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In regard to the character and attainments that we should expect to find, in the man who assumes the high responsilities of a governor and instructer of youth, we can only say, that the superintendent of the whole conduct and training of boys, ought to be morally and intellectually competent to the task;-neither a novice, nor a pedant, nor a scheming enthusiast; nor a cold-blooded, and shallow-pated drudge, with no more soul for this noble employment than the rod which he applies as the corrective of every evil; nor a mere school-keeper, destitute, as is often the case, of those literary attainments, that gentlemanly and affectionate deportment, those benevolent feelings, and that devoted piety, which expend their united and benign influence in forming the intellectual and moral character of the youth.

On the popular subject of " Gymnastics" we would barely remark that they propose to themselves the developement and perfection of the several portions of the human frame, by bringing every joint, muscle, and limb in active play, particularly while the body is receiving its growth. They not only minister present health, but look forward prospectively to firmness of constitution in subsequent life.

Most of the Gymnastic games, also, are of a social kind, and awaken an intense interest in the competitors; absorbing the attention, sharpening the perception, and commu⚫nicating alertness to the motions of the mind as well as the body. Thus they become invaluable auxiliaries to the more direct methods of promoting intellectual culture.

The Gymnastic exercises of a more simple and elementary kind, consist of various movements and exertions of the particular muscles and limbs of the interior and exterior portions of the frame. Here, the superintendance of an experienced teacher is indispensable, that the exercises may be vigorous, without being violent, and adapted to the gradual developement of each portion, in its strength and beauty. The exercises of a more complex and difficult character,

succeed to these, and prevent that partial developement which we discover in the brawny arms of the blacksmith, or the protruding muscles in the lower extremities of the ropedancer.

If the Gymnastic exercises, however, become too prominent a feature, in an institution for the education of boys, whose primary object is intellectual and moral culture, there is danger on the one hand, of making them more expert as tumblers and mountebanks than as students; or, on the other hand, of fatiguing them daily, to such a degree, as to blunt the delicate sensibilities of the mind, clog its movements, induce a drowsy and inefficient exertion of its powers, and lay the foundation of incurable disease.

The Gymnastic exercises, judiciously modified, may be combined with excursions for mineralogical, geological, and botanical purposes, for surveying, and for the mensuration of heights and distances; in which, the acquisition of useful knowledge will be combined with wholesome recreation.

We cannot forbear to add, that we would have religious instruction assiduously inculcated, upon the broad basis of the Scriptures.

On this subject, we have not much to say, not because its importance is not, in some good measure, realised, but because we are persuaded that every thing here will depend under Providence, upon the talents, sagacity, judgment, ex- . perience, and enlightened piety of the instructer; and that no definite prospective plan of proceeding, can be devised. Here, if any where, the instructer must feel himself unshackled by arbitrary rules.

If, amidst the multiplicity of books which demand our attention, one book presents itself, in which the piercing eye of criticism has never yet detected the slightest incongruity to tarnish its pretensions to a celestial origin;-a book, whose influence is doing more to tame the fierce passions which render our world "a field of blood," to eradicate the

propensities which brutalize our species, and to accelerate and confirm the progress of civilization, than all the philosophy and legislative wisdom, and refined literature, which have been poured upon society, in ancient or modern times;-a book, whose preservation and existence, in its present unexceptionable form, is itself a miracle;-a book, in fine, whose doctrines are so sublime, whose morality is so pure, whose historical narrative is so simple and faithful, whose various portions are in such admirable keeping, whose prophetic character is so incontrovertibly established, whose instructions look forward so impressively, to the consummation of all things, and to the eternal destination of man, and whose literary execution anticipates, in so unequivocal a manner, the boldest imaginations of genius ;-if, we say, such a book exists, surely it may be said, not merely to invite, but to demand the early attention of all those for whom its instructions, its warnings, its denunciations, and its promises, were designed.

Those instructers are not, therefore, mad with overmuch learning, nor misguided by a wild enthusiasm, who assert, in an affectionate, consistent, and parental manner, the claims of this "book of books ;" especially if their Christian deportment stamps the character of sincerity upon their own profession.

Let us not be understood to advocate the cause of any particular sect. We would wish the instructer to set before the pupil the evidences of the religion of Christ, and its paramount claims. If any parent should object, because the claims of the Episcopalian, or the Methodist, or the Baptist, or the Presbyterian, are not urged, we would reply, it is enough for the instructer to introduce the pupil into the unappropriated field of Christian knowledge and principles, and leave it to the parent to exert whatever influence his judgment may suggest, in marshalling him under any particular banner.

We must now take leave of the subject of education, for the present, with many thanks to the Messrs. Hill, for the benefit already conferred by them on the community, and with some regret, that our own notions have, in the course of this review, put themselves forward so unceremoniously, that we have hardly given their system as much space as its magnitude would seem to demand, or courtesy require.

CHURCH MUSIC,

CONSIDERED IN REFERENCE TO ITS ORIGINAL DESIGN

AND

ITS PRESENT STATE.

THOSE who believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, will admit, that Church Music was instituted for the purpose of aiding the devotions of the pious worshipper. It is equally evident, also, that the patriarchs, the prophets, and the apostles, were in earnest while they sang. Their songs had constant reference to circumstances with which they were conversant, as well as to facts which were then sealed in the language of prophecy. The Psalmist of Israel, though highly favoured of God, was subject to the most remarkable vicissitudes of affliction and prosperity. Yet he ever sung out of the overflowings of a full heart. See him convicted of his deplorable iniquity under the reproof of the prophet Nathan. He cries out, in the bitterness of his soul, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my trans

gressions." See him at another time banished among outcasts, from the commonwealth of Israel. "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" Again, while engaged in removing the ark, he exclaims, " Arise O, Lord, unto thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints. shout for joy." On another occasion, he is seen pouring forth his full heart in gratitude, "Bless the Lord, O, my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Again, we see him cast down in despondency-" Are his mercies clean gone forever?" At other times, he breaks forth at once into the highest raptures, "Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.""Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord." Such were the themes of ancient minstrelsy. The same themes were also sung by the apostles, and by the churches which they instituted; and the same are to form the authorised basis of sacred songs down to the remotest ages of time.

It must be allowed that the subject of singing is spoken of less frequently in the New Testament, than in the Old. Some have hence derived an argument in favor of diminishing the importance of the institution. But if their reasoning is sound, it will follow, that in proportion as the established themes of song are better appreciated, amid the light of a gospel dispensation, they may be sung the less heartily, and with the less effect-the very reverse of which is true. If the early Christians paid less attention to the cultivation of psalmody than the Jewish nation had done before them, we must remember also, that they were placed in peculiar circumstances. They had not synagogues and houses of worship, which they could call their own. They were persecuted, afflicted, tormented, driven from city to city; without were fightings, and within were fears. Yet, in the

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