Mr. ABRAHAM: Are you so strong as Mr. Williams?(Lond laughter, and cries of "Oh! Oh!"') Mr. CLIFF: I have never tested Mr. Williams' strength. Mr. HoWITT: Ask him if he is as strong as you, Mr. Abraham? Those comparisons are very odious. Mr. S PARKER: There is nobody interrupts the proceed ings of this board more than Mr. Howitt.-(Laughter and uproar.) Mr. HowITT: Perhaps not, with the exception of Mr. Parker. (Loud laughter.) MAGNA CHARTA. We extract the following sensible remarks from the second of a course of Lectures now in course of delivery at Bristol, by Mr. E. Fry, upon this important subject: Magna Charta, confirmed and secured the right of every man to have his habeas corpus and trial by jury, and it recognised, also, the responsibility of the governor to the governed. It differed most materially from all other charters. It was not a mere vague declaration to restore the good old Saxon institutions. It was a distinct enunciation and carrying out of great principles. It referred not exclusively to one class; it was universal and catholic, and although the villain was not included, yet it must be remembered that there was no impassable barrier between that class and the others, and that ultimately, by the principles which were even then at work, and which, no doubt, were fostered by the spirit of liberty the charter breathed, the whole of the villians were emancipated. The principles which existed in it ran throughout the whole of English history, and to trace out their development would be nothing more nor less than to trace ont the gradual progress of the constitution under which we live. From the time when King John signed Magna Charta till the present, these great principles had never been denied. Attempts had been made to evade every one of its clauses, but no attempt had been made to abrogate the whole charter or the most important parts of it. Accordingly, in all state trials the question had never been raised whether Englishmen were entitled to the rights it guaranteed, but whether, in the particular case before them, the principles of the charter could be applied. The clauses of this charter, which were written in 1215, were still applicable, more or less, to society as it existed in the present day. The history of the struggles for liberty which had taken place during the whole of English history since that period would be found to be only efforts to secure some re-enactment confirming the principles of that charter; whilst the history of its violation would be the history of all those unconstitutional acts which had disgraced this country since 1215. The liberty of Rome had continued for but about 300 years, and that of Athens but for a still briefer period; but for 600 or 700 years the great features of the English constitution had existed in the same manner, not unviolated, and not at times unbroken, but still never destroyed. It was a noble, wholesome, and generous pride which led them to dwell upon the antiquity of their constitution-noble because it led them from themselves to the consideration of what others had done, and bound them by ties of gratitude to the gocd who existed 600 or 700 years ago, and who, however rude their virtues, loved liberty with a sincere and ardent love. It was a wholesome pride, too, because, on account of it, their revolutions wore an historical colour. It had tended, also, to prevent, to a large extent, the growth of those speculative theories of which all revolutionary ages were so fertile. It had saved them from many dangerous speculations into which other nations had been involved; and it had also saved their country from those storms into which other nations had been launched, and in which they had made shipwreck of their liberty. New Books. Works intended for notice in this journal may be forwarded to Messrs. Saunders & Stamford, 3, Charing Cross, addressed "To the Editor of The Constitutional."] Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare's Plays, dc. By J. Payne Collier. Whittaker & Co. THE Curiosity of the public regarding this volume had been excited by the adventitious aid of variseveral societies, of an old copy of the second edious paragraphs and notices of the exhibition before tion of Shakespeare, which had come into the possession of Mr. J. P. Collier. To that gentleman we are indebted for this portion of the "Notes and Emendations;" but there is one circumstance connected with its publication, which we think calls for some remarks, as it regards the "Shakespeare Society." You demi-puppets that Whe'r thou beest, he or no, Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me. Alteration. Or some enchanted devil to abuse me. That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs, And deal in her command, without her power. Alteration. And deal in her command with all her power. Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. Which since I know they virtuously are plac'd, I give consent to go along with you. Alteration. Madam, I pity much your grievances, And the most true affections that you bear; Which since I know they virtuously, &c. MELRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. We have an impression that, in some of the numerous paragraphs which appeared upon the sub- Ibid. ject, it was intimated that Mr. Collier would place his volume at the service of the " Shakespeare Society." Shortly afterwards, however, the pre-Act iv. sc. 3. Madam, I pity much your grievances; sent volume was announced for publication by Whittaker and Co., as a supplemental volume to Mr. Collier's edition of the Works of Shakespeare, with the significant hint that, as the impression was limited, an early application would be desirable in order to secure a copy. All this necessarily led to the conclusion, that Mr. Collier had changed his views, and that his volume was a speculation of his own, and not in any way connected with the Shakespeare Society. At least we know that this was so felt by one of its members, who being desirous to have the book, considered himself fortunate in obtaining one, although at a somewhat extravagant price. Sometime afterwards, our informant was surprised at seeing an advertisement by the Secretary of the "Shakespeare Society," that Mr. Collier's volume would shortly be ready for delivery to the members, &c.—as if really and in fact it had been one of the Society's own publications, instead of a sort of joint-stock arrangement, by means of which persons have been misled and become possessed of two copies of the same work. This we think calls for some explanation from the “Council" of the Society, of which we perceive Mr. Collier is placed conspicuously as the sole Direc tor. We are confirmed in the opinion here expressed by having some recollection of the name of this Society being associated with the publication and sale of Heywood's Works-a thing never contemplated in its formation. We must also allude to another point, which we confess we do not understand. În page xiii. of Mr. Collier's Introduction, after giving us a very obvious restoration of Bollen, instead of Wollen, he proceeds thus: We may be confident that we shall never again see the latter in any edition of Shakespeare, unless it be reproduced y folio, 1623, adheres of necessity to the antiquated blunder, some one, who, having no right to use the emendation of our and pertinaciously attempts to justify it. What does the editor intend by this indecent threat? Is it to be taken that he had the monopoly of what our great Bard actually wrote-who according to Mr. Collier himself, only "employed an old word?" Can he really mean that every one else is to use it at the peril of incurring the high displeasure of the possessor of the old folio containing the restorations or corrections suggested by some one nobody knows two hundred years ago? Truly, this indiscreet intimation reminds one of a recent PRIOR claim to write the life of Goldsmith, and would tend to establish the law, that Mr. Collier alone had the right of informing the public what Shakespeare really did write. We hope that the sentence we have animadverted upon, was dictated by no unworthy feeling of jealousy; and we trust such an assumption of right will be denounced as it deserves. As to the contents of the volume, we may remark, that though hurriedly got up, and the proposed restorations not all new, yet it forms a valuable addition to the class of dramatic criticism. We subjoin a few of the most striking of these restorations: Act ii. sc. 1. Will you go, An Heires? however, clears away the difficulty.) (This has been a great stumbling-block. The Old Folio, Alteration. Will you go on here? Act iv. sc. 3. I will bring thee where Mistress Anne Page is, at a farm-house afeasting, and thou shalt woo her. Cried game, said I well. (Another passage which has much puzzled the commentators.) Alteration. I will bring thee where Mistress Anne Page is, at a farm-house afeasting, and thou shalt woo her; curds and cream! said I well? Act v. sc. 5. And this deceit loses the name of craft, Act i. sc. 3. She is fast my wife, Alteration. Save that we do the pronunciation lack, &c. How would you be If he, which is the top of judgment, should But judge you as you are? Alteration. If he, which is the God of judgment, should But judge you as you are? Act iv. sc. 2. No, he's in Tartar's limbo, worse than hell; A devil in an everlasting garment hath him, One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel, A fiend, a fairy, pitiless and rough; A wolf, nay worse, a fellow all in buff. Alteration. No, he's in Tartar's limbo, worse than hell; A devil in an everlasting garment hath him fell, One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel, A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough &c. The place of depth and sorrow execution. Act iii. sc. 1. Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu! My reverence, calling, nor divinity If this sweet lady be not guiltless here Alteration. My reverend calling, &c. Under some blighting error. Act v. sc. 1. If such a one will smile, and stroke his beard, And sorrow wag, cry hem, when he should groan. Alteration. Call sorrow joy, &c. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Act iii. sc. 1. I'll put a girdle round about the earth Act iii. sc. 2. Two lovely berries moulded on one stem. Ibid. What! Can you do me greater harm than hate? THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. -the guiling shore, &c. Veiling an Indian; beauty, in a word, &c. A beggar's brood, &c. A trembling contribution! Act ii. sc. 3. Would I had no being, If this salute my blood a jot Let the foul'st contempt Alteration. To steal from spiritual labour, &c. Act i. sc. 2. Whilst they, distill'd Almost to jelly with the act of fear. Act iii. sc. 3. Oft 'tis seen, the wicked prize itself Alteration. Oft 'tis seen the wicked purse itself under the iron rule of the Dictator Francia, height- These results were to be expected from the sys- "Enough to doom them to something worse than neglect on the part of the ruling authorities. Still this perhaps would not have been of vital importance to the colonists, had they been but permitted to send their produce, such as it was, to market, and to receive in exchange from Spain such European articles as they required for the supply of the r own wants; but this was prohibited, absolutely at first, and subsequently under such miserable conditions as were alone enough to destroy all incitement to industry, and all chance of fairly developing the capabilities of the new settlements." At length the colonists obtained permission to send annually to the mother country two vessels, limited to a burthen of 100 tons each; and even upon the goods thus conveyed a duty of 50 per cent. was levied at Cardova. All commercial intercourse with the other colonies of Spain in the western hemisphere, was prohibited under severe penalties. ous. well and commercial prospects of these republics, as Ruth. 3 vols., 8vo. Chapman and Hall, London. With respect to these and some thousands of This miserable system was designed to benefit the ball which she attends, with her mistress, for pro other alterations, Mr. Collier concludes that they have been made in the old folio in question from the suggestion of some "individual who lived, we may suppose, not very long after the period when the dramas he clucidated were written, and who might have had intercourse with the actors of Shakespeare's time. merchants of Seville, who had obtained a monopoly "Nevertheless, for the first ten years after the substitution of an American Junta for a Spanish Viceroy in 1810, the supreme government of the provinces in question continued to be exercised by the ruling authorities successively set up 1813, after an experiment at a triumv rate, vested the executive power in a Supreme Director--an arrangement provisionally conferred by the General Congress which succeeds it, and which proclaimed the absolute independence of the embryo independence, uncertain as to the issue, weak and republic in 1816. But the governments so set up, in their unstable, one day democrat c, another despotic, distracted by conflicting parties, and w th but small knowledge or expeselves too feeble to make themselves respected, or to enforce their authority whenever it happened to be opposed to the views of the petty chiefs who in the first years of the revo at Buenos Ayres. A constituent assembly, convoked in The consequence of this ad miration is that she is persuaded to leave home and accompany Bellingham to London, where she continues to reside with him for some time. Here in intelligence and spirit of the sinfulness of the we cannot but remark that the unconsciousness on the part of Ruth-a girl of sixteen not deficient tie which she had formed, until roused to a sense Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de la the effects of centralization. The people became gular in the narration, and is not, we hope, true to The whole of this mischievous narrative exhibits of it by subsequent misfortune, struck us as sinPlata, from the Discovery and Conquest by the hopeless of improvement; to them it was of little nature. Bellingham's illness, Ruth's suspense, Spaniards to the establishment of their Political consequence by what Viceroy they were ruled, and their subsequent final separation, afford mateIndependence, &c. By Sir Woodbine Parish, or at what distance he resided. This system, how-rials for scenes of much beauty and pathos. The K.C.HI., F.R.S., G.S., &c. Second Edition.ever, fell under the revolutionary reaction of 1810 heroine's forlorn condition excites the compassion and 1816, when the united provinces finally threw of Mr. Benson, a benevolent Dissenting minister, Murray, 1852. off the Spanish yoke; and "Provincialism," as an and his sister, who ultimately resolve, in order to element of government, was for the first time re- place her in a position for earning her future livecognised. lihood, to pass her off as a widow. The adoption of this questionable expedient-not, it is true, without misgiving-and the glib way in which the maiden sister speaks her part in the imposture, scarcely evince that instinctive hatred of falsehood which ought, we think, to be represented as being that which it mostly is in fact, the chief element of a virtuous character. Ruth is taken as governess into the family of a Mr. Bradshaw, whence, on her former status becoming known, she is dismissed with severity and insult. Unable to gain employment