gather the general meaning of entire sentences long before we possess analytic power enough to describe exactly the meaning of single words. If this be true, it follows that the ordinary practice of schools in this respect should be reversed, and that the younger classes should paraphrase sentences; the learning and examination of separate definitions being rather reserved as a later exercise. But since, in one way or another, it is of the highest importance that exercises in the meanings of words and sentences should form a conspicuous part of every child's course of instruction, and since the commonest form of such exercises is that of paraphrase, it may be worth while to give a hint or two as to the employment of this method

Even in the lowest classes, the children should constantly be challenged to express the meaning of simple sentences in their own words. Before a child is able to write, he should, by questioning, often be required to put the rea ing lesson, sentence by sentence, into other language. It is a very good exercise for the teacher to ask for the meaning of each part of the lesson, and then to write down on the board before the children each sentence as it is given. After the lesson is finished, the whole may be read over while the children's eyes are fixed on the book, that they may compare the original with the paraphrase. They may then be tested individually as to their power of reproducing each sentence which has been taken.

As soon as a child is able to perform written exercises at all, he should be required to prepare frequent paraphrases. Occasionally, a short narrative or fable may be dictated, and after it is finished, the pupil may be desired to give the substance of it in his own words. More frequently, however, short portions of a reading lesson will answer this purpose, or brief sentences, which, after being written down in the exact terms in which they are dictated, are taken home and turned into other language by the next day. This exercise will form a very efficient substitute for the old one of learning a column of meanings; but in order to be useful it should always be short, so as to admit of very careful examination and correction.

In the elder classes, passages should often be selected for this purpose, rather on account of their intrinsic beauty, and the excellence of their style, than for the sake of the facts they contain. Special care also should be taken, in examining such exercises, to see that the whole meaning is conveyed, and that no part of the substance of the original is omitted in the paraphrase. Concise.. ness of expression is, of course, worth aiming at, but it is often attained at the sacrifice of some part of the meaning. It should be kept in view, as a rule, that the first requisite in a pa aphrase is, that it shall comprise the whole signification of the text.

Care should be taken in paraphrasing to use sentences as short as possible, and even when the sentence in the original is long, it is often desirable to break it up into separate portions. It is a great art in composition to avoid long and entangled sentences. When conjunctions, relatives, and other connective words are used, especial care is needed to secure clear construction, and to avoid confusion in the meaning. Participles should be sparingly used. When any doubt arises as to the right construction of the sentence, try to parse it, and if there is any difficulty in deciding the case of a noun, the antecedent of a pronoun, the force of a conjunction, or the government of any word, always strike out the sentence, and write it again on a simpler plan. It is always a good test of the success of a paraphrase as a piece of composition, to make it the subject of a separate exercise in parsing and analysis, and to apply the rules of syntax to each of the words it contains.

Never use more words than are absolutely necessary; and when your meaning can be expressed in one word, never use two. necessary in the use of adjectives and verbs.

This caution will be particularly It will not always be possible to

condense a paraphrase into as few words as the original; because some authors use a highly concise style, and express their thoughts in remarkably few words. But whenever it is possible, the number of words employed should not be more numerous than in the original.

No attempt, however, should be made to retain the same structure of sentence as in the original, or to make a paraphrase by substituting an equivalent for eich word, one by one. The sentence should be always read more than once, and then examined and understood as a whole, before any attempt is made to reproduce its meaning in another form. In transmuting poetry into prose, for example, many inversions, and forms of phraseology peculiar to poetry, must be got rid of, and the natural and usual order should be followed in the paraphrase. It is not necessary or desirable to translate figurative language into literal, for the sentiment and general character of a composition should be preserved; the exercise simply requires that the language and grammatical structure should be varied, while the thought to be expressed remains unchanged.

It is worth remembering that no exercises in English compositi n are of any value unless they are definite in character, and admit of easy correction. The evil of giving themes and miscellaneous topics to serve as the subjects of original exercises in composition is, that there are so many forms of error, as well as so many ways of being right, that it is difficult for a teacher to correct them efficiently, and to prove to each scholar how he has erred. Paraphrase is a far superior exercise, inasmuch as in it all errors admit of easy detection, by comparison with a known standard.

We subjoin two simple examples, the one of a prose and the other of a poetical extract, in which it will be seen, in part at least, what a paraphrase should contain, and how far it may lawfully deviate from the original.

I. ON STUDY.

"Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. The chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots, and marshalling of affairs, come best from those who are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humour of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience; for natural abilities are like natural plants, they need pruning by duty, and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.

"Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them: for they teach not their own use, but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.

"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider."-Bacon's Essays.

Learning is valuable in three ways:-as a source of pleasure, as a means of adding grace and beauty to life, and as an instrument for the discharge of duty. In regard to the first of these, the advantage is chiefly enjoyed in solitude, the second is mostly available in social intercourse, while the third enables us to arrange and order the business of life. For although men of natural acuteness can perform particular acts, and even come to wise conclusions respecting details; yet the power to view things comprehensively, to group them together, and to exercise a wise forethought in the arrangement of business, is rarely possessed except by the well-instructed man.

It is a mark of indolence to give ourselves wholly up to the enjoyment of literature; it is a proof of self-conceit to value our reading only as a means of display; while to determine every question solely by what books say, is the sure characteristic of a pedant. Learning supplements and improves natural gifts, but itself needs to be further improved by the experience of life; for our natural gifts are

like trees, which need discipline and culture; and learning itself is apt to mislead a student, unless its counsels are submitted to the control of actual experience.

Learning is not unfrequently despised by the clever man of the world; it is regarded with childish wonder by the foolish: but it is only truly appreciated by the wise; for learning does not teach its possessor how to employ it-the power to do this being a higher attainment than any scholarship, and one only to be acquired by much thoughtfulness.

Never study that you may obtain victory in argument, nor merely that you may passively believe every thing you read, nor that you may be able to find something to talk about; but rather that you may ponder and meditate on the subject.Educational Record.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Hints from an Inspector of Schools. By the Rev. J. D. Glennie, M.A. Sandford London. These hints embrace two subjects; school needlework and school reading. Mr. Glennie has come to the conclusion, that in nine-tenths of the schools he has visited, needlework is not conducted on the most efficient system, and that this part of the girls' education is producing moral results still more unsatisfactory. The defects are a want of system, a want of materials, and a want of instruction in cutting out" and "fixing." This conclusion, very deliberately come to, says little for the lady-managers and teachers of the schools under this gentleman's inspection. We had thought, that long ago, all ele. mentary girls' schools of any respectability, had adopted some systematic routine for needlework; we have indeed a recollection of a sewing manual, so many as twenty years since, but we unfortunately have no copy, by which we can compare the progressive scheme proposed in these "Hints," with that of former days. There cannot, however, be two opinions as to the value of system, and as this one has been " very largely adopted," and has led to "great improvement,"

we recommend it to the attention of schoolmistresses.

The second part of this work is on making school reading more intelligent." As in the sewing, so in the reading, there appears to be in the writer's judgment serious defects, the principal of which being the prevalence of defective reading. But Mr. Glennie does not seem to mean incorrect reading, but a want of expression, or as he puts it, the reading is not intelligent. We cannot doubt this, and should ourselves be thankful if no graver charge could be made against teachers. It is really no small thing for a teacher to have made, in an elementary school, correct reading to be a general acquiremont; that they do not make all expressive readers is not a matter of great surprise, when Mr. Glennie himself states the following fact:--"A very large proportion of those, who are called upon to read the Scriptures in public, know not how to read them, so as to convey to others, what they themselves understand to be the meaning of the passsage before them." We do not mean by anything we have said to undervalue expressive reading, we only desire that correct reading come first in order, and that nothing be allowed to turn aside the teacher from his endeavour to secure it. And even when that is secured, there seems to us an intermediate stage before intelligent reading can be reached, viz., a thorough intelligence of the text to be read. We cannot, as far as our own experience goes, see how a mere raising and falling of the voice can secure it, unless the modulations are based upon a clear apprehension of the thought which the text embodies. No system of mere imitation will secure it. A teacher may and ought to model out sentences, and under limitations require simultaneous repetition, but even these methods are permanently useful, only so far as the intelligence of the child in schooled up to seize the meaning of the given text, and appreciate the value of giving it a correct expression.

The rules which Mr. Glennie gives for making reading intelligent are:-(1.) Each word must fall or rise from that which precedes it. (2.) Each falling or rising gradation continues as far as the emphatic word of the clause, and on that it returns. (3.) The emphatic word is determined by its embodying a fresh idea-and further rules are given for dealing with principal and subordinate clauses. These rules are to be illustrated on the black board, taking the horizontal line to represent the monotone. We can readily conceive, that the rules and the illustrations, would be a help to the higher classes in attaining an improved style of reading. The method, however, has been in use for many years. The "Introduction to the Art of Reading" published by the Irish School Society, has many pages in which the horizontal line is broken by raising or depressing a part of the words, to show what is the proper intonation; in fact the entire book is marked with the proper intonation and emphases. In like manner, it would be easy to show that such of our principal educational writers as were engaged in practical education, have developed methods for intelligent reading, and speak also of favourable results; though none have said what Mr. Glennie says:-""" "Three or four months will by this intellectual method, do more than the old mechanical process can effect in two or three years.” We think with Jacob Abbott, that there are few bounds to what a man may do in working out a scheme upon which he has set his heart, but his success is no guarantee that his method will attain the same results in ordinary hands. In the course of a long educational life, it has been our lot to hear, times without number, of improvements in educational processes which were to render teaching a kind of intellectual pastime, but it has not been our good fortune to see the realization of the hopes that were raised. So far from it, we hear H.M Inepectors complain of a falling off in elementary instruction; we even see a reaction setting in against some of the so-called improvements, and under these circumstances Mr. Glennie must forgive us, if we are not so sanguine of his scheme, as we could really like to be.

