case, the children will be apt, in arranging them, to soil them with their fingers.

Another excellence of Mr. W.'s Primer, by which it is distinguished from Spelling Books, is the absence of all marks to indicate the accent, the division of a word into syllables, and the various sounds of the letters. These marks, except perhaps a hyphen to show, in some instances, the division of a word into syllables, are of no service to the learner; and to the teacher they are needless, because, if any case of doubt arises, the dictionary is always at hand.

After the almost unqualified commendation which we have very cordially bestowed, we beg leave to mention one defect, which the Primer appears to us to have, but which might, we think, be remedied, without relinquishing any of the excellencies, by which the work is so eminently distinguished. The defect to which we allude is this: the child has no opportunity,or a very poor one, to learn the powers of the letters; that is, to get a distinct impression as to the sound which each letter ordinarily represents. The names of the letters do a little towards this, and but a little. The tables of abs, which succeed the alphabet in Spelling Books and common Primers, though not just what we could wish, yet answer the purpose tolerably well. But Mr. Worcester sets the child, at the very outset, to reading words of three letters; and these, too, promiscuously arranged. Let us look at it a little more closely. In the first lesson, the child of course reads and spells the word man, without knowing the power of any one of the letters. He cannot be expected to know this from a single instance. He may notice the form, and he may know the name, of each letter; but why the combination of these three characters should represent the sound man, is to him perfectly mysterious. So far, the child's ignorance is not to be imputed to Mr. W., as it must be the same in any method of teaching whatever. Let us proceed, then, to the next word, which is cat. Here, the child finds the letter a again; but as it is placed between two let

In the next word, however, a which can hardly be hoped, By comparing the words cat difference of sound depends

ters different from either of those in the other word, he cannot be supposed capable of getting an idea of its power. He thus reads and spells two words, and sees five letters, without learning the power of any one of those letters. ray of light is afforded, if the child, has discernment enough to see it. and hat, he may perceive that the entirely on the difference between the initial consonants; and hence he may obtain an idea of the powers or sounds of those two consonants, that is of c and h. But this, even if he is so fortunate as to learn it, he will probably forget in learning the next word, dog, which is composed of letters all entirely new. By comparing this word, however, with the following word, hog, he may perhaps learn the power of d, and revive the forgotten h. But the next words, boy and cup, will probably make him forget the h again, as well as the newly learned d. The following word, rat, might have served to teach the child the power of r, if it had been placed next to cat and hat. The word pin completes the lesson, having no analogy to any of the preceding words, except, in a slight degree, to the first word, man. And now, we strongly suspect, that the child may learn to read and spell all these words,-may learn them perfectly, and become familiar with them, without discovering the power of a single letter of the alphabet. Similar remarks may be made on the next lesson; in which there is no approach to induction, except in the words hen and pen, sun and gun. It does not appear to have been any part of Mr. W.'s design, to select and arrange words in such a way, as to lead the child to notice the power of each letter in modifying the sound of the words of which it forms a part. And unless, by the arrangement of the words, or by the ingenuity and efforts of the living teacher, the child is assisted to do this,it must take a long, long time for him to learn the powers of the letters by his own observation; and until he has learned these powers, his progress in learning to read and spell must be much more

slow and difficult. Our orthography is indeed so miserably irregular, and defective, and redundant, that few of the letters possess one invariable sound; still, the sound of each consonant, and the two sounds of each vowel, which are found in common tables of abs, occur so much more frequently than the deviations from them, that it is important the learner should become early acquainted with these, as a foundation for improvement in the art of reading and spelling.

[Remarks on the FRANKLIN PRIMER, in our next.]

MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS.

The following paragraphs are extracted from an Address, delivered at the opening of the Boston Mechanics' Institution. They do not, indeed, relate to the business of common schools, or of domestic education; but they contain sentiments, which cannot fail to be reciprocated by every enlightened parent and teacher. In the words of the editor of the American Journal, to whom we are indebted for the extracts, "A fresh interest and variety will be communicated to the general subject of education, by the intelligence drawn from this wide field of popular and general improvement."

"The object of our institution is, to give to persons, whose time is chiefly occupied with business, or labor, knowledge of a kind to be directly useful to them in their daily pursuits. Of this kind is the Theory of Mechanics, showing the principles on which mechanical power of all kinds is gained, and all machines are constructed; Natural Philosophy, which explains the general nature of the great powers and bodies that exist in the universe, of air and water, for example, and the manner in which the works of man affect, or are to be affected, by them; and Chemistry, which makes known the particular nature and properties of all the substances, about which the art or science of man is occupied.

