would cheerfully come forward and voluntarily throw in their mite; but this is not the case; many of them do not see the danger until it comes upon them, therefore it behoves the legislaturethose who are the guardians of us all-to endeavour to avert the danger; and where the poor will not do that which would evidently be for the good of themselves as well as of their children, I can see no impropriety in compelling them to do it, provided that the religious scruples of many, before mentioned, are not lost sight of; for we have certainly no right to compel a man to have his child taught that which he deems to be erroneous. There are many leading truths which may be taught children, to which few persons would object, and these might be taught generally; but where certain points have been subject to controversy, without coming to any final decision, such points should be avoided, and left to the decision of those who are most interested therein. I have merely thrown out these suggestions, as an opinion, the value of which must be estimated by my readers. I can only say, that I would most willingly pay my share of the tax, come when it may; but, if never adopted, I shall not feel grieved, so long as the public see the necessity of taking care of children, and form schools or asylums for their protection. The means by which such a desirable object may be accomplished, is of little consideration; yet every one who desires its accomplishment, is in duty bound, to suggest any thing he may deem likely to facilitate its extension. CHAPTER VI. QUALIFICATIONS OF A MASTER AND MISTRESS. Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, THOMSON. PERHAPS no one ever felt his own insufficiency, in any situation, more strongly than I did, whilst in charge of the Spitalfields' Infant School, which induces me to make a few observations on the qualifications of a master and mistress. It is a very common idea, that almost any person can educate little children, and that it requires little or no ability; but it will be found that this is a great mistake, for if it be the business of such a person to lay the foundation of religion and virtue in the infant mind, with every grace that can adorn the Christian character, there must be something more done than merely saying a few printed lessons by rotation, without knowing whether the children really understand what they say. How frequently may we find children, ten or twelve years of age, who cannot answer the most simple question, and who nevertheless have been to school for years. To give the children ideas, is a part of education seldom thought of; but if we really wish to form the character of the rising generation, and to improve the condition of society generally, attention must be paid to these things. Little, I should think, need be said to prove, that few ideas are given in Dames' Schools. There may be a few of them as to which an exception should be made; but generally speaking, where the children of mechanics are usually sent before the age of seven years, no such thing is thought of. The mind of a child is compared, by Mr. Locke, to a sheet of blank paper, and if it be the business of a tutor to inscribe lessons on this mind, it will require much patience, gentleness, perseverance, self-possession, energy, knowledge of human nature, and above all, piety, to accomplish so great a work with propriety and success. Whoever is in possession of these requisites, may be considered as a proper person to manage an infant school, and whoever has charge of such an institution will find numerous opportunities of displaying each and all of these qualifications. It would be almost useless to attempt to cure the bad tempers of children, if the master should encourage and manifest such evil tempers in his own conduct; for children are not indifferent to what they see in others: they certainly take notice of all our movements, and consequently the greatest caution is necessary. It will be of little purpose to endeavour to inculcate suitable precepts in the minds of the children, unless they see them shine forth in the conduct of the teacher. How awkward it would sound, if, when a teacher was explaining to his pupils the sin of swearing, a child should say, "Please, sir, 1 heard you swear;" and it is just the same as to those faults which some may consider of minor importance, such as the indulgence of angry passions, and the like, in the presence of children. Persons who have charge of children cannot be too circumspect,-their characters can never be too good, as every trifling fault will be magnified both by parents and children. Indeed the character of such a person is of so much importance, that very often the designs of benevolent individuals are frustrated by appointing improper persons to fill such situations. Patience is a virtue absolutely indispensable, as it will frequently take the master or mistress a whole hour to investigate a subject that may appear of little or no importance; such as one child accusing another of stealing a trifle, as a plum, a cherry, a button, or any other thing of like value. The complainant and defendant will expect justice done to them by the master or mistress, and in order to do this, much time and trouble will, in some cases, be necessary. Should a hasty conclusion be formed, and the accused be punished for what he has not been guilty of, in such case the child will be sensible that an injury has been done to him, and will feel dissatisfied with his tutors, and consequently will not pay them the respect they ought to have; besides, it will frequently be found, on examination, that the accuser is really the most in fault, and I think I have convinced many children that this has been the case, and they have retired satisfied with my decision; for when a child is satisfied that justice will be done to him, he will open his case freely and boldly, but if he has any idea that justice will not be done to him, he will keep one half the facts of the case in his own mind, and will not reveal them. I once formed a hasty conclusion in the case of two children, and happened to decide the very reverse to what I ought to have done, the consequence was that the child endeavoured to do that for himself, which he found I had not done for him, and pleaded his own cause with the opposite party in the play-ground; but finding that he could not prevail on him, and being sensible that he had been wronged, he was so much hurt, that he brought his father the next day, and we reconsidered the case; when it was found, that the child was correct, and that I had decided wrong. Here I found how necessary it was to exercise the utmost patience, in order to enable me to judge rightly, and to convince my little pupils, that I had the greatest desire to do them justice. Ι compare an Infant School to a little commonwealth, or a world in miniature, the head or governor of which, is naturally the master. An Infant School master or mistress is not to consider anything relating to the rights of his little community as trifling or unimportant. However justly they might be considered such, comparatively, it must be remembered they are matters of moment to the parties concerned, and such therefore they should be esteemed in the mind of him, who is the arbitrator of their rights, and the legislator of the infant state. He will have to act the part of counsel, judge, and jury, and although the children cannot find words to plead their own cause, yet by their looks and gestures, they will convince you they have some internal evidence that you have rightly decided; and it appears to |