, from their parents, the real
arguments in the case, and to present them, distinctly and clearly, and
in simple language, to their companions. Was a building burnt by
lightning in the neighborhood? Let those who saw the scene, describe it;
their productions to be read by the teacher aloud; and let them see that
clear descriptions please, and that good legible writing can be read
fluently, and that correct spelling, and punctuation, and grammar, make
the article go smoothly and pleasantly, and enable it to produce its
full effect. Is a public building going forward in the neighborhood of
your school? You can make it a very fruitful source of subjects and
questions, to give interest and impulse to the studies of the
school-room. Your classes in geometry may measure,--your arithmeticians
may calculate, and make estimates,--your writers may describe its
progress, from week to week, and anticipate the scenes, which it will in
future years exhibit.

By such means, the practical bearings and relations of the studies of
the school-room, may he constantly kept in view; but I ought to guard
the teacher, while on this subject, most distinctly, against the danger
of making the school-room a scene of literary amusement, instead of
study. These means of awakening interest, and relieving the tedium of
the uninterrupted and monotonous study of text books, must not encroach
on the regular duties of the school. They must be brought forward with
judgment and moderation, and made subordinate and subservient to these
regular duties. Their design is, to give spirit, and interest, and a
feeling of practical utility, to what the pupils are doing, and if
resorted to, with these restrictions, and within these limits, they will
produce powerful, but safe results.

Another way to excite interest, and that of the right kind in school, is
not to _remove_ difficulties, but to teach the pupils how to _surmount_
them. A text book so contrived as to make study mere play, and to
dispense with thought and effort, is the worst text book that can be
made, and the surest to be, in the end, a dull one. The great source of
literary enjoyment, which is the successful exercise of intellectual
power, is, by such a mode of presenting a subject, cut off. Secure
therefore severe study. Let the pupil see that you are aiming to secure
it, and that the pleasure which you expect that they will receive, is
that of firmly and patiently encountering and overcoming diffic