number, under the title of the Phonetic and Executive Councils of the Phonographic Corresponding Society, have devoted themselves to the more immediate consideration of the difficulties attendant upon the practical details of the work. It should also be mentioned, that upwards of three hundred pounds have been raised by voluntary subscription, to defray the necessary expenses of cutting and casting new types for the phonotypic experiments. "This is the present state of the 'Writing and Printing Reform' in this country. At least an equal degree of success has attended the promulgation of phonography in the United States. A bi-monthly newspaper, printed in the phonotypic character, is issued at Boston, and many phonographic lecturers and teachers are engaged in disseminating the principles of the reform throughout the Union. The great encouragement we have received, and are continually receiving, in this work, leaves us no room to doubt of ultimate success.

66 Bath, June 18, 1847."

THE FOUNDERS OF INFANT SCHOOLS.

The Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review, in a recent number, recognises our friend, Mr. James Buchanan, as the originator of Infant School discipline. A pension of one hundred pounds per annum having been recently settled on Mr. Wilderspin by the government, in acknowledgment of his labours in this cause, proved the occasion of an inquiry, through the press, into the validity of his claim; and though the fact of some other individual having the priority was elicited, a general consensus in the award to Mr. Wilderspin, for his continued exertions, was also expressed. Recently, however, as we learn from the Review mentioned above, inquiries have been instituted through the Colonial office for James Buchanan, and a copy of a letter received from the Cape of Good Hope is given, in which the secretary is informed that the object of his inquiry sailed for New Zealand in 1839, but having called at the Cape on his passage, was prevailed on by his sons, who were settled in that colony, to stay with them, and that he is now residing there, together with his daughter, who teaches an infant school at Rondebach, near Cape Town, he himself being in an infirm state of health.

An extract is also given from the Cape

Town Journal, which is edited by Mr. William Buchanan, the writer of the letter mentioned above, and son to the apostle of infant education, from which it appears that James Buchanan opened the first infant school at Brewer's Green, which was afterwards removed to Westminster, under the patronage of Benjamin Smith, Esq., M.P. for Norwich, Lord Brougham, Lord Lansdowne, John Smith, James Mills, Joseph Wilson, and "last, not least," Zachariah Macauley. It was during the continuance of this establishment at Brewer's Green that Mr. Wilderspin was made acquainted with the system by James Buchanan, who, it is understood, rescued him from a more menial employment. This premised, the reader will understand the animus of the following extract from another Colonial newspaper,-the African Journal :

"In our observations upon the article on Infant Schools in the Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review for October, 1846, which we had marked for notice, we have been a little anticipated by our contemporary of the Cape Town Mail, on whom falls all the merit and all the honour for we believe it is to the father of that individual that the subject chiefly applies. And thus it is that modest merit is often buried in obscurity, and thus do some run off with the prize which in all justice should be shared by others. No objection has been raised to the annuity or pension granted to Mr. Wilderspin-who appears to have been worthy of his reward,-but he seems to have forgotten to render honour where honour was due, and to have lost sight of the head and founder of that system which brought him fame and comfort

"Were Mr. James Buchanan now in London, instead of being sepulchred in Grave-street, Cape Town, his high claim to public esteem might not be long unrewarded. Fame, with her trumpet-tongue, would spread his deserts through the press; and although as a Moravian or Swedenborgian teacher, he might not meet with much countenance or success in the neighbourhood of the Old Church sanctuary, still, as an admirer of that angelic and intellectual spirit whose love and wisdom are now shining through the letter of Scripture, (and whose theology and philosophy are spreading and enlightening in all directions) he would not be left solitary as a pelican in the wilderness, but have companions of his own sphere."

These observations acquire fresh interest when it is known that Mr. Wilderspin is himself a Swedenborgian. The writer remembers the time when he and his family were associated with New Church friends, and there are some in London old enough to remember that his father was the means of introducing the writings to some now living. Mr. Wilderspin the elder was, in fact, in the employ of Mr. Hindmarsh, while his printing establishment in Clerkenwell was in operation, and his interest was powerfully awakened by the "waste" which came into his hands, especially by some sheets of the Conjugial Love, which he carried away and read to some of his acquaintance; in this way one family, at least, was introduced to a knowledge of Swedenborg's writings. It would be a hard fate, therefore, if the open profession of New Church principles, by the real founder of infant education, should be the means of depriving him of his reward, now that the facts of the case are known to government. At the same time it is exceedingly gratifying to have the opportunity of establishing such an honourable connexion between the great cause of education and the New Church. It proves incontestably that the regenerating influence of her doctrines upon society at large is a 'great fact," which may here after stand proof against any amount of scepticism.

66

CORRESPONDENT.

