rate and long-continued, is introduced to an
advanced class, and there struggles against obstacles which he cannot
comprehend, and which the teacher cannot remove, and finally leaves the
school without the ability to read in a manner intelligible to himself,
or satisfactory to others. It is the appropriate work of primary
schools, and of the teachers of primary classes in district schools, to
develop and chasten the moral powers of children, to train them in those
habits and practices that are favorable to health and life, whether
anything is known of physiology as a science or not, and to give the
best culture possible to the eye, the ear, the hand and the voice. This
plan is comprehensive enough for any teacher, and it will be found
sufficient for any pupil less than ten years of age. Nor am I speaking
of that culture which is merely preparatory for the life of the artist,
but of that practical training which will enable the subject of it so to
use his powers as to render his life valuable to himself, and valuable
to the world. There will be, in the exercises comprehended by this
outline, sufficient mental discipline. It will, of course, be chiefly
incidental, and it may well be doubted whether studies that are merely
disciplinary should ever be introduced into our schools. There are
useful occupations for pupils that, at the same time, tax and test the
mind sufficiently. The plan indicated does not exclude grammar,
geography and mental arithmetic, but text-books will not at first be
needed. Grammar should be taught by conversation, and in connection with
the exercises in reading. Grammar is the appreciation of the power of
the words of the language in any given relations to each other, and a
knowledge of grammar is essential to the ability to speak, read and
write properly. Therefore, grammatical rules and definitions are, or
should be, deduced from the language. Hence children should be first
trained to speak with accuracy, so that habit shall be on the side of
taste and science; next the offices which words perform in simple
sentences should be illustrated and made clear; And thus far without
text-books; when, finally, with their help, the pupils in the higher
schools may acquire a knowledge of the science, and, at once, as the
result of previous training, discern the reason for each rule and
definition. The study of grammar requires some use of mental power; but
when it is presented to pupils by the aid of an object