"No one, we think, can for a moment doubt, that if a laboring mechanic could be fully furnished with knowledge of these kinds, and at the same time his disposition and ability to labor be entirely undiminished, he would be greatly benefited by the acquisition. But there are those who think that the possession of knowledge and the exercise of the understanding are incompatible with a constant and diligent use of the physical powers;

that vigor of mind and mechanical skill are inconsistent with each other.

Let us ask how and why this can be true. Will an artist perform less skilfully an operation, of which he understands the reason and the principle, than one which is dark and unintelligible? Is there any magic, by which knowledge palsies the hand of skill, unnerves the arm of strength? Let a mechanic understand the nature of the material he employs, enable him to predict the effect which heat and air and moisture will have upon it, show him how to counteract that effect; will he, in consequence of this knowledge, produce a less durable work? Give him such an insight into the secrets of nature, as to enable him often to omit and always to shorten a process, which before was long and expensive; show him how to give a new temper and a keener edge to his tools; will he, from this saving of time and labor, become remiss, and conceive a disgust to his art? Carry him on until you have informed his judgment and refined his taste; will his customers complain, when he adds to the other qualities of his goods a graceful figure and fashion?

Let us interrogate history upon this point. Let us take instan ces, and learn from them the effect of knowledge on the character of an individual as an artist; I mean an artist in the best and widest sense of the term.-Rennie was born in obscure life, was the son of poor parents, and brought up as an apprentice to a mill-wright. He several years pursued that occupation in Scotland, with great success. Availing himself of an opportunity to attend a school of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, he so perfected his natural genius, that, leaving his former business and his native country, he became the most distinguished civil engineer in England, and left, as a monument of his genius, a structure-we refer to the Waterloo bridge over the Thames-which has been pronounced the most perfect of its kind in Europe. James Watt was a mathematical instrument maker at Glasgow. By the dexterous application of a few principles in chemistry, which he had learned of Dr. Black, be carried to perfection the steam-engine, a machine, which has added more to the mechanical power of man, and produced a wider direct change upon the arts, than any other invention of modern times. I need not name to you another distinguished mechanic, your townsman, one who was born near the spot where we are now assembled, and in this town bound apprentice to a printer. For many years, he wrought diligently in that calling; so diligently and with such skill, that

there were few who could hold competition with him. He was wont to steal hours from sleep to give to study; but the fruits of that study enabled him, many years afterwards, to sustain the reputation of the genius and liberty of his country in more than one court in Europe. These men all attained wealth and distinction for themselves, and bequeathed a noble example, and undying fame, to us and to posterity. What raised Watt and Rennie and Franklin from the humble condition in which they were born? What, but the cultivation of their powers by the very kind of knowledge which it is the object of our institution to of fer to all?

These, however, it may be objected, are remarkable instances-exceptions from general principles-men who would have raised themselves to distinction from any situation. But what is the effect of knowledge on great masses of men, when it is to be estimated by millions? Do we find that the manufactures of those countries, in which the education of the people has made some progress, fall short, in quantity or excellence, of those produced by the same number of hands exerted with less intelligence? Hear the answer of a man, whose national prejudices must have been all on the other side, but who preferred truth to the gratification of the pride of his countrymen. "We are compelled to confess," says Dupin, "that fourteen millions of English and Scotch have more industry, and produce a greater number of articles to convey to distant countries, than thirty or forty millions among the people of the continent." And what is the reason? Are the people of the continent less quick to learn; have they less capacity than the islanders? Dupin ascribes the difference -and it is not easy to get better authority on this point—to the skill which comes from knowledge-to the union of philosophy with art.

Granting then the practical usefulness of knowledge to the mechanic, there are some who will be ready to say, that however desirous they may be of obtaining it, they have no timethe day of improvement with them has gone by-they have grown too old to begin their education, and they have not, and cannot obtain, the previous knowledge which they suppose some of the instruction offered to them requires.

In the first place, with regard to time, there certainly is no one who cannot find one hour in a week to attend a lecture on an interesting subject, which he may have in his thoughts all the rest of the week. If he do only this, he will find himself a