otherwise, she at length takes the situation of nurse in a fever hospital; and the tale concludes with her death, after catching consciously on his part) she has nursed, and rethe epidemic from her former lover, whom (uncovered from his illness. This, we need hardly say, is a very meagre sketch of a most interesting plot. The author possesses much power of Her decomic, as well as tragic delineation. sription of the rich, and somewhat ostentatious Mr. Bradshaw,-the Coryphoeus of Dissent, Political Economy, Peace Agitation, and Financial Reform, in his immediate neighbourhood,-whose charity ends at home, and does not always begin there; and who leaves town on the eve of an election, at which he is a candidate, to avoid having his conscience disturbed by the exhortations of the minister whom "he sits under," upon the subject of electioneering corruptions-is clever SOUTH AMERICA was the dreamland of our childhood. Visions of Potosi and La Plata mingled with the aspirations of youth, with our anticipations of adventure and a future career of wealth and renown. To those whom age has sobered down to the common-places of ordinary life, this wondrous land still presents problems of the highest interest in every department of study. The statesman and politician may there contemplate every form of government, from the patriarchal rule of the Indian Chief to the ultra-democracy of the newest Republic. The Christian traces the rise and fall of innumerable false religions, and learns from the spectacle to trust only to that which is pure and true, for the civil and spiritual regeneration of mankind. The geologist turns to wide-spread alluvial plains teeming with the gigantic remains of extinct races, and his fancy, revelling in the past, re-peoples its forests with antidiluvian monsters; whilst to the student of living nature there opens a field which, for its beauty and inexhaustible resources, has no parallel in any part of the globe. Any trustworthy contribution to the history of such a region cannot fail to be generally interesting, and we therefore learned with satisfaction that Sir Woodbine Parish was engaged upon a work on Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata. The volumes of Mr. Darwen and Captain Fitzroy describe the physical features of its constline and some of its rivers; and the work of Mr Robertson on the mysterious district of Paraguay, rience for the task committed to them, soon found them distant provinces and towns in the interior." In endeavouring to rid themselves of the incubus "Most of the provinces have suffered all the calamitous consequences of party struggles for power, and have fallen under the arbitrary rule of military chiefs, who have in turn, either by fair means or foul, obiained the ascendency over the r competitors; and if in some the resemblance of a representative Junta or Sala has been set up in imitation of that of Buenos Ayres, it will be found, I believe, that such assemblies have proved little more than a convocation of the partizans of the Governor for the time being, much more likely to confirm than to control his despotic sway." and effective. We might quote at length from the pages before us; but, entertaining some scruples about an appropriation by which some of our contemporaries so plentifully garnish their columns, we prefer confining ourselves to one extract, which has already appeared in print: occasion, but for all that, feeling a twittering round my I wished he'd take himself up; but, I reckon, he thought FESTIVAL. Ox Saturday morning, January 1st, a Conference of the 1. "That the length of time now necessary for teaching to 2. "That the best means of removing this impediment, would be to establish a Spelling Reform; but to make such a reform practical, it must be preceded by a Reading Reform, or improved method of teaching to read in the ordinary 3. "That experiments have proved that the Phonetic Alphabet, constructed by Messrs. Pitman and Ellis, is an instrument by which a Reading Reform may be brought about; and that it will have the further advantage of paving the way for a future Spelling Reform The Rev. W. PATTERSON moved the following resolution "That this meeting, believing it to be the duty of the community to provide a sound moral and intellectual education for every one of its members, fully sympathizes with the educational institutions of this country, but is at the same time convinced that one of the principal impediments to the complete success of their sincere and earnest efforts has hitherto arisen from the difficulty, and consequent loss of time, inseparable from the ordinary methods of spelling and teaching to read." Mr. Patterson said, the advantages of education being admitted, the question now is, what is the best way to bring it about? Plans have been devised, and schools established for instructing the humbler classes; yet how many of our townsmen who contribute to the support of the splendid Free Library, would be unable, on visiting it, to carry away a single idea, from their inability to read? True, some little of the art of reading may be acquired in the course of a year or two; but it is not that