IX.-TABLE of INFANT, DAY, and EVENING SCHOLARS in Five Towns.

X.-NOTES respecting several DAY-SCHOOLS visited between July 8 and September 8, 1840.

No. 1.-Present 170 boys: the room will hold about 400. Since January 1 there had been 66 boys admitted. The average time during which the scholars remain is about one year. There was not one boy in the school 12 years old. The only book in use for the upper classes was the Bible, nor were there Bibles or Testaments enough to afford one to each of the boys who were reading them. There were no maps in the school. The children were taught nothing either of history or of geography. Indeed the master, occupied with the superintendence of 170 little boys, one-third of whom had been admitted within six months, could scarcely find time to give any direct instruction to the school, but was obliged to depend on his little monitors, not one of whom was 12 years old. Three out of the six classes into which the school was divided, were sitting, when I entered, without books in their hands, and doing nothing, and so continued for above half an hour. I examined some of the monitors and the first class in Matthew xiii., 1-9, which passage contains the parable of the sower, when the following questions and answers occurred among others of a similar nature:

Verse 1. By what sea did Jesus sit?-The Red Sea.

Verse 2. What do you understand by a shore?—The whole sea. How could the multitude stand on the whole sea?-The ground. May the ground on which we are standing be called a shore? -A side.

May this side of the room be called a shore ?-(General silence.)

What does a parable mean?-A history.

Is the history of David, for instance, a parable ?-(General silence.)

How many kinds of ground did the seed fall upon ?-2, 3, 5; (General silence.)

Why did not the birds eat the seed on the stony places as well as that on the way-side?-(Silence.)

What happened to the seed in the stony places?-It withered.
Did the seed itself wither?-No fruit.

Then, it brought no fruit; but what withered?-(Silence.)
What is meant by the seed?--People.

What do you understand, then, by the seed being devoured by the birds? The Devil takes away wicked people.

What is meant, then, by the four kinds of ground?-(Silence.) What did our Lord mean to teach us by this parable?—Them as is good goes to heaven.

On the occasion of a second visit the following questions and answers occurred, when the first class and the monitors were examined in the class-room in their catechism, which is frequently repeated by them:

Who gave you the name which you received in baptism?-God. What did your godfathers and godmothers promise and vow for you respecting the pomps and vanities of the world?-All the sinful lusts of the flesh.

I asked what they promised and vowed respecting the pomps of the world?-That I should believe all the articles of theChristian faith.

What do you mean by these articles ?-(Silence.)

The articles of the faith mean all the truths of the gospel; will you tell me any one of the truths of the gospel which your godfathers vowed you should believe?-Five were silent, the sixth answered, "The Commandments."

I then asked them some questions on the leading facts in the narratives of the Bible, when they answered as follows:

Who was the eldest son of Adam ?-Four silent; fifth answered, "Abraham."

When the earth became very corrupt what did God do to it?-~ Five silent, then the sixth answered, "Drownded it."

What was the ark like in which Noah was saved?—A temple. Who led Israel into Canaan ?-Moses.

How far did Moses lead them?-Into Galilee.

No. 2.-There were 149 boys present, 230 on the books, and room for 350; 400 had been admitted within the last year. The average attendance of each boy was about six months. There were only 12 boys above 10 years of age. The master had no assistant, and could scarcely give any direct instruction during schoolhours. I heard 20 boys read Luke xv., when the following questions occurred :

Where was our Lord born?-1, Jerusalem; 2, Galilee; 3, Bethlehem.

Where was Bethlehem?-(Silence.)

What other remarkable person had lived once at Bethlehem ?— (Silence.)

Who was the first king of Israel?—(Silence.)

No. 3.-Present, 218 boys; room for 300. The books used are those of the National School Society; no maps being allowed. I examined some of the best readers in the class-room in a chapter of the New Testament, when the following questions and answers occurred among many of a similar character:

In what country was Jerusalem situated ?—(Silence.)
What is a Levite ?-Gethsemane.

Where is Galilee ?-In Judea.

Who wrote the Bible?—Moses:

What other countries are there in Europe besides England?America, Asia.

No. 4.-A very large school, in excellent order. The children went through their school manoeuvres beautifully, but the higher classes had very little knowledge of the Bible, and used no other reading books. I heard a class of monitors read Luke xv., when some of them gave the following answers :—

Who were the Publicans?-1, good men; 2, Pharisees.
What was the chief city of the Romans ?-Jerusalem.
What is the difference between a city and a country?—None.
Who were the Pharisees?-Publicans.

Of these monitors, two were unable to do a sum in short division, and the rest were equally ignorant of long division.

