That, my dear, is what we can not certainly know; the moon being at too great a distance for us to discover any living creatures upon it. But, judging from what we can discover, and from the general resemblance of the moon to the earth, we have reason to suppose that the moon may be in hab it ed by rational, in tel li gent creatures, capable of knowing and praising their Creator.

The Sun.

The sun is above a million times larger than the earth; and like the earth, turns round about itself. It was formerly supposed to be an immense body of fire; but this opinion is no longer entertained by those who appear to be best acquainted with the subject.

They think it can not be a body of fire, because, in that case the nearer we approached to it, the greater degree of warmth we should feel. But the contrary is the fact; it is ascertained, that upon very high mountains the air is much colder than it is below. Besides, by looking at the sun through a glass made for the purpose, we perceive some dark spots upon it, which would not be the case were it a body of fire. We conclude, therefore, that the sun is not a

body of fire.

What then is the sun?

The sun is understood to be an immense ball, or globe, surrounded with an illumined atmosphere, which acting upon the air that en com pass es the earth and other planets, in a manner we are un ac quaint ed with, produces light and heat.

Hat

A Topsy-turvy Hat. From Bentley's The Pictorial

Primer, 1842.

Mandeville's Primary Reader, New York, 1849, endeavors to teach words and their meanings by elaborate repetitions and combinations. The text makes a

very queer patchwork. Here is a lesson where the words the child is specially to learn are "par-rot, ti-ger, cam-el." It might have been just as well in deference to the pictures not to have talked so much of cages and carts.

This is a par-rot in a cage

against the wall

That is a ti-ger in a cage

upon a cart.

This must be a cam-el

Doubtful Statements.

From Mandeville's Primary Reader, 1849.

The text goes on to say:

Every tame parrot was once a wild parrot in the woods. Some men have several parrots in the same cage against the wall, but this man has but one.

Every tiger is not young, but some tigers are old tigers. Camels are high, long, large and strong.

The camel is not wild and fierce like the tiger in the cage on the cart, but tame and mild.

Some parrots can talk like any boy or girl.

No one should put his hand or his head in the the fierce tiger.

cage of

All camels will carry men and women, boys and girls, as well as a large horse, or a strong mule.

Below is a specimen of what the book can do when it undertakes to tell a story: —

Two boys went out in-to the snow, with a lit-tle sled. One was na-med James, the oth-er was na-med Sam-u-el. James said to Sam-u-el, "You dare not go on that pond with your sled." sled." Sam-u-el said, "Yes, I dare, but it is wrong; be-cause fa-ther said we must not do it." Then James laugh-ed and said, “What of that? Fa-ther cannot see us; for he is at work in the shop."

Was not James a wick-ed boy? He was. that God saw him all the time.

He for-got

Sam-u-el beg-ged him not to take the sled on the pond, be-cause the ice was thin. But James was ob-stin-ate, and went on the thin ice a great way. Then Sam-u-el went back to the house and read in his Sun-day-school book.

After Sam-u-el had read a lit-tle while, he heard a noise out of doors. It was James's voice. Sam-u-el was fright-en-ed, and ran out, and there saw James in the wa-ter. The ice was bro-ken, and James was up to his neck in the pond. The poor boy was scream-ing for somebod-y to come and take him out. Sam-u-el took a long pole, and held the end of it, and James caught hold of the oth-er end and crawl-ed out. His moth-er was ver-y sor-ry. She was a-fraid James would be sick; and he was sick a long time. But there was an-oth-er thing which made her more sor-ry still. It was his be-ing so wick-ed.

The selections I have made show certain salient and picturesque features of the old-time readers, but leave many books entirely unmentioned. I have said nothing of the readers edited by Lyman Cobb, who was the first to compile a thoroughly complete and well-graded series. Worcester's books soon followed, and Sanders's came a little later, and by 1850 Town, McGuffy, Russell, Swan, and others were in the field and the series idea was firmly established.

F

X

ADVANCED READERS

OR several decades in the early days of the Republic the Catechism, the Psalter, and the Bible continued to be extensively used in the schools, and served for drilling the pupils in the art of reading. But the child could not acquire a taste for reading from such sources, nor obtain from them information concerning history, or the world about him, or the world at large. There was a demand for more freedom in the use of secular material in the school curriculum. The national life was developing rapidly, interests were broadening, and a steady theological diet was no longer satisfying. Besides, the general unity of religious doctrine which characterized the people earlier had given place to diversity, and Calvinism had strenuous opponents. As a result there was a marked increase in the number and variety of the schoolbooks, and in these the nature of the child, his inclinations, tastes, and desires became more and more dominant factors in the choice and arrangement of the subject-matter. Instead of demanding that the child should adjust himself entirely to the course of study, efforts were made to adjust the course of study to the requirements of the child.

The first reader produced on this side of the Atlantic was compiled by the industrious Noah Webster, shortly after the Revolution, as the Third Part of his Grammatical Institute. Hitherto, the spellers and New England Primers were the only text-books containing exercises in reading. Webster's title-page describes his book as "An American Selection of Leffons in Reading and Speaking calculated to improve the minds and refine the taste of youth, to which are prefixed Rules in Elocution and directions for expressing the Principal Paffions of the Mind." From the prefatory matter I have taken the several paragraphs which follow :

Let each fyllable be pronounced with a clear voice, without whining, drawling, lisping, stammering, mumbling in the throat, or speaking through the nose.

If a perfon is rehearfing the words of an angry man, he should affume the fame furious looks; his eyes should flash with rage, his geftures fhould be violent, and the tone of his voice threatening. If kindness is to be expreffed, the countenance should be calm and placid, and wear a smile, the tone fhould be mild, and the motion of the hand inviting.

Mirth or laughter opens the mouth, crifps the nose, leffens the aperture of the eyes, and shakes the whole frame. Grief is expreffed by weeping, ftamping with the feet, lifting up the eyes to heaven, &c.

Fear opens the eyes and mouth, fhortens the nose, draws down the eye-brows, gives the countenance an air of wildnefs; the face becomes pale, the elbows are drawn back parrallel with the fides, one foot is drawn back, the heart beats violently, the breath is quick, the voice weak and trembling.