merely so much time longer as will enable the boy to write as many exercises at the rate of two a week as the boy shall have written who has worked at the rate of three a week. The more frequently the exercise is repeated in the beginning of the study, the stronger will the impression be and the more permanent. If we were to come down to writing one a week, or one a fortnight, or one a month, nothing at all would be learned. It is true there is a mean in all things; and if I am asked why I say three exercises instead of two, I answer, that three will be more efficient than two; that two will be more efficient than one; that one will be more efficient than none; and I don't ask for four, because I know that four cannot be had. If three cannot be had, then I am content with two; but not with less.

Opinions will differ greatly on what I am going to say; but I believe that no exercises for learning modern languages are of much use if they are not made on the plan of Mr. Wittich's German exercises. The amount of grammar teaching that is required for learning a modern language is very small; I mean for learning it as a boy should learn it, which is rather practically than critically. The critical study of a language is a work for the matured understanding, when it has got some material to work upon. It is not much helped by rules, though rules are to some extent useful. Mr. Wittich begins with exercises on the formation of simple sentences, which he defines to be those which require no more than the substantive and the verb: the adjective, I suppose, is included in the substantive and verb. His exercises begin with sentences which contain the verb "to be" (sein); and he gives in such sentences every form of the verb "to be." He then gives exercises on "sein" in an inverted position; that is, its position in those sentences where it comes after the noun, in consequence of certain words standing at the beginning of the sentence. He treats the verb "to have" (haben) in the same way, and the third auxiliary verb in German, "to become" (werden). He then gives exercises on the regular verbs in the active voice; his sentences, which are very numerous, are such as these:-"Every morning you put your money into your pocket;' "What are you doing?" "We put your books into the chest," and so on. At the bottom of the page he supplies most of the words which a pupil will not know, such as "into your pocket," "in die tasche;" "into the chest," "in den kasten." Thus the pupil learns a great number of words while he is learning the construction of these simple sentences. He then gives similar exercises on the regular verbs of the passive voice. The pupil will learn the forms of the auxiliaries and the regular verbs in the usual way from his grammar; but by writing them so often, they will be impressed on the memory so as never to be forgotten, and he will not only master these forms, but he will learn their combination in every kind of simple sentence that the language contains.

Ile then gives exercises on some of the irregular verbs, such as occur very often. These verbs are also to be learned in the usual way; but they will be learned by the repetition of them in the exercises still more completely. These are followed by exercises on neuter verbs. In No. IX. he comes to exercises on verbs compounded with a simple separable prefix, "ab," "an," "auf," "aus," and so on. This is one of the difficulties of the German language, though not so great a difficulty to an Englishman as to a Frenchman or an Italian. There is no possible way for a boy of learning the use of these separable prefixes except by writing exercises on them. This peculiarity of the German language reminds us that, though the prin

ciple of exercises ought to be the same for all modern languages, the exercises must be varied according to the nature of each language, and a clever teacher of each language is the best judge of the kind of exercise that is suitable, if the general principle be agreed on. In No. X. Mr. Wittich gives exercises on the verbs compounded with a separable double particle, such as "anheim," "auseinander," ," "bevor," "daher," " dahin," and so on. No. XI. contains exercises on the reflective verbs; No. XII. exercises on a few impersonal verbs. A few other divisions, which it is not necessary to mention here, complete the first part of his exercises on the construction of principal sentences, of which there are ninety-eight pages of a duodecimo book. About a third, perhaps, or something more of each page is occupied with the words which are given to assist the pupil. The sentences, being simple sentences, either affirmative or negative, are of course not long. They may average thirteen in each page. They are somewhat longer in the latter part than in the beginning. Supposing the average to be thirteen sentences in each page, there will be 1274 simple sentences in these ninety-eight pages.

Mr. Wittich says:-" After the exercises have been translated into the foreign language by the student, and corrected by the teacher, the work of the latter is indeed terminated, but not that of the former. He is to be admonished by the teacher to read over the exercises from three to six times, according to the strength of his memory, and that aloud. Here it may be proper to observe, that the advantages of reading aloud what is completely understood, have either not been duly appreciated or incomprehensibly neglected by the teachers of modern languages. As a language when spoken is not a science, but rather an art, the organs by which it is exercised must previously acquire an habitual skill by a long course of practice. These organs are the ear and the tongue. By reading aloud what is perfectly understood the necessary practice is acquired." This is quite true. This practice of reading aloud is good even in the acquisition of a readiness in the Greek and Latin; and it is for this reason, and other reasons, a very good rule in many schools to make boys repeat aloud parts of the poets which they have read, or even of prose writers. But teachers who know schoolboys will smile at the simplicity of the man who "admonishes" his pupils to do this; for they will not do it. Mr. Wittich supposed that his learner was as ready to learn as he was to teach. But the teacher may do this. When the exercise is corrected, the boy may keep it till the next lesson, and the teacher may then receive all the exercises, to file or keep them in some safe place, as a record, and giving out the English, he may call on the boys to give him back the original, the French or the German, orally, in a clear, distinct voice. He should go over the whole exercise this way twice at least, and the boy who has a tolerable memory, and has read over his corrected exercise, will be able to do this part of the work pretty well.

