School Section, No.

EDUCATION,

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1. Difficulties experienced in the working of a Public School System,...... 65 II. Celebrated Barbers.......

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III. Progress and diffusion of Science during the present Century,. IV. PAPERS ON PRACTICAL EDUCATION.-1, Canons of Teaching. 2. Instruments of Moral Education. 3. A School Incident. 4. Duties of Educated men. 5. A Plea for Play. 6. Educate thoroughly, page 70 & 73 V. EDITORIAL.-Difficulties in working a Public School System. 2. Disputes between Trustees and Teachers...

VI. MISCELLANEOUS.-1. A Picture (Poetry). 2. Ignorant Teachers for Children. 3. Words of Kindness. 4. British Railways. 5. Animalculæ. 6. Spare the rod, spoil the Child. 7. Parish Schools of Scotland,......

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From the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Rev. Dr. Sears, Secretary of the Board of Education for the State of Massachusetts.

It is no longer a question among us whether a universal system of free education shall be maintained, nor whether Christianity shall be recognized in the Schools. The advocates of private schools, as the means of popular education, or of secular schools in which religious influence shall have no place, or of sectarian schools in which the distinctive doctrines of particular creeds shall be taught, have mostly disappeared, having been driven from the field by a force of argument which it was not easy to resist.

The great principle of the necessity of a public system of education, which shall be free to all, may be regarded as theoretically established. The value of this principle is now to be tested by experiment on a very broad scale, no civilized state being willing to leave its subjects in ignorance while others are, by means of that experiment, advancing steadily in power and prosperity. Inasmuch as it is no longer necessaty to advocate the theory, it is the more important to guard against mistakes in conducting the experiment.

Unreasonable hopes.-Public Examinations.

One of the most common and fatal mistakes made by ardent iends of education is the indulgence of unreasonable hopes,

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and the maintenance of extravagant views as to what they can effect by means of it. It is often supposed that great results can be produced in a single term of twelve or fifteen weeks. Both teacher and committee aim at this rapid mode of manufacture. True education is that which aids the slow and healthy growth of the mind, the incorporation into it of principles and the formation of tastes and habits, the full value of which will appear only after mature years have developed their tendencies. The highest and best parts of education are incapable of exhibition. The show made at the close of a term is well enough to amuse children and their fond parents, but it is often like that of newly dressed pleasure-grounds, adorned with trees and shrubs fresh from the nursery, having a show of vitality in the foliage, though as yet drawing no sap from the root. Such frostwork of the school-room is soon dissolved and generally passes away with the occasion. All attempts at such premature results of education are nearly useless, and yet our system of employing teachers by the term renders it almost necessary for a teacher who is ambitious of distinction, to lay his plans for that kind of superficial culture and mechanical drill which can be produced in a few weeks, and shown off as evidence of marvellous skill. An experienced educator or observer can, indeed, inspect the processes of education, and judge of their fitness, as an agriculturist can of the preparation of the soil, and of the quality of the seed. most persons must wait for time to bring forth the fruits of education, before they can form a true judgment of its character. All expectations of triumphant success in the schools, founded upon such views of speedy results as those above alluded to, are destined to fail of their fulfilment. And when the people have been misled by these vain hopes, and find themselves in the end bitterly disappointed, the public schools will be in danger of languishing, bleeding from wounds inflicted by their own friends.

Limitations of the Teacher's Power.

There is, moreover, in the ardor of philanthropic enthusiasm danger of overlooking the limitations of the teacher's power. While that power is great, when properly sustained by collateral influences, it has yet many limitations, partly from the nature of the human mind, and partly from peculiar circumstances. One of these limitations is to be found in the individuality of the pupil's mind. When it said that the teacher has a power over the young, like that of the sculptor over the block of marble, some abatement is to be made for the rhetorical character of the statement. The marble is entirely

