cipal thoroughfares. Subsequently a tea meeting and concert were held in connection with the occasion. The buildings form a handsome addition to the town, and are admirably adapted to the purposes for which they were designed. Great credit is due to Mr. John Humphrey, the architect, for the taste and skill he has displayed in them. The total cost was £3,500, of which nearly £1,000 was obtained from the Government. The schools consist of three departments, and are adequate to the requirements of 1,000 children. The committee have secured the services of experienced and efficient teachers, and the schools exhibit every indication of future success. BODRINGALLT.-The annual tea meeting and public examination of this improving school took place on Tuesday, June the 30th, and passed off very pleasantly. In the afternoon the children assembled at the schoolroom, which had been tastefully decorated, and were served with tea and cake. Subsequently the children marched up in good order to the grounds of Bodringallt House, which were thrown open to them, and where they sung several school pieces in good style, and were treated very kindly by the Bodringallt family. In the evening they reassembled, and underwent a very successful examination in the presence of a crowded and admiring audience. Mr. Williams, who attended to conduct the examination, addressed the parents at the close. The chair was occupied by Mr. Davis, of Bwllfa, a gentleman who takes great interest in the education of the rising generation. The long proposed and much needed schoolroom for this place is likely to be commenced without any further delay.

TREORKY.-On Wednesday, the 1st of July, this well-conducted school underwent a public examination, and enjoyed its annual treat. Tea was served out in the schoolroom, which had been decorated very tastefully for the occasion. The remainder of the afternoon was pleasantly spent in various amusements, and in the evening the children reassembled at the Baptist Chapel, and passed a creditable examination in the various subjects taught at the school. There was a very fair attendance of parents and others, and the proceedings gave great satisfaction. The examination was conducted by the Society's agent, who also delivered a short address on the occasion. The grounds for a new and commodious schoolroom have been marked out, and it is intended to proceed with the buildings forthwith. Votes of thanks to the ladies, the inspector, and the chairman brought a very interesting meeting to a close.

NEW MILL.-The annual tea meeting and public examination of this very useful school took place on Tuesday, the 18th of August. At two o'clock the children assembled and underwent a public examination in the presence of Gwilym Williams, Esq., of Miscyn Manor, Mrs. Williams, and a few others. The examination being over, the children marched in procession to Mr. Williams' grounds, where a suitable tent had been set up for the occasion, and partook of an excellent tea which had been provided by Mrs. Williams. Having amused themselves for some time at various games, they reassembled at seven in the evening, and were put through another examination on mental arithmetic, grammar, and geography, and acquitted themselves in a very satisfactory manner. At the close, prizes were awarded for good attendance and to two or three of the most advanced in each class, also for needlework. This school seems to be doing a great amount of good, and is alike creditable to Mr. Hughes, who has had charge of it for many years, and to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, who are its sole and liberal sunrorters.

THE TEACHER'S INFLUENCE.

EXCLUDING from our survey schoolmasters whose incompetence is universally acknowledged, the remainder may perhaps be divided into two principal classes-those who devote their attention to the secular instruction of their pupils, and those who regard their duties as inadequately and perfunctorily performed unless they train those entrusted to their care morally and religiously as well as intellectually. The former are indifferent about any results that cannot be tested by a public examination, or assessed and tabulated by a Government inspector. Their efforts are exclusively directed to secure such fruits as will compensate them, in a pecuniary point of view, for the anxiety they have experienced and the labour they have expended. Their horizon is restricted; they never think of that which lies beyond. The latter and we earnestly hope that they constitute a large majority-deem the secular tuition of their pupils a small part only of the duty devolving upon them. They know that every scholar with whom they are brought into contact for any lengthened time will be largely influenced by them for good or for evil. They are keenly, sensitively conscious of the fact that the nature of the "fathers of the men" is yet plastic and impressible, and that upon them depends, in no trifling degree, their future character and destiny. Realizing this, they live ever as in the great Taskmaster's eye, and they fevently invoke His aid and guidance in the honourable, but onerous and responsible vocation to which they have dedicated themselves. They cast their bread upon the waters with the assurance that they will find it after many days.

To urge upon teachers of Christian character and experience that they should be exemplars to their scholars, would be a work of supererogation; but if there are any among our readers who perform their functions as hirelings, or any young teachers just entering on the business of their lives, we desire sincerely to impress upon them that the influence which they exert over those brought under their sway cannot but be pregnant with serious results. It will surely, though perchance insensibly and imperceptibly, help to mould their character and determine their subsequent

career.

