surprised you more Would you believe, glass, could be made

"haps none of these transformations has "than that which you are now to hear of. "that so clear and beautiful an article as 66 out of so gross a substance as sand? Yet it is the fact, that "glass is made by mixing sand with the ashes of certain burnt "plants, and exposing them to a strong fire."

On this passage the child, besides describing generally how glass is made, is asked, What is meant by "art ?" What is meant by "human "art and ingenuity ?" What are "natural pro❝ductions ?" Can you tell me any of them? What is a "shroud? What worm has its shroud "converted into an an article of dress ?" Can you tell me the various changes through which that worm passes? Do you know any of the uses to which silk is put? What plant is it of which the fruit is converted into an article of dress? Are there more than one kind of cotton plant? Which is the best? Do you know any thing that is made of cotton? Can you tell me any plant of which "the fibres are converted into an article of dress ?" Do you know any piece of dress that is made of flax? Do you remember the various hands through which the flax must pass before it becomes a shirt? What do you mean by "transformations ?" What is meant by a "gross substance ?" &c.

The above examination will illustrate the manner in which the information communicated in preceding lessons is made to bear upon those which follow. We have no doubt, also, that it will be referred to by our opponents, as an instance of what they are pleased to term the absurdly desultory nature of our

examinations. We shall doubtless be asked what have the transformations of flax to do with the metamorphosis of sand into glass? Could not the latter manufacture be understood without any reference to the former? This is all very true. But if we would have the information, which we communicate, not merely to be learned as a lesson to day and forgotten to morrow, but to be permanently retained, and as it were incorporated with our pupils, -we must frequently recur to it, and eagerly seize every future incidental opportunity, which such allusions as those contained in the passage before us obviously offer for this purpose. Such a practice may not be highly valued by those, who know only the mode of teaching by formal and prescribed tasks; but it is to it in a great measure the Sessional School is indebted for its success. It is to this practice alone we can refer, in answer to the thousands of inquiries, that are daily made about "the secret," by which its pupils acquire and retain so extensive a range of information. On the foregoing examination, it will also be remarked, that, though it goes beyond those which are employed at an earlier period, it is not yet carried to the same extent as at a more advanced stage. For example, we should, at a later period, have asked the difference between "art" and na66 ture," between "art" and "science," and between the adjectives "artificial" and "artful," with other questions of a similar kind.

CHAP. XV.

READING OF THE MORE ADVANCED CLASSES.

Advancing still in Nature's maze, we trace,
In dens and burning plains, her savage race:
Man crowns the scene-a world of wonders new,
A moral world, that well demands our view.
Our volumes paint man's state, ere yet endued
With knowledge-man, poor, ignorant, and rude;
Then, as his state improves, their pages swell,
And all its cares, and all its comforts tell.-CRABBE.

AFTER finishing the Second Book, the children, besides Scripture, (which, as will afterwards be seen, is in regular use in all the higher classes,) read the "National School Collection," originally compiled, like all the other books of the series, for the use of this seminary. This compilation consists of Religious and Moral Instruction, a selection of Fables, descriptions of Animals,* Places, Manners, &c.

2

* The animals principally described in this Collection are those which retain their wild state: those previously treated of in the Second Book were domestic animals.

Historical Passages, and other useful and interesting information for youth. As the pupils advance in this book, each passage, besides being fully explained in all its bearings upon the subject in question, is subjected to a still more minute analysis, than had been practised in the former stages, with the view formerly explained of giving them the full command of their own language, and such general information as the passage may suggest.

Take, for example, the following passage extracted from "Wakefield's Juvenile Travellers," which, as well as the " Family Tour," by the same authoress, we would recommend for introduction into all libraries for schools or young families.

"SWITZERLAND.

"How shall I describe to you the vast variety of wonderful "and romantic prospects, that we have seen, since we came into "Switzerland? These charming views are varied with moun"tains, whose snowy heads seem to reach the skies; craggy rocks "and steep precipices, with foaming torrents gushing from the "crevices in their sides, delightfully intermixed with beautiful "valleys, adorned with groves of fir, beech, and chesnut; clear "lakes, rapid rivers, cataracts, and bridges of one arch, extend"ing a surprising width from rock to rock. The cultivated parts

"of the mountains are covered with villages and scattered cot66 tages; and then the insides of the cottages are so very neat, "and look so comfortable, that I should like to live in some of "them that are situate in the most delightful spots, were it not

for the dread of being swallowed up in one of those enormous "masses of snow, that frequently roll from the tops of the moun"tains, and destroy every thing in their way. In going to the tops of the high mountains of Switzerland, you may enjoy all "the seasons of the year in the same day," &c.

After reading the passage, the children are required to recapitulate, in their own language, the substance of what they have read, and to describe the peculiar character of the Swiss scenery,-the internal appearance of the dwellings of the peasantry, the particular dangers to which they are exposed, the variety of climate, and its cause,-and to mention any other scenery of a similar kind, which is nearer home; such, for example, as the Highlands of Scotland. But, as the passage is read in school, not merely for the purpose of communicating to them the direct information which it contains, however interesting in itself, but, like all the other passages which they read, to render them familiar with their own language,-to act as a vehicle for the communication of general knowledge, and as a field for examination on that which has formerly been communicated,—they are also called upon to answer some such questions as the following, or at least as many of them as the pupil is not already acquainted with, or the time specially set apart for such examination will permit.

What are the boundaries of "Switzerland ?" its cantons, &c.? What is the literal meaning of the word "describe? What does the first part of that word signify? Can you give any other examples of that syllable having the same signification ? [such as descend, depress, degrade.] What does the termination "scribe" signify? Can you tell any of its other compounds, with their various meanings ? [Here the pupil will mention and explain the words