easy, pleasant, enjoyable power which alone can be of service. As we have forty sounds in English, but only twenty-six letters to represent them, it is evident that some must do double duty. The true principle a sign. In English, this principle is entirely ignored. Franklin, and many others, have pointed out the need for a correction of this great evil. The only question has been, how is it to be overcome? The Phonetic system of representing words promises to do it; for, using a distinct symbol for every sound, it spells words exactly as they are pronounced. The principles of English pronunciation, as laid down by Walker, are no fewer than 560. In the Phonetic system there is but one. By this system, the average of children from six to seven years old can be taught to read having been done in some cases, why not seek to do it genethe Bible in twenty or thirty lessons of an hour each. This rally? What is our duty to the working classes but to teach them to read the Bible in the best and shortest way? The Phonetic system calls out the intellectual energies of the pupil; the current system represses them. A child's reason rebels against the inconsistencies and falsities addressed to it, and takes them from its teacher, not in love, but lest it should have to take something less pleasant. Phonetic teaching, on the other hand, is liked by children. They find something intelligible and pleasant in it. The resolution was seconded by Mr. H. S. CLUBB. He said there is no wish, on the part of Phoneticians, to decry the current system in reference to what has been effected by it, because the present enlightened state of the world is a result of its agency. The question is, can it not be mended? The language of our country has imensely progressed within the last two centuries; and is it not well to seek to improve the mode of its representation, seeing that the defects and difficulties of this form the chief impediments to the intellectual advance of the people. A HOUSEMAID'S EXPERIENCES of love. Well, you see, I don't know as I could call them sweethearts; for excepting John Rawson, who was shut up in a madhouse the next week, I never had what you may call a downright offer of marriage but once. But I had once; so I may say I had a sweetheart. I was beginning to be afeared though, for one likes to be axed; that's but civility; and I remember, after I had turned forty, and afore Jeremiah Dixon had spoken, I began to think John Rawson had perhaps not been so very mad, and that I'd done ill to lightly his offer, as a madman's, if it was to be the only one I was ever to have; I don't mean as I'd have had him, but I PHONETIC CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL of an alphabet is to have a sign for a sound, and a sound for thought, if it was to come o'er again, I'd speak respectful of him to folk, and say it were only his way to go about on allfours, but that he was a sensible man in most things. However, Id had my laugh, and so had others, at my crazy lover, and it was late now to set him up as a Solomon. However, I thought it would be no bad thing to be tried again; but I little thought the trial would come when it did. You see, Saturday night is a leisure night in counting-houses and such like places, while it's the busiest of all for servants. Well, it was on a Saturday night, and I'd my baze apron on, and the tails of my bed-gown pinned together behind, down on my knees, pipeclaying the kitchen, when a knock comes to the back door. "Come in!" says I; but it knocked again, as if it were too stately to open the door for itself; so I got up, rather cross, and opened the door; and there stood Jerry Dixon, Mr. Holt's head clerk; only he was not head clerk then. So I stood, stopping up the door, fancying he wanted to speak to master; but he kind of pushed past me, and telling me summut about the weather (as if I could not see it for myself), he took a chair, and sat down by the oven. "Cool and easy!" thought I; meaning his-self not his place, which I knew must be pretty hot. Well! it seemed no use standing waiting for my gentleman to go; not that he had much to say either; but he kept twirling his hat round and round, and smoothing the nap on't with the back of his hand. So at last I squatted down to my work, and thinks I, I shall be on my knees all ready if he puts up a prayer, for I knew he was a Methodee by bringing-up, and had only lately turned to master's way of thinking; and them Methodees are terrible hands at unexpected prayers when one least look for 'em. I can't say I like their way of taking one by surprise, as it were; but then I'm a parish-print." clerk's daughter, and could never demean myself to dissenting fashions, always save and except Master Thurstan's, bless him. However, I'd been caught once or twice unawares, so this time I thought I'd be up to it, and I moved a dry duster wherever I went, to kneel upon in case he began when I were in a wet place. By-and-by I thought, if the man would pray it would be a blessing, for it would prevent his sending his eyes after me wherever I went; for when they takes to praying they shuts their eyes, and quivers th' lids in a queer kind