ANNOUNCEMENT BILLS.-We live in an age when the old proverb "There is reason in roasting eggs," meets with a full exemplification. Every branch of practice has its philosophy. Announcements of all kinds are carefully prepared according to acute calculations. We desire to draw strangers to our places of worship, in order that they may learn the truth. To induce them to come, the subjects announced must be attractive. It is not enough to say, A discourse will be delivered "On Redemption," "On Charity and Faith," "On the way of Salvation." People will say, "These are every-day subjects; we know all about them." Our announcements must propose to tell them something they wish to know; or supposing the subject be a plain one, it must be put forth in such terms as to declare clearly some generally unknown truth; thus, instead of saying "On Redemption,"-let the subject be thus announced-" when it will be proved that Jesus Christ redeemed mankind from the bondage of evil spirits, and

not from the wrath of another Divine Person, as commonly believed." And instead of saying "On the Divinity of Jesus Christ," say, "The inconsistency of Christians exposed, in calling Jesus Christ God, while they refuse to worship him as such." To declare some great truth in our announcements may do almost as much good as would result from a person's coming to hear the discourse. It may reach many who will not come, but who will find that they cannot always prevent thought from busying itself on a new and strange proposition, when it comes upon their ears unexpectedly. Suppose at the foot of ALL our announcement bills and advertisements the following statement were made, can any one doubt the good it would do?— "N.B. The above chapel is dedicated erclusively to the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. The time will arrive, it is hoped, ere long, when Christians will regard it as a grievous inconsistency to call Jesus Christ GOD,- God over all, blessed for evermore,' and yet refuse to worship Him as God ONLY! Is not Jesus Christ God manifest in the flesh?' Then why refuse to worship Him as such?” A HELPER.

THE RIGHT TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.Luther wrote and published no less than eleven hundred works, in a few years, most of them small tracts or single sheets. He published at one time from two to three hundred in a single year. It was the multiplication of these tracts and books by the press, and their plentiful distribution among the multitudes, that gave power to the reformer's principles, and shook the power of the popedom, and worked so great a reformation. It was chiefly by a plentiful supply of cheap tracts that Wesley gained his influence with the masses of our countrymen, and worked such happy wonders in our land. It was chiefly by means of a plentiful supply of cheap tracts, sold cheap, or freely given away, that the early Quakers shook the nation, and, in spite of some excesses in their conduct, and some mysteries and errors in their opinions, almost frightened the priests and sectarians out of their wits. It was chiefly by means of tracts that Joseph Livesey, and some of his fellow-workers, roused the country on the subject of teetotalism, and gained for the principle such a firm and general lodging in the souls of the community. Livesey did not lecture so much; but his tracts, the fair expounders of his prin

publications for the young. Much has already been done, especially by our American brethren, in this important department of instruction, but the great territory of useful labour in this province of literature, is as yet scarcely begun to be cultivated. The author, in the Preface, gives an idea of the object and nature of the work:

"Many of the ideas (says he) contained in this little work, were originally published by the author inthe first volume of the Juvenile Magazine; and would, in all probability, have remained there, had not a number of friends urgently requested him to print the story in a separate form. On proceeding to comply with this request, it was found that the diction could be improved; and in so doing the tale grew to double its former size. Many inferior parts of the original have been left out, and fresh matter, of a more instructive and interesting kind, introduced. In committing the story to a discerning public, the author makes no pretences to originality; for he is indebted to the beautiful Fairy Tale' of Mrs. Child, for his first idea. It has been his endeavour to present, in a pleasing manner, proper motives to the young, and to show the progress of the mind in principles of virtue; and it is his sincere hope that the effort may tend to produce some good to his fellow creatures."

To write successfully for the young requires a genius suited to the task. Some may think that the labour is easy, but it is not so. The difficulty arises chiefly in the capacity of letting ourselves down to the states of the children for whom we write. If our ideas are simple and adequate to the experience and capacities of children, our expressions and language may not be correspondently suited and happy, and vice versa. The writer in question possesses talent for the work, and he has endeavoured to employ it to the advantage of the young; but we seriously recommend that when a new edition of this little work is required, the following points be especially considered. First, that no such character as Aucune can be supposed to have existed in the Golden Age: the scene should be changed to the present age, and the difference between the sisters should be that which exists between persons who are in states of obedience, humility, and consequent regeneration, and those who are not. Secondly, it is contrary to that order of

Died, on Friday the 10th of September, 1847, at Chalford, Gloucestershire, in the fifty-first year of his age, Mr. Joseph Chapman Readhouse. This gentleman formerly resided in Norwich, and was in his early life a member of a Baptist congregation in that city, and was universally respected as a sincere Christian and good man. During the early part of the ministry of Mr. Goyder at Norwich, about the year 1835, Mr. Readhouse was induced to attend occasionally the New Church worship, and to hear the Heavenly doctrines explained. He was a thinking and serious mind, and soon perceived that there were beauties and solid consolations in the truths and doctrines of the New Church which were not to be found in any of the sects. After calm consideration, and many interviews and conversations with Mr. Goyder, he sent his resignation to the Baptist community, and entered the New Church by baptism. Here it was that he found his rest, and was always delighted when engaged in extending a knowledge of those sacred truths which had imparted so many blessings to his own soul. In 1845 he removed with his family to Chalford, to fill a situation in the firm of Hook and

Co., the duties of which he most faithfully performed. The disease with which he was afflicted, and which terminated in his bodily dissolution, was cancer of the stomach. This, for the last four months, caused him the most acute and painful sufferings, yet in all these he was the very pattern of resignation, and the true Christian shone forth in placid confidence, as if to show the triumph of the soul over the pains and strugglings of the body. His firm conviction of the truth, that the Lord Jesus Christ was his only God and Saviour, filled his soul with the brightest hopes and the most joyous expectations. He knew and he felt that death was nothing less than a continuation of life, and that as the earthly world receded the heavenly would come forth to view. He has now passed through his probationary state! His work is done! and no doubt can be entertained of his entrance upon a peaceful, happy, and glorious immortality.

On Sunday evening, September 19th, at Chalford, Mr. Goyder preached an impressive funeral sermon from a text chosen by the deceased, (Rev. xiv. 13) to a full church.

T. G.