passive It has no embroyo nature to develope, no hidden tendencies to some unknown result, no secret processes working great changes, expected by no one, and bursting, at length, suddenly upon the view by some new exhibition of talent, or some new form of character. To such an extent have these phenomena been observed in original minds, that a conclusion has often been hastily drawn disparaging to all education. Ail real talent, it is sometimes said, is self-developed and self regulated. The truth contained in this statement is, that some minds have such strong intellectual instincts, and such natural energy, that they are less dependent on a teacher's aid than others; that in struggling with difficulties and overcoming obstacles, they acquire an independence and power which more than make up for a want of early elementary training. But even upon such intellects the influence of a genial teacher must be favorable, while to those of the common class it is indispensable. Still, it must not be forgotten that there are under-currents in almost every pupil's mind, which are not easily detected by the teacher or by the parent, which sometimes conduct to issues wholly unexpected. When remarkable powers and capacities are working thus in secret, the school training may come so little in contact with them as to do but little good or harm; or it may be that an earnest teacher's endeavors have been nothing but unsucces-ful contests against natural proclivities which could not be resisted, but might, with more skill, have been guided and modified. In other pupils there is a weakness or dullness of intellect which effectually limits the teacher's power. His labor is not lost, it is true; but the public expectations are not in these instances realized. No one ought to be disappointed or discouraged at such results. They ought to be foreseen, and none but reasonable expectations ought to be

cherished.

School-room Education only partial.

But the greatest obstruction to the teacher's success, the most absolute limitation of his power, is to be found in the fact, that of education, in its full and proper sense, only a part belong to the school room. Over that larger department of education given out of the school room he has no control. For the character of such education other par ies are generally held responsible. But even this responsibility cannot always be fixed definitely upon individuals. There are circumstances in the history of a people which have their educating influence, and yet cannot be changed. The pioneer in a new settlement is not bound to perform, in respect to education, more than the state of society will admit. If the population of the country is sparse, and there is a general want of refinement, and the means of high intellectual culture do not exist, he cannot be held answerable for deficiencies which he cannot prevent. In the rapid growth of great cities, and the general increase of wealth and luxury, difficulties of an opposite character are experienced. Here there are positive tendencies to a corruption of the public manners which no merely human power can remove. In the ordinary course of events, wealth and luxury will, as all history teaches, exert an influence over the young, taking away the motives to industry, economy, and other home-bred virtues, stimulating the more dangerous appetites and passions, educating them, in short, to anything but a useful and honorable life. This is a miasmatic influence, which no vigilance of the wealthy parent can, with certainty, keep from injuring his offspring.

Influences against the Teacher.

The general tone of society, when at variance with the influence of the conscientious teacher, is a powerful check upon the success of his efforts. Indeed, as to manners and morals, it is society chiefly that educates. The influence of the school room is limited in respect to time. A part of each day is spent by the pupil in the family, and a part in promiscuous intercourse with others. Every child, on entering a school for the first time, carries with him a character formed elsewhere. This character is what parents and companions have made it; and being daily nourished by intercourse with these, it will be very likely to be maintained, notwithstanding the efforts of the teacher to the contrary. But suppose the teacher to be so fortunate as to gain the victory for the present. When the pupil leaves the school at the early age which is now common with us, he returns to the influences of that same society where he first drank in a poisonous atmosphere, and where, in all probability, the defeated party will retrieve its losses. A teacher may not despair even in these circumstances. He may prevent much evil. He may prepare the soil for some other persons to cultivate with better success. produce enough of effect to constitute a sufficient reward for his labors, though far below his wishes. He may, in many instances, make an impression on the heart which time will never efface. At any rate, having done what he could, he will share with the good of all ages in the high satisfaction of having done his duty. Still, the adult portion of the community should remember that with them mainly rests the responsibility of forming the moral character of the And here a distinction must be made between the legitimate Sphere of domestic discipline and the more general control of public

