pitition process, but in less than half the time. This is not theory, but fact. It has been demonstrated by a thousand trials. That such an amount of precious time is annually wasted in the effort to print the mere names of the twentysix characters of our language upon the memory of the child, by the endless iteration of a-b-c, would be ludicrous, if it were not so sad. Not only one, but several school terms are often squandered, before the stupendous result is achieved! And when at last the victory is won, how poor and barren it is-the child can call the names of twenty-six crooked, dry unmeaning things! that is all. No mental power has been developed; no new faculty has been awakened; no pleasure has mingled in the weary task; the mind is deadened, almost stultified; the child is disgusted with his book and tired of school but he knows his letters, and great is the rejoicing of friends! There is, thank God, "a more excellent way." It is difficuit to over-estimate the good effects of a judicious use of the slate and blackboard in primary schools. No school room for small children is equipped without them-no one is fit to be a primary teacher who is unable, or unwilling to use them.-N. Bateman.

GEOGRAPHY.

(WE take the following introductory lesson in Geography from Camp's new Primary Geography,—a work just published and well adapted to meet the wants of our Elementary Schools. It contains valuable hints on the commencement of this important branch of study. ED.)

"WHEN about to introduce the study of Geography, the intelligent teacher will take the children out of the school room to the road or fields, where we may suppose a conversation to take place in which the teacher will communicate something like the following, the children asking questions and answering those of the teacher.

We will now stand upon the hill opposite the school-house and see what is around us. The objects at our right hand are east of us, or in the direction where the sun rises; those at our left hand, or in the direction of the sun's setting, are

west of us. The field at the right or to the north of the school-house is level and may be call a plain. Sometimes a plain is barren, and then it is called a desert.

Beyond the plain are high masses of land, called mountains. When a mountain sends forth fire, smoke, and melted stones from its top, it is called a volcano. Far off in the north between two mountains, is a portion of low land called a valley.

At the left of us is a body of fresh water. This is a pond, or small lake. In the lake is a portion of land entirely surrounded by water. This is an island, and the point of land extending into the water from the main land, is a cape.

The narrow passage of water between the island and cape is a strait. From the lake a stream of water called a river, flows on through the valley to a very large body of water called an ocean. If we were on the top of the mountain we could see the ocean. The land which is next the water is a shore or coast.

As we study Geography we shall learn about some countries that have very high mountains and about others that are mostly level. Some have large rivers and lakes. Some are very cold and others are very warm. Our Geography will tell us the names of these countries, and we can find them on the maps."

THE WAY THE ENGLISH BRING UP CHILDREN.-The English bring up their children very differently from the manner in which we bring up ours. They have an abundance of outdoor air every day, whenever it is possible. The nursery maids are expected to take all the children out airing every day, even infants. This custom is becoming more prevalent in this country, and should be pursued wherever it is practicable. Infants should be early accustomed to the open air.

We confine them too much, and heat them too much for a vigorous growth. One of the finest features of the London parks is said to be the crowds of nursery maids with their groups of healthy children. It is so with the promenades of our large cities to a great extent, but is less

common in our country towns than what it should be. In consequence of their training, English girls acquire a habit of walking that accompanies them through life, and gives them a much healthier middle life than our women enjoy. They are not fatigued with a walk of five miles, and are not ashamed to wear, when walking, thick-soled shoes, fitted for the dampness they must encounter Half of the consumptive feebleness of our girls results from the thin shoes they wear, and the cold feet they must necessarily have. English children, especially girls, are kept in the nursery, and excluded from fashionable society and all the frivolities of dress, at the age when our girls are in the very heat of flirtation, and thinking only of fashionable life.

THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE. Could we but make language express the beautiful images of Nature, how eloquent we should be! Could we trace in words the exquisite tint of the flower, or the sparkling of the rippling wave; the majestic beauty of the forest, or the graceful intermingling of light and shade; the grandeur of the hoary cliff, or the loveliness of the laughing plain; the joyousness of the sunshine, or the tranquility of the twilight gloom; the terror of the storm, or the mildness of the evening breeze! Nature has a language of its own a language which is understood in every climewhich speaks silently to the heart of every beholder, through which he may communicate with their Creator and his own, but which can find no utterance through the lips.

