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The corresponding payments in the case of Female Queen's Scholars have been 167. 13s. 4d. and 137. 6s. 8d., or two-thirds of the sums allowed for Males.

These Exhibitions have been paid to the Treasurers of the Colleges; but it has been from the first announced by my Lords that every such sum was paid on each Queen's Scholar's own account, so that if the amount of the Scholarship exceeded the amount of the fee charged by the College for admission, the Treasurer was a debtor to the Queen's Scholar for the difference.

My Lords are aware that the arrangements between Queen's Scholars and the Colleges upon this point have varied considerably; but the practical result in many instances has been that an average has been struck between the difference in value of the two classes of Scholarship, by admitting Exhibitioners of the first class without remission, and those of the second class without extra charge.

Under these circumstances, the Pupil Teachers have had but little inducement to study during their apprenticeship for the higher class of Exhibition, while the uncertainty of the demand to be made by the Colleges on Queen's Scholars of the second class has operated still more discouragingly.

With a view, therefore, to relieve the Colleges from embarrassing accounts with individual Queen's Scholars; to facilitate the admission (so far as payment is concerned) of all Queen's Scholars; and to afford a direct personal motive for exertion on the part of the candidates to get into the first class, my Lords have determined, as you will see by the enclosed Minute, to make one uniform allowance to the College for all Queen's Scholars, whether of the first or second class; but, at the same time, to distinguish the first class from the second by a direct payment to the individual Queen's Scholar.

My Lords have been guided in fixing the uniform payment by Mr. Moseley's Returns, from which it appears that the average fee charged in thirteen Male Colleges is rather more than 227., while Mr. Cook informs their Lordships that the lowest fee charged in the Female Colleges under his inspection is 177.

My Lords do not wish the amount of the Government Exhibition to interfere with the amount of the fee charged by each College to other Students for admission, be it more, or be it less, than 237. The Queen's Scholars are not to be subject to any demand over and above this sum, but neither are they to be entitled to claim the return of any part of it.

The Managers of Training Schools will continue, as before, to determine by their own voluntary act what Queen's Scholars they will admit from among those who have passed the prescribed Examination.-I have the honour, &c.

Correspondence,

R. R. LINGEN.

[The Committee of the National Society are thankful for any communication likely to assist SchoolManagers and Teachers, or otherwise promote the work of Church Education; but they do not necessarily hold themselves responsible for the opinions of the Editor's correspondents.]

To the Editor of the National Society's Monthly Paper.

THE CHURCH TEACHER IN HIS SCHOOL, IN HIS STUDIES AND RECREATIONS, AND IN THE PARISH.

It is proposed to publish in the Monthly Paper a series of articles under the above title. The writer ventures to hope that they will be found practical and useful. The subject of Church education is, perhaps, one of the most important which can well engage our attention at the present day, whether. viewed in its relation to the mass of our population, to its effect on society, or to the dangers and difficulties with which it is beset. No one can complain that it does not receive sufficient attention; the only danger appears to be that it may not be looked at in a sound Christian point of view as a thing which concerns two worlds-the present and the future. In fact, its inseparable connection with both must be admitted if it is ever to do the good expected of it. It has always been, and will be, the object of a good teacher and Christian man to act on the impression that mere secular knowledge can never sanctify mankind. This has been proved by many instances which could be cited. The only correct course for us to pursue is, to place first and foremost in our work the formation of Christian character, the communication of religious impressions; and when this has been done no amount of knowledge that we can convey will be dangerous, for it will fall on sanctified and prepared ground. On these principles this series of articles is written; and the constant readers of the Monthly Paper will find them confirmatory of many articles and papers which have appeared in the journal since the time it was first issued. In conclusion, the writer would venture to remind the reader that the great work of Church education can be helped forward only by the zeal of individuals, and by the circulation of sound information on school matters; and, therefore, in connection with the latter of these, he has no

hesitation in asking the readers of this, as one among other journals of education on Church principles, to do all they can to make it known, in order that it may do the good which its managers design it to do. The writer knows from what he has seen and heard during the last six years, that the clergy, school-managers and teachers who are in the habit of hailing with pleasure at the commencement of each month the device on the titlepage of this journal, do indeed find much in its pages which is useful in the work of Church education; and, therefore, under such circumstances, it is only reasonable to entertain the wish, that should they find this series of articles practical and useful, they will make known to others that which they may not yet know-the existence of a periodical especially devoted to the promotion of " the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church," which for some years has brought to light an immense amount of information on practical school-work which would otherwise have remained latent. Having made these remarks, I pursue my subject.