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manners. Who is to guard the morals of the young, when they are abroad and in company with such persons as they may chance to moet? How can their eyes be kept from polluting sights, and their ears from sounds freighted with immorality? Here, at some place of village resort, they see what they ought never to see, and hear words of strife, of ribaldry, and of blasphemy, which ought to be confined to dens inaccessible to childhood. Still worse is it when the streets swarm with juvenile offenders, because the sympathies of the young with each other are so strong. The vicious practices of the adults may be so viewed, where proper instruction is given, as to be repulsive, and be turned into a warning. The grosser forms of vice in adults may not be so seductive as those that are more decent. But with children associating with each other it is otherwise. Their vices are more contagious. When a child is outdone by another in wrong doing, there is a silent appeal to the courage of the former, which few have sufficient strength to resist. Children, moreover, have selfish pas-ions. They readily listen to the recitals of a companion who describes the little arts by which he procures forbidden indulgences, escapes the vigilance of parents, and deceives them. One such com. panion has it in his power to corrupt the children of a whole neighbourhood; and it often happens that a group of boys form connections in practising petty vices, which exert a pernicious influence upon their character far outweighing the salutary influence exerted by parents and teachers. It may be said that if parents cannot extend their control over the morals of children generally, they can, at least, keep their own children from bad companions. This is true but in part. Children are so fond of each other's society, and so weary of the monotony of retirement, that they seize greedily upon all the incidental opportunities which present themselves for meeting with companions, making choice of associates rather from congenial tastes and feelings than from moral considerations. The greatest security will therefore be found to exist in those communities where, by various means, the youthful population are generally kept far from the contamination of vice. What may be done to repress juvenile misdemeanors, as they are now manifested too commonly in public places and in the streets, is a subject worthy of consideration. The difficulty lies chiefly with those children who are neglected by their parents, and with others who, when beyond the observation of their parents, are swayed by the example of the former. The negligence of many parents, who otherwise are good citizens, in respect to the moral training of their children, is almost unaccountable. They provide liberally for their physical wants, but leave them, as if strangely indifferent to their higher interests, to form their own moral habits and tastes. They do not apply their minds constantly and earnestly to the subject of forming their character. They neither study the principles, nor inform themselves of the best methods of training their children to wisdom and virtue. Their minds are engrossed with business, or with the demands of social life. They act as if they believed that a pecuniary provision for the present and future support of their offspring were the main part of parental obligation. But is there anything more sure to end in disaster than leaving indiscreet and inexperienced children, in whom the passions are strong and the understanding weak. to choose their own ways and their own associations? Indulgence seems to be deemed equivalent to the law of love. Appetites whose excesses are dangerous to both body and mind, are allowed to grow to exuberance. Habits that enfeeble the mind, and fo-ter a love of luxury and indolence, are suffered to be confirmed. The filial duties of obedience ard respect are not insisted on. Independence and smartness in a child, with a spice of impudence, seem to be interpreted as an omen for good. The kindness, forbearance, and acts of service, are all on one side. Pure elfishness in the child, it is supposed, will, in time, if left to itself, work its own cure. Will it be strange, if such parents in their old age should have occasion to think of the proverb, "It is easier for one parent to support seven children than for seven child en to support one parent!" It will not be strange if the current of love be found by them, to their grief, to be downward, from parent to child, rather than in the opposite direction. It cannot be too deeply impressed on our minds, that generally children are, in their character what we make them. How unfortunate, then, must be the condition of those children, who are not merely neglected by their parents, but are directly and deeply injured by their pernicious example! If there are persons who neglect their own moral culture, and by indulging in wrong feelings, words, and acts, are willing jeopard their own happiness, it would seem, that in holding the place of parents, and pouring the tide of evil upon their helpless offspring they add cruelty to immorality. At least, they should take as much pains to hide their vices from their families as from others. Yet how unrestrained are the passions, the ill feeling, the harsh words, and unkind acts of many parents, where there are none but their young children to witress them! These are lessons that are sure to produce their effect. The imitative nature of childhood will here show itself with fearful energy.

