lessons with them, and approve or condemn as they are attentive or negligent, they will be quickened by a sense of responsibility. If parents aid them in the mastery of difficulties, and teach them to think and reflect upon their studies, they will not only be cheered by the assistance, but will find, in the exercise thus given to their minds, that delight which the young bird feels as he first tries his wings and discovers the joyous power they bestow. An experienced and sagacious teacher told me but yesterday, that he had one child in his school whose parents treated him in this way, and that, although he had moderate abilities, he was one of the best and most successful of his pupils. Is it not a mistake of parents, then, to give all their thoughts and devote all their time to more worldly cares, and leave the minds of their children to accident? For what employment more delightful than to train the youthful intellect; what occupation so full of pleasure as to lead one's own child forth in the paths of knowledge, and, like Adam, when the world was new, give names and characters to all around; what pursuit so profitable to the child itself, for whose benefit we are willing to toil, as to take him with us and climb the pinnacle of knowledge, teach him the dangers of the

way, aid him in surmounting difficulties, and at last unfold to him the world of truth, which lies outspread to the view of the beholder! Say, ye parents, if ye would make an investment for your children, is it better to make it in cash or in wisdom? Is it better to lay up treasures in the bank, where the moth and rust may corrupt, and where thieves may break through and steal, or in the mind, whose stores are imperishable?

Let parents, then, not leave intellectual culture wholly to the schoolmaster; let them rather look upon him only as their assistant, and, while they render him all needed aid and encouragement, let them watch his progress and see that he performs his duty. Let them also accompany their children in their studies, and see that they perform theirs. Of one thing let them beware, and that is, not to permit children to be witnesses against their teachers. relation of pupil and teacher is one which often leads the former to misinterpretation, perhaps to misrepresentation.

The

Let not parents ever be discouraged in the mental culture of their children, under the idea that they are of inferior capacity. Children are of different degrees of quickness, but not one in a thousand is incapable of receiving the full

benefits of instruction. And let it be remarked, that, with good education, children of moderate natural endowments are, in the average of life, happier and more useful than those on whom nature has lavished the gifts of genius. "Give me neither poverty nor riches" is as wise a prayer in respect to mental gifts, as the more sordid treasures of the world. But let it be remembered that the mind, like the body, is strengthened by exercise, and, though it may be debilitated by being overtasked, it is still necessary, in order to give it vigor, to inure it to patient labor and continuous toil. As the proper adaptation of exercise to the degree of health and strength of the subject, is the great art of physical training, so, in mental culture, is the suitable exercise of the mind the chief means by which its powers are unfolded and enlarged.

It may be well for parents to recollect that the habits of the mind are of more importance in youth, than the actual amount of knowledge they possess. A child that has habits of investigation and reflection will soon gather stores of facts, and, being of his own acquisition, he will hoard them with care and use them with effect. It is better, therefore, to consider the early periods of mental education as properly

devoted to the discipline of the mind, to the establishing of good habits, rather than to the mere accumulation of knowledge. It is with learning as with money-if given freely, without teaching the means of its acquisition, it is apt to be lightly valued and lightly parted with, and poverty must then ensue, if the skill of obtaining more is not possessed.

BOOKS.

Previous to the invention of printing, in 1441, books of every kind were scarce, and, being written with pens, were necessarily costly.

A copy of the Bible was then worth as much as a good house and farm are now. King Alfred is said to have given a very large estate for a single volume. In these times it is clear that the art of reading must have been confined to few persons. How great is the change that has taken place in four hundred years! Of the making of many books there is now no end, and the idea of instructing every member of the community, not only in the art of reading, but in the elements of geography, history and philosophy, is no longer a chimera. The printing of books upon type was a startling invention, indeed, but strange combinations have taken place in our own day

to accelerate and expand its power. It would seem that the vast beds of coal which have slept for centuries in the gloomy recesses of the earth, could have little to do with the progress of knowledge. But these are now dragged from their repose, and compelled to lend their power to the manufacture of books. Hundreds of steam presses are at work on both sides of the Atlantic, throwing off countless reams of newspapers, pamphlets and volumes of every form, filled with every species of literature. A single printer in Scotland had a few years since forty thousand volumes of the various works of Sir Walter Scott, in the press, at one time. Three millions of a single tract, by Hannah More, were published in her lifetime. Books to the value of a million and a half of dollars go from the Eastern to the Western States, annually. From these scattered hints we can form some faint conception of the stupendous progress of improvement in the various arts devoted to the circulation of knowledge.

But while we are impressed with the advantages we possess over the people of former ages, let parents consider one thing-that books are human productions, and that some are good and some bad. Every volume has within it a spirit, and imparts, to those who commune with