When the student has mastered the first part of the exercises, he will have learned a great deal. He will know the form of nearly every simple sentence that he can meet with in reading; and he will have got a large stock of words without the trouble of using a dictionary. If any teacher has carried his pupils so far on this plan, I believe he will see good reason for going on with it. At this stage in his progress Mr. Wittich considers the pupil qualified for his practice "of narrating short tales," consisting of simple sentences; and he gives an example (p. 217 of the article) of one of these short tales. But I do not suppose that many teachers will take

the pains with these tales that he used to do. It is one of the defects of his plan, as he says, that it is only practicable with small classes, not more than ten, as he thinks. This is a most important matter; and it is certain that whatever may be the plan of teaching a modern language, it cannot be taught to large classes. If every boy wished to learn, and did his best, a large class might be taught, though not so well as a small class; but as boys are not all very eager to learn, it may be laid down as certain that classes for modern languages must not be large. Mr. Wittich published a book of German tales for beginners, arranged in progressive order, which may be used with his exercises. The tales at first consist of simple sentences, which are so easy that any boy who has written the first part of the exercises can read them. They are divided into five classes, and grow more difficult as they proceed. The first and second class may be understood with very little help from the teacher. "The third class," says Mr. Wittich, “contains numerous instances of the more complicated forms of the principal sentences, and their construction those only can completely understand who have translated the exercises as far as page 98, or to the end of the first section of the German for Beginners.' "The fourth and fifth class of the tales contain a great number of complicated periods, the sense of which cannot be completely understood without the knowledge of the construction of the subordinate sentences." This is the part of his work which will cost the learner most trouble in all languages. It is not very difficult to learn to master a simple sentence; but when we come to those which are dependent on the principal sentence, to forms which express condition or dependency of any kind, then we find a difficulty. Mr. Wittich in his German exercises begins with those dependent sentences which contain the relative; as for instance, "The day before yesterday my brother sold the horse which was brought by your uncle from Yorkshire last summer." In German the use of the relative in such a sentence as this requires the verb to be placed at the end of that part of the sentence to which it belongs, and this is a most necessary thing to learn: Vorgestern hat mein bruder das pferd verkauft, welches von ihrem oheim aus der grafschaft York vorigen sommer gebracht worden ist." It would be tedious and unnecessary to mention all the divisions that Mr. Wittich makes of his subordinate sentences. The divisions might be made better or worse for anything that I know; but it is not an easy thing to do. These exercises occupy the book from p. 99 to p. 148. The rest of the book, to p. 282, which is the last, consists of German exercises on "nouns and prepositions," and on the "reginien of verbs."

This book is an attempt to construct a set of exercises for the German language. As to the principal sentences, I maintain that nothing could be better. As to the rest, I do not feel so able to give an opinion. But so much is certain, that whatever may be the modern language to be taught, there is no sure way of teaching it except by some exercises constructed on a plan something like this, and adapted to the character of the particular language. A set of exercises adapted to the French, the Spanish, or either of the other two languages derived from the Latin, would probably differ a good deal from a set of exercises adapted to the German. In the languages derived from the Latin there is comparatively little trouble about the forms of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns; and even the verbs are perhaps easier acquired than the German. There is perhaps also not quite so much to learn about the order of the words as in German, though there is more to learn here in the French than many people suppose; and a good deal to

learn in the Italian also. With respect to Mr. Wittich's plan this can be said, that boys have learned by it to write German well, and even to speak it; and if this can be done by this plan in a reasonable time, and by steadily following it, those who teach this or any other modern language should either adopt the plan or find some other that will produce the same result.