There is one more element in the adverse influence of society, as counteracting the work of the teacher, which must be mentioned. I

is that of the equivocal character of much of the reading, and of the public amusements in which the children of the present age share with others. The daily papers lie upon the tables of every household. The angry quarrels of editors with each other, the bitterness of political controversy, and the mendacity of the press on the eve of elections, furnish a very unsuitable aliment for the young. And how many of the short, -picy paragraps, with which the editor or contributor seeks to enliven his columns, are addressed to the sensual passions, in language and tone so lascivous that no pure minded father could read it in the presence of his family. This is the more alarming as a sign of the times, from the circumstance that not only is the supply of material such in amount as no other age ever knew, and the reading habits of the young, in consequence of our public schools, far in advance of those of adults in former times, but that those papers which are the least scrupulous in their moral tone, have often a wider circulation

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than others, and are even extensively patronised for the use of families. It is not necessary here to refer particularly to much of the lighter literature, of no better moral tendency, which finds its way to the homes of the young, vitiating their imaginations with pictures of scenes which no pure mind can contemplate with pleasure. Many of the popular amusements, too-once an occasional luxury, but now a necessity of the young-have the same character and tendency. They must be adapted to low and vulgar tastes, in order to attract the multitude and be made profitable. A large proportion of the support they receive comes from children, for whose injury the fond, but inconsiderate parent, pays the price more freely than he does his school In view of all these facts, it will be safe to conclude that if, notwithstanding all that is done for the education of the young they are, as is sometimes said, no more likely to make good citizens than were the children of former generations, who enjoyed no such advantages of education, the cause may easily be found elsewhere than in the character of the public schools. That they accomplish less good than they might, if more skilfully conducted, is conceded. That they pro duce of themselves, by a direct and positive influence, any considera ble part of the evils complained of, may, it is believed, be justly denied. In all the schools which are worthy of the name, the pupils are trained to some kind of ord r. All teachers give direc ions in regard to the deportment of their pupils, exacting industry, allotting the time and prescribing the manner of their recreations, requiring submission to authority, respect and obedience to themselves, and freedom from violence and wrong to each other. So far as this goes,

it is favorable to moral training. If the discipline were carried to a greater perfection, the effect would be still better. Not to have sufficient power to prevent all the evils to which the young of this age is exposed, is quite a different thing from being the positive cause of these evils. Christianity itself does not entirely arrest the progress of evil. Is it therefore the procuring cause of evil?

The spirit of the people.

In respect to the spirit of the people, in welcoming cordially our admirable system of education, little need be said. That they mu t adopt it, as their own, and, by their enlightened zeal and energy, work out its beneficial results for themselves, if they would experience its advantages, must be evident to all. The State does not attempt to confer the boon of education upon the people; it only gives them the power and the requisite facilities for supporting schools. It indeed requires certain schools t be maintained; but it leaves, in great measure, to the will of the people the degree of excellence which they shall attain. While this truly philosophic and well-balanced system, devised by the wisdom of the State, receives the aumiration of the world, there are, we regret to say, towns, few indeed in number, and becoming fewer every year, which complain of State interference, and wish to be left in their native independence. It is regarded as an inconvenience to be coupelled to maintain public schools for a given length of time each year, and to be at the expense of paying for the services of the school committee, which might so easily be dispensed with. But these are the lowest depths that have been sounded. Never were men more mistaken in regard to their true interests. The State is a nourishing mother, as wise as she is beneficent, and happily has few ungrateful children. Who that knows the inestimable value of education, and the great amount of labor and expense neces sary to produce a flourishing state of the schools, would not regard it as one of the greatest of blessings for these schools to receive the constant attention and fostering care of the State?

Low estimate of the value of Education.

Of a similar character and effect, is that low estimate of the value of education, which leads a much larger number of towns to make, in their annual appropriation, very inadequate provisions for the support of the schools. No money expended by a town is surer to vield good returns than that which is judicially applied to educate the young The increased intelligence of the people will, among its other results, manifest its power in the increased ability and skill with which they

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engage in their various enterprises, producing within the period of a single generation an incr ase of wealth which will far more than compensate for all the cost of education. Any town which enjoys the reputation of having good schools, will find, in that circumstance an element of growth. It will, on that account, draw to itself from abroad, wealth, intelligence and virtue. Both the value of real estate, the refinement and civilization of the people will be enhanced. If we take a higher view, and inquire how the inhabitants of a town can make the most valuable contribution towards the improvement of mankind, we shall unhesitatingly reply, by sending out into the world well-educated and well-trained men and women to act their part with honor in advancing the progress of civilization, and all the interests of society. That such an end cannot be attained by us in our present social condition without the aid of a vigorous system of public schools, will be admitted by all.

