"and what Lord Lumpington learnt at Eton." "They followed," said I, "the grand, old, fortifying, classical curriculum." "Did they know anything when they left?" asked Arminius. "I have seen some longs and shorts of Hittall's," said I, "about the Calydonian Boar, which were not bad. But you surely don't need me to tell you, Arminius, that it is rather in training and bracing the mind for future acquisition-a course of mental gymnastics we call it than in teaching any set thing, that the classical curriculum is so valuable.” “Were the minds of Lord Lumpington and Mr. Hittall much braced by their mental gymnastics?" inquired Arminius. "Well," I answered, "during their three years at Oxford they were so much occupied with Bullingdon and hunting that there was no great opportunity to judge. But for my part I have always thought that their both getting their degree at last with flying colors, after three weeks of a famous coach for fast men, four nights without going to bed, and an incredible consumption of wet towels, strong cigars, and brandy-and-water, was one of the most astonishing feats of mental gymnastics I ever heard of."

-

"That will do for the land and the church." said Arminius. "And now let us hear about commerce." "You mean how was Bottles educated?" answered I. "Here we get into another line altogether, but a very good line in its way, too. Mr. Bottles was brought up at the Lycurgus House Academy, Peckham. You are not to suppose from the name of Lycurgus that any Latin and Greek was taught in the establishment; the name only indicates the moral discipline, and the strenuous, earnest character imparted there. As to the teaching, the thoughtful educator who was principal of the Lycurgus House Academy - Archimedes Silverpump, Ph D., - you must have heard of him in Germany?—had modern views. 'We must be men of our age,' he used to say. Useful knowledge, living languages, and the forming of the mind through observation and experiment, these are the fundamental articles of my educational creed.' Or, as I have heard his pupil Bottles put it in his expansive moments after dinner (Bottles used to ask me to dinner till that affair of yours with him in the Reigate train): 'Original man, Silverpump! fine mind! fine system! None of your antiquated rubbish - all practical work-latest discoveries in science mind constantly kept excited - lots of interesting experiments- lights of all colors fizz! fizz! bang! bang! That's what I call forming a man.'"

"And pray," cried Arminius, impatiently, "what sort of man do you suppose this infernal quack really formed in your precious friend Mr. Bottles ?” “Well," I replied, "I hardly know how to answer that question. Bottles has certainly made an immense fortune; but as to Silverpump's effect on his mind, whether it was from any fault in the Lycurgus House system, whether it was that with a sturdy self-reliance peculiarly English, Bottles, ever since he quitted Silverpump, left his mind wholly to itself, his daily newspaper, and the Particular Baptist minister under whom he sat, or from whatever cause it was, certainly his mind, quâ mind ""You need not go on," interrupted Arminius, with a magnificent wave of his hand, "I know what that man's mind, quâ mind, is, well enough." – Matthew Arnold in the Pall Mall Gazette.

INTELLIGENCE.

We regret to have to announce the resignation of Mr. J. W. ALLEN, Superintendent of the Westborough Reform School. We do not think that the public will be satisfied without a full explanation of the causes which led to this step on the part of a gentleman so pre-eminently qualified for the difficult post which he has filled with such honor to himself and advantage to the State.

Haverhill Schools. We unintentionally did injustice to our Haverhill friends in a paragraph in our last number. "The evils of the district system," writes a correspondent, "are confined to the suburbs, comprising a territory over twelve miles in extent, and very sparsely populated. In District No. 1, containing a population of ten thousand, we have fifteen schools thoroughly graded, and under the instruction of twenty-five competent teachers, several of whom I am happy to add, take the Massachusetts Teacher."

PRACTICAL EXERCISES.

OUGH.

The pronuciation of words ending with ough causes much trouble to those who are not familiar with the English language. The different sounds given to this combination have probably been the result of accident. They are subject to no rules, and as custom alone determines the sound, so nothing but memory and a familiarity with the language can determine the pronunciation of each particular word. So far as I can discover, there are in the language thirty words ending with ough. These have seven different and entirely dissimilar sounds, namely:-Like ō, as in go, foe; like off, as in doff, off; like õk, as in lock, flock; like ou, as in doubt, about; like ù, as in tune, true; like uff, as in ruff, cuff; like up, as in cup, sup,

The following is a list of the words, with their definitions and the letters which designate the several sounds. Those marked (*) are obsolete, and several others are nearly so.

Although, like ō,-notwithstanding, though.

Borough, like ō,

Bough, like ou,

Chough, like uff,

a corporate township.

a branch of a tree.

—a sea bird (a bird of the jackdaw kind). — Shakspeare.

Clough, like off,- allowance in weighing goods.

Clough, like uff,—a cleft in a hill.

Shough,*
* like ōk,-

a farming utensil.

not smooth, uneven.

—a shaggy dog; a cross between a dog and a wolf.

