which come down behind the post; these are placed parallel in double
rows down the school, at equal distances, exactly opposite each other;
and flattened brass or iron is to be let into the floor, opposite to
the front of them, as shewn in one of the engravings representing the
area of the school, and the children at their object lessons. I have
found by experience that this invention possesses a decided advantage
over the other, as they always remain perpendicular and parallel to
each other, take up less room, and are more easily put out of the way,
and the children cannot knock them down; they should be numbered in
front as represented in the figure, so that the teacher may always put
the proper post in its own place.

[Illustration]

The Arithmeticon, of which a description will be given in a subsequent
chapter, is simple in its construction, but, as will be seen
hereafter, may be variously and beneficially applied. It is indeed
indispensable in an infant school, as it is useful for teaching the
first principles of grammar, arithmetic, and geometry. The expense of
furnishing a large school is about L16.; that of a smaller one about
L10.

I must here protest against a violation of the freedom of the infant
mind. A fold, as it is called, is erected in some schools for the
youngest of the children; and thus they are cut off from the society
of the rest, from whom they would learn much more than they could from
any teacher. The monitors having charge of this class, are also cooped
up in the same cage, and therefore suffer the same privation. The
result of my own experience, as well as that of others, is, that a
child is decidedly incompetent to the duties of a monitor, if he
cannot keep the youngest class in order without any such means. I
would therefore deprecate, in the strongest terms, the separation
referred to, as not only altogether unnecessary, but exceedingly
injurious.

To have one hundred children, or upwards, in a room, however
convenient in other respects, and not to allow the children proper
relaxation and exercise, which they could not have without a
play-ground, would materially injure their health, which is a thing,
in my humble opinion, of the first importance. I would rather see a
school where they charged two-pence or three-pence per week for each
child, having a play-ground, than one where the children had free
admission without one; for I think the former institution would do the
most good.