o' way-them Dissenters does. I can speak pretty plain to you, for you're bred in the Church like mysel, and must find it as out o' the way as I do to be among dissenting folk. God forbid I should speak disrespectful of Master Thurstan and Miss Faith, though I never think on them as Church or Dissenting, but just as Christians. But to come back to Jerry. First, I tried always to be cleaning at his back; but when he wheeled round, so as always to face me, I thought I'd try a different game. So, says I, "Master Dixon, I ax your pardon, but I must pipeclay under your chair. Will you please to move?" Well, he moved; and by-and-by I was at him again with the same words; and at after that, again and again, till he were always moving about wi' his chair behind him, like a snail as carries its house on its back. And the great ganpus never seed that I were pipeclaying the same places twice over. At last I got desparate cross, he were so in my way; so I made two big crosses on the tails of his brown coat; for you see, wherever he went, up or down, he drew out the tails of his coat from under him, and stuck them through the bars of the chair; and flesh and blood could not resist pipeclaving them for him; and a pretty brushing he'd have, I reckon, to get it off again. Well! at length he clears his throat uncommon loud; so I spreads my duster, and shuts my eyes all ready; but when nought comed of it, I opened my eyes a little bit to see what he were about. My word! if there he wasn't down on his knees right facing me, staring as hard as he could. Well! I thought it would be hard work to stand that if he made a long ado; so I shut my eyes again, and tried to think serious, as became what I fancied were coming; but, forgive me! but, I thought why couldn't the fellow go in and pray wi' Master Thurstan, as had always a calm spirit ready for prayer, instead o' me, who had my dresser to scour, let alone an apron to iron. At last he says, says he, "Sally! will you oblige me with your hand?" So I thought it were, may be, Methodee fashion to pray hand in hand; and I'll not deny but I wished I'd washed it better after black-leading the kitchen fire. I thought I'd better tell him it were not so clean as I could wish so says I, "Master Dixon, you shall have it and welcome, if I may just go and wash 'em first." But says he, "My dear Sally, dirty or clean it's all the same to me, seeing I'm only speaking in a figuring way. What I'm asking on my bended knees is, that you'd please to be so kind as to be my wedded wife; week after next will suit me, if its agreeable to you!" My word! I were up on my feet in an instant! It were odd now, weren't it? I never thought of taking the fellow, and getting married; for all, I'll not deny, I had been thinking it would be agreeable to be axed. But all at once, I couldn't abide the chap. Sir," says I, trying to look shame-faced as became the 4. "That this alphabet (the alphabet of 1847) be preserved SAMUEL OGDEN, Esq., Hon. Sec. of the Manchester Athe- The CHAIRMAN then called on the Secretary of the School to read the Report for 1852. The Report described the condition of the School as in every way satisfactory and hopeful. The attendance averaged 50 in the morning and 80 in the afternoon,-chiefly adults. Mr. LEO. H. GRINDON, Superintendent of the Manchester Phonetic Sunday School, moved the second resolution:"That the Phonetic system of reading and spelling having been proved by convincing experiments, both in Great Britain and Ireland, (and being known from experience in the Manchester Phonetic Sunday School), to be an educational instrument of great practical value for teaching to read in the ordinary print with less than half the expenditure of time commonly required; also for improving pronunciation and enunciation, and for providing a first logical exercise for the intellectual faculties; this meeting cordially recommends its use in all Phonetic schools, and also in domestic teaching, as an effective means of removing the difficulty and loss of time hitherto experienced, and thereby greatly extending their sphere of usefulness." Mr. Grindon said he should confine his remarks to the great FACT, that the Phonetic system has been over and over again proved to be an invaluable means of introducing the unlettered to the knowledge of books. It is unnecessary to go further for the proof than to c Manchester Sunday School, in which, during the four years of its existence, scores of adults of both sexes, who came thither perfectly ignorant, (and for whose benefit the school was originally founded), have been taught to read phonetically in the course of four or five months, receiving only one lesson a week, and have then passed on to the current system with perfect ease. Some of these persons had been told by the opponents of Phonetics, that if they learned phonetically, they would only be able to read phonetically printed books. There cannot be a greater mistake. The Phonetic books do not debar from the ordinary kind, but open and smoothen the way to them. The school has also been attended by some hundreds of partially-educated persons, and by a large number of children. With the latter, the