, but to render every character with whom he comes in contact insipid and ineffective. Surely there are men as good as Wilson