ons, and those which express the nature of those actions, is
undeniable; and this is just what should be taught in an infant
school. In the first place, let the children be accustomed to repeat
the names of things, not of any certain number of things set down on a
lesson card, or in a book, but of any thing, and every thing, in the
school-room, play-ground, &c.: next let them be exercised in telling
something relating to those things--_their qualities_; as for
instance, the school-room is _large, clean_, &c.,--the children
are _quiet, good, attentive_, &c.--the pictures are _pretty_: the
play-ground is _pleasant_, &c. Having accustomed the children, in this
manner, first to give you the _names_ of things, and then to observe
and repeat something respecting them--you have gained two ends; you
have, first, taught the children to be observant and discriminative;
and, secondly, you have taught them to distinguish two distinct
classes of words, or _names_ and _qualities_; and you may now, if
you please, give them terms by which to distinguish these respective
classes, viz. _substantives_ and _adjectives_. They will no longer be
mysterious words, "signifying nothing," but recognized signs, by which
the children will understand and express definite ideas. The next
thing you have to teach them is, the distinction betwixt singular and
plural, and, if you think proper, masculine and feminine; but before
you talk to the children about _plural number_ and _masculine gender_,
&c., let them be made acquainted with the realities of which these
hard-sounding words are the signs.

Having made the classification of words clear and comprehensible, you
next proceed to the second grand class of words, the verbs, and their
adjuncts, the _adverbs_. With these you will proceed as with the
former; let action be distinguished by words;--the children _walk,
play, read, eat, run_; master _laughs, frowns, speaks, sings_; and
so on; letting the children find their own examples; then comes the
demand from the master for words expressing the manner of action. How
do the children _walk?--slowly, quickly, orderly_. How do they _read,
eat run!_ How does the master _laugh, speak, sing?_ The children now
find you ADVERBS, and it will be quite time enough to give them terms
for the classification they thus intuitively make, when they have a
clear idea of what they are doing. When this end is attained, your
children have some ideas of grammar, and those clea