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fare which a numerous party must often meet with in the mountains of Switzerland. Some means of conveyance is generally provided for the occasional convenience of those whose strength is not equal to that of their companions, or for the knapsacks of those who are too much fatigued to carry them.

The distribution of time is also made with careful reference to the healthy development of the system. No lesson is continued more than an hour, and an interval of ten minutes is allowed between the lessons, in which the pupils traverse the buildings, and find that momentary relaxation of mind and body, which enables them to return with new vigour to their task.

The lessons are so arranged, especially with the younger pupils, that the same kind of exertion shall not be continued too long. An hour of music, labour, or play is interposed between occupation of a more serious kind. Two hours of gymnastic exercises are also so arranged as to furnish mental relaxation, as well as invigoration of the body. Care is also taken to occupy the morning, when the mind is fresh, with those studies which require the greatest intellectual effort. The afternoon, when the mind and body are both in some degree wearied and rendered less active by the effects of the principal meal, is devoted to writing, drawing, music, and the light branches of study. In this way not is only the bodily health promoted, but greater success in study is secured.

The hours and duration of sleep are regulated according to the age and necessity of the pupil, as indicated by the apparent demands of nature, under the direction of a medical adviser. It is deemed irrational to form a single positive scale which would deprive some of their repose which their bodily state might demand, and would leave others to impair their strength by unnecessary indulgence. To provide against all disturbance of this kind, different sleeping rooms are assigned to the different classes of pupils, according to the amount of rest they need.

The great demands of parents and society, at this day, render it extremely difficult to maintain the proper proportion of bodily and mental occupations, and Fellenberg is sometimes compelled to require an undue amount of intellectual exertion at the period which ought to be chiefly devoted to physical development; and thus perhaps hazard a life of feebleness or inactivity. Still it is his intention in the application of this system, to pay constant attention to the individual necessities of each pupil. For this purpose, each one, on his entrance, is subject to particular examination in regard to his constitution, his habits, his physical defects and danger, and the peculiar necessities of his age. The general rules in reference to diet, exercise, sleep, and occupation, are modified in accordance with this, and it is intended never to sacrifice for a moment the present health and future vigour of the pupil to the prospect of immediate success in his studies, or to the reputation which the institution might require by the brilliant specimens of refined improvement thus produced. When the control of the pupil is left, as it should be, in the hands of the educator, he often permits him to devote but half his time to study. The very

eagerness with which some apply themselves, is often only an additional evidence of that nervous excitement which threatens a premature waste of their strength, and which can only be subdued by an unusual portion of bodily exercise. And so nicely balanced are our physical and moral systems, that one cannot be neglected without injuring the other. It has also been found at Hofwyl, that to indulge the disposition to excessive application, often produces a degree of excitement which gives the ascendancy to dangerous passions, and leads to habits whose tendency is fatal.

(To be continued.)

ORIGINAL POETRY.

THE VILLAGE CHURCH.

Oh love the church bell's peaceful sound,
That calls you to the house of prayer!
Tread lightly o'er the hallow'd ground,
For sweet's the invitation there.

Tread lightly, for the placid mind
Will all our ruder motions sway;
And mark how little we're behind

The dead who once came here to pray.
Tread lightly, for 'tis well and brave
To reverence the sacred spot;
Yet weep not o'er the time-worn grave,
We're best remember'd when forgot.
I would not have you idly mourn

When e'en the best belov'd depart,
But think, would you the church adorn,
What thou canst be, and what thou art.

ON THE DEATH OF CLAPPERTON,
The African Traveller.
O'er thy fresh grave no mother weeps,
No father stands with troubl'd brow;
No brother, no fond sister grieves,

They little heed what thou art now!
No cypress mourns, no willow buds,
By fond affection planted near,
No marble tells the passer by
How brave a mind reposes there.
Alone, on Afric's burning sands,

A faithful servant* digs thy grave

A Philip or a Pompey's corpse,

A freeman too as true, as brave.

But weep not, friends, that trophies ne'er
Can crown that solitary spot;

His grave is in the heart of man,
Throughout all ages unforgot!

* Lander.

