62,846

75,962

87,644

45,689

there are 3 or 4 large numbers to add together, we might first add one of them to another as we did just now, then a third to the total we find, then a fourth to that, and so on for a dozen more if we have them; but as the number of single items in the last total would clearly be made up of all the single items in each of the numbers we had put together, we proceed at once to find what these will come to. Let us take the numbers 62,846, 75,962, 87,644, 45,689; to keep them more conveniently before us we can put them in a column, instead of in a row; 6, 2, 4, 9, the single items of the 4 numbers make up 21, that is, we have for our total of single items as many as will make up two tens, and leave us 1 behind; this 1 we put down in the single item column, having first drawn a line under the numbers we are adding together to separate them from the total, which, otherwise, when we had finished it might be mistaken for a fresh number to be added to the others; the 272,141 two tens which, with the 1 we have put down, make the 21, must find their way into the tens' column total; this they will be sure to do if we put them on to the tens in any of the numbers we are adding, for these tens together will make up the tens' column total; the safest way will be to add them at once to the 8 tens, making together 10 tens, which, with 4 and 6 tens more, will give 20 tens, or two of the next collection, hundreds; the 4 that are left of the tens we shall put down in the tens' column, and the 2 hundreds we have made up we bring on to a figure of the hundreds; just as we brought on the two tens to a figure of the tens. 2 and 6 are 8, and 6 are 14 (since 8 and 2 would be 10, and there would be 4 left,) 14 and 9 (1 less than 14 and 10, which make two tens and 4,) will be 2 tens and 3, and 8 more will make two less than 10 more, therefore 3 tens and one. The 3 tens must make 3 of the next collection, the 1 will be left in the hundreds' column; 3 thousands and 5 thousands will make 8 thousands, and 7 more will be 15 (since 2 added on from the 7 will make 10, and there will be 5 left), 5 more will make up 2 tens, and the 2 left we shall put down in the thousands' column, adding on as before the 2 tens to a figure of the next column. 2 and 4 are 6, and 8 will be 14 (4 of the 8 will make the 6 a ten, and there will be 4 left), 14 and 7 will be 21 (14 and 3 17, 3 more will make up another ten, and there will be 1 left;) 21 and 6 will be 27, this will give us 2 of the next collection, and 7 of the kind of collection we have just been adding up; the 7 then we put down in the tenthousands' column, and the 2 we put one column or one place, as we more commonly call it, further on; as these 2 are 2 tens of ten-thousands, and ten tens make a hundred, they will be hundreds of thousands; for neatness sake, we will draw a line below the total to match the one above, and our sum is done. G. H.

A BETTER MODE OF EXAMINING A CLASS THAN BY MERE QUESTIONING.

SIR,-I do not know whether you will consider the following observations, on a point connected with education, deserving your attention.

I have had considerable experience in the practical part of education, and particularly since my residence in the country, in superintending, as the parish minister, a large national school in my parish.

The point to which I would call your attention has reference to the mode of examining a child or class, on a lesson or subject that has been previously read. The usual practice as you know, is to ask questions, and by this means to ascertain to what extent the subject has been acquired. I have long been of opinion, however, that this is an extremely imperfect mode, having observed that questions may be answered satisfactorily enough, and yet that the subject, in all its parts and bearings, may not by any means be perceived by the mind.

I have, therefore, submitted another method, that of requiring; first, a continued narrating, in which the pupil is required to state the subject, as far as he can, in his own way, wholly uninterrupted by questions or observations on my part; and upon this narrative I found those questions which may elicit from him a fuller account, or may lead to a recollection of what he has omitted. The plan is, that the learner should first study what he recollects, using such expressions as he can command, and follow the subject step by step in its proper order, and then I propose my questions on those points where they are most needed. The effect of carrying on the examination by questioning in the first instance, is to suggest most of what should have been learnt, the various parts of which the subject consists, the order and succession of those parts, and the proper expression, and thus much of the value of the lesson is lost. I also find, by the method which I recommend, that there is not only a far more accurate knowledge of the subject acquired, but that the faculties are more called forth; there is more memory required in recollecting the whole, unaided by hints from a leading question; there is also more judgment in selecting the principal topics, and in arranging the order in which they follow each other; and above all, it has the effect, in a high degree, of improving and facilitating the power of expression, an art into which a child cannot be too early initiated. I teach every thing in this way :—when a child has committed to memory the Church Catechism, I require him to go over the different topics in a continued narrative, showing in what way one part is connected with another; and, of course, when he does not perceive the parts or their connexion, pointing them out to him, and then I propose my questions, to make his knowledge more complete. So, in regard to the historical parts of the Old and New Testament, or any other branch of knowledge that may be introduced into the school; indeed, I think it would be a most important improvement in the examinations conducted in far more important institutions than a National School.

