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to get hold of such a proportion of these desirables that I could well afford to eat more lightly of the plainer dishes of the regular meals. Lastly, I believed that the reasons my mother gave why I ought not to eat between meals, though they might be true, had less weight on her own mind than another not named; which was that she wanted me to eat most of the coarser, cheaper food, and not so much of the more costly. I believed so, especially, from her own occasional example.

How easy it would have been, at that period of my life, when I was all open to conviction on any important subject, to have shown me by the simplest yet most forcible arguments, what I know now to be true, that the course my mother wished me to pursue, was exactly that which would be productive of the greatest amount of both health and pleasure; not only in years to come, but immediately! Had this been done, and had my conscience been thus awakened and enlisted on her side, how easy might the fond mother have gained the victory! But of all this she was unfortunately ignorant. She would have been at that period, as much surprised as I, had some confidential medical friend assured her that eating between our accustomed hours for meals, provided those hours were not too remote for the purposes of health, was a moral wrong-a sin against God!

Once more. I knew it was expected of me, both by my parents and teacher, to study well my lessons at school; to improve diligently all my time; and to behave in such a way as would be worthy of myself and them, and set a good example to the rest of the pupils. I knew this was expected of me, I say; and if not done, I knew it would give pain. But if I could pass away the time in such a manner as to leave the impression on the minds of parents and teachers that I was doing well, although I made little or no real progress, I do not remember that for many years after I commenced going to school, I ever felt any compunctions of conscience about it. It was quite enough for me, if I could escape displeasure and the rod. And this I believe to have been the case with my schoolmates generally. Could I have been shown, in a clear and proper manner, that I was sinning all this while, not only against my soul, but against God, as well as offending and wronging parents and teachers, I believe such a hold might have been gained upon my mind and heart, as would have saved the pangs I now feel at the thought of the loss of months and years of valuable time, and the destruction, by a bad example, of an incalculable amount of human character.

When will parents and teachers begin to understand this subject! Nor is it enough to understand it. The knowledge of

A World without Consciences.

469 the fact that their children are almost without consciences, and that the latter is every where neglected and slighted-a mere starveling in the world-will not effect a reformation. Nor will it be enough to lecture the young, at an early age, nor even at any age, on the subject. There must be example. Parents and teachers must first have consciences themselves. They must indeed, be as conscientious as they now are in what they are accustomed to regard as the larger matters; but they must be equally so in all the common and smaller concerns of life. Rest assured, you whose principal business it is to form character for time and for eternity, that you are not yet fit to give the first lessons in the great work, till you have ceased to pay tithe of mint, anise and cummin, while you omit the weighty matters. Be assured that until you do every thing-the smallest action of your lives-conscientiously; until, whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, ye do all as if the Father of your spirits were looking directly upon you, and requiring you to do it right, and until you have brought up the children committed to your trust with the same regard to the Creator's will, and with the same fidelity to conscience his vicegerent, you are not worthy of the sacred office you sustain; nor even of its sacred endearing name.

I am fully convinced that we might almost as well have a world without souls, as without consciences. Of what use is it to labor to educate or reform dead men? Enough of this has been attempted already. Such dry bones can never live, even if we raise them up, and give them human shape. It is in vain for the mother to teach, for the father to discipline, for the teacher to assist, for the operative to inculcate the mysteries of his art, for the legislature to enact laws, for even the minister to preach to men who have no consciences to reproach, in the hour when no human eye is upon them. Until we are trained to regard the suggestions of an internal monitor, wherever we are, and whatever we think, say or do, with nearly as much sacred reverence as we would regard the same suggestions were they embodied into short written sentences, etched on tables of stone and delivered to mortals, by almighty hands themselves on Sinai's awful mount, amid thunderings and lightnings and tempests, but little is done or can be. There is a work to be done preparatory to the full reception of the glorious gospel of the Son of God of whose magnitude and value few seem to me, as yet, to have formed the most distant conception. It is a great work, but a simple one; it is enough to employ the combined force of hand, head and heart, both of parents and teachers. It is the education or training of the human conscience.

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Hints to those whom it Concerns.

PUFFING.

THERE is no abuse of the press so detrimental to the progress of national intellect, as the present system of puffing. For instancee-a young author, too confident in his own powers, and burning for reputation, sends his juvenile production to an editor, stating his age, and the high respects which he entertains for the paper honored with his communication. The editor finds a few respectable lines-he wishes to encourage the young aspirant-he publishes his piece with a puff. Ten to one, the youth is ruined. He turns rhymer-never wins a name, and is good for nothing the balance of his visionary life.

A lecturer arrives in town, with his manuscripts, remarkable for nothing but crude thoughts or ingeniously concealed plagiarisms. He calls on the editor-compliments his fine tact and political or literary ability-and-asks for a notice. In due time a 0 is seen, pointing the public attention to the talented and popular lecturer.' The people are gulled, and the travelling literary ragman pockets the needful.'

A new invention is proclaimed. The editor receives a note from the proprietor, requesting a visit. The good-souled, easy driver of the goose-quill has no leisure to call, but the next week's paper contains another, and the room of the machinist is crowded. Many buy, and they find their wonderful invention' about as profitable as the Yankee's wooden nutmegs and beach bacon hams.