Shough, like ú, - an exclamation to frighten birds.

Slough, like uff, the cast-off skin of a snake.

Sough, like uff, - a whistling wind; a sewer or drain.
Tharborough, like ō,-

*

Thorough, like ō,

a peace officer, similar to a constable (English). complete, perfect.

Though, like ō, — notwithstanding, although.

Through, like ū, from side to side within the surface.

Tough, like ŭff,-possessing tenacity in a high degree.
Trough, like off, - a vessel made of a hollowed log.

Below are the same words arranged in classes with reference to their sounds:

There is no doubt but the last word, hiccough, belonged originally to the second class, with its primitive, cough; and it is a question, whether hiccough should not now be pronounced as if it were spelled "hiccoff."

The would slough, in the fourth class is, at the "West," frequently pronounced as if it belonged to the fifth class. Thus the bend of a river, which has been left by the stream, in consequence of a cut or new channel, and therefore becomes a miry waste, is called a slough, and pronounced "slu," or like slew.

In regard to the word lough, in the third class, a word should be said. Lough, meaning a lake, in Scotland has the English sound of luk or lock. In Ireland the same word, with the same meaning, is differently pronounced. The vowel Ŏ has the same sound, the k is dropped, and the word terminates with the vowel sound, uttered forcibly, somewhat aspirated, and with the open throat. Probably no proper English word can be given as a key to this sound, which can therefore be known only by description or by vocal enunciation.

Besides these words, which belong, in a legitimate sense, to the language, several proper names are in common use, which, if put in their proper classes, would increase the list. Thus, CLOUGH is spelled like a word in the second, and one in the sixth class, yet, as a proper name, it is pronounced like the fourth class; and HOUGH, spelled like a word in the first, and one in the third class, as a proper name belongs to the sixth. Also BROUGH, a proper name, is pronounced like the words in the sixth, GOUGH, like words in the second class, and Bartough, Goodnough, Greenough, McCullough and McDonough are like the first class.

E. B. D.

A LESSON IN GRAMMAR.

[From a MS. Grammar for Young Children, by Mr. Chase, of Watertown.] LESSON III.

What do scholars who study Grammar call the names of all things?

Write on your slate six nouns.

Have you written the things themselves, or their names?

Which is a noun, the name of any thing, or thing itself?

If I say "Good scholars look at their teacher when they recite their lessons," do you know what I mean?

If I

say

“Idle scholars gaze about the school-room," do you know what I mean? If I say, "As, they, will, and," do you know what I mean?

you think I mean anything?

Do Do you understand me when I say "Good children obey their parents"? When words are used so as to tell something that can be understood about any person or thing, they are said to form a sentence, because the word “ sentence means a set of words which form complete sense.

Now, tell which of the following sets of words are sentences, and which are not : George studies very diligently. James plays at ball. In top up is can so. Is Delaware called Middle State a?

LESSON IV.

I gave you some examples in your last lesson, and asked you to tell me which were sentences; do you find the name "George," in one of those examples? Is that example a sentence?

What is said about George?

What is said about James, in another of those examples?

What is said about Mary, in another?

Is the example which has the word Delaware in it a sentence?

Can you place the words in that example so that they will form a sentence? What will they then tell about Delaware?

The name of the person or thing that a sentence tells something about is called

the subject of that sentence, just as your parents speak of the subject of a lecture, when they mean that which the lecturer talks about.

Sugar is made in Louisiana.

What does this sentence tell about?

What does it tell about it?

Whom does each of the following sentences tell about?

Julia reads well. Marietta has gone home. Fanny writes finely. Thomas has left school.

If I say," in, as, homeward, him," do I tell about anything?

If I say, "trees field," do I tell anything about the trees?

Do these words, " trees field," form a sentence?

Do you think words, which do not form a sentence, can have a subject ? Which of the following examples are sentences, and what are their subjects? Elephants live in India. Dogs are found in almost all parts of the world. Will horses large there. Cats were worshipped in Egypt. Cattle hay. The Red Sea is between Asia and Africa.

LESSON V.

When do words form a sentence?
What is the subject of a sentence?
Birds fly. Is this a sentence?
What word is the subject of it?

What does the other word show that bird do?

Birds fly from one tree to another. Is this a sentence?

Is it a longer or a shorter sentence than the other?

Which word in this sentence shows what birds do?

If

If

you take that word, alone, will it tell what birds do?

you take the other words, without that, will they tell what birds do? Fishes swim. Fishes swim in the water.

How many sentences are there here?

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.

Meeting at the Educational Room, Saturday, March 16th.

Mr. CHASE, of Watertown, Chairman.

The question for discussion was: Ought corporal punishment to be abolished in our public schools?

The debate was opened by the Chairman. If, he said, we were descending the river St. Lawrence in a steamer, we should sometimes find ourselves floating in a narrow channel, with the bank on one side and dangerous rocks on the