CHAP. I.-Introductory.

In the evening of life, when our sun is hastening to go down, or at that more awful time when earthly sights and sounds are fast fading and the senses are rapidly becoming weaker, to be able to look back for a moment on a life well-spent, and on duties zealously performed, is a happiness beyond description. It is a happiness which must have some foundation in the present time; though, of course, after we have done all we are unprofitable servants, and in ourselves have no merit. At the close of a useful life few men have greater reason to be hopeful than a teacher; for hundreds have assuredly been impressed for good by his lessons, and their effects may be considered as extending many ages downwards-perhaps to the end of time The teacher's daily duties, however, demand great preparation; and this demand is further increased by the internal and external difficulties of his office. Among the former are the langour and weariness induced by confinement and want of change; the wear on his finer nervous system, and the absence generally of companions of kindred tastes; again, there is the danger that his heart may grow cold in his appointed task, as year by year those on whom his best care has been bestowed are withdrawn from him; and lastly, the apprehension which will often present itself to his mind, that as age creeps on he may be compelled to bid adieu to his work, without adequate support for his declining years, to make room for younger and better men. These are the internal obstructions in the discharge of his daily duties. The external difficulties must not be forgotten. Those who are consigned to his care and instruction do not attend with sufficient regularity to give him a fair opportunity of doing himself justice and ministering to their good; they will soon leave him, each for his separate path in life; their parents do not estimate his labours sufficiently, neither do they second them as they ought to do; society in general (the pressure of whose opinion it is so hard to withstand) too often extols some subordinate matter of instruction, to the partial or total undervaluing of something of infinite importance, and it too frequently happens that those who have listened to his lessons, and been present to his mind whenever his thoughts have strayed over the probable future of his young flock, manifest on leaving his school no gratitude and little respect for one who has done so much for them. In a series of articles on school-work it would be impolitic to shut our eyes to these temptations and trials of the teacher (for such they are), especially as it will be one part of the writer's business to show how far they ought to weigh with one who has become an instructor in the Church for Christ's poor. It is sufficient to say here, that he who has cheerfully undertaken the office, will, in spite of such difficulties and impediments, aim at the improvement of his school in tone, discipline, and instruction. This task may be best considered by dividing our subject thus:

1. The Teacher in his School.

2. The Teacher in his Studies and Recreations.

3. The Teacher in the Parish.

CHAP. II.-1. The Church Teacher in his School.

We may suppose a teacher to have taken charge of a school in a completely disorganised state, and to be desirous of reducing it to order. His first step must be the arranging of the fittings of the school-room in the way best calculated to aid him in securing good discipline, and to facilitate the mechanical management of his school He must be guided in this matter, to a very great extent, by the shape and size of the room, and the position of doors and fireplaces. We may suppose the desks to be movable, and that, together with ordinary class-benches, they constitute the fittings of his schoolroom. He may adopt one of the following plans of arrangement: they are placed here in the order of their merits; the first being the best. There are one or two principles which must be

recognised in considering the merits of any arrangement which may be proposed. In the first place, the classes should be so arranged that the children in one may not be able to distract the attention of those in any other; and in the second place, they should be under the teacher's eye as much as possible. Desks should, if possible, be parallel; though the writer is not disposed to lay so much stress upon this point as many persons do. He has often met with those whose ideas on school matters seem to extend chiefly to the mere machinery of education, and whose estimate of what a school was really worth seemed to be founded upon the existence of a good room, of parallel desks, and large supplies of books and apparatus. Such persons would be greatly surprised if they could see (as the writer frequently does) how much reverence, gentleness, and intelligence, may be found in schools in which the arrangements are of the most primitive description, the books and apparatus of the simplest kind, and moreover very scanty, and the pretensions of the teachers of the humblest nature. Machinery must not be despised; but at the same time its importance must not be too greatly magnified. More depends upon simplicity of purpose on the teacher's part, and his success in conciliating parents when he looks in upon them at their cottages, than on unbounded supplies of books and apparatus, and perfection of arrangement. The importance of a good time-table must not, of course, be forgotten; and this question we shall discuss in some of our future Numbers.