A new work on philosophy or political economy is issued.The author sends a copy to the editor, and the public sees an article headed

6 NEW AND VALUABLE WORK.'

It is bought also, and the old trunks are soon papered over, or the glazier cheated out of a job, and the windows renovated with the useless leaves. Such are the impositions put on the public. The system of indiscriminate puffing robs genius. If an indifferent article or invention is lauded as a production of high talent, what more can be said of an article or invention which presents the finest mind?

The system tends to this-the applicant is made a more dishonest man the editor is bribed, and the credulous public abused. It is high time that the error should be corrected.Louisville Lit. Register.

American Institute of Instruction.

MISCELLANY.

471

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION.

THE Ninth Annual Meeeting of the American Institute of Instruction convened at Lowell, on the 23d of August last, and continued in session, as usual, five days. From the minutes of the proceedings, as kept by Mr. THOMAS CUSHING, Jr., the Secretary, we have been permitted to collect the following facts:

The following were the LECTURES-fourteeen in number.

An Introductory Lecture, by Charles Brooks, of Hingham, Mass. ; on "English Grammar," by R. G. Parker, of Boston; on Model Schools, by Thomas D. James, of Philadelphia; on German Language and Literature, by Herman Bokum, of Cambridge, Mass.; on the bearing of School Instruction on the common duties of life, by A. B. Muzzey, of Cambridgeport, Mass.; on Man, the subject of Education, by S. G. Goodrich; on the past and present condition of Education in Greece, by C. Plato Cartanis; on Oral Instruction, by Ezekiel Rich, Troy, N. H.; on the Mutual Duties of Teachers and Parents, by David P. Page, of Newburyport, Mass. ; on Vocal Music, as a branch of Instruction in Common Schools, by Joseph Harrington, Jr., of Boston; on the Head and the Heart, or the relative value and importance of Moral and Intellectual Education, by Elisha Bartlett, of Lowell, Mass.; on Astronomy, by Joseph Lovering, of Cambridge, Mass.; on the Characteristics of a Good Teacher, by George Warren, of Charlestown, Mass. ; on the Literary Responsibility of Teachers, particularly American Teachers, by Charles White, of Owego, N. Y.; and on the School System of Connecticut, by Denison Olmstead, of New Haven, Conn.

The following were the subjects which underwent a public discussion: On compelling the attendance of children at School; on a more free use of Oral Instruction, in addition to that of Text Books; on the advantages of a fixed code of Laws and Punishments in a School; and on the expediency and practicability of introducing Vocal Music into our Common Schools.

Messrs. Charles Brooks, Greenleaf, S. Pettes, H. Mann, E. Bartlett, A. B. Alcott, H. Bokum, Jenks, H. W. Carter, T. D. James, Bradford, G. F. Thayer, F. Emerson, Allen, P. Mackintosh, and several other individuals, took part in the discussions.

Mr Brooks, of Hingham, gave a verbal account of the Borough Road

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American Institute of Instruction.

School, in London; and Mr. Wm. Russell, and Mr. G. F. Thayer, of the Edinburgh Sessional School, at Edinburgh

The following Resolutions were also passed during the Session of the Institute :

Resolved, That as all popular governments are, and in the very nature of things must be, dependent upon the general prevalence of intelligence and virtue for their stability and their efficiency for good, so it is the right and duty of these governments not only to provide for but to secure by legislative enactments, if necessary, the intellectual and moral education of the young.

Resolved, As the sense of the American Institute of Instruction, that it is desirable that the teaching of vocal music should be introduced into Common Schools as soon as it may be practicable.

Resolved, That the American Institute of Instruction feel highly encouraged and gratified in view of the increasing interest manifested in various parts of the Union, in behalf of the improvement and extension of Common School Education.

A letter was also read from M. Victor Cousin, of France, expressive of the interest he feels in the promotion of general education in this country, and of his sympathy with the American Institute of Instruction.

Of the general character of these various performances, we are but poorly prepared to judge, as we were obliged-for the first time in several years, to be absent. From the best information, however, we have been able to obtain, we feel ourselves warranted in making the following remarks.

We find a greater variety of character in the lectures of this year, than in those of some former sessions. If immediate practical utility be a prominent object of these lectures, we know not when the purposes of the Institute have been better accomplished, than by such lectures as those of Messrs. Page, Rich, Harrington, Warren, Muzzey, Bartlett and James. The lecture of Mr. Rich included both theory and practice; and we doubt whether a more important lecture has ever been given to the Institute since its first formation. We understand it was not popular at the the time; but this, as our readers well know, is no test of demerit. Mr. Rich is a veteran in the cause of Education, and such men are not sure, in any age, of being carried on the shoulders of the populace.

The discussions, though interesting and important, were less so than formerly. They were also less numerous. We are sorry to find these valuable discussions every year giving place, more and more, to elaborate lectures. It ought not so to be; and if the Institute is to retain its reputation for usefulness, it will not be so. We have uttered our complaints on this point, before; but our note of remonstrance, however feeble, is still needed.