Irregular attendance and non-attendance of children—a remedy. The irregular attendance of the pupils of the public schools is a subject that deserves the attention of all who have, in any measure, power to diminish it. The loss of one-fifth of the benefit for which pecuniary provision is made by a publ e tax, is a just subject of complaint on the part of the tax payer. If society has the right to levy a tax upon his property for the purpose of preventing the evils consequent on a state of popular ignorance, it would seem that he is justly entitled to expect that there shall be no culpable neglect in attempting to secure the full amount of the benefit contemplated. The parent is bound by a two-fold obligation—to his children and to the community- to sce that the means of education provided at the public expense, be not neglected by his children. Each town and city is also bound to use all reasonable endeavors, through appropriate officers, to bring all the children living within its borders under the influence of the pubhe schools. If it can be shewn that children ought to be in the schools at all, the same arguments would prove that their attendance should be such as to acc mo.ish, in the best manner, the object for which the schools are supported. If parents have no just right to withhold their children from the schools, much less have they a right to interfere with the progress of the children of others by the irregularity of the attendance of their own. If it be admitted that a pupil may attend school at just such time as he or his parent may choose, and is entitled to receive instruction accordingly, it will follow either that his class ought to be detained till his deficiency in the class exercises shall be made up, or that special instruction ought to be provided for him out of the class. But no one will pretend to such a right as this. Various expedients have been resorted to by diff rent town to diminish this irregularity of attendance. In some place it has been made the subject of public discussion, and the sentiment of the community has been so improved as to act very favorably upon the mit ds of parents. In others, a custom prevails of publishing in the school report the names of those who have distinguished themselves for their regular attendance. In many towns, rules have been established by the school committee, excluding from the school those whose absences exceed a certain amount. A still better method is hat of degrading such pupils, by putting them into a lower class. Great success has, in several instances, attended the labors of persons appointed to look after absentees, to inquire into the causes of their absence, and to use proper means to bring them back to the schools. No doubt different courses will need to be pursued in different pace. Mild and persuasive measures, if successful will prove the best. In manusacturing towns and cities, something more may be required. A very important point will be gained if the public attention is so drawn to the subject as to lead to any course of action upon it.

CELEBRATED BARBERS.

SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT, the celebrated patentee of the Spinning Jenny, was orizinally a poor barber.

From that valuable work, "Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties," we gather the following condensed account of this noted character. His parents were very poor, and he was the youngest of a family of thirteen children; so that we may suppose the school education he received, if he ever was at school at all was extr me'y limited. Indeed, but little learning would probably be de med necessary for the profession to which he was bred. The business of a barber be continued to follow till he was nearly thirty years of age. About the year 1760, however, he gave up shaving, and commenced business as an itinerant dealer in hair, collecting that commo lity by travelling up and down the country, and then after he had dressed it, sell ng it again to the wig makers, with whom he very soon acquired the character of keeping a better a time than any of his rivals in the same tra le. He had obtained pos es ion, to, of a secret method of dying the hai, by which he doubt ess contrived to augment his profits; and, perhaps, in his bo ning acquainted with this little piece of chemistry, we may find the gerin of that sensibility he soon began to manifest to the value of new an i

unpublished inventions in the arts, and of his passion for patentrights, and the pleasures of monopoly.