Phonetic system has worked to admiration. The former, having laid aside for awhile what they had learned of the current mode, and adopted the Phonetic, found it their best guide to correct pronunciation' and to the true knowledge of words. Mr. ALEXANDER J. ELLIS, B.A., of Bristol, on rising to second the resolution, was received with hearty applause. After thanking the meeting he spoke to the following effect: "A teacher in a Ragged School, where it was proposed to instruct the children to read in the ordinary print by the accelerating process of previous Phonetic instruction, asked the gentleman who offered to undertake the class, 'What are we to do with the children the rest of the time, if you only teach them an hour a day?' Now, this simple and very natural question sets in a strong light the great revolution which the introduction of the Reading Reform will effect in the nature of school education. What would the teachers have done to these children the rest of the time on the old plan? Why, they would have kept them hammering over their books, endeavouring to master that wondrous maze, and Oh! without a plan,' miscalled orthography. And what will they do when, instead of learning to read being, as now, as Mr. Moseley says, their principal occupation; a drudgery beginning with the first opening of a child's intel lect, and continued without intermission till the day it leaves school,' it is reduced to one hour a day for a few months? Evidently teachers must really educate the pupils, must teach them things and facts, and train their moral feelings. This will be the change introduced into practical education by our Phonetic Reading Reform. The unfortunate mariner who, wishing to sail from New York to the golden regions of California, has to beat round stormy Cape Horn, wasting valuable time and risking shipwreck, is an appropriate type of the unhappy individual who, wishing to arrive at the golden regions of knowledge, has to beat round Cape Spelling Book, wasting his valuable youth, and risking the total ship. wreck of ignorance. And all for what? A narrow slip of land which separates the Americas;-a cumbrous orthography of a few hundred years growth which separates sound from How often has the attempt failed to drive a ship canal through the one, and a Spelling Reform through the other. But now, that the gold on the other side is appre sense. ciated, we push a railroad across the isthmus, and a Reading Reform across the orthography. We shall not do quite so well with a railway as with a ship canal,--with a Reading as with a Spelling Reform. But both the former are practicable; both are in progress; both are the present possible stages of success, and guarantees for the future. No doubt there will be hereafter both a ship canal and a Spelling Reform; in the meantime, let us not reject the railway and the Reading Reform, because, although the best we can get. they are not the best we can conceive. What is the Reading Reform? Simply this: that whereas we have had a way of teaching to read which ensures 'one-half the children leaving school (after 18 months' attendance), and being absorbed into the labouring population of the country unable to read,,'--(Report for the Midland District, Minutes of Committee of Council on Education for 1845, vol. 1. p. 228. by School Inspector Moseley), we have now a plan by which we are assured that where there is ordinary capacity, the power of reading a chapter in one of the Gospels, as printed in the Phonetic character. is attainable in thirty daily lessons of an hour each; and that twenty additional lessons will suffice for transferring this power to the same book in the ordinary characters. Now these are not the words of one whose individual interest it is to promote the reform; they are not quoted from a certificate given for the purpose of parade before the public by Reading Reformers. No; they are an extract from the Official Annual Report of the Rev. Mr. lay, the well-known chaplain of the Preston House of Cor-! rection, and they contain his official estimate of the experiment made on the criminals under his charge." Mr. Ellis then rapidly explained the nature of the experiment by which "dull, dense, ignorant" criminals had, in about twenty-five or thirty hours, been taught to read. Of one of this class, the governor of the gaol states that "he had been a soldier and had been sent to the army school, but could never be taught to read." Indeed, the man despaired of ever learning. After receiving twenty-four hours' instruction in the Phonetic system he could read his Bible in the ordinary print. Mr. Ellis then alluded to Mr. Benn Pitman's highly successful experiment on fifty of the dullest children at the great pauper school at Swinton, all of whom, but those supposed to be imbecile, learned to read phonetically in a month, and were rapidly absorbed into the classes which read in the ordinary characters. The experiments laboured under only one objection,--the cleverness and devotedness of the teacher. Mr. Ellis therefore proceeded to mention the Edinburgh experiment (at Mr. Williams' Secular School), in which a class of children had their instruction