No. 5.-210 boys were present. The master has no assistant. When I entered the school was repeating the catechism. I sat down by the little assistant monitor of the lowest class, who was "going nine," and heard the class repeat the catechism. The monitor gave his whole attention to the boy who was answering his question, while all the rest were completely inattentive, laughing, yawning, or looking about. In the course of the recitation one boy was asked "What did your godfathers and godmothers then for you?" to which he replied, "They did promise and vow three things in my name; first, that I should renounce the Devil and all his works, and, secondly, I learn to believe in God the Son," &c. Several mistakes of this kind occurred. When a boy made a mistake the monitor immediately read the answer correctly, and directly passed on to the next question. When they had thus galloped through the whole they began it again, and continued the repetition in this manner till the allotted half hour expired. After this the second class read to the monitor a chapter in the New Testament, when, as the master was much called out of the school into the committee-room to admit new scholars, and transact other business, the children of the class were

all listless, and as the lesson proceeded several were talking to each other. Thirty-two boys of the first class then read to their monitor a few pages of the History of England by the Christian Knowledge Society, when the following mistakes occurred uncorrected by myself (as I was simply a silent spectator) and unnoticed by the monitor. Legate was pronounced lejate, combination was turned into connation, peremptorily into premarily, forfeitures into forfissures, tenour into tenure; and several times, when the boys did not know a word to which they came in the lesson, they dropped their voices, and slurred it over, the prudent monitor retaining a perfect silence lest his own ignorance, both of the sound and sense of the word, should put his authority with the class to hazard.

No. 6.-Thirty-one girls read Mark xii. to their monitor. The noise in the school was so great that as I sat by the monitor I could not hear the girl who was reading in the class. Several children were laughing to each other, others were inattentive; and the only symptom of reverence in the whole class was, that every time the name of our Lord was pronounced the whole class made a short rapid courtesy, occasioning along the whole class an irregular popping down, the effect of which, combined with their undisguised levity, was exceedingly unpleasant. The mistress was occupied in another part of the school.

No. 7.-One hundred and fifty girls were present. While 20 of the best readers were preparing to read to me, one poor girl, not exactly in her place, suddenly, and without warning, received a sharp blow on the back from the fist of the mistress, with a few fierce words, which made her greatly colour. They read pretty well, and answered intelligently the simple questions arising from their lesson; but beyond that they could not go, as the following answers may show :

In what country do we live?-Europe.

What are the chief kingdoms of Europe?-(Silence.)

What is Liverpool ?-An island.

What are the chief towns of England?-London, Manchester, Lancashire.

When further questioned on the great doctrines of the Gospel they seemed to be ignorant of them.

No. 8.-Eighty-four girls present. Twenty-two of the most advanced scholars read to me Gen. vii., which I selected because it was the chapter which they had most recently read. They read pretty well, but gave the following answers to my questions :What city did Jesus live in?-Egypt.

(Chapter vi., v. 15.) What is the length of 300 cubits?300 miles.

How much is one-fourth of a yard?-(Silence.)

How long before the flood did Noah know that it would come?-Seven days.

No. 9.-Fifty girls were present; room for 100. The books in use were those of the National School Society. The writing was bad. The mistress said she thought girls should not learn beyond compound addition in arithmetic, and she taught them no further. Eighteen of the best readers then read to the monitor, making various mistakes which were not noticed by the monitor or the mistress. Several times when a girl hesitated in reading the mistress called out, "Go on, go on, shout out." When several words were wrongly spelt, and nine girls had successively mis-spelt the word "righteous," the poor teacher exclaimed, in a sort of scholastic agony, "Girls, girls, don't be giddy, don't be giddy." But when various simple questions had been put to the class which they were unable to answer, her dismay became complete, and with ineffable anxiety she repeated, "Girls, girls, O girls, shout out, shout out."

No. 10. I examined the first class in their catechism, which they had been repeating, when they answered as follows:

What is the first thing which your godfathers and godmothers promised and vowed that you should renounce?-That I should keep God's holy will and commandments, &c.

What are the pomps and vanities of the world which your godfathers promised and vowed that you should renounce?-1. All the sinful lusts of the flesh; 2. The Devil and all his works.

What are those sinful lusts of the flesh which your godfathers promised that you should renounce?-1. The works of God; 2. Swearing and cursing; 3. Believing in God; 4. Using the name of God.

What do you mean by rehearsing the Articles of the Belief?Believing.

They then read a lesson to their monitor, when the following mistakes occurred; contempsy for competency, resectable for respectable, pains to expense (instead of pains and expense), provincy for proficiency; all which were allowed by the monitor to pass unnoticed.

No. 11.-Sixty-seven boys were present, of which eight formed the first class. As they were working sums when I entered, I set them the following sum in multiplication, 893,574 69. They worked it very slowly, and only one brought a right result. I then examined them in the Church Catechism, which they repeat every day, and received precisely such random and unmeaning answers as those given in No. 10; there not being the slightest indication in one child that he understood any portion of that through which he daily toiled. We then read the first chapter of the Acts, which