CONTENTS. NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. Unanimity of Operations-Religious Instruc- INFLUENCE OF FICTITIOUS WRITINGS. Who are most fond of Fiction-Effects of STUDY OF HISTORY. Review of Sullivan's New Work-Errors in Studying History- Defects in our Class Books-Arrangement of Mr Sullivan-True Object of Studying LUTHER'S ALLEVIATING WRITING DESK. An Improved Writing Desk-The Need CONFESSIONS OF A SCHOOLMASTER, No. VII. A Smart' Schoolmaster-His Man- agement-A Singular Adventure-Mistaken Conduct of Col, K.-Consequences to the MISCELLANY. Education in Pennsylvania-Convention on Education-The Providence NOTICES OF Books, THE ANNALS OF EDUCATION for 1838 will be conducted on the same gen- eral principles as it has been heretofore, especially during the last two years while the present editor has had nearly the whole care of it. He regards the Bible and Experi- ence as the two principal text books in all Education; though, like his predecessor, he will continue to exclude carefully everything partisan or sectarian. The work will if possible be rendered more interesting to Christian Parents and Teachers this year than formerly. For though a correspondence has been opened and is opening with some of the most distinguished friends of Education in the Eastern Hemisphere, in order to draw forth everthing truly valuable in the institutions of the old world, we shall never forget that our institutions of every grade, from the family and the infant school to the university, must be truly American, and adapted to the wants of the sons and daughters of a republic. In this view we shall increase our efforts to present in detail, the most improved methods of conducting the work of education We intend to speak, with great freedom, of the character of existing instruments of education school books, school apparatus, school houses, &c. We shall endeavor to set forth, what should be the objects and ends of the instruction of the Family, the In- fant School, the District School, the Sabbath School, the Teacher's Seminary and the higher Institutions. We shall insist more strongly than ever, on the correct education of the bodily senses and organs- the eye, the ear, the taste, the lungs, the skin, the stomach and the brain; as well as on the right education of the temper, the conscience, and the affections. And while we regard mothers and schoolmasters as the more effi- cient and responsible educators of the human race, and intend to direct our efforts ac- Icordingly, we shall insist that every person has something to perform in the great work of educating his fellow-men, and in the spirit of this sentiment, endeavor to point out some of the varied duties of School Committees, School Visiters, Ministers, Physicians, legislators, parents, brothers, sisters, &c.-In short, no pains or expense, within our means, will be spared, for one year, to render the first and almost only work on Ameri- can Education what the cause of intelligence, virtue, and human happiness so loudly demand, especially at the present crisis. We have said for one year; for notwithstanding the receipt, the present year, of a much larger number of new subscribers to the Annals than during any previous year, and the fact that the whole number of subscribers is greater now than it ever was before, the work is not so well sustained as it should be. To those who may be surprised at this disclosure and refer us to our preface for the present year- written in Switzer- land, and, as was then supposed, with a desire that it should not be varied by the domes- tic editor we need only say that it is , in part, to the deranged state of the cur- our subscribers to pay us promptly, we still need and the cause of education demands - a more liberal patronage. The former editor has sacrificed several thousand dol- lars, in establishing and sustaining the Annals; and the present editor nearly as much more. We do not indeed affirm that the Annals is valuable in proportion to its to come, but must each of them send us another responsible subscriber. To those who find the remittance of three dollars difficult, a five dollar bill will be re- ceived in payment of their subscriptions two years in advance, or in payment of their own subscription and that of another individual for one year. AMERICAN ANNALS OF EDUCATION. FEBRUARY, 1838. NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. We have received, through the politeness of the Rev. Mr Cunningham, late Principal of the Edinburgh Institution for Languages, Mathematics, &c. but now Professor of Ancient Languages, in Lafayette College, in Pennsylvania, the printed Reports of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland, for the years 1834, 1835 and 1836;' from which we collect the following facts in regard to the state of public instruction in that country. In October, 1831, the government of Great Britain empowered the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to constitute a Board of Commissioners for the Superintendence of a System of National Education in Ireland; and Parliament so far sanctioned the arrangement as to appropriate a sum of money, to be expended under the proposed system. This board consisted of the Duke of Leicester, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr F. Sadlier, Mr A. R. Blake, Robert Holmes, Esq. and Rev. James Carlile. Their duties, together with the state of education among the poor in Ireland at the commencement of their labors, will be best understood by the following extract from their first Report, bearing date Dec. 31, 1833. 'We commenced receiving applications for aid towards schools in January, 1832, and the total number made to us, to the present time, amounts to 1,548. 'We have granted assistance to 789 schools, which are now in full operation. We made grants to 52 other schools, which have since ceased to be in connection with us; in general, we 50 Unanimity of Operations. deemed it right to discontinue aid to them, in consequence of the reports of our inspectors. We have promised aid towards the building of 199 schools, which have not as yet been completed. 'We have rejected 216 applications, and have 292 now before us for consideration. 'The schools which we already have in operation are attended by 107,042 children; and according to the estimates transmitted to us, those which are to be opened, in the houses not yet finished, will be attended by a further number of 36,804; so that the whole of the schools existing and in preparation, will afford the benefits of education to 143,846 children. 