If you are of opinion that these hints may be serviceable to any of the readers of your useful Journal, you will do me a favour by inserting them. I assure you that they are the fruit of experience, and though I may not, through not exemplifying the subject by instances here, make myself perfectly understood, I have set down nothing which I have not already proved to be highly beneficial.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

A SUSSEX CLERGYMAN.

ORIGIN OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

THE idea of Sunday School instruction was communicated to Mr. Raikes, by Mr. Stock, curate of St. John's, Gloucester; who has given the following account of it in a letter, dated February 2nd, 1788," Mr. Raikes meeting me one day by accident at my own door, and in the course of conversation, lamenting the deplorable state of the lower classes of mankind, took particular notice of the situation of the poorer children. I had made, I replied, the same observation, and told him, if he would accompany me into my own parish, we would make some attempts to remedy the evil. We immediately proceeded to the business, and, procuring the names of about ninety children, placed them under the care of four persons for a stated number of hours on the Sunday. As minister of the parish, I took upon me the principal superintendance of the schools, and one-third of the expense. The progress of this institution through the kingdom is justly to be attributed to the constant representations which Mr. Raikes made in his own paper, the Gloucester Journal, of the benefits which he perceived would probably arise from it."

Several years ago a monument was erected in the chancel of the parish church of St. John the Baptist, which bears this inscription:"In memory of the Rev. Thomas Stock, A.M., rector of this church, who first suggested the institution of Sunday Schools; and, in conjunction with Mr. Robert Raikes, established and supported the four original Sunday Schools in this parish and St. Catherine's in 1780. He died December 17th, 1803, and was interred in St. Aldate's Church."

The following paragraph from the Gloucester Journal, of November 3rd, 1783, exhibits Mr. Raikes' views :-" Some of the clergy in different parts of this country, bent upon attempting a reform among the children of the lower class, are establishing Sunday Schools, for rendering the Lord's day subservient to the ends of instruction, which has hitherto been prostituted to bad purposes. Farmers and other inhabitants of the towns and villages complain, that they receive more injury in their property on the Sabbath, than all the week besides; this in a great measure proceeds from the lawless state of the younger class, who are allowed to run wild on that day, free from every restraint. To remedy this evil, persons duly qualified are employed to instruct those that cannot read; and those that may have learned to read are taught the catechism and conducted to church. By thus keeping their minds engaged, the day passes profitably and not disagreeably. In those parishes where this plan has been adopted, we are assured that the behaviour of the children is greatly civilized. The barbarous ignorance in which they had before lived, being in some degree dispelled, they begin to give proofs that those persons are mistaken, who consider the lower orders of mankind as incapable of improvement, and therefore think an attempt to reclaim them impracticable, or at least not worth the trouble."

VIATOR.

E E

I have had considerable experience in the practical part of education, and particularly since my residence in the country, in superintending, as the parish minister, a large national school in my parish.

The point to which I would call your attention has reference to the mode of examining a child or class, on a lesson or subject that has been previously read. The usual practice as you know, is to ask questions, and by this means to ascertain to what extent the subject has been acquired. I have long been of opinion, however, that this is an extremely imperfect mode, having observed that questions may be answered satisfactorily enough, and yet that the subject, in all its parts and bearings, may not by any means be perceived by the mind.