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Note. The advantages of the arrangement in No. 1 are obvious: the walls may be used for maps and sheet-lessons without moving the classes; and the children in one class are not able to see what is being done in any other without looking quite round.

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Note. - The advantage of the arrangement numbered 3 is an obvious one. the classes are separated from the other two by groups of desks, and thus the noise is distributed very much. The plan numbered 4 is very objectionable; as the class squares are placed behind each other so as to face in one direction, any map, black-board, or sheet of lessons, placed in the squares marked 1 and 2, is seen by the pupils in those marked 3 and 4, and thus their attention is continually called off from their own work. The only advantage which the plan possesses is that of enabling the master or mistress

to see the faces of the children; but this holds good only when the teacher remains at one end of the room-a course which is by no means desirable, as it is necessary for him to be every where in the room, and to make his pupils feel that he is. The writer recollects producing a great improvement in the discipline of a school numbering nearly 120 boys, in a seaport town, by the simple expedient of placing the classes back to back, as shown in plan numbered 1.

The following suggestions in connection with the arrangement of fittings may probably be found serviceable by the reader. Seven square feet should be allowed for each child in attendance. A pupil when seated at a desk for writing requires 17 inches of its length. Class-benches for the higher classes should be 16 inches in height, and for the lower 14 inches. It is a common fault in schools to have the benches too high. The children are in consequence unable to touch the floor with their feet, and become restless. It may be taken as an axiom in school-keeping, that if pupils are at all uncomfortable in their position it is an impossibility to gain their attention. A schoolroom to be clean and wholesome should be lime-washed once a year if it be in the country, and twice if in a town. Benches and desks look much better when stained or painted of a light oak colour. The corners of the former should be rounded off.

Children ought to be surrounded with as many cheering influences as possible. With this object in view, the windows of their schoolroom should be well splayed, and pictures and maps should cover the walls here and there. In school hours the latter should be open; for a child gains by casting his eye on a map correct notions of the earth's shape, and this quite unconsciously to himself. In summer time it is a pleasing thing to see a few nosegays placed in the windows, and on the teacher's desk. Putting aside the advantage of cultivating in children a love for flowers, they impart a cheerful appearance to a schoolroom, and divest it of that repulsive cold look which it too often has. It should be our aim to associate with school-work every thing that can make it pleasant and winning, and the room no less than the teacher's countenance and manner may be made to do its part in this way. Dirty floors and walls, window-ledges crowded with tattered books, broken slates and rubbish, and desks full of things thrown together in the greatest confusion, can never teach order and neatness, neither can they increase the children's love for their school. Since the commencement of the war in which we are now engaged the writer has visited a school under a master remarkable for his cheerfulness, love of order, and simplicity of purpose. The room was low, and ancient in style, and stood in a garden at a little distance from the high road, having a meadow behind it. A babbling brook ran close by, adding its murmur to that of the regular industry going on within. Rich masses of foliage shaded in the summer time the heavy mullions of the square antique windows, while to the left stretched an almost interminable extent of undulating pasture land; and behind the school, at the distance of a quarter of a mile, was the village. Taken altogether, one could not help being pleased with the situation which had been chosen for the educational purposes of the district. The pleasure was far, very far surpassed, however, by the excessive neatness of the school within. Nothing was out of place; the walls were almost as white as drifted snow, the desks and benches had evidently been regularly scrubbed, the boarded floor was nearly as white as the benches, every cupboard containing books was neatly arranged, and each book was covered and numbered. Early sorrow had softened the master, and led him to love (as he was naturally disposed to do) his pupils. He always seemed anxious for their comfort and happiness, and his kindly disposition and acts were not ineffectual. Writing from the Hospital at Scutari, one of his former pupils thus speaks:

"Oh, mother, lying here you cannot think how fondly, how naturally my thoughts turn towards home and you. Next to you stands in my love my village school. I can see it now; how clean and cheerful it was-how much like my dear home! Not a lesson of Mr. — has failed to come back to my mind while lying here; and more than all, his love for us. I fancy I can see him now, smiling when we were happy. And in wet cold weather, I recollect him passing from one to another feeling us all about the shoulders, in case we were wet, and foolishly sitting in our damp clothes."