ON THE ABUSE OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. LOCAL Charities, if not managed under the most active system of superintendence, ever tend to create or perpetuate the disease they profess to remedy. They operate, in too many cases, as a bonus for idleness and want of providence; because those who manage them, and those who subscribe to them, think they do enough by giving them money and drawing up a report once a year, in which all the disadvantages of their society or institution are kept in the shade, and all its advantages placed prominently in print. Much of what is called the corrective machinery of our social system is a complete failure, and this arises from the rage of setting up this society or that society, for the remedying of this or that specific evil, in distinction (we will not be so uncharitable as to say in opposition) to others in operation. Thus we find one man advocating, perhaps, Loan Funds, as calculated above all others to do good. This is compared with all others, and found to be infinitely superior; its advantages are weighed in the balance and found nothing wanting, and it is at last almost invested with a miraculous power. Another person, equally zealous, takes up some other panacea (for "all have their hobbies"), and this is ridden with the same speed till it is ridden off its legs, while the poor are still found in the same state of destitution, being in no way permanently improved. Soap, and coals, and cheap rice, are distributed; midwives, baby-linen, flannel shirts, petticoats, trusses, blankets, &c., are supplied; and while they are thus supplied, no visible change can take place among the poor. The large sums annually collected, with the parish gifts and private bounty besides, serve, in a very great measure, to extend poverty instead of curing it, to foster and nourish vice instead of destroying it; and institutions for the purpose of dispensing charity are in some cases productive of similar effects. The following is remarkably exemplified in the evidence of the Rector of Christ Church, Spitalfields, and as it appears to be certified by the personal observation of that gentleman, we lay it before our readers:

"A young weaver of twenty-two marries a servant girl of nineteen, and the consequence is the prospect of a family. We should presume under ordinary circumstances, that they would regard such a prospect with some anxiety, that they would calculate upon the expenses of an accouchement, and prepare for them in the interval by strict economy and unremitting industry: no such thing—it is the good fortune of our couple to live in the district of Spitalfields, and it is impossible to live there without witnessing the exertions of many charitable associations; to these therefore they naturally look for assistance on every occasion.

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They are visited periodically by a member of the District Visiting Society." It is the object of this society to inquire into the condition of the poor, to give them religious advice and occasional relief, and to put them in the way of obtaining the assistance of other charitable institutions. To the visitor of this institution the wife makes known her situation, the consequence is that from him, through his recommendation or under his directions, she obtains a ticket either for the "Lying-in Hospital," or for the "Royal Maternity Society." By the former of these charities she is provided with gratuitous board, lodging, medicine, attendance, churching, registry of her child's baptism, &c. &c. By the latter she is accommodated with the services of a midwife, to deliver her at her own home. Delivered of her child at the cost of VOL. I-May, 1835.

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the "Royal Maternity Society," she is left by the midwife; but then she requires a nurse, and for a nurse of course she is unable to pay herself; a little exertion however gets over this difficulty, she sends the "District Visitor," to the minister, or to some other charitable parishioner, and by their interest with the parish officers, she has at last a nurse sent to her from the workhouse; but still she has many wants, and these too she is unable to supply at her own expense, she requires blankets, bed, and baby linen; with these she is furnished by another charitable institution. Soor after her marriage she has heard one of her neighbours say, that she had been favoured in no less than five successive confinements, with the loan of the "box of linen," from the "Benevolent Society," she had accordingly taken care to secure the "box of linen" for herself, and during her confinement she receives occasional visits and cuniary relief from a female visitor of the charity; by her she is kindly attended to, and through her or the district visitor she is provided, in case of fever or other illness, with the gratuitous services of the parish apothecary, or of some other charitable medical practitioner in the district.

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"At the end of the month she goes pro forma to be churched, and though perhaps the best dressed female of the party, she claims exemption from any pecuniary offering, by virtue of a printed ticket to that effect, put into her hands by the midwife of the "Royal Maternity Society."

"The child thus introduced into the world is not worse provided for than his parents of course he requires vaccination; or in case of neglect he takes the small-pox; in either case he is sent to the "hospital for casual small pox . and for vaccination," and by this means costs his parents nothing.

"He has the measles, the whooping cough, and other morbid affections peculiar to childhood: in all these instances he has the benefit of the City Institution for "diseases of children." If his father is a Welshman, he applies to the "Welsh Dispensary;" if not, or he prefers another, he has the "Tower Hamlets Universal Dispensary," "The London Dispensary," and the "City of London Dispensary:" in case of fever, he is sent to the "Fever Hospital :" "for a broken limb or any other acute disorder, he is admitted into "The London" or other "Public Hospital." For a rash or any specific disease of the skin or ear, he is cured at the "London Dispensary," and for all morbid affections of the eye he goes either to the same charity, or to the "London Ophthalmic Infirmary;" in case of rupture he has a ticket for the "Rupture Society," or for the "London Truss Society." For a pulmonary complaint he attends the Infirmary for Asthma and Consumption; and for other diseases which may require sea bathing, he is sent to the "Royal Sea Bathing Infirmary" at Margate. In some of these medical institutions too he has the extra advantage of board, lodging, and other accommodation.

