Such levity, let us pardon and dismiss. It is not my design to give an undue consequence to trifles. In the great cause, which it is the object of this convention to advance, a deep and unusual interest begins to pervade our land; and the improved vision, which magnifies and more highly appreciates the end, discerns more clearly the importance of the means. I call my brethren to witness, whether the embarrassment arising from an ill-constructed school-room deserves to be called a trifle. Is there nothing desirable in a quiet locationin pure air, agreeable temperature, ample space, and sufficient light?-in seats and desks adapted to the comfort and health of the pupils, and to the best modes of preserving order, and communicating knowledge?

Absolutely, therefore, as well as relatively, the subject is one of high importance, and deserving of more respectful attention than it has yet received in New-England. School architecture, among us, is an art, of which one man knows as much, or rather as little, as another. A school-house is to be erected. Observe the process. The affair is entrusted to a building committee; patrons of learning, indeed, but wholly unpractised in the routine of schools. These worthy men, faithful economists of the public money, proceed to calculate the greatest number of children that can exist in a given space. Each has his own favorite plan, in the very novelty of which he has found amusement, yet is courteous enough to yield something to the rest;-and thus, an edifice, monstrously inconvenient, and without unity of design, is the harmonious result.

The want of certain rules and fixed principles in the construction of school-houses, is at length beginning to be felt. School-rooms have been remodelled, new ones are visited, and plans are in demand. It is my present purpose rather to introduce the subject to the notice of the convention, and to commend it to the consideration of every member, than to afford any valuable information upon it. It must remain for future lecturers, to lay before you opinions longer agitated, better sanctioned, and more profitable, of course, than the crude hints of an individual.

In the construction of school-houses, it were vain to expect a perfect uniformity. The arrangement of rooms must vary, not only with the mode of instruction, but with the number, age, sex, studies, and classification of the pupils. Arrangements widely different from each other may, indeed, sometimes prove equally good. There are, nevertheless, several established principles which apply to every case.

*

In erecting a school-house, the first object is its location. This should, if possible, be quiet and retired. The ground should be dry, the air pure, and surrounding objects agreeable. For the same reasons that it is desirable to procure a teacher of pleasing address and happy temper, all other means of endearing the spot, and investing it with pleasant associations, should be diligently sought. This consideration is often overruled by the absurd demand for a situation precisely central; and thus the school-house, instead of being placed on a quiet hill-side, where oaks wave and birds sing, stands far down the valley, echoing forever the din of the blacksmith, and the roar of the factory. In cities, retirement is generally out of the question. Yet even here, it were desirable that the access should be through an arched way or alley, to a spacious court within. Such retirement would be worth more than the most advantageous display that could be made of the building as a public edifice. To spare the student the annoyance of stages passing every hour, and 'hourlies' every fifteen minutes, it would be well if that part of the street against which the school-house stands, were macadamized. Some protection might be found in placing the building, if oblong, with an end, rather than a side, towards the street.

Every school-house should have its play-ground. This should not lie in front of the building, especially in cities, un

* Some of these may be found in the School Manuals. There is a valuable article upon the subject in the School Magazine, No. 1, published as an appendage to the Journal of Education in April, 1829.-Wilson's Manual has lately been republished in New York, with improvements adapted to the Infant Schools of the United States, and contains an excellent plan for the construction of a building for this class of schools.

1

less screened from the street by a high wall, or fence. A large space should if possible be planked, or paved with bricks, and a portion sheltered by a roof. Here should be a pump, with good water, and some of the cheapest and least perilous articles of gymnastic apparatus.

In considering the interior of the 'noisy mansion,' we have to solve a variety of problems. Is it an infant school, or a high school?-for males, or females ?-in town, or country? -Is the course of study limited or extensive?-the instruction given by several professors, each engaged in a separate field, and requiring his separate recitation-room ?—or is the whole business conducted, as in mutual instruction, in a spacious hall, and under a single head?

Under all varieties, there is one point which should never be neglected; viz. ventilation. In the pressure of recitations, and the ardor of business, teachers are apt to overlook several of these minor points, less momentous, indeed, than the sciences they teach and yet perfectly indispensable. It is not my present business to treat of physical education, and I shall only notice two valuable modes of ventilation that are getting much into use; 1st. that of making the windows so as to be easily let down at top, and, 2dly. that of having oval apertures in the ceiling, for the escape of impure or heated air.

