other woodwork of the school. Proper cloths should be kept for this purpose. Be careful also to remove all cobwebs, to clean the windows, and, when occasion requires it, to have the floor thoroughly washed out.

Spitting and throwing ink on the floor. The filthy habits that some children have of spitting on the floor, or of throwing the ink on it when they take too much in their pens, should be fully repressed. Such habits are serious breaches of good manners; and one at least of them would entirely unfit them for any but American society. From the other the teachers themselves are not entirely free. On the days of their examination the boards of the floor are, near some of them, completely dotted over with spots of ink thrown out of the pen there, instead of back again into the bottle. Both habits are offensive. They are produced, as all habits are, by a continuous repetition of the same acts, and must be put down early, or they cannot be put down at all. Before dusting the room, the fire should be lighted, and the windows and doors opened, in order that an abundant supply of pure air may circulate through the room.

(4) In reference to premises. Do not permit the dust to lie near the door. All ashes, dust, and refuse should be carefully carried out of sight; for neatness and cleanliness should be quite as characteristic of the grounds as of the school itself. These grounds should not be allowed to go out of order. If not cultivated, they should be kept dry and clean, and in serviceable condition. Broken stones covered with small gravel or sand form an excellent yard. Those portions not used for a playground, or for walks, should be dug up and planted with flowers and shrubs. The primrose, the cowslip, the wall-flower, the variegated daisy, convolvulus, lupin, &c. are common, and easily procured, and yet pretty. The ordinary shrubs are also very inexpensive. Some few of these and creeping plants should be seen either against the walls or in the grounds of every primary school. How very rarely anything of this kind is seen. The expense is quoted as the great stumbling-block; but I agree with Mr. Porter when he says that 'the plea of expense is only an excuse for avoiding a little labour and attention. The real cause is a want of taste, absence of habits of neatness and order, the results of early education and associations. The eye which from youth up has been accustomed to the broken and unwashed window feels no repugnance at the sight. The bare walls, unadorned by rose-tree or creeping plant; the premises untidy, and unrelieved by a flower or a shrub, are familiar objects, and therefore excite no disagree

Rep. Com. Nat. Educ. Ireland, vol. for 1859; Mr. Porter's Rep.

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able associations. "It is hardly worth while; they will be as bad in a week or two '—a reply once made to me when requesting to have the windows washed-is merely the expression of a sentiment which influences a large number of the teachers.'

Glazing. In connection with the subject of cleanliness, I may add a few words upon the three important items-glazing, painting, and whitewashing.

When panes are broken, the appearance of the house is very objectionable, even when satisfactory in other respects. To have the windows, therefore, fully glazed is essentially necessary; but to secure this object the teacher must, now and then, put in a pane for himself. In towns and villages there are tradesmen who can glaze; even then, however, it will be cheaper to do it oneself; but in country places no such person is to be had, and, if one is sent for, the expense is often serious, especially when only one or two panes are required. It may happen, also, that the man cannot always be had, or be found sufficiently willing to undertake a trifling job, when at a distance from his home. To be unable to put in a pane entails the following inconveniences: expense, loss of time, a character for untidiness and neglect; censure for this neglect, a risk of the master and children cåtching colds, and a risk of becoming accustomed to defects.

The last is a matter of some importance, as the eye readily gets accustomed to irregularities, and ceases to notice them at all. No time should be lost in putting in a pane when required, especially in the schools of Ireland, a country where the broken windows of the peasants' homes are patched with paper or cloth, or the vacancies filled up with an old hat, a slate, or a board, and where, therefore, the necessity for a good example is so strong. If the boys saw how easy it is to put in a pane of glass, and saw also that the master was not above this business when necessity required him to perform it, they would, as an inevitable consequence, readily do likewise in their own houses.

How to do it. Glazing does not require any lengthened apprenticeship. It requires a knowledge of the method, and a little handiness in bringing that method into practice, and these can be learned after a few trials. Putty is made from 'boiled oil,' thickened with whiting, and is so easily made that no teacher ought to be without it. It can be bought at a very trifling cost. Panes of glass to suit the compartments of any frame can be had at a small cost also; and teachers, when they come to town, should purchase what would do for a year, as buying them in large quantities cheapens each pane considerably. The cost should not be more than from three to four shillings, and very rarely indeed will it be so much. To put in the pane: First. Remove very

carefully all the old glass and putty, leaving the wood clear and comparatively smooth and clean. This can be done by the knife which glaziers use (to be procured for a few pence), or by an oyster knife, or old chisel. Secondly. Place a thin coating of putty round the groove of the window where the pane is to lie. Thirdly. Press the glass firmly against this, so as to embed it in it, and then put on the outside as much putty as will hold the pane firmly in, Be guided in this by the appearance of those glazed by the proper tradesman. Fourthly. On the next day, but not till then, when the putty is set, the whole is to be made water and air tight. A little practice soon renders the thing exceedingly easy.

Considered in reference to the manager. It may be said, however, that it is not the business of the teacher to keep the windows in repair, but of the manager through local aid. There is no doubt but that it is his business and that of the locality, but there are so many who neglect their duty in this respect that the teacher must do it, or else the school will fail, and the inconvenience will be most felt by the teacher. It is a bad thing, however, to be continually calling on the aid of the manager for trifles. It is better to do those small things oneself, and use the manager's aid when his assistance would be of real value. On this subject I shall quote what Mr. Irvin says. This gentleman is now an inspector, but he was formerly for many years a zealous teacher, and, as he knows thoroughly the difficulties under which the teaching body labour, it is not likely that he would write anything against their interests, or require of them anything beyond their abilities. He says: 'A good teacher gives his manager little trouble; but there are many who expect everything to be done for them-men who would not put a nail in the latch of the door, until the manager would see it. I have found teachers at broken windows in the winter season, with the cold wind blowing about them, and over the heads of the children -teacher obliged to wear hat or cap, and children shivering and coughing-thus exposed, day after day, to the dangerous influences of such draughts, thoughtless of the effects, waiting till the manager might come and get a pane or two put in, the whole expense of which would not be over sixpence. I found fault with such, and advised them to put to their own hands, and manage those trifling matters themselves.'