"By the time the child is eighteen months or two years old, it becomes convenient to his mother to "get him out of the way;" for this purpose he is sent to the Infant School, and in this seminary enters upon another wide field of eleemosynary immunities.

"By the age of six he quits the "Infant School," and has before him an ample choice of schools of a higher class; he may attend the Lancasterian School for 2d. per week, and the National for 1d. or for nothing. His parents naturally enough prefer the latter school-it may be less liberal in principle, but it is lower in price. In some instances too it is connected with a cheap clothing society, in others it provides clothing itself to a limited number of children; and in others again it recommends its scholars to the governors of a more richly endowed clothing charity school. To be sure these are only collateral advantages; but it is perhaps excusable in a parent, delivered by the Royal Maternity Society," to value these above any of the more obvious and legitimate benefits to be derived from a system of education.

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"A parent of this kind has hardly done justice to herself or her child till

she has succeeded in getting him admitted into a school where he will be immediately and permanently clothed. This advantage is to be found in the "Protestant Dissenters," in the "Parochial," or in the "Ward Charity School;" and she secures him a presentation to one of these, either by a recommendation from the "National School," by the spontaneous offer of her husband's employer, or by her own importunate applications at the door of some other subscriber. Some few industrious parents in the neighbourhood object to putting their children into the charity schools. With more independence than wisdom, they revolt at the idea of seeing their children walk the streets for several years in a livery, which degrades them by marking them out, like the parish paupers of former days, as the objects, of common charity; but the parent in question has no such scruples-she has tasted the sweets and therefore never feels the degradations, of charity; she is saved the expense of clothing her own child herself, and she observes her poor neighbours, like the dog in the fable, have come to think what is really disreputable to be a badge of distinction; she knows too, that most of the gentlefolks who support these charities, openly proclaim (Oh, monstrous absurdity!) that they were more especially designed for an aristocracy among the poor.

"It is possible she may not succeed in getting her child into a clothing charity school-it is more than possible too that she may find a more than profitable employment for him than attendance at the " National;" she may keep him at home all the week to help her to nurse her third or fourth baby, or she may earn a few pence by sending him out as errand boy. Yet, even under these circumstances, she does not necessarily forego the means of getting him an education, or a suit of clothes for nothing; even then she can send him to the "Sunday School" in the neighbourhood, and for clothing, she can apply to the "Educational Clothing Society." The object of this society is the lending of clothing, to enable distressed children to attend Sunday Schools. Only then let her child be a distressed one, and he is provided by the "Educational Clothing Socity," with a suit of clothes, which he wears all the Sundays of one year, and in case of first regular attendance at school, all the week days of the next; the Sundays of the second year he begins with a new suit of clothes as before.

"The probability, however, is, that by the time the boy is eight or nine years old, his mother does succeed in procuring his admission into the "Clothing Charity School," and there is the same probability she will continue him in it; she has strong reasons for so doing, for she knows that he will not only be clothed and educated at the expense of the Charity, but that when he is fourteen years old, that is, when he has remained five or six years in the school, he will be apprenticed by it to some tradesman, with a fee, varying in different schools, from 21. to 5l.

"At fourteen, accordingly, the boy is put apprentice by the charity to a weaver, and at the expiration of the usual term, he begins to work as a journeyman. He has hardly done so before he proposes to marry a girl about his own age. He is aware, indeed, that there are many difficulties in the way of their union, and that even on the most favourable supposition, their prospects in life cannot be considered flattering. He has saved no money himself, and his intended his equally unprepared for the expenses of an establishment. He knows that, working early and late, he can earn no more than 10s. a week; that in case of sickness, or the failure of employ, he may frequently be deprived even of these; and that his own father, with a wife and seven children, was in this very predicament but the winter before; nevertheless, "Nature intended every one to marry," and in the case of him and his beloved, "it is their lot to come together." On these unanswerable grounds, he takes a room at 2s. per week; and thus, utterly unprepared as he appears for the ordinary or contingent expenses of a family, he marries.

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