[Footnote A: This circumstance took place in the heart of London, and some of the chief actors in it are now men and women; and should this meet the eye of any of them, I am sure they will not forget the circumstances, nor entirely forget their old teacher.]
NATURAL HISTORY.
When teachers are conversing with their children, they should always take care to watch their countenances, and the moment they appear tired, to stop. An hour's instruction when the children's minds and hearts are engaged, is better than many hours effort, when they are thinking of something else. In addition to thirty-four pictures of Scripture history, we have sixty of natural history, each picture having a variety of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and flowers. The first thing we do is to teach the children the names of the different things; then to distinguish them by their forms; and, lastly, they are questioned on them as follows: If the animal is a horse, we put the pointer to it, and say—
What is this? A. A picture of a horse. Q. What is the use of the horse? A. To draw carts, coaches, waggons, drays, fire-engines, caravans, the plough and harrow, boats on the canal, and any thing that their masters want them. Q. Will they carry as well as draw? A. Yes, they will carry a lady or gentleman on their backs, a sack of corn, or paniers, or even little children, but they must not hit them hard, if they do, they will fall off their backs; besides, it is very cruel to beat them. Q. What is the difference between carrying and drawing? A. To carry is when they have the whole weight on their backs, but to draw is when they pull any thing along. Q. Is there any difference between those horses that carry, and those horses that draw? A. Yes; the horses that draw carts, drays, coal-waggons, stage waggons, and other heavy things, are stouter and much larger, and stronger than those that carry on the saddle, and are called draught horses. Q. Where do the draught horses come from? A. The largest comes from Leicestershire, and some come from Suffolk, which are very strong, and are called Suffolk punches. Q. Where do the best saddle-horses come from? A. They came at first from Arabia, the place in which the camel is so useful; but now it is considered that those are as good which are bred in England? Q. What do they call a horse when he is young? A. A foal, or a young colt. Q. Will he carry or draw while he is young? A. Not until he is taught, which is called breaking of him in. Q. And when he is broke in, is he very, useful? A. Yes; and please, sir, we hope to be more useful when we are properly taught. Q. What do you mean by being properly taught? A. When we have as much trouble taken with us as the horses and dogs have taken with them. Q. Why, you give me a great deal of trouble, and yet I endeavour to teach you. A. Yes, sir, but before Infant Schools were established, little children, like us, were running the streets.[A] Q. But you ought to be good children if you do run the streets. A. Please, sir, there is nobody to tell us how[B], and if the man did not teach the horse, he would not know how to do his work.
[Footnote A: This answer was given by a child five years of age.]
[Footnote B: This answer was given by a child six years of age.]
Here we observe to the children, that as this animal is so useful to mankind, it should be treated with kindness. And having questioned them as to the difference between a cart and a coach, and satisfied ourselves that they understand the things that are mentioned, we close, by asking them what is the use of the horse after he is dead, to which the children reply, that its flesh is eaten by other animals (naming them), and that its skin is put into pits with oak bark, which is called tanning; and that when it is tanned it is called leather; and leather is made into shoes to keep the feet warm and dry, and that we are indebted to the animals for many things that we both eat and wear, and above all to the great God for every thing that we possess. I cannot help thinking that if this plan were more generally adopted, in all schools, we should not have so many persons ascribing everything to blind chance, when all nature exhibits a God, who guides, protects, and continually preserves the whole.
We also examine the children concerning that ill-treated animal, the ass, and contrast it with the beautiful external appearance of the zebra; taking care to warn the children not to judge of things by their outward appearance, which the world in general are too apt to do, but to judge of things by their uses, and of men by their general character and conduct. After having examined the children concerning the animals that are most familiar to us, such as the sheep, the cow, the dog, and others of a similar kind, we proceed to foreign animals, such as the camel, the elephant, the tiger, the lion, &c. &c. In describing the use of the camel and the elephant, there is a fine field to open the understandings of the children, by stating how useful the camel is in the deserts of Arabia; how much it can carry; how long it can go without water; and the reason it can go without water longer than most other animals; how much the elephant can carry; what use it makes of its trunk, &c. All these things will assist the thinking powers of children, and enlarge their understandings, if managed carefully. We also contrast the beautiful appearance of the tiger with its cruel and blood-thirsty disposition, and endeavour to shew these men and women in miniature, that it is a dangerous plan to judge of things by outward appearances, but that there is a more correct way of judging, which forms a part of the business of education to explain.
The children are highly delighted with these pictures, and, of their own accord, require an explanation of the subjects. Nay, they will even ask questions that will puzzle the teacher to answer; and although there is in some minds such a natural barrenness, that, like the sands of Arabia, they are never to be cultivated or improved, yet I can safely say, that I never knew a child who did not like the pictures; and as soon as I had done explaining one, it was always, "Please, sir, may we learn this?" "Please, teacher, may we learn that?" In short, I find that I am generally tired before the children; instead of having to apply any magisterial severity, they are petitioning to learn; and this mode of teaching possesses an advantage over every other, because it does not interfere with any religious opinion, there being no body of Christians that I know, or ever heard of, who would object to the facts recorded in the Bible, being thus elucidated by pictures. Thus a ground-work may be laid, not only of natural history, but of sacred history also; for the objects being before the children's eyes, they can, in some degree, comprehend them, and store them in their memories. Indeed, there is such attraction in pictures, that you can scarcely pass a picture-shop in London, without seeing a number of grown persons around the windows gazing at them. When pictures were first introduced into the school, the children told their parents; many of whom came and asked permission to see them; and although the plates are very common, I observed a degree of attention and reverence in the parents, scarcely to be expected, and especially from those who could not read.
It is generally the case, that what we have always with us, becomes so familiar, that we set little store by it; but on being deprived of it for a time, we then set a greater value on it: and I have found this to be the case with the children. If the pictures we make use of in the schools be exposed all at once, and at all times, then there would be such a multiplicity of objects before the eyes of the children, that their attention would not be fixed by any of them; they would look at them all, at first, with wonder and surprise, but in a short time the pictures would cease to attract notice, and, consequently, the children would think no more of them than they would of the paper that covers the room. To prevent this, and to excite a desire for information, it is always necessary to keep some behind, and to let very few objects appear at one time. When the children understand, in some measure, the subjects before them, these may be replaced by others, and so on successively, until the whole have been seen.