I have said that it is expected that boys must begin to read some book early in their course of learning a modern language. It should, however, be a very easy book; some plain, simple prose writer, or very simple pieces of poetry. There may be several books, or books of extracts, which may serve this purpose, of the value of which books teachers are the best judges. But there is one thing necessary, without which the reading is almost useless. He who learns to translate a foreign language into his own, and does no more, learns only one side of it. The other side is to turn his own into the foreign language; and there is a very easy way of doing this. When a lesson has been well explained, the boys should be required to come prepared with it in such a way for the next lesson that when the book is closed and the master gives out a sentence, or a part of a sentence, as the case may be, in English, the boy shall be able to give him back orally the corresponding original. Perhaps a dull boy may find it necessary to commit the lesson to memory in order to be able to do this; and there is no harm if he should find it necessary. But a boy of very moderate abilities, who has mastered a short lesson, will soon find it very easy to give back the original orally in reply to the English of the master. This practice is a very good one even in teaching Greek and Latin; and I have generally found that at the end of a lesson of moderate length, most of the boys could give the Latin or the Greek for all the easier parts of the lesson which the master gave out in English, and with no other preparation than they had made before coming to the lesson, and what they had learned besides during the time that they were examined on it. This practice alone, if continued for some months, would give boys a readiness in modern languages that they seldom acquire now; for languages are not learned by rules, but by the ear and the tongue. The critical study of them comes

after.

This is not a complete discussion of the subject; but enough for the present. It leaves many things unsettled about which people may and will differ. But either it shows the general principles on which modern languages should be taught in our schools, where so many other things are and must be taught, or it fails altogether to show what the principles are, and may be taken as an invitation to others to propose something better. G. L.

ON THE INTRODUCTION OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE INTO HIGHER SCHOOLS.*

THAT the education of the upper and middle classes of this country is becoming modified by the introduction of new elements, and is likely to be affected by them to a greater extent, will be admitted by all those who are in a position to make the observation. The physical discoveries of late years, which by their application to the uses of human life are peaceably but rapidly effecting a social revolution, have given a new impulse to the study of practical science. From many causes also those active employ

* The substance of part of this article has already appeared in a letter addressed to the Society of Arts.

ments, for which some different training is required from that given in mere classical schools, are now more generally sought than formerly by young men of good birth and education. But, besides this, there is a growing feeling of the importance of some other knowledge besides that of the dead languages to every Englishman who would not exclude himself from the honourable pursuits of his own nation in the present day: a feeling which it is impossible to satisfy by any abstract reasoning as to the superiority of grammatical training for the mind, or by examples taken from a state of society in many respects differing from the present.

We are persuaded that the right direction of this feeling is of great consequence, both to the cause of education and to the general welfare of the nation. The feeling is so strong amongst a large class, whose influence in the country is increasing, and from being in accordance with the general tendencies of the age it has so much power, that it will not be resisted. Indeed, if it were not for the old classical foundations, the public schools and the universities, we believe that it would before long produce a very injurious effect on education, by substituting merely material knowledge for those studies which cultivate and strengthen the mind. Even the universities have shown themselves not insensible to these changes, and by establishing honours in Physical Sciences have recognised, however inadequately, the altered state of society. But in schools generally, even those which are not fettered by any restrictions, little has been done as yet; and the object of the following remarks is to contribute a few suggestions, the result of experience, which may be of some assistance to those who foresee the necessity of some changes and the dangers which attend them.

Such persons may encourage themselves with the thought that they will fulfil their office as teachers by contending now with the difficulties of this question, and not by an indolent adherence to the traditions of the past. It is doubtless the duty of all to whom the work of education is entrusted to prepare those committed to them for the world such as it actually is in the providence of God. Their pupils will be conscious in after life that they owe them a debt of gratitude, if they have endeavoured thus to qualify them. Educated men of the present day begin now to feel that they were not so trained in early life as to be able to engage, with much hope of success, in those pursuits and researches for which the present age is distinguished. They find practical and self-taught men, or at least those whose education they justly consider inferior to their own, eminent in these pursuits; having been trained for them by early habits of observation and a familiarity with the facts of practical science which formed no part of their own youthful studies. There are a few whose natural tastes and talents have drawn them in this direction, but the majority of those who have enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education are, if we are not much mistaken, quite incompetent to take an active part in such scientific questions. We fear, if the truth were told honestly as to what they learnt from the Great Exhibition, it would be found that in most cases, whilst their curiosity was excited by that magnificent scene, and by the results they witnessed of the combination of natural powers and human skill, they had only vague or incorrect notions of the principles by which those effects were produced. This certainly is not the position which the educated classes of Great Britain should hold: they ought to be able to take the lead in every pursuit worthy of being honoured by a nation, and we are satisfied that such might be the case; that, without sacrificing the cultivation of the