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LESSON CXII.

The Same, concluded. IDEM.

SPEAK to and in the presence of children in correct phraseology and grammar. Never employ a single slang or loose expression. Let the sounds, the emphasis, the diction, be all as they ought to be. This may be troublesome,

not, however, to people of good education, but remember the reward which will ensue. Accustomed to speak correctly from infancy, the child, as a matter of habit, will avoid errors of expression, and scarcely require any instruction in the dry rules of grammar.

One of the most serious errors in education is habituating children to speak ungrammatically; not from any deliberate intention, but from mere carelessness. By this sort of tuition, children are compelled to learn two dialects, instead of one -the ungrammatical form of speech, and that which is seen in books. Unfortunately, the former becomes their vernacular; and so little do they acquire of correct speech, that schoolmasters spend years in trying to impart to them a proper knowledge of grammar. We repeat, that if children be taught to speak correctly from the first, they will be saved the drudgery of learning grammar by rule. The practice of requiring children to be instructed to speak and write correctly by schoolmasters is by no means creditable to intelligent parents, and affords too strong grounds for the belief that this branch of culture is generally neglected.

If parents possess good manners, so also will their children, if they be allowed to associate with them. Thus a child, as his perceptions become more vigorous, will instinctively, and with very little verbal instruction, learn to come into and go out of a room, speak to and shake hands with visitors, sit at table, and so on, all according to what is usually considered

good manners. the question, and ought neither to be expected nor insisted on. All that is wanted is a reasonable attention to decorum, along with a happy buoyancy of disposition.

Sedateness in children is, of course, out of

Manners cannot be taught by rule. Some parents, not aware of this fact, pursue some such practice as the following: To suit their own immediate convenience, they keep their children aloof in nurseries, or in the hands of servants, and only permit them to enter the parlor as a special indulgence. Finding that this creates bashfulness, they endeavor to school their children into certain forms of behavior. Thus they will be heard giving them directions such as the following: "When you come into the room, you will be sure to go and shake hands with all the gentlemen; and remember not to hang down your head, but look every body in the face, as if you were not ashamed. And remember not to slip behind the chairs, or go below the table, for nobody wishes to do you any harm; and remember to say, 'Yes, sir,' or 'No, sir,' when a gentleman speaks to you; and remember to speak prettily, and do not sulk, or put your finger in your mouth; and, above all things, remember not to make a noise, for if you do, I shall have you turned out of the room. Now, therefore, remember to behave yourself; and if you do not, it will be the worse for you."

And this is called teaching manners! We would not speak harshly on the subject; for mothers who address themselves in this form to their children, only err from ignorance of their duties. All telling about behavior to children is nearly useless. The true method of teaching manners is to let them be fixed by habit; and this, as already stated, is done by the simple process of bringing up children in the society of their parents, for by this means they have to behave well as a mere matter of imitation. The companionship, however, requires to be general, not on particular occasions.

To insure, as far as possible, bodily health in your children,

let them enjoy the open air daily; accustom them to walk, and to take pleasure in out-door excursions. Let them sleep in airy apartments, and cause them to attend strictly to personal cleanliness. Do not leave it to chance, but instruct them how they should wash their face and hands, clean their teeth every morning, and comb and brush their hair.

As they grow up, make them fully aware of the necessity of attending to various matters connected with their own health. Among other things, the operation of various kinds of food on the system, and the danger of excessive indulgence, should be explained, as opportunities occur. Some knowledge of the administration and operation of medicines trash of quack advertisers

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By precept, as well as by example, children should be warned against intemperance. Unfortunately, many parents, influenced by no bad intentions, but only from heedlessness or misapplied affection, are seen giving their children drops of wine, or other kinds of intoxicating liquor, and so laying the foundation for bad habits. When the children are constitutionally tender, these indulgences will seriously damage health, besides being, perhaps, morally ruinous.

Many persons, men and women, are seen to have irregularly-set or bad teeth. In almost every instance, this has been caused by the carelessness of parents. It is the duty of every mother to watch the growth of her children's teeth; and if any of them appear to be growing in an irregular manner, she should cause them to be put in proper order by a dentist.

Accustom your children to use their hands, as well as their heads. Teach them that they must learn to serve themselves; that they cannot expect always to be ministered to by servants, or by their mothers.

All boys and girls should acquire a habit of keeping their clothes as neat and clean as possible, and of laying them by for future use. Girls, in particular, cannot too early learn to

fold

up and put away their clothes, and to acquire other habits of neatness and order.

At the proper age, girls should be taught to knit, darn, and sew. The ability to make and mend their own garments will to many prove little less than a fortune. The art of mending is, at least, indispensable; and no mother performs her duty, who does not insist on her daughters acquiring this accomplishment. Every girl should be made to understand that a hole in her stockings or gloves, or any similar defect in her dress, is a mark of personal indolence.

Boys and girls, as they grow up, should equally acquire the power of doing many little things which will prove useful in life. We know the father of a family who insists on each of his children learning how to tie different kinds of knots, to tie up parcels with cord, to light a fire, to cut the leaves of a book, to deliver a message, to arrange books on shelves, to brush their clothes, or to pack a trunk. Each of his boys is taught how to fold a coat for travelling. There is much practical wisdom in these instructions.

Young people should be accustomed to the use and value of money. Where it can be at all afforded, they should receive a trifle of pocket-money weekly, the amount, perhaps, being regulated by good conduct. By this means they will generally learn by experience that money is easily spent and lost, and that it needs to be husbanded if any thing important is to be bought. If deprived of money altogether, they will covet that belonging to others; and when at length they enter the world, and are intrusted with funds, they will in all probability become heedless spendthrifts. That money is a representative of the savings of labor, and is not obtained without patient industry, is one of the lessons which a parent will not fail to impart to his children.

LESSON CXIII.

White Mountain Scenery.

TIMOTHY DWIGHT.

FROM this spot the mountains speedily began to open with increased majesty; and, in several instances, rose to a perpendicular height little less than a mile. The bosom of both ranges was overspread, in all the inferior regions, by a mixture of evergreens with trees, whose leaves are deciduous. The annual foliage had been already changed by the frost. Of the effects of this change it is, perhaps, impossible for an inhabitant of Great Britain, as I have been assured by several foreigners, to form an adequate conception, without visiting an American forest. When I was a youth, I remarked that Thomson had entirely omitted in his Seasons this fine part of autumnal imagery. Upon inquiring of an English gentleman the probable cause of the omission, he informed me that no such scenery existed in Great Britain.

In this country, it is often among the most splendid beauties of nature. All the leaves of trees which are not evergreens, are, by the first severe frost, changed from their verdure towards the perfection of that color which they are capable of ultimately assuming, through yellow, orange, and red, to a pretty deep brown. As the frost affects different trees, and different leaves of the same tree, in very different degrees, a vast multitude of tinctures are commonly found on those of a single tree, and always on those of a grove or forest. These colors also, in all their varieties, are generally full, and, in many instances, are among the most exquisite which are found in the regions of nature. Different sorts of trees are susceptible of different degrees of this beauty. Among them the maple is preeminently distinguished by the prodigious varieties, the finished beauty, and the intense lustre of its hues ; varying through all the dyes between a rich green and the most per

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