I have, therefore, submitted another method, that of requiring; first, a continued narrating, in which the pupil is required to state the subject, as far as he can, in his own way, wholly uninterrupted by questions or observations on my part; and upon this narrative I found those questions which may elicit from him a fuller account, or may lead to a recollection of what he has omitted. The plan is, that the learner should first study what he recollects, using such expressions as he can command, and follow the subject step by step in its proper order, and then I propose my questions on those points where they are most needed. The effect of carrying on the examination by questioning in the first instance, is to suggest most of what should have been learnt, the various parts of which the subject consists, the order and succession of those parts, and the proper expression, and thus much of the value of the lesson is lost. I also find, by the method which I recommend, that there is not only a far more accurate knowledge of the subject acquired, but that the faculties are more called forth; there is more memory required in recollecting the whole, unaided by hints from a leading question; there is also more judgment in selecting the principal topics, and in arranging the order in which they follow each other; and above all, it has the effect, in a high degree, of improving and facilitating the power of expression, an art into which a child cannot be too early initiated. I teach every thing in this way :-when a child has committed to memory the Church Catechism, I require him to go over the different topics in a continued narrative, showing in what way one part is connected with another; and, of course, when he does not perceive the parts or their connexion, pointing them out to him, and then I propose my questions, to make his knowledge more complete. So, in regard to the historical parts of the Old and New Testament, or any other branch of knowledge that may be introduced into the school; indeed, I think it would be a most important improvement in the examinations conducted in far more important institutions than a National School.

If you are of opinion that these hints may be serviceable to any of the readers of your useful Journal, you will do me a favour by inserting them. I assure you that they are the fruit of experience, and though I may not, through not exemplifying the subject by instances here, make myself perfectly understood, I have set down nothing which I have not already proved to be highly beneficial.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

A SUSSEX CLERGYMAN.

ORIGIN OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

THE idea of Sunday School instruction was communicated to Mr. Raikes, by Mr. Stock, curate of St. John's, Gloucester; who has given the following account of it in a letter, dated February 2nd, 1788,—“ Mr. Raikes meeting me one day by accident at my own door, and in the course of conversation, lamenting the deplorable state of the lower classes of mankind, took particular notice of the situation of the poorer children. I had made, I replied, the same observation, and told him, if he would accompany me into my own parish, we would make some attempts to remedy the evil. We immediately proceeded to the business, and, procuring the names of about ninety children, placed them under the care of four persons for a stated number of hours on the Sunday. As minister of the parish, I took upon me the principal superintendance of the schools, and one-third of the expense. The progress of this institution through the kingdom is justly to be attributed to the constant representations which Mr. Raikes made in his own paper, the Gloucester Journal, of the benefits which he perceived would probably arise from it."

Several years ago a monument was erected in the chancel of the parish church of St. John the Baptist, which bears this inscription :"In memory of the Rev. Thomas Stock, A.M., rector of this church, who first suggested the institution of Sunday Schools; and, in conjunction with Mr. Robert Raikes, established and supported the four original Sunday Schools in this parish and St. Catherine's in 1780. He died December 17th, 1803, and was interred in St. Aldate's Church."

The following paragraph from the Gloucester Journal, of November 3rd, 1783, exhibits Mr. Raikes' views :-" Some of the clergy in different parts of this country, bent upon attempting a reform among the children of the lower class, are establishing Sunday Schools, for rendering the Lord's day subservient to the ends of instruction, which has hitherto been prostituted to bad purposes. Farmers and other inhabitants of the towns and villages complain, that they receive more injury in their property on the Sabbath, than all the week besides; this in a great measure proceeds from the lawless state of the younger class, who are allowed to run wild on that day, free from every restraint. To remedy this evil, persons duly qualified are employed to instruct those that cannot read; and those that may have learned to read are taught the catechism and conducted to church. By thus keeping their minds engaged, the day passes profitably and not disagreeably. In those parishes where this plan has been adopted, we are assured that the behaviour of the children is greatly civilized. The barbarous ignorance in which they had before lived, being in some degree dispelled, they begin to give proofs that those persons are mistaken, who consider the lower orders of mankind as incapable of improvement, and therefore think an attempt to reclaim them impracticable, or at least not worth the trouble."

VIATOR.

E E