ᏢᎪᎡᎢ Ꮩ.

FIRST DIVISION OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

[This subject is continued in the Fifth Reader.]

1. In the delightful retreat of Glenwild, near a small village in one of the middle states of our Union, resided Mr. and Mrs. Maynard, who had a select family school of some twenty pupils. A leading object with Mr. and Mrs. M. in opening the school was the education of their own children, who were Master Edward, a lad of nine years, Charles, a lad of eleven, and Ella, their only daughter, who had just entered her fourteenth year.

2. The building occupied as the school and dwelling-house was a venerable1 mansion, built in the old Dutch style, with gambrel roof and dormer3 windows, and a wide piazza extending the whole length of the side of the house, where was the main entrance. A beautiful lawn spread out in front, bordered on the left by a rivulet from the hills, which formed a pretty waterfall where it entered the glen below, while on the right a sturdy oak, that had probably withstood the storms of five hundred winters, lifted its gnarled but still luxuriant branches to the sky.

3. In the background, groves of chestnut and maple, skirting the hills, were relieved by the deeper green of an occasional towering pine or hemlock; a quiet stream, which modern geographers have not even deigned to notice, but which was known in that region as "The River," wound its peaceful way through meadow-lands in a long line of silvery brightness; and from both sides of the valley arose undulating highlands, stretching away to the southward in gentle ridges, and blending, in the distance, into the bolder outlines of the Alleghanies.

4. The most charming nook in all this secluded and peaceful valley was Glenwild, situated just above the point where "The River" enters a wild and rocky glen; and this delightful spot Mr. Maynard had chosen for his home, and his family school; and here, partially withdrawing himself from the busy world, he devoted all the energies of a powerful and well-trained intellect to the business of educating his own children, and a few others committed to his care.

5. Mr. Maynard was a teacher who really loved his youthful charge; and this, combined with the vast fund of information which he possessed, and the delight which he took in imparting knowledge to the young, was doubtless the reason why he was so beloved by his pupils. A consistent Christian, he was also a devoted student of Nature, reading lessons of wisdom in all her works; and he had the peculiar faculty of inspiring others with a portion of his own enthusiasm for the pursuits of science.

6. This model man and teacher was the almost constant companion of his pupils, to whom nothing was more delight

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ful than to be told all they wished to know; and he who joined them in their pastimes, who accompanied them in their rambles, who flew their kites, helped construct their water-wheels and wind-mills, who artfully drew forth and answered all the thousand and one questions of prattling, inquisitive childhood, was the loved and guardian genius of the little group.

7. In such a school, and with such a teacher, it is not surprising that the branches studied, even by the younger pupils, were numerous and important, and such as are often deemed tedious and uninviting by those who have merely the barren tree of knowledge presented them, stripped of both fruit and foliage. But Mr. M. did not limit his educational views and labors to the duties of the school-room. The various plans which he suggested to his pupils for their hours of recreation were wisely designed for opening to their view some of the most interesting fields of knowledge.

8. It was in the various departments of natural history, especially, that the pupils of Mr. Maynard found a fund of combined information and amusement that tasked1o all their energies without ever wearying them. Nature was to them a vast bazar11—a curiosity shop from which they had collected a miniature12 one of their own. They knew at sight the kinds of trees that grew in the woodlands around, and could tell both their botanical and their common names; not a flower did they pass in their rambles without inquiring of their teacher its name and properties; and each had collected a neat herbarium 13 of his own; and from the stream, the glen, and the hill-side, they had made a handsome collection of specimens for a geological cabinet.

9. They could tell the names and characteristics of all the songsters that warbled in the neighboring groves, and of the fish that filled the streams; while the thousand insects that sported in the summer air were, to them, objects, not of annoyance or curiosity merely, but of rational amusement and instruction; and their numerous entomological specimens would have done credit to older naturalists than they were. How surprising it is that all teachers do not cultivate for their own gratification, and instruct their pupils in a science

so rich in interest, so abundant in ready materials for its prosecution, and so impressive of the lesson that we live "in a bright and breathing world."

10. Like all things else, a walk of a summer's evening was turned to profitable account. Nothing could be more interesting to these children than to listen to the mysteries of the heavens, as they were unfolded15 by their beloved teacher. And as they learned the names, distances, and revolutions of some of the visible planets, were they not taking lessons in the sublime science of astronomy? And while, with newborn rapture, they gazed upon "the multitude of the heavenly host,

"Forever singing as they shine,
The hand that made us is divine,"

what question was more naturally suggested to their inquiring minds than this: "Who made them all?" And what would be more likely to direct their thoughts upward from Nature to Nature's God?

11. But we must close our description. With a teacher whose whole soul was imbued16 with science-prodigal1 of his intellectual wealth-"his bounty boundless as the sea, his love as deep"-what branch of useful knowledge would be neglected in his constant intercourse with his pupils ? Every object in nature, however seemingly insignificant it might be a blade of grass, an insect's wing, a dew-drop, or a mote that floats in the sunbeam-would elicit18 inquiry, awaken thought, and lead to the explanation of interesting truths in philosophy; for those who early form habits of constant observation, and cultivate an inquiring state of mind, will find "Books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, And good in every thing."

1 VĚN ́-ER-A-BLE, deserving of respect on ac-110 TÄSK'ED, called into exercise. count of its age and appearance.

11 BA-ZÄR', market-place; store-house.

2 GAM'-BREL, having a double roof on each 12 MIN'-I-A-TURE, one on a small scale. side.

3 DOR-MER, a window placed in a small gable in the roof.

4 GNÄRL'ED, knotty; full of knots.

13 HER-BA-RI-UM, a collection of plants carefully dried and preserved.

14 EN-TO-MO-LOG'-IC-AL, pertaining to the science of insects.

5 UN'-DU-LA-TING, rising and falling; hav-15 UN-FOLD'-ED, explained; displayed. ing a wavy outline.

6 FUND, abundance.

7 IM-PÄRT-ING, communicating.

8 DE-VÕT'-ED, ardent; zealous.

• PÄS'-TIMES, sports; amusements.

16 IM-BU'ED, filled with; tinged or colored deeply, as, to imbue cloth.

17 PROD'-I-GAL, using freely; lavish.

18 E-LIO'-IT, call forth.

1. "HAPPY the man, who, studying Nature's laws, Through known effects can trace the secret cause.'

"Who was the author of these two lