Thus it is clear, that instead of detaining the child in the enumeration of unconnected words for a period, which could not be short, if it be considered that the letters A and Z in the dictionary formed the limits within which the suitable substantives and adjectives were to be selected, the teacher ought at once to proceed to the formation of sentences, which our author describes as the "determination of the objects, their properties, and different states, according to time and other relations in which they are placed," and proposes to treat it in the following manner:

"This leads to the outline of a practical grammar, by the progressive exercises of which, the child is to be brought to the ultimate object of instruction, viz. perfect clearness of ideas. The first step of this instruction is to teach the child to speak correctly. This is not to be done, however, by the inculcation of rules; but by model-sentences, which the mother is to repeat to the child, and make him repeat after her, with the double view of cultivating his organs of speech, and acquainting him with the structure of sentences. These two objects are to be kept distinct throughout, and separate exercises to be gone through for their attainment; although the same sentences may, in both cases, be employed. The following are a few examples:

"Papa is kind.

"The butterfly is pretty.
"The cow is tame.

"The fir is tall.

"The child having acquired perfect ease in repeating these sentences, the mother asks: Who else is kind? What else is pretty? and vice versá: What else is papa? What else is the butterfly, &c.

"The following are a few specimens of other exercises of the same sort:

"Who or what, are what?

"Tigers are ferocious,

"Harts are swift.

"Roots are tough.

"Who or what, has what?

"The lion has strength.

"Man has understanding.
"The dog has a fine scent.

"The elephant has a trunk.

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THE SENTENCE.

"Who or what must what? (plural.) "Hailstones must fall.

"Children must obey.

"The conquered must submit.
"Debtors must pay.

"The laws must be obeyed.

"In this manner I continue these exercises, both in the singular and plural, through the whole round of declensions and conjugations; and, with special reference to the verb, I continue as follows:

"First, I form the simple connexion between the verb and the object. "Attend to the teacher's words.

"Breathe through the lungs.

"Bend a tree.

"Bind a sheaf, a stocking, &c.

"The next exercise adds a subject to the verb:

Attend. I attend to the teacher's words, to my duty, to my welfare; a person who attends to things is attentive, a person who does not attend to any thing, or only to a few things, is inattentive. I ought to attend to myself more than to any thing else.

“Breathe. I breathe lightly, heavily, quickly, slowly; I breathe in air.”

This part does not admit of a complete translation, as the compounds of the German words for "to attend" and "to breathe," are also introduced, and there are not corresponding compounds in the English language. The following is a parallel example of an English verb.

I form a piece of clay into a cube. I form in my mind an idea of a horse. Father, mother, and children, form a family. Savages deform their bodies by cutting and painting their skins, and wearing large shells, pebbles, rings, &c. in their noses and ears. Vanity deforms the mind. I ought to reform myself every day. By cultivation man may transform waste places into fruitful gardens. The caterpillar transforms itself into a chrysalis, and the chrysalis into a butterfly. Never promise what you do not intend to perform. Never propose to yourself more than you are able to perform. I perform on the piano with my fingers. I conform to the wishes of my parents, to the dictates of my conscience. inform myself by observing nature. My teacher informs me of what it is necessary for me to know. I ought to inform my parents of whatever fault I commit. I was informed that

ENLARGEMENT OF THE SENTENCE.

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my uncle would come to-day, but I find that I was misinformed.

The next exercises, mentioned by Pestalozzi, refer to "the gradual enlargement of sentences," as follows:

"I shall.

"I shall preserve.

"I shall preserve my health.

"I shall not preserve my health by any other means.

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After all that I have suffered, I shall not preserve my health by any other

means.

"After all that I have suffered in my illness I shall not preserve my health by any other means than temperance.

"After all that I have suffered in my illness I shall not preserve my health by any other means than the greatest temperance.

"After all that I have suffered in my illness, I shall not be able to preserve my health by any other means than the greatest temperance and regularity.

"Each of these sentences is to be carried through the different persons of the two numbers.

"I shall preserve.

"Thou shalt preserve.

"I shall preserve my health.

"Thou shalt preserve thy health, &c.

"The same sentences may afterwards be translated into another tense, for instance:

"I have preserved.

"Thou hast preserved.

"I have preserved my health.

"Thou hast preserved thy health, &c.

"As these model-sentences will, in consequence of the various changes which they undergo, be deeply impressed upon the minds of the children, I take care to render them a source of instruction and improvement; and, therefore, select my subjects altogether from the sphere of juvenile life.”

In the further pursuit of these "enlarged sentences," Pestalozzi proposes to elicit from the pupils descriptions or definitions of different objects and actions. Of this kind, he gives the following specimens:

"A bell is a hollow round vessel of cast metal, open at the bottom, mostly with the brim bent outwards: towards the top it grows more and more narrow, approaching the oval shape. It is generally suspended free in the air, with an iron tongue hanging down perpendicularly from the centre of

the top, which, when the bell is made to swing from one side to the other, strikes against the brim of the vessel, and thus produces the sound which is called the ringing of the bell.

"To walk, is to move on, step by step.

"To stand, is to rest the body on the legs, in a perpendicular position.

"To lie, is to rest the body on the ground, on the bed, &c. in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position.

"To sit, is to rest the body on a chair, form, &c. in a position in which it forms two angles.

"To kneel, is to rest the body on the legs bent in an angle at the knees.

"To incline, is to let the body down by a slight bend of the knee, which is often accompanied with a bow of the head.

"To bow, is to bring the body from a perpendicular into a curvilinear position, by a bend forwards, beginning at the head.

"To climb, is to move up and down a pole, tree, &c. by the aid of both hands and feet.

"Toride, is to be carried on the back of an animal, or in, or on, a carriage of any kind.

"To fall, is to come down by the power of gravity.

"To dig, is to cut out and take up a portion of earth with a spade, and turn it over to another place."

Some of these definitions, we fear, are like those in Johnson's Dictionary, or like the less learned ones on the lessonboards of the British and Foreign School Society, a good deal harder to be understood than the word which they are intended to explain. To render exercises of this kind both instructive and interesting to children, they ought to be conceived in a different manner. To analyse, for instance, the idea of riding, the children should be asked: "On what do people ride?" The answer would be:

People ride on horses.

People ride on ponies.

People ride on donkies.

People ride on mules.

People ride on the top of coaches.

The coachman rides on the box, &c.

The next question would be: "And can you tell me in what people ride?" The children would answer :