Elementary Notes on the History of France.-By Mrs. Edmonds. Tallant and Allen. The merits of this little work are rather more than its modest title would lead one to expect, and although we have no great faith in the good to be realized by meagre outlines of history, we think nevertheless, that while the present system continues, Mrs. Edmonds' Elementary Notes " deserves to rank alongside the smaller French epitomies now in use.

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The Struggles of a Village Lad. Tweedie, London. This book is written to illustrate the aphorism-"There is nothing like trying," and further, to show the happy results from what the "Band of Hope" did. The story is well told, is full of interest and gocd influences, and makes up precisely the kind of book to be placed in school libraries.

Elements of English History. By T. H. Rivington, London. The term "Elements" is here properly used, for the book is elementary in an extreme degree. It is in truth a short chronology, which includes some few of the main facts in each reign. A little hand-book of this sort has its use, and we would recommend it if we could do so. But the value of chronology depends entirely upon its correctness, and this is not always to be found in these "Elements." Thus, Alfred the Great is said to have divided England into counties and hundreds, which it is clear Alfred did not do; neither did William the Conqueror establish the curfew bell, though T. H. says he did. Let the book be revised and it will deserve the patronage of teachers.

Arithmetic for Beginners. By Dr. J. Cornwell and J. G. Fitch, M.A. The authors of this work propose it as an introduction to their "Science of Arithmetic;" a manual which we noticed favourably some time since. The work before us is very complete as an ordinary working school-book. Without neg

lecting principles, it contains what practical schoolmast rs know to be indispensable to success in arithmetic-an abundant supply of working examples. The examples given are wider in their range, and more varied in their character, than are usually found in books of its size and price. We have no dust but this introduction will meet with a success even larger than that of the work to which it is intended to lead.

The Geography of Gloucestershire. By U. J. Davis. Nest, Gloucester. Mr. Davis has done himself credit in collecting and carefully arranging so much valuable information on the geography and history of the county of Gloucester. The geological section was kindly furnished by Professor Buckman, of the Cirencester College. The value of the work is further enhanced by the addition, of a good county map. We cheerfully give the "Geography of Gloucestershire" our recommendation, as well for its excellence as for its moderate price.

Correspondence.

November 8th, 1858. SIR.-In your magazine for the present month you have a letter signed A. L., treating upon the subject of salaries. Your correspondent is pleased to express surprise at the fact that such an injudicious stateinent (as he says that of Mr. Watkins is), should be allowed to go forth with an inspector's sanction. Now, Sir, I should really like to be informed who is better able to come to a true conclusion, and who a better right to give expression to such conclusions, than gentlemen whose duty is with the teacher and his work? I say none, if we except the teacher himself. A. L. next calls into question the correctness of Mr. Watkins' statement, and of course it would not be becoming in me to take upon myself the task of answering the imputation. But I would draw attention to a fact which speaks for itself. It is this: that a man, in either of the classes to which he refers, is able to sustain his wife and family in their own sphere of life, without having to bring his wife from home to assist in making both ends meet." I am sure I need not remind you that not only are schoolmasters frequently obliged by circumstances so to do, but also that school committees encourage this evil, for the purpose of making expenses fall less heavily upon the school funds. In how many cases £60 per annum is offered to a man and wife, which together with the government allowances will not much more than make up the £90, to which A. L. refers as the share of the master alone! Woman's mission is home! Is it fair, then, to give such salaries to masters that the wife and mother is obliged to labour to help to keep up that respectability in their family which the public ask the teacher to maintain, but which they are so little prepared to assist him to do, by giving him a fair salary for value fully received I am forgetting, however, that the children of teachers are frequently spoken of by employers as encumbrances. May God forgive the man who applies such a term to one of His choicest gifts to us.

In the next place A. L. refers to the time during which the teacher is at work. He sets down 7 hours per day as the maximum period of his employment in school duties. It is true that teachers might with justice make it so; but in few cases is it done. I know some schoolmasters and mistresses who meet some of their elder children over hours for the purposes of instruction: and many who give their pupil teachers half-an hour, or an hour, on school days, as well as a couple of hours on the Saturday, over and above the bare hour and a half required by the government minute. Besides this there are many minor things connected with school work which an earnest teacher finds to do. But, of course, all this stands for nothing. Again, he says the teacher is engaged only five days per week; and, to my surprise, you endorse this erroneous statement in your leader upon this subject Surely A. L. forgets that now-a-days the prevailing fashion is to compel (I cannot with truthfulness use a milder term) the day school teacher to take part in the Sunday