In this connexion, may be mentioned the warming of school-rooms. Fire-places are in general preferable to stoves, and open stoves to close ones. In sea-ports, however, there is less expense, if not less trouble, in the use of coal, than in that of wood. When a close stove is used, it should be placed in a corner of the room, against a fire-proofed wall, and very near the door, through which, when opened, the current of air shall pass between the stove and the pupils. This is admirably arranged in the Boylston School of this city. When a fire-place, or open stove is used, there should be behind the chimney, a space, or chamber of brick, communicating with the external atmosphere. Into this, according to well-known principles, the cold air rushes from without, becomes heated, and sends into the room, through orifices in the jambs, an agreeable and

wholesome warmth. In the English High School of Boston, this is the only heat obtained, the furnace being in the cellar, and the warm and rarefied air ascending into the different rooms through flues built into the walls.

To regulate the temperature, whether in summer or winter, every school-room should be furnished with a thermometer. A great error in the construction of the school-houses of Boston, and with which, it is believed, those of New York and Philadelphia are much less chargeable, is the want of sufficient space. More pupils are crowded into one room than is consistent either with comfort or health. Ample room is important from other considerations besides that of mere ventilation. Beyond a certain limit of numbers, or rather a certain proportion of numbers to the whole area of the floor, all the school evolutions become embarrassed. If possible, the number of seats should be such as to leave space for the whole school to come out, if required, and stand in straight lines, or in semicircles, to recite. I would not here be understood to prescribe the mode of conducting recitations, but only to recommend the amount of space to be reserved. In large buildings, one end should be partitioned off, making one or more classrooms, without desks, and merely for the purpose of conducting a recitation in greater retirement. This point is very conspicuous in the High Schools of New York. Judging from my own observation, those schools are conducted with peculiar ease, and wear the most cheerful aspect, where there is a wide passage between the body of desks and the wall, quite round In monitorial instruction, this allowance of space is indispensable, and, under any system, it is desirable, both on account of the increased airiness of the room, and as furnishing an agreeable promenade for the pupils in inclement weather. The space thus reserved is also valuable for the convenience of public exhibitions, for which the schools of Boston appear to make no provision.

the room.

To exhibit the comparative liberality of different cities in their allowance of space to schools, I have collected the following facts.

The Bowdoin School, Boston, 66 ft. by 33, receives 300 pu

pils on a floor.

300"

320 "

250"

200 "

Franklin School, Boston, 60 ft. by 40, "Locust St. School, Philad. 80 ft. by 50, "Providence High School, 98 ft. by 40, "N. York Male High School, 72 ft. by 47 Dividing the space among the pupils to each pupil in the Bowdoin School 7 square feet.

"Franklin,

"Locust St.

"Providence High,

"New York High,

*

who occupy it, gives

Of these, the minimum is seven and a quarter feet; the maximum, sixteen. Joseph Lancaster, the greatest of school economists, in his arrangements for cheap and extensive charity-schools, allows to each pupil nine feet.

It is often found inconvenient to occupy a considerable portion of the floor, owing to its proximity to the windows. It may here be recommended as an improvement, to place the windows at a greater height than has been customary. A space of wall under the windows, is thus furnished for hanging maps, pictures, printed lessons, black-boards, or, if necessary, hats and coats. Another advantage is, that the windows may be opened, if thus placed, with less danger from cold air; and a third, that the attention of the children is less liable to be diverted by objects out of doors. The height of the window-sill from the floor, should be at least five feet.

It is a custom of long standing, to place the seats and desks upon an inclined floor, or a series of gradually ascending platforms, for the purpose of giving the teacher a facility of seeing all his pupils at one view. This I deem unnecessary, except when the floor is of very great extent. It is more convenient, and far less expensive, to increase the elevation of the master's desk. It is surprising how small an elevation of the platform will suffice to give him a free inspection of the whole school.

* In obtaining these results, the space used for entries has been uniformly deducted.