lessons on Science. They may be placed by themselves at the end of the book. In some respects this is the best course. The objection is that often books are read right through. Thus for months the pupils would have only Literature and for months only Science. This may be guarded against by a notice in the books to the effect that the lessons on Literature and Morals are to be read five days a week in the morning, and those on Science three times a week in the afternoon. For advanced students, the Literary and Scientific Class Books would be distinct. mar. GRAMMAR. Perhaps no branch of instruction is worse taught than GramA commencement in many cases is made with numerous dry definitions and rules, which are not thoroughly explained, and which the children do not know how to apply. The memory alone is exercised. Its study should not be commenced too early. The opinion expressed in the following extract is gaining ground: "M. Duruy, Minister of Public Instruction, in a circular to the Rectors of Colleges, recommends them not to torment their pupils by forcing them to commit to memory the abstract rules of grammar." He says: "Children of 10 or 11 speak of transitive and intransitive verbs, simple and complex attributes, incidental, explanatory, or determinatory propositions, circumstantial compliments, &c. One must have no notion of children's minds, which are averse to abstractions and generalities, to believe that they can comprehend such expressions which you and I have long since forgotten. It is simply an effort of memory, and not of the slightest use. If the serious study of grammar is of the utmost importance, if by an analysis of language we are led to discover certain laws of mind, if by a comparison of the construction of grammars among themselves we are led to find the affiliation of nations and races; if, in short, this study constitutes for a mind, already mature, one of the most fruitful applications of philosophy enlightened by history, it must be admitted that for children it is only too often an object of terror. Viva voce lessons ought to be substituted. Grammar must be reduced to a few short and simple definitions, to a small number of fuudamental rules, which can be illustrated by examples. It will be necessary, in proportion as the intelligence of the child becomes developed, to place before it extracts from our best literary works, to make it comprehend the different shades of meaning expressed by the words, the connection and sequence of ideas, and at a later period, the inversions and even the bold peculiarities of genius."* Pattison says in his Report on German Schools: "An important step has been made by banishing grammatical * Quoted in the Times, Dec. 7, 1866. lessons, i. e., the analytical mode of learning language, from the clementary school. In the classical school, grammar, as an elementary logic, subserves the chief purpose of such schools, viz., the training of the intellectual powers, and is, therefore, in place in such schools." In primary schools, language is to be taught as follows: "The mother-tongue must be learned in these schools practically by using it. It is not a knowledge to be studied, but a power to be exercised. The language instinct (sprachgefühl) which every child possesses must be cultivated by assiduous exercise, of which reading, speaking, writing are only so many various forms. The language instinct is the true guide through the intricacies of grammar."* When properly taught, grammar is in many respects a very useful study. The mental discipline is of great value, serving the purpose of an "elementary logic." A commencement should be made with oral lessons. No textbook on the subject should be used in village schools. In English Schools, grammar is chiefly studied through the manuals of Bain, Morell, and other text-books published in England. The Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab justly complains that, "No Grammar exists by which English can be easily and intelligently learned by a comparison of the differences in idiom and construction between English and the Vernacular of the scholar."+ Two or three grammars on this principle, adapted to different stages, are very much wanted. In the University course it would be very interesting and useful for the students to trace the decomposition of Sanskrit into the modern vernaculars of Northern India, and acquire some acquaintance with the "Science of Language" which Max Müller has made so fascinating. The connection between the IndoEuropean languages would thus be shown. The aid of Professor Cowell might be sought. Macaulay says:- GEOGRAPHY. "The importance of Geography is very great indeed. I am not sure that it is not of all studies that which is most likely to open the mind of a Native of India." It has already been mentioned that the study is not valued by the people generally. The Bengal Director says: "History, geography, and science they commonly regard as so much useless lumber which they are content to stow away with wares of real * Education Commission, 1861. Report, vol. iv., pp. 232, 233. value, simply because an inscrutable government will not aid them to obtain the latter without the former."* It is only very recently that geography has been taught in England on rational principles. The old course was to begin by attempting to stuff the whole globe, scored with mathematical lines, into the poor child's head. Professor Huxley says, "I doubt if there is a primary school in England in which hangs a map of the hundred in which the village lies, so that the children may be practically taught by it what a map means."