rules; and I appeal to every one who is in the habit of composing, whether, in the moment of committing his thoughts to writing, he ever thinks of the rules of syntax, except, perhaps, some of those now specified. I have known an individual, in the lower walks of life, who had never been taught grammar, nor perused any book on the subject-who wrote essays on physical subjects, which might have been inserted with propriety (and some of them were actually inserted) in respectable scientific Journals. The only inaccuracy which appeared was an occasional violation of the first rule of syntax above stated. A more correct idea of the construction of sentences will be conveyed to the young by the occasional remarks of a judicious teacher, during their reading lessons-by exercising them frequently on the rules above stated, particularly the first-in causing them to correct ungrammatical sentences and by pointing out the inaccuracies which occur in their written compositions,-than by all the formal rules that can be packed into their memories.

All the instructions alluded to above may be imparted without the assistance of any book or manual of grammar, and that, too, almost in the way of amusement. When the pupil has arrived at the age of 13 or 14 years, such books as 66 Murray's English Grammar," and "Irvine's Elements of English Composition," may be put into his hands for private perusal, where he will meet with a number of minute remarks and observations on the subject, which may be worthy of his attention. But, at the same time, he may be given to understand, that the careful study of good authors, a clear conception of the subject to which his attention is directed, and the exercise of judgment, taste, and common sense, on every piece of composition, will be of more avail than any system of abstract rules; and that a breach of some of the rules laid down by grammarians may sometimes be as proper as a strict observance of them. In short, in training children to accuracy, both in grammar and orthoepy, it might have a good effect were care uniformly taken, both in the school and the parlor, to correct every expression in their ordinary conversation that is ungrammatical, or incorrect in their pronunciation to explain the reasons of the corrections, and to endeavor, on all occasions, to induce them to express their thoughts with propriety and precision. In the schools in Scotland every child should be taught to pronounce the English language with accuracy, even in his

common conversation, so that the Scottish language may be extirpated as soon as possible, since it will never again be the language of literature or science.

SECTION VI. Geography.

Geography is a branch of knowledge with which every individual of the human race ought to be, in some measure acquainted. It is scarcely consistent with the character of a rational being, surrounded by the immensity of the works of God, to feel no desire to become acquainted with these works, and particularly, to remain in ignorance of the form, magnitude, component parts, and general arrangements of the terrestial habitation allotted for his abode. It is equally inconsistent with a principle of benevolence, and with the relations in which he stands to beings of the same nature and destination, to remain altogether unacquainted with the physical and moral condition of other tribes of his fellow men, and to feel no interest in alleviating their miseries or promoting their improvement. It is even inconsistent with the spirit of religion and the duties of a Christian, to remain in indiffer, ence with regard to geographical knowledge, for "the field" of Christian labor and benevolence is "the world" with its numerous tribes of inhabitants, which it is the great object of this science to investigate and describe. As the depositories of Revelation, of "the good things of great joy," which are intended to be communicated "to all people," we are bound to study this subject in all its bearings and relations, and to teach it to our children, and our children's children, that they may feel an interest in the moral condition of the inhabitants of distant lands, and employ their energies in diffusing Divine knowledge, in counteracting moral evils, in abolishing the system of warfare, and preparing the way for a harmonious intercourse among all the families of the earth. This science, therefore, ought to form a subject of study in every seminary devoted to the instruction of the young. Yet it is a fact, that, in the present state of society, we find thousands of our fellow men almost as ignorant as the horse or the mule, of the arrangements of the world in which they dwell, and of the various tribes of human beings with which it is peopled-as if they had no connection with their brethren of the same family, nor any common

relation to the Universal Parent who gave them exis

tence.