It would appear that his first effort in mechanics was an attempt to discover the perpetual motion. In connection with this project he formed an acquaintance with a clock-maker, which had a powerful influence on his future career. In 1768 the two friends appeared together at Preston, and immediately began to occupy themselves in the erection of a machine for the spinning of cotton-thread, of which they had brought a model with them. At this time, Arkwright was so poor, that, an election contest having taken place in the town of which he was a burgess, it is asserted that his friends or party were obliged to subscribe to get him a decent suit of clothes before they could bring him into the poll-room. He shortly afterwards left Lancashire with his model, through fear of the hostility of the people, and went to Nottingham, where Messrs. Reed and Strutt were so well satisfied with his new machine as to take him into partnership with them. It required great energy, determination and tact, however, to overcome the multiplied difficulties that lay in his way, and for a long time the speculation was a hazardous and unprofitable one. It did not begin to pay, he tells us, till it had been persevered in for five years, and had swallowed up a capital of more than twelve thousand pounds. In time, however, his ingenuity and perseverance were rewarded, and he found himself raised to a position of rank and affluence, and now he is regarded as the founder of a new branch of industry, which occupies the first place among the manufactures of our country.

JEREMY TAYLOR, D. D., a theologian of high reputation, Bishop of Down and Connor, and author of several valuable and well-known works, was the son of a barber. He entered Caius College as a sizar, or poor scholar, when thirteen years of age, and was admitted to holy orders before he had attained the age of twenty-one. Though he suffered many changes of fortune during the civil commotions of the 17th century, yet his talents and worth attracted regard, and he received the honours which were his due. He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, in the year 1667.

JOHN TAYLOR, LL. D., a very learned philologer, was a native of Shrewsbury, and died in 1766. His father followed the trade of a barber, and tried to bring up his son to the same occupation; but such was the lad's unconquerable love of books, that his father was in utter despair of making Jack a good shaver, when his strong predilection for literature recommended him to the patronage of a gentleman of fortune, to whom he was chiefly indebted for the advantages of an academic education. For many years he gave his attention to law and classic literature, but in his forty-seventh year he took orders, and became rector of Lawford in 1751, archdeacon of Buckingham in 1753, and canon residentiary of St. Paul's in 1757.

LORD CHARLES ABBOTT TENTERDEN, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, who died in 1832, was the son of a Canterbury barber. His father is described as a "tall, erect, primitive looking man, with a large club pig-tail, going about with the instruments of his business, and attended frequently by his son Charles, a youth as decent, grave and primitive looking as himself."

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ON THE PROGRESS AND DIFFUSION OF SCIENCE DURING THE PRESENT CENTURY.

BY G. TATE, F.G.S.

In offering remarks on the progress and diffusion of science during the present century, I shall not attempt anything like a regular his tory. My object will rather be, to lay hold of those prominent facts and principles, which can be made interesting to the po, ular mind, and which at the same time may give broad view the character and spirit of modern science.

Our own age is one of great intellectual activity. At no former period have so many scientific discoveries been made; nor have the applications of scientific principles to practical purposes ever been so numerous and important. In former periods, great men appeared and great discoveries were made, which will exercise a powerful influence on all succeeding times; but in our own age, the labourers in the fields of science have been vastly multiplied, and the additions to the stock of knowledge have been proportionally numerous.

As Astronomy had been cultivated from the earliest periods by every nation which had made any advance in civilization, it might be supposed that little or nothing remained to be discovered during the present century. The genius and labour of Galileo, or Kepler, and the incomparable Newton, had thrown a radiance over this the sublimest of the sciences, which compelled all minds to admire the wisdom displayed in the magnificent architecture of the heavens; yet even here, by means of improved instruments and the application of profound mathematical knowledge, interesting discoveries have recently been made.

Previously to the present century only seven planets were known. It is remarkable, however, that Kepler, from his knowledge of celestial mechanies, more than two hundred years ago predicted that a planet would be found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter; this prophecy was not verified till the present century, during which 31 planets have been discovered within these orbits-all of them small, and some of them having an area not larger than that of England. Some astronomers regard these asteroids as fragments of an exploded world; and Kirkwood, an American, has discovered the law from which he calculated that the diameter of the original planet would be 5000 miles, and the length of its day 573 hours.

