to nor take from without danger, and which, as far as concerns young and old, is in itself adapted to every capacity. Innumerable are the Guides to Scripture' and · Helps to the Bible'the Bible Lessons' and . Scripture Stories'—which, though they may faithfully give the spirit of Holy Writ, materially interfere with the letter. Two or three of these are very beautiful, and several more of them, we acknowledge, in some way edifying ; but this is not a walk for ordinary writers—and even as to many cleverly executed works of the class it may be justly questioned whether, in the ardour of exemplification, the clearness of the example has not been obscured, and in the exuberance of commentary, the simplicity of the text forgotten. Some are plain enough, but then what can be plainer than Scripture? Too inany, however, seek to give a meretricious interest, the taste for which it is of all things most dangerous to encourage. There is no greater mistake than to suppose that the Bible gains anything by a superficial garnish of sentimentality, or a margin of matter-of-fact elucidation—that the pathos of Ruth's devotion is enhanced by any suppositious romance on which the text is silent, or the miracle of Peter's Deliverance by a mechanical description of the lock which burst open. Some commentary is necessary, and that best determined by those most conversant with the individual mind; but nothing, under any pretext, ought to be allowed to interfere with the knowledge of the Scriptures, word for word, as they are. There is enough in them that children can understand, and what they cannot in no way suffers by being acquired young.

We turn to a class of books in which, the aim being more positive and the form more prescribed, less scope is given to the vagaries of modern ingenuity, though at the same time, from the certainty of demand, this line has afforded the utmost scope to the mere book-maker.

We mean the genuine schoolbook, in which whatever is most worth having in modern improvement is to be found. Parents and teachers are generally compelled, sooner or later, to acknowledge that, in matters of acquirement intended for wear and tear throughout life, all attempt at ornament is superfluous, if not cumbersome--and the whole fill-page family of the Peter Parleys, with their skin-deep gloss of colloquial familiarity—their 'well's,' and you know's,

school-books which differ from the old ones merely in a trans-
position of words. As regards the department of History, we
have at this moment fifteen juvenile Histories of England before
us (and these not all), of different degrees of merit—some of
them so dry that the pupil has all the task of Hume and Smollett
without the honour and glory; while as regards Geography,
such are the ramifications into Civil Geography, Historical
Geography,' • Political Geography,' · Physical Geography,'• Na-
tural Geography,' Grammar of Geography,' &c., that among
them all the good old “common Geography' seems to have but a
slender chance. Less harm, however, bas been done than might
have been supposed. Mere transposers have not the time to alter
much more than the name, nor the ability to go far wrong ;
while, on the other hand, several first-rate writers have employed
both, to the great advantage of elementary instruction. Never-
theless, we are inclined to consider that the chief improvement in
this department is chiefly attributable to the judicious retaining
and remodelling of old works; for much as Goldsmith may re-
quire rectification, and Mangnall continuation, no modern work
has excelled either. In passing, we must regret that much know-
ledge that is useful and interesting should be conveyed in the
form of conversations. Vivâ voce, this is a mode of instruction
which stands unrivalled; but in the transition to print, it seldom fails
to acquire a pedantry and mannerism, which, ever since the days
of Tutor, George and Harry,' have been very obnoxious to
children. If the subject discussed be merely hard information,
these flowery links in no way assist to beguile it—if it be one of
amusement and interest, it does not require them. In either case it
conveys the idea of filling a book for filling's sake.
and maternal tuition these roadside endearments are best supplied
impromptu, and in school they are somewhat out of place. Mrs.
Markham's History of England is one among the few exceptions,
but this lady's Conversations have so little talk in them as hardly
to come under that denomination. Altogether it is to be feared
that in the multiplication of works of instruction now supplied,
much time is engaged that might be more profitably spent.
Much, it is true, is taught that is worth knowing, but little atten-
tion paid to what is worth reading. Young people are directed
to authors who will be forgotten in a twelvemonth, to the exclusion
of those who have stood for a century; and girls especially leave
school with no knowledge of those standard English works which
ought to be put into them next to their Bible.

Recent times have produced many works in which vast exertion bas been made to bring down the difficulties of science to the comprehension of childhood; but without depreciating the

In private

intention, we are inclined to regard the pains expended as, in great measure, labour lost. Any one concerned in the education of children must soon become aware that all matters of science, however familiarly put, must depend mainly on the explanation of the teacher. There is no reason, therefore, why the best books should not be used at once; and this, in point of fact, is most generally done by those who teach such things with any success.