I shall make no remarks here as to the dimensions of desks for schoolrooms; these are best determined by the cast-iron standards or legs for them, sold at the Depository of the National Society. Drawings of these on a sheet may be had gratis by applying to the Superintendent.

Classification. After having arranged the fittings of the schoolroom, the teacher should classify his pupils. And here the question suggests itself as to the principle on which this classification is to be made. Undoubtedly, skill in the art of reading must be taken as our guide in this important part of school organisation. A school which is not very large may invariably be divided into four sections or classes: the first, consisting of children who are learning the alphabet; the second, of those who are reading

monosyllables; the third, of those who are reading monosyllables mixed with a few words of greater difficulty; the fourth, of those who are reading ordinary prose and poetry.‡

Children who are able to read together with profit will often be found very unequal in their knowledge of arithmetic. To keep one back in this subject for the sake of another is an injustice towards the child, the parent, and the teacher himself, which ought not for a moment to be tolerated. On the other hand, an entirely new classification for arithmetic would be attended in the majority of schools with considerable noise and confusion, often to the total subversion of the discipline gained at other times at an immense expenditure of labour. Besides, if this were not the case we should require a separate class for every two rules, and a large staff of monitors; and I need not say, that when a teacher is compelled to keep many monitors at work, his first class is almost entirely broken up. The classification, then, according to reading, is evidently suggestive of a difficulty, that is to say, when the arithmetical knowledge is to be given. It may, however, be thus removed. Each pupil in an upper class should be provided (or rather provide himself) with a small book of well-arranged examples in the rules of arithmetic; such, for instance, as that by the Rev. W. N. Griffin (National Society's Depository), from which he should silently work. When a class is so engaged, it should be superintended by the master, or by a monitor, who, of course, will help pupils over their difficulties, and prevent their helping each other, an office they are too fond of taking into their own hands. Occasionally there should be a kind of field-day in arithmetic; oral, of course. The black-board must then be used. In the lower classes books of examples will not be found necessary, as the pupils are not very unequal in their arithmetical attainments. Two sums set on the black-board at a time, the one to be done by every other child in the class, and the other by the remaining children, will generally suffice. It is only when pupils get into the higher classes that they separate in their work in arithmetic. Having shown how a great difficulty connected with classification may be avoided, we may pass on to the important subject of time-tables; and here we must inquire what features a really good time-table ought to exhibit. That subjects may not be written down in any order is evident; but that they too often are is a fact which any one who has had much experience in school matters will assert without much hesitation. The writer has compared tables in many parts of the country, and has also arranged one which he hopes will be found less objectionable than many he has seen; but this, together with other matters, will form the subject of the next article.

(To be continued in the September Number.)

NOTES ON MINUTES OF COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL FOR 1854-5.

A.

DEAR SIR,-As the Minutes of the Committee of Council are not likely in future to fall into the hands of schoolmasters generally without purchase, it has struck me that a few practical remarks, embodying the most useful of the information which the Reports of her Majesty's Inspectors contain, might be worth your acceptance for insertion in the Monthly Paper. If you coincide with me in this idea, I shall be happy to supply you with a continuation of the subjoined.-I am, &c. W. F. RICHARDS.

Central School.

1.-School Buildings and Fittings.

Many very useful and practical suggestions are to be found in the present volume of Minutes upon the subject of school buildings and fittings.

It will be remembered that, some three or four years ago, the Committee of Council issued from their Office plans in which no open space was allowed for grouping classes of children on the floor of the school-room. These plans were then considered by most experienced persons to be objectionable on many grounds; and it is now gratifying to observe that no less than four of the Inspectors express opinions adverse to them.

Mr. Tinling recommends, at page 458 of the Minutes, "1st, to place the desks in parallel lines, three deep and sufficient in number to accommodate about one half of the children in attendance in school; 2d, to leave a certain amount of the area of the schoolroom open and free."

Mr. Kennedy (page 526) considers that "the rooms are being made too narrow and confined in most of the plans recommended from the Privy Council Office ;" and mentions several grounds for his objections: 1. The noise is excessive. 2. There is not adequate

* Such, for example, as the reading in the First Reading-Book (New Series). Such reading as is contained in the Second Book (New Series).

Such as is contained in the Third Reading-Book (New Series), and the Class-Book of Poetry. All these may be had at the National Society's Depository.

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