CHARACTER IS POWER. It is often said that knowledge is power, and this is true. Skill or faculty of any kind carries with it superiority. So, to a certain extent, wealth is power, and rank is power, and intellect is power, and genius has a transcendent gift of mastery over men. But higher, purer, and better than all, more constant in its influence, more lasting in its sway, is the power of character,-that power which emanates from a pure and lofty mind. Take any community, who is the man of most influence? To whom do all look up with reverence? Not the "smartest" man, nor the cleverest politician, nor the most brilliant talker, but he who, in a long course of years, tried by the extremes of prosperity and adversity, has approved himself to the judgment of his neighbors and of all who have seen his life, as worthy to be called wise and good.

OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON THE SCHOOL LAWS.

QUESTION NO. 7. Can persons over sixteen years of age attend a common school without paying extra tuition?

ANSWER. Scholars over sixteen years of age have the same privileges in a common school as those under that age, and there is no authority in the school laws to make any discrimination in the rate bill on account of the age.

QUESTION NO. 8. Is a school district compelled by law to receive children from other districts in which no school is sustained?

ANSWER. It is the duty of every town to see that common schools are established and mantained sufficient for all the inhabitants of the town. If a district fails to sustain a school the children can be sent to other districts with their consent, but there is no provision of the laws compelling a district to receive non-resident children into its school.

DAVID N. CAMP. Superintendent of Common Schools. NEW BRITAIN, May 13, 1861.

MODERN REFINEMENT. People don't laugh now-a-daysthey indulge in merriment. They don't walk-they promenade. They never eat any food-they masticate it. Nobody has a tooth pulled out--it is extracted. No one has his feelings hurt-they are lacerated. It is vulgar to visit any one-you must only make a call. Of course you would not think of going to bed-you would retire to rest. Nor would you build a house-you would erect it. One buys drugs at a "medical hall," wines of a "company," and shoes at a "mart." Blacking is dispensed at an "institution," and meat from a "purveyor." One would imagine that the word "shop" had not only become contemptible, but had been discovered not to belong to the English language. Now-a-days, all the shops are "warehouses" or "bazaars," and you will hardly find a person having the hardihood to call himself a shopkeeper. "Workpeople" are "employees," "tea meetings" are "soirees," and "singers" are "artists."

MISCELLANY.

WORDS.

Bear: Bull. These are terms applied to a class of brokers or stock-jobbers, whose plan of operation is thus described by Dr. Warton::

"He who sells that of which he is not possesed is proverbially said to sell the skin before he has caught the bear. It was the practice of stock-jobbers, in the year 1720, to enter into a contract for transferring South Sea Stock at a future time at a certain price; but he who contracted to sell had, frequently, no stock to transfer, nor did he who bought intend to receive any in consequence of his bargain. The seller was, therefore, called a bear, in allusion to the proverb, and the buyer a bull, perhaps only as a similar distinction. The contract was merely a wager, to be determined by the rise or fall of stock; if it rose, the seller paid the difference to the buyer, proportioned to the sum determined by the same computation to the seller."

"There was a sauve qui peut* movement to-day in the stock market, and the clique of bulls finding it impossible to stem the rush, gave up the attempt to sustain the market, and let things go down with a run. Such a state of the market as is now exhibited is nearly as bad for the bears as the bulls.

*

*

*

N. Y. Tribune, 1845.

Lame Duck. A stock-jobber who has failed, or one unable to meet his engagement.

Flunky. One who, unacquainted with the manner in which stocks are bought and sold, and deceived by appearances, enters Wall St. without any knowledge of the market. He consequently makes bad investments. Such a person the brokers call a flunky.

Kite-flying. This is a term well understood in the mercantile community. It is a combination between two persons, neither of whom has any funds in bank,-to exchange each other's checks which may be deposited instead of money,-taking good care to make their bank accounts good before the checks are presented for payment. Kite-flying is also practiced by persons or mercantile houses, in different cities. A house in Boston draws on a house in New York at sixty days or more, and gets its bill discounted. The New York house, in turn meets its acceptance by re-drawing on the Boston house. Immense sums of money are often thus raised. It is however rather a perilous way of doing business.

*Let him save himself who can.

Bartlett.