I know several schools suffering much from this defect. The teacher thinks the manager should glaze the windows, the manager thinks the landlord should do it; and as the landlord refuses, and looks upon giving the school at all as a compliment, the houses are rarely fit to be seen. I have given invariably to these teachers the advice that Mr. Irvin gives, 'to put to their own hands, and manage those little matters themselves.' The man who is always

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saying, 'It is not my duty to do this, or that,' is very worthless as a public servant. He who merely does his duty may be paid for his services, but he can never expect to gain the friendship and esteem of his employers. A man should be always seeking for opportunities to exert himself, and make himself more useful. It is by works of supererogation that we advance.

Painting. The woodwork, when not stained, should always be painted. The tablet rails ought to be painted black, as this colour formis a good contrast with the white walls. Red, green, or blue look, however, very well, especially green and blue. The desks, presses, &c. are generally painted brown. Just as in glazing, the teacher ought to do this himself, unless when regularly done for him. The expense is very little when dry colours are purchased, and when the teacher can mix the paints himself. In the foot note,' I give recipes for the mixing of those most commonly met with. To put on colours is very easy. Every teacher should have a supply of brushes and paint constantly on hand, and be always touching up a place here and there, where he thinks an improvement in the appearance of the house might be thus effected. The woodwork of the windows ought to be white. When I find a man who thus helps himself, I am always more anxious to reward him than even the man who would lay out five or six pounds in paying regular tradesmen. I can have more faith in the continuance of his exertions, and I prize highly the example of selfreliance thus set before his children.

Whitewashing. But little need be said upon this point. The more frequently it is done, the better the schools look, and the more wholesome they are; for lime not only cleanses, but purifies.

1 The following recipes may be found of advantage :

Black paint: Lamp black burnt on an iron until it quits smoking (about half an hour), thoroughly mixed with boiled oil (this is done with a knife on a plate) to the consistency of putty. Thin this at pleasure with oil and turpentine.

Green paint: Take dry green paint ground in the same way as above, but use turpentine instead of oil.

Stone colour: Umber and white lead. Thoroughly burn the umber (about half an hour or more on an iron plate will be sufficient), grind it well with boiled oil. Mix with this the white lead previously mingled with oil. If it be too dark, put in white lead; if too light, put in umber.

Dark brown: Umber dried, and

mixed with oil.

White paint: White lead and turpentine (oil darkens too much). Red paint is procured dry. Grind with oil.

Blue paint: Prussian blue, ground with oil, and then thinned.

Venetian red: Venetian red, ground in oil.

Yellow Chrome yellow. Mix with turpentine.

Mahogany colour: Ground of red. When dry, rub well with emery or glass paper. Give a second coat of red (tinely prepared); polish with paper as before. Third coat of same kind, and shade with rose pink, using the ordinary graining brush.

These colours are very inexpensive, and will be found to answer all ordinary purposes.

The lime should be mixed with glue to make it adhere better, and thus last longer, and be less liable to soil the clothes of the children. An unwhitewashed house not only looks gloomy, and impresses a person unfavourably, but in it the charts, maps, &c. are generally disfigured and injured. In whitewashing, avoid dirtying the woodwork inside, or the creeping plants outside. Both should be carefully covered during the time.

15. Attendance, irregular and unpunctual. The attendance of the children is marked by two serious faults: it is irregular from day to day, and it is unpunctual in the mornings. Both these retard the progress of the school, create confusion in the arrangements of the classes, and both tend, when once allowed in the school, to reproduce themselves. The masters have but little direct influence over the first, though there are several steps which they might take which would prove more or less effectual.

Remedies. The most important of these consists in making the schools popular. The statistics of organised schools have clearly proved that the more valuable the school is, the more regular will the attendance be. In many cases parents send their children to school at a serious inconvenience and loss to themselves, and this they will not do unless they really value the kind of education which is given in the school. Another remedy, based on this, is, exclusion of all who attend badly. But in very few cases will the master find himself so popular, or have so complete a monopoly of the education of the district, as to make so extreme a measure judicious. When the regulations are too strict, the parents are displeased, even when they feel that eventually good will arise. The system of payments has a great deal to do with the character of the attendance. If the pupils pay weekly, or do not pay at all, the attendance is almost certain to be bad.

Opinions showing that the system of payments influences attendance. As this statement can only be proved satisfactorily by the actual working of schools, I will quote here the following authorities:-Mr. Fletcher says: 1 'If a boy be kept at home for a day or two at the beginning of the week, the mere feeling to have value for their money induces the parents to keep the children at home a day or two longer rather than pay the pence for the broken week.' Mr. Bellairs says: 26 Among the different causes which have made the poor indifferent to education, there has probably been none more effective than that which has reduced to its lowest minimum the school payments of their children.' Dr. Woodford says: 'I have reason to think that the system of weekly payments, and which is naturally followed by an understanding of 'Minutes of Council, 1846-7, vol. ii. 2 Ibid. 1852, p. 436. 3 Ibid. 1854, p. 708.

p. 14.

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