Children are acute observers, and none are more able or ready to compare and contrast their master's theory and practice: if they see that his conduct is inconsistent with his teaching, he will fail to secure their affection and to win their confidence. The salutary influence which his instruction per se is calculated to exert will be more than counteracted by the faults which his juvenile critics will instinctively detect.

The teacher must be candid and truthful in all that he says and all that he does. His conduct must be consistent and transparent. The purity of his motives should never be open to suspicion. The children ought to be able to look upon him as sans reproche, as the living embodiment of sincerity and honour. "When once a child," says Miss Edgeworth, "detects you in falsehood, you lose his confidence; his incredulity will then be as extravagant as his former belief was gratuitous. It is in vain to expect, by the most eloquent manifestoes, or by the most secret leagues offensive and defensive, to conceal your real views, sentiments, and actions from children. Their interest keeps their attention continually awake; not a word, not a look in which they are concerned escapes them; they

see, hear, and combine with sagacious rapidity; if falsehood be in the wind, detection hunts her to discovery. Honesty is the best policy' must be the maxim in education, as well as in all the other affairs of life. We must not only be exact in speaking truth to our pupils, but to everybody else." *

Bearing in mind that children are influenced by what they see as well as by what they hear-and probably more by the former than the latterteachers ought invariably to conduct their schools so as to secure themselves from censure. They should always pursue the usual routine on the appearance of a visitor, and not suddenly change it in order that any defects of instruction may be concealed. The reading lesson, for example, should not be ended so that the visitor may be astonished by feats of mental arithmetic, or charmed by school melodies. The master should not keep dull pupils apart from their ordinary classes. He should not wink at offences for which at other times the delinquents would be chastised without delay, and afterwards administer the punishment, perhaps, with undue severity. If he resorts to such dishonourable, such mean expedients-though he may pride himself on the favourable impression produced on the visitor-he must bear in mind that he has been giving his scholars a lesson in fraud and deception, which many of them will be only too ready to carry out into practice. And should he find them attempting to cheat him in their school-work, he should take the blame on himself. His, rather than theirs, is the fault.

A young teacher, on assuming the charge of a large public school, discovered that some of the scholars had determined to resist his authority. All gentle expedients failed to reduce them to obedience, and he found himself, therefore, compelled to publish all contumacious offenders. Nor did he ever delay the chastisement because members of his committee or friends of the school were present. On one occasion when a culprit was beaten, a gentleman in the habit of visiting the school expressed his surprise. "I have been here repeatedly," said he, "but never before have I seen a boy punished;" yet the young teacher's predecessor was well known to be a severe disciplinarian. But he always chastised his pupils in the absence of visitors, and thereby exempted himself from their criticism. Is it unreasonable to suppose that the delinquents would regard him as gratifying his revenge, and not as executing a law enacted by the patrons of the school?

Teachers should never coach" their pupils for public examinations. Proficiency can only be secured by practice, and therefore a regularly arranged course of lessons, extending over a considerable part of the year, is not open to censure, nor is a special and careful review of their work to be condemned. But if a master imperfectly performs his duties during most of the year, and then compels the children to attend beyond the usual hours so that they may be "crammed " for the occasion; if he puts questions repeatedly in precisely the same form, and insists on exactly the same answers; if he gives certain sums over and over again; if he directs one set of boys to learn the chief events of a particular reign, and a second set the events of another; he may, perhaps, deceive the patrons of the school, and to some extent the parents of his pupils, but his dis

* "Practical Education," vol. i. p. 298.

honesty will be observed by the pupils themselves; and should they, in after life, prefer mean and dishonourable actions to honest dealing, we may safely aver that the example of the master contributed to this unhappy result.

The influence of the master's candour, or of his disingenuousness, cannot be too highly estimated. Some educators appear to think that they lower themselves in their scholars' esteem by confessing their inability to answer some particular question, or to solve some peculiar problem, and in their strait they resort to the most paltry evasions. We have heard of a governess in a ladies school who, being unable to answer a question put by a pupil, replied, "I am not disposed to gratify curiosity that has cost nothing, and therefore will not tell you to-day what you want to know, but if you can't, this evening, find it out for yourself, I will tell you tomorrow;" intending in the meantime to remove her own ignorance. Such a subterfuge may possibly succeed once or twice, but, in the long run, children will discover that their teacher is wanting in straightforwardness, and two evils will ensue-they will distrust his assertions, and their pure love of truth will be undermined. Let a master teach well what he does know, and frankly acknowledge his ignorance of subjects he does not understand, and he will gain rather than lose their confidence. Nothing is more preposterous than that the educator should seem to assume the possession of universal knowledge.

Teachers should always be scrupulously fair and impartial in their treatment of the scholars. They should not favour smart and clever boys, and at the same time bestow no words of commendation on lads who are persistent and plodding, but deficient in ability. That prince of educators, Dr. Arnold, tells us that when a youth of the latter class replied to his censure, "Why do you blame me, sir; indeed I do my best," he never felt so ashamed in his life; and he always in future showed his respect for lads who, with mediocre talents, worked their way up to a respectable position in his classes.

Praise should be given and censure administered with the most rigid equity, otherwise they will fail to excite a salutary influence, and, still worse, seeds of jealousy, dislike, and enmity may be sown, which will germinate with unexampled celerity, and bear an abundant crop of noxious fruit.

While firm and dignified, teachers should be kind and gentle in their intercourse with their pupils. They should ask themselves, whenever offenders are numerous, whether any blame attaches to themselves, and if they do so, punishments will be of less frequent occurrence. A schoolmaster, on one occasion, was instructing a class of little children, and their attention completely flagged-some laughed, others chatted, others were making funny faces. Not a few, we fear, under such circumstances would have attempted to restore order by the cane, but this teacher said to a friend who was present, "It is my fault; I have somehow or other not interested them; they do not behave thus when I teach them as I ought." An instructor so ready to censure himself would rarely be angry with his pupils.

Offences, however, will be committed, and when calm rebuke and remonstrance fail, punishment must ensue. But the mode in which it is administered will have a material influence over the pupil. A man of a

hot, irascible temper may chastise a culprit in such a spirit as to lead him to look upon it as an act of revenge for annoyance, a retaliation for injury. Thereby he may arouse a stubborn resistance and a vindictive feeling towards himself, against which he will struggle in vain. But, on the other hand, punishment may be inflicted with such evident reluctance and sorrow that the culprits mental pain will exceed his physical, and henceforward it will be his aim to conduct himself in an exemplary manner, lest he should grieve one so solicitous about his well-being.

If the teacher desires that his influence may be salutary, he must be earnest, painstaking, and industrious in his school. He must invariably be at his post when the time for opening arrives. If he is unpunctual, listless, or indolent; if he delegates the task of teaching to subordinates, and employs himself at his desk upon work which forms no part of his official duties, he cannot conscientiously censure his pupils should they enter the school after the classes have taken their places, or should they manifest a want of energy and industry in the prosecution of their studies.

The educator who is free from the faults we have exposed, who is frank and kindly in his treatment of his scholars, who earnestly desires to be a co-worker with God, will find his moral and scriptural teaching imbibed with pleasure and fraught with profit, because sanctioned by the propriety of his conduct and the integrity of his life.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION FOR 1867-8.

FROM the report recently published we extract the following statistical summary :

During the year 1867, as compared with 1866, the number of schools, or of departments of schools, which were actually inspected was increased by 1,005, and the number of children by 103,496, including 45,835 evening scholars, of whom 24,876 were examined pursuant to Articles 142-9. The number of certificated teachers found present in the schools inspected was increased by 742; of assistant-teachers (ex pupil-teachers), by 163; of pupil-teachers, by 564. The inspectors visited 14,591 schools, or departments of such schools, under separate teachers. They found present in them 1,391,100 children, 12,613 certificated teachers, 1,203 assistantteachers, and 11,519 apprentices. They also visited 37 colleges, occupied by 2,312 students in preparation for the office of schoolmaster or schoolmistress. In December last these students were simultaneously examined for the end of the first or second year of their training."

The general reports of H.M. Inspectors contain much valuable information relative to the influence of the Revised Code upon the condition of elementary schools. Mr. Binns says: "The beneficial effects of the Revised Code continue to be observed in many ways. (1) In the greater care and attention bestowed by the managers of schools, both in the way of direct superintendence and in their efforts to bring about a larger and more regular attendance of scholars. (2) Equally beneficial have been its effects upon the teachers, in stimulating and encouraging them to greater zeal and earnestness in their duties. Each division of the school now receives an equal share of their attention; correct classification of the scholars,