We must, we suppose, include under the category of schoolbooks—at least we know not where else to place them-those 'much-ado-about-nothing' systems—those ingenious teachers who 'climb o'er the house to unlock the little gate,' who care not how vague an idea their pupils may possess of the multiplication-table, or of the number of the commandments, but sternly insist on their accuracy of distinction between a horse and a cow,* and on their clearness of apprehension of the kingdom of a needle,' and 'the parts and properties of a halfpenny!' By which we beg to observe no allusion is intended to the conventional province of the one, or the fugitive disposition of the other-no assistance tendered as to the use of the needle, or the disposal of the halfpenny, but, on the contrary, the attention is solely concentred on certain minutiæ, which the negligence of all former ages had unaccountably left children to find out for themselves. Indeed it is sad to think how many a needle has been plied in mere vulgar mechanical industry, without one thought of its being 'mineral, artificial, metallic, opaque, bright, cold, taper, pointed, slender, useful, fusible, grey or steel-colour, hard, brittle, solid, steel.' It is painful to reflect how many a halfpenny has been pocketed, and, what is worse, spent too, without the slightest attention to its surfaces, edges, milling, impression, image, superscription, reverse, date,' &c. What has the world been about?

Another feature of this novel system is a species of exercise which, we understand, in those particular schools where they teach long words and little matters, is called Elliptical Questions,' but in a printed form assumes the name of Rational Readings.' The recipe consists in leaving blank spaces in the narrative, whether verse, or prose, for the child's imagination to fill up-a plan which combines the twofold advantage of requiring_no thought to do, and conferring no instruction when done. instance

For

James and Richard. James, to every indulgence in his power, and up, was quite a fine

A London merchant had from a boy accustomed when he was

He dressed expen

Now what can possibly be gained by such exercises as these? A clever child might possibly conceive that the blanks in the prose piece were typical of certain lapses in James's life; but the gaps in Miss Aikin would decidedly be too much for him. If puzzling the brain in search of a word be a necessary portion of education, a few charades from old pocket-books will answer the purpose much better. There is no child but who would look upon this kind of exercise as mere play, and get sick of it on that very account. And yet, reader, these are Rational Readings! and are mixed up pari passu with lessons on astronomy and hydraulics, &c., requiring a mind of about thrice the age.

*

tions, the minds of children are far more healthily exercised and generally cultivated than in a former generation. But, while gladly admitting this to be the fact, we are inclined to attribute it far more to the liberty now allowed them in promiscuous reading than to any efforts which have been made of late in their own department-far more to the power of ranging free over field and pasture than to all the little racks of ready-cut hay that have been so officiously supplied them. Children seem to possess an inherent conviction that when the hole is big enough for the cat, no smaller one at the side is needed for the kitten. They don't really care for Glimpses' of this, or 'Gleanings' of that, or Footsteps' to the other-but would rather stretch and pull, and get on tiptoe to reach the sweeter fruit above them, than confine themselves to the crabs which grow to their level. The truth is, though seldom apprehended by juvenile book-writers, that children are distinguished from ourselves less by an inferiority than by a difference in capacity-that the barriers between manhood and childhood are marked less by the progress of every power than by the exchange of many. A mere weaker decoction of the same ideas and subjects that suit us will be very unsuitable to them. A genuine child's book is as little like a book for grown people cut down, as the child himself is like a little old man. The beauty and popularity of Lamb's 'Shakspeare's Tales are attributable to the joint excellences of both author and transposer, but this is a rare exception :-generally speaking, the way in which Froissart is cut into spoon-meat, and Josephus put into swaddling-clothes, has only degraded these authors from their old positions, without in any way benefiting the rising generation by their new. The real secret of a child's book consists not merely in its being less dry and less difficult, but more rich in interest- —more true to nature-more exquisite in art-more abundant in every quality that replies to childhood's keener and fresher perceptions. Such being the case, the best of juvenile reading will be found in libraries belonging to their elders, while the best of juvenile writing will not fail to delight those who are no longer children. Robinson Crusoe,' the standing favourite of above a century, was not originally written for children; and Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather,' addressed solely to them, are the pleasure and profit of every age, from childhood upwards. Our little friends tear Pope's 'Odyssey' from mamma's hands, while she takes up their 'Agathos' with an admiration which no child's can exceed. Upon the whole the idea of a book being too old for a child is one which rests upon very false foundations. If we do not mistake his department of enjoyment, we can hardly overrate his powers of it. With