This study, like many other scholastic exercises, has too frequently been conducted in a dry and uninteresting manner, and very inadequate ideas communicated of its grand features and leading objects. Lists of the names of towns, cities, countries, rivers, bays, and gulfs, have been imposed as tasks to the memory, without any corresponding ideas; and the mechanical exercises of copying maps, and twirling an artificial globe, have not unfrequently been substituted for clear and comprehensive views of the leading facts and principles of the science. Physical geography has been almost entirely omitted in the initiatory books on this subject; and most of them are constructed on this principle, that the meagre descriptions and details they contain shall be committed to memory by rote. In this way, months and even years have been spent, and as little real knowledge of geography acquired, as there is of theology by the common routine of committing to memory the vocables of the "Church Catechism," or the Westminster Assembly's synopsis of Divinity.

In communicating a knowledge of geography, it is requisite, in the first place, to give the young a clear and impressive idea of the size, form, component parts, and general arrangements of the earth, considered simply as an object of contemplation, and a part of the creation of God. In stating to a class of pupils that "the earth is round like a ball," the reasons or arguments which prove this position should be clearly and familiarly illustrated. If they are near the sea coast, they should be conducted to the margin of the sea, to observe how the hull of a ship, leaving the shore, disappears, near the horizon, before the sails, and the sails before the topmast; and a telescope should be provided, that the observation may be made with perfect distinctness. They may be informed, at the same time, that a ship disappears from the view, in the same manner, in all parts of the ocean; and if so, the ocean must form a part of the surface of a sphere; and if the ocean, with its numerous ramifications of seas, straits, and gulfs, be of a spherical form, the surface of the land must be nearly of the same figure, since it is nearly on the same level as the sea, no part of it rising more than a mile or two above this level, except the peaks of a few lofty mountains. Where there is no convenient access to the sea coast, or the margin of a lake or river, the same

fact may be illustrated by the appearance of a person going over the top of a conical hill,- -or any waving tract of ground may be selected, and a little boy directed to walk from the one extremity to the other, over the highest point of it; when it will be perceived, after having passed this point, that the lower parts of his body will first disappear, and that the top of his head will be the last part of him that will be visible, as represented in the following figure.

The pupils may next be made to perceive, that if the earth be round like a globe, we might travel directly east or west, and, holding on in the same direction, without turning back, might arrive at the same point from which we set out; and then be informed, that the experiment has actually been made-that ships, at different periods, have sailed quite round the world, the course of which may afterwards be pointed out on the artificial globe. But as these voyages have been made only in an easterly or westerly direction, they may be led to understand, that had we no other proofs of the earth's rotundity, this experiment would only prove that the earth is round in one direction, like a cylinder or a drum. The roundness of the earth, from north to south, might at the same time, be explained from the fact, that when we travel a considerable distance from N. to S. or from S. to N., a number of new stars successively appear in the heavens, in the quarter to which we are advancing, while many of those in the opposite quarter gradually disappear; which could not happen if the earth were a plane in that direction, like the longitudinal surface of a cylinder: for in this case, we should see all the stars of the heavens, from the North pole to the South, on whatever portion of the cylindrical surface we were supposed to be placed. This might be illustrated by surrounding a terrestial globe, or any other ball, with a large hoop or circle, about twice or thrice the diameter of the globe, on which some of the stars might be rep

resented. This circle might be made either of wood or paste board, and the globe within it connected with a moveable plane to represent the horizon, as exhibited in the following figure.

In this figure, the inner circle represents the earth; A, the North pole, and B, the South; and the larger circle, ECFD, a portion of the celestial sphere. It is evident, that if a person be placed at the equator at G, he will see all the stars above the horizon C D, in the hemisphere D FC. If he move to the point H, 45 degrees nearer to the North pole, the moveable plane C D may be moved in the direction E F, to represent the horizon of that place, when it will evidently appear that he has now lost sight of all the stars situated between F and D, and that the pole star C which, in his former position, was in his horizon, is now elevated 45 degrees above it. In a similar manner it might be shown that no such difference in the aspect of the starry heavens could take place; in travelling from South to North, or from North to South, were the earth of the form of a cylinder; and consequently, that the fact above stated proves the rotundity of the earth in that direction.