like an arrow; sky-larks rise and fall perpendicularly as they sing; woodlarks hang poised in the air," &c. Compare these with Pope's epithets in Windsor Forest:-" The whirring pheasant,"-" the clamorous lapwing,"-"the mounting lark," &c.-It is obvious that the same habits of observation supplied the prose writer with description, and the poet with epithets.

From simple epithets and single sentences we may proceed to more finished passages, such as the following, from Mrs. Barbauld's Hymns:

"The glorious sun is set in the

west; the night dew falls, and the air, which was, sultry, becomes cool."

"The flowers fold up their coloured leaves; they fold themselves up, and hang their heads on the slender stalk," &c.

The sublime images in these hymns are happily suited to the comprehension of children; and their harmonious language charms the ear, without cheating the understanding. Many beautiful passages, proper for youth, may be found in Watts " On the Improvement of the Mind ;" and in the measured prose of Fenelon there is much eloquence, which

young people can taste and compre hend before they are old enough to read the whole of his Telemachus

with advantage.

There is still wanting a mythology for children, that might lay the foundation for a poetic taste, without shocking decency, or inculcating vice and folly. Lord Chesterfield, the Abbé Tressan, and Madame Monsigny, have compiled pleasing works on this subject, that may be safely put into the hands of children; but they have borrowed no ornaments from poetry. Surely such a work might be enriched with proper pas

sages from the best translations of Homer, Virgil, and Ovid, from some

of the French poets, and from the

exquisite gems in the

Botanic

Garden.

When our pupils have obtained some general knowledge of mythology, and have acquired the rudiments of a taste for poetic language, it will then be the proper time to introduce them to our classical poets.

In education, however, as in all the affairs of life, the right must often yield to the expedient; and we must consider not merely what is the best possible, but rather what is the most

b

feasible, in the existing circumstances. It is not to be supposed, that preceptors can be prevailed upon immediately to change their usual practice; nor can it be expected that parents, although convinced of the error of putting fine poetry too early into the hands of children, should have sufficient strength of mind to let their pupils appear ignorant of what others of the same age are taught. It is therefore probable, that the practice of teaching young people a certain quantity of poetry by rote will long prevail, both in schools and in private families.-With this belief,