It was well known that the fixed stars are immensely distant from the earth; but astronomers were unable to measure that distance. This difficult problem has been recently solved by the late Professor Henderson, and by Bessel, owing to the great skill of these observers and the perfection of their instruments. Henderson measured the parallax of a bright star, a Centauri in the Southern Hemisphere— that is, the apparent alteration of the position of a star from another star when observed from opposite sides of the earth's orbit, or from points of sight, one hundred and ninety millions of miles from each other. So great is the distance from the earth, that, when stated in numbers of miles, the imagination is bewildered. Some conception may be formed, if we estimate the time in which light, which travels at the rate of 192,000 miles in a second, and which reaches the earth from the sun in 8 minutes and 13.3 seconds, would traverse it. Now so immensely distant is the nearest fixed star, that 3 years and 83 days would pass away before the light which emanates from it would reach this earth.

The Sabbath-keeping barber has prospered, for he has recently opened a printing establishment, and John Kershaw and Son now appear in the list of publisbers in the town of Leeds!

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great an attractive force, it moves, in an elliptical orbit, regularly around the centre of attraction. But not only does the sun exercise this attractive force, but all the planetary bodies have a mutual attrac

Now it was found by independent calculations made both by Leverrier, and by Adams of Cambridge, that the observed motions of Uranus, the most distant planet then known, did not correspond with the positions it would occupy if acted on only by the sun and other known planets: there were irregularities or perturbations unaccounted for, which, taking all the premises into consideration, they concluded were caused by the action of another unseen planet lying beyond the orbit of Uranus. Leverrier, after a vast amount of labour, determined the distance of this unseen planet from the sun-its period of revolution-its massand the spot in the heavens where it would be found. He communicated these calculations to Dr. Galle, of Berlin, and, marvellous to relate, that practical astronomer, on the evening of the day on which he received the communication, directed his telescope to the spot, and there caught the first glimpse of Neptune, as he pursues his course on the outskirts of the solar system.

In the experimental and observing sciences, the discoveries have been more numerous and even more important than those in Astronomy. The brilliant experiments of Davy, on the composition of bodies, shed a new light over Chemistry; and the still profounder investigations of Dalton, who unfolded the law of definite proportions -one of the most important generalizations in science-gave to Chemistry mathematical precision, and raised it to the rank of an exact science. More recently, Liebig has opened out a new field, and expounded the composition of organic bodies, and shewn the high practical value of these researches to physiology, and especially to agriculture. Electro-Magnetism has arisen from the refined investigations of Oersted and Faraday; and it supplied the principles on which the electric telegraph is constructed that marvellous invention, which almost annihilates time and space, conveying its intelligence with the lightning's speed over hill and vale, and even through the deep; by its means, the death of the Czar of Russia, the arch-troubler of our times, which took place between 1 and 2 o'clock on the Friday morning, was announced in Edinburgh by 6 o'clock on the evening of the same day.

To our own era belongs the construction of railways, and of the huge iron tubes (due to the experimental researches of Fairbairn) which span even straits of the sea; and more especially, the extended application of steam power to manufactures and to locomotion, whereby the productive power of our country has been enormously increased-new means of civilization have been furnished-and the comforts, and even some of the luxuries of life, brought within the reach of some of the humbler classes.

Within the present century, great additions have been made to Natural History: for example, one century ago less than 6000 plants were known to Linnæus, but at the present period 100,000 are known -a large proportion of which have been described. But it is more important to notice, that a new and more philosopical spirit has been infused into this interesting department of knowledge. Much of this is due to the distinguished Cuvier, who has shewn that in organised structure there is a purpose as well as a law, and that every organised being forms a system of its own, all the parts of which mutually correspond and concur to produce a definite purpose by reciprocal action. The application of the microscope, also, has given a new insight into organic structure, which has improved physiology and led to more scientific principles for the preservation of health and the treament of disease.

Under the influence of a kindred spirit, Antiquarianism, which formerly was too often an accumulation of useless lumber, has sprung into Archæology, which has thrown new light on pre-historic eras, and furnished interesting illustrations of the manners and habits of subsequent times; as a proof of this, I would refer to the remarkable work of Daniel Wilson, on Archæology and the Pre-historic Annals of Scotland.

Nor is it uninteresting to observe how, in our days, the sciences have been made mutually to illustrate each other-Electricity has been connected with Magnetism-Mathematical formulæ have been given to Chemistry-and Zoology and Botany have lent material aid to Geology. In the controversy which is now going on regarding the plurality of worlds, appeal has been made to Geology-the deep and dark recesses of the earth have been summoned to give evidence whether the far distant planet is inhabited.