commenced phonetically; and who, having their progress compared, at the end of the year, with that made by a class one year older, which had learned to read in the ordinary way for one year longer, were found to be superior readers of ordinary print, and far superior in pronunciation. The success of this experiment determined the leaders of the school to adopt the Phonetic plan as the permanent mode of teaching to read, and the master stated that he most valued the system "as an intellectual exercise on account of its perfect logical consistency." "Now here (continued Mr. F.) we have all the desired elements of a test; the pupils belong to the working classes; are between four and five years old; frequent a large school, with only one master; and he, not an advocate of the system, but a cool-headed Scot, anxious to test the correctness of our assertions, and discover the truth at the bottom of the well. In America great strides have been made; the children at the Phonetic Schools have fre. quently been publicly examined, and the result has been the introduction of the system into 113 schools of Massachusetts, with the recommendation of a Committee of the Legislature of that State, appointed in 1852 to inquire into it, that it should be "introduced into all the primary schools of the State, for the purpose of teaching the reading and spelling of the common orthography; the Senate of the Stata afterwards unanimously resolving that it is worthy the attention of those who have the charge of common school instruction.' Now, if the Legislature of one of the most enlightened American States thinks it proper to re commend this system, surely we may follow their example. Bat a bare recommendation in a resolution is not sufficient. We must enforce it by example and personal application, and for this purpose a Society is needed." Mr. Ellis then proceeded to sketch the organization of the Reading Reform Association (with local committees) now in process of formation, for the purpose of introducing into all existing schools the plan of teaching to read in the ordinary print by means of a previous course of instruction in Phonetic reading, by which he demonstrated that on the lowest computation, and under the most unfavourable circumstances, half the time now wasted over learning to read and spell in the ordinary print might be saved, and better results be produced. This plan, already approved by the orriag Conference, was heartily adopted by the meeting. Mr. Ellis concluded by dwelling upon the advantage which the successful results achieved in the Manchester Phonetic School would give its teachers in their endeavours to carry into effect the intentions of the Reading Reform Association. Votes of thanks were then passed to Mr. Ogden, for his able conduct in the chair; and to Mr. Ellis, for kindly coming so long a distance to take part in the day's pro. ceedings. PRINTING-REMOVAL OF PREMISES-MESSES. BERESFORD & GALT, Printers, Publishers, and Engravers, beg to announce that they have Removed to more eligible premises, No. 3, CROSS-STREET, Manchester, opposite the Arcade, where they will be enabled to execute orders with increased facility. Messrs. 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JAMES REYNOLDS, Surgeon's Artist, Inventor Manufacturer, and Adaptor of the New Curative and Imperceptibly Applied TRUSS, begs to acquaint persons suffering from Rupture, that he has, after many years experience and study in his business, under the immediate direction of eminent members of the faculty, succeeded in the construction and adaptation of a Curative Truss, elegant and imperceptible in its application, fulfilling all the require ments of such an instrument, even in the most extreme cases of reducible rupture. Spinal Apparatus, Leg Instruments, Laced Stockings Knce Caps, Riding Belts, and other Surgical Mechanical Appliances, constructed on curative or alleviative principles. J. R. having enlarged his premises, and with increased facilities in the construction of his work, is enabled to meet the demand made on him, upon the most moderate terms. J. R. residing on the premises will be ready at all times (by previous appointment) to attend to patients from the country. 2, Cannon-street, the end leading into Hanging Ditch Manchester. MONTHLY ADVERTISER AND REVIEW OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND CURRENT EVENTS. No. III.] POOR LAW CIRCULAR: Contents. The Amended Order. Dr. W. A Guy on the Reproductive System. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY: Gold Discoveries-The Currency. By Colonel T. The Decline and Fall of Mechanics' Institutions. THE CONSTITUTIONAL :— Who's for War? Election of Guardians of the Poor. Enquiry by Peers in Cases of Manslaughter-The A Constitutional Ministry. NEW BOOKS: Notes and Queries. Vol. 6. Villette. By Currer Bell. CORRESPONDENCE: THE LONDON, MARCH 1, 1853. HE COMMERCIAL JOURNAL AND FAMILY THE HERALD, a Liberal Newspaper, extensively circulated throughout the Four Provinces of Ireland, and published every SATURDAY Morning simultaneously in the Cities of Dublin, Belfast, and Cork. 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