+ There is gradual improvement. Penny county geographies, with maps, are getting more and more into use. Of course, a beginning should be made with the school-room, and the circle should be gradually widened. A child should get a good knowledge of his own zillah and presidency. A more general knowledge of India as a whole, Asia, Europe, &c., will follow. Canon Moseley remarks: "It is a great achievement to present vividly to the mind of a child the isolation of the earth in space, to disabuse it of the impression that its surface is an infinitely extended plain, or an island floating in the abysses of space, or the summit of a mountain whose base reposes in some fathomless regions unknown to us-to convince the child that the world rests upon no pedestal, hangs upon nothing, floats in space, not being buoyed up and not being supported does not fall." Mere lists of names are soon forgotten. The aim should rather be to give vivid ideas of the physical features of the earth and of the inhabitants of the different countries. Isaac Taylor says:— "A child is to be led on until he breaks over his horizon; he is to be exercised and informed until he can wing his way north or south, east or west; and can show in apt and vivid language that his imagination has actually taken the leap, and has returned-whether it be from the tempest-tossed Hebrides, or the ice-bound northern ocean, from the red man's wilderness of the west, or from the steppes of Central Asia; from the teeming swamps of the Amazon, or from the Sirocco deserts of Africa, or from the tufted isles of the Pacific, or the burning flanks of Etna, or the marble shores of Greece. "But besides going through the characteristic scenes of the four continents, as a traveller does; we must take the earth as a whole, or as a planet, and aid the mind in looking at it as from a point of view whence it might be seen, spinning on its axis, cloud-mottled, snowtipped, with its bulging tide-wave, heading on daily from the equatorial Atlantic to the northern straits; with its steady monsoons, and its * Bengal Public Instruction Report, 1859-60, p. 43. angry tornados, its fire-spitting craters, its verdant and swarming patches of life, and its arid expanses of sand."* The following text-books are necessary : Geography of the Zillah.—This should always be taught first. The home County Geographies would furnish models. Geography of the Presidency.-In Bengal, only one of each of the three great divisions of the Presidency will come under this head. Geography of India.-At least two text-books will be required, one for elementary schools, one for advanced students. The latest Geography of India, by Mr. Blochmann, is admirable, though probably it bristles too much with figures and some unimportant names might be omitted with advantage. General Geography.-Here also text-books of different grades are indispensable. Young children should not be offered a dish of bones, as is too often the case. Maps and Atlases. Maps are requisite to teach geography. English maps are easily procurable; the difficulty is about those in the vernaculars. Different attempts have been made to supply vernacular maps; some by government, some by societies, some by individuals. The failure has been to combine cheapness with excellence. Some maps are cheap, but the execution is wretched; a few are good but expensive. As already mentioned, the first map required in a school is one of the Zillah. Such maps will be numerous, and the demand for each will be comparatively small. They can be lithographed in India, but their preparation should be intrusted to competent men. Some of those published are very unsuitable. In addition to Zillah maps, village schools will require the following: Map of the Presidency or great sub-division. Map of the Hemispheres. Vernacular Town Schools should have, in addition, maps of Asia and Europe. Schools of a higher grade require a complete set of maps. It is very desirable that Government should secure the publication of a good and accurate set of maps. Even if the supply should eventually be left to private enterprise, it is important at the outset to furnish good models. The following plan was recommended by an eminent map * Home Education, pp. 272, 273. publisher in London, Mr. Stanford, who has prepared the beautiful series of maps issued by the Christian Knowledge Society - First, let very accurate outlines be engraved on copper, but without names. Next let the English Maps be prepared by transferring the outline to paper, and filling in the names. The English Editions would thus be furnished, accuracy being combined with cheapness. Next, let specimens of the English Maps and copies of the outline Maps be sent out to each Presidency, and let the corresponding Vernacular names be filled in by the most competent persons in the Surveyor General's Office. Great care should be taken about the shape of the letters and the spelling. The maps, when filled in, should be sent to London, and the names by careful tracing, or otherwise, transferred to the stone. Nagri can already be copied very fairly. There will be more difficulty about one or two complicated characters, like Telugu, not known; but this will soon be overcome. The first editions should be small; corrections can afterwards be made if required. There will be a continuous and growing demand for maps. It is best to send out annual supplies. Paste is very liable to be affected both by the climate and insects. The latter may be partially guarded against by mixing a small quantity of corrosive sublimate with the paste. Still, new maps are much better than those which have lain in store for years. To enable comparatively small editions to be printed off, as well as to avoid much labour and expense, the zinc plates, or stones, containing the maps should be preserved. The first cost is trifling, and there is a very great saving in the end. As the average The size of the Maps deserves consideration. number of children in a vernacular school does not exceed forty, only about one-half of whom study Geography, it is evident that large maps are not required. They are more expensive, and they are more liable to tear when exposed to the gusts of wind which often sweep through vernacular schools. If possible, maps should be of one large sheet; pasted pieces are apt to give way. Atlases are valuable for home study. An English Atlas for beginners, with good colored maps, can be supplied for sixpence or even less. Vernacular Atlases might be prepared on the same plan as that mentioned for maps. Exclusive of the first cost, they might be furnished at very low rates. Single maps might be sold, like the penny maps at home. A Terrestrial Globe would be very useful. The expense is the great difficulty; but perhaps one might be prepared sufficiently cheap to be available. Some of the boys attending the village |