"Geology," which, according to Herschel, "in the magnitude and "sublimity of the objects of which it treats, undoubtedly ranks in the "scale of sciences next Astronomy," is almost entirely the creation of the last fifty years. The Cosmogonies of former times were either crude speculations or pleasant romances. Burnet's Theory of the Earth, which was lauded by Locke, the metaphysician, and by Addi

• Professor of English Language and Literature, in University College Toronto -ED. Journal of Education, U. C.

The diffusion of science is not less interesting than its development. Formerly it was confined to the colleges of the learned and the halls of the wealthy. Great men appeared even in the early periods of its history, but their numbers were few; the rising sun lit up with glory the mountain tops, while the plains and valleys below lay in obscurity; but, in our time, science has descended to the mechanic's reading room; she finds a place in the well-conducted parochial school, and is even no rare visitant of the cottage.

It is cheering to notice the men who have sprung upward from the lower stations of life to scientific eminence. Faraday, whose researches in Electricity, Magnetism, and Chemistry, place him in the foremost rank of philosophers, was originally a bookseller's apprentice. Hugh Millar, the most popular writer on Geology, worked as a stonemason in the Old Red Sandstone Quarries of the north of Scotland, to which his genius and eloquence have given celebrity. Dalton, the discoverer of the law of definite proportions, was the son of a small farmer science found him an humble schoolmaster among the mountains of Cumberland; she claimed him as her son, threw her mantle over him, and pointing upward bade him explore the regions of vapour and of cloud, and the more recondite laws which govern the combinations of matter.

Northumberland has been remarkable for producing eminent mathematicians, and natural philosophers, from the lower ranks of life. George Stephenson, the author of the Railway System, was for some time a brakesman, in a colliery on the Tyne; and the man, whose fame as a practical engineer filled Europe,-who had stood before Kings, -and who could earn his hundred guineas per day, at one period of his history was engaged in pulling turnips in the field at the magnificent sum of two-pence per day. Airey, the present AstronomerRoyal, is a native of Alnwick, and I believe, the son of an exciseman. Another distinguished mathematician, the author of some profound papers on physical astronomy, was a draper's assistant behind the counter at North Shields. Three other gentlemen who were in succession schoolmasters in a small village in the west of Northumberland, eventually became mathematical professors at Woolwich and Putney; and one extraordinary man, now occupying an important position in King's College, London, and who is the author of some of the best of Weale's mathematical publications, began his mathematical career at a pit mouth in Tyneside, where he attended a steam engine, and at intervals worked his problems on the blackened door of the engine house.

Every son of toil may be encouraged by such examples to look onward and upward. The barriers of caste need not arrest or retard his advancement on the pathway of science; for here labour, if systematically pursued, and directed to a definite object, is the great element of success.

It has been said and sung that there are "mute, inglorious Miltons." I am sure, however, there are many more cultivators of science who contentedly follow their ordinary avocations, and employ their leisure hours and their holidays in scientific research. Several of these men may be found about Manchester and the vales of Lancashire. Some of the hand-loom weavers may be seen throwing the shuttle, with Newton's Principia before them. Natural History, especially Botany and Entomology, are, however, the favorite studies. When any interesting plant is in flower or rare insect on the wing, these philosophers in humble life may be seen setting off, with their dinner tied in a handkerchief, to spend the day in some distant glen, or on some hill, where the much-prized treasures may be found. Sir James Smith, an eminent botanist, relates that being on a visit to Roscoe, the historian, he made inquiry after the habitat of a rare plant which grew in Lancashire. Roscoe referred him to a hand-loom weaver. The enthusiastic botanist set off in quest of this person; and, on his arrival at Manchester, he asked the porter who carried his luggage if he could direct him to this hand-loom weaver. "Oh yes," was the reply, "he does a little in my way." Sir James Smith found that these two men were friends, skilful botanists, and able to furnish him with all the information he required.