'We have the satisfaction to state, that throughout our correspondence with the patrons of schools, we have found them disposed to act with perfect integrity and candor; some instances of deviation from our rules have been reported to us, but on inquiry into the circumstances, we have in general received such explanations as have been satisfactory to us. An important part of the duty entrusted to us, is the preparation of books for the use of the schools and school libraries. We have hitherto directed our attention chiefly to the compilation of books for schools only; we have prepared and published four numbers of a series of reading books, to which we propose to add a fifth the lessons of which these books consist, have been so written or selected as that, while they are used as reading exercises, they convey elements of knowledge to the children in regular order. We have also published treatises on arithmetic and book-keeping, and a translation of Clairaut's Geometry. Some books, having been hastily prepared to meet the urgent necessities of the schools, will require a further revision; but we are enabled to add, that the whole have met with very general approbation, and we propose so to arrange the prices and mode of sale, as to bring them as much as possible into general use. 'Besides these works on the ordinary subjects of education, we have compiled and printed two numbers of a series of lessons from the Holy Scriptures, one from the Old and the other from the New Testament, and we propose to go on adding to them until we complete a copious abstract of the narrative parts of the Sacred Volume, interspersed with suitable passages from the poetical and didactic parts of it. We proceed in the undertaking with perfect unanimity, and anticipate, from the general circulation of the work, the best results.' The greatest difficulty which the Board had to contend with was, the religious instruction of the children. The schools had Religious Instruction. 51 been designed, from the first, to embrace children of various denominations. The plan was to leave this part of the instruction of the pupils to the pastors of those churches to which they respectively belonged. The following were some of the regulations adopted by the commissioners. 6 The ordinary school business, during which all the children, of whatever denomination they be, are required to attend, and which is expected to embrace a competent number of hours in each day, is to consist exclusively of instruction in those branches of knowledge which belong to literary and moral education. Such extracts from the Scriptures as are prepared under the sanction of the Board may be used, and are earnestly recommended by the Board to be used during those hours allotted to this ordinary school business. 'One day in each week (independently of Sunday) is to be set apart for the religious instruction of the children, on which day such pastors or other persons, as are approved of by the parents or guardians of the children, shall have access to them for that purpose, whether those pastors have signed the original application or not. The managers of schools are also expected, should the parents of any of the children desire it, to afford convenient opportunity and facility for the same purpose, either before or after the ordinary school business (as the managers may determine) on the other days of the week. 'Any arrangement of this description that may be made, is to be publicly notified in the schools, in order that those children, and those only, may be present at the religious instruction, whose parents or guardians approve of their being so. The reading of the Scriptures, either in the authorized or Douay version, is regarded as a religious exercise, and as such, to be confined to those hours which are set apart for religious instruction. The same regulation is also to be observed respecting prayer.' What was the progress of this new system of education subsequently to the date of the foregoing, may be inferred from the following paragraph, extracted from the second Report of the commissioners, under date of June 13, 1835. 6 It will be found that we had, at the close of the last year, 1,106 schools in operation, which were attended by 145,521 children; that we had made grants towards the establishment of 191 additional schoolhouses, calculated to contain 39,831 children; that of the signatures to the applications made to us for aid, 140 are those of clergymen of the Established Church; 180 of Presbyterian clergymen; 1,397 of Roman Catholic cler 52 Preparation of School Books. gymen; 6,915 of Protestant laymen; and 8,630 of Roman Catholic laymen; and that while the grants made by us towards the building and fitting up of schoolhouses, amount to £33,027, 7s., the local contributions for the same purposes amount to £23,142, 2s. 4d.' It thus appears that the system was very generally adopted, under the auspices both of Protestant and Roman Catholic clergymen and laymen; and that it proved quite acceptable to both. The Board have, indeed, at times, met with some difficulty on this subject; but it is believed, from examining the whole of the various reports, that all is now going on harmoniously and happily. We have more to say on this subject, however, presently. Respecting the general progress of the system, the third Report, dated July 13, 1836, thus says: 'We established during the last year 150 schools, and agreed to grant aid towards the building of 78 others. We struck off 35 schools which were in operation at the time of our last Report, and cancelled 33 grants which we had then agreed to make. We have also incorporated 40 schools with others. We have in operation, at present, 1,181 schools. There are now before us upwards of 400 applications for aid towards new schools.' The second Report of the Board of Commissioners, includes much valuable information in regard to particular modes of instruction, which prevail in the schools they have established. The following is their statement respecting school books. We have published five lesson books, which afford information on different subjects of education, in regular succession. We have also published extracts from the Scriptures, consisting of selections from the book of Genesis, the Gospel of St. Luke, and the Acts of the Apostles, interspersed with passages from other parts; and a volume of sacred poetry. 'We have also provided elementary books of arithmetic, bookkeeping, trigonometry and geometry, and a series of reading and arithmetical tables. These books have met with general approbation.' We find in the same document a statement in regard to the religious influence which is exerted in these schools; of which the following is an extract. The importance of religion is constantly impressed upon the minds of the children, through works calculated to promote good principles, and fill the heart with a love of religion, but which are so compiled as not to clash with the doctrines of any particular class of Christians. The children are thus prepared for those more strict religious exercises, which it is the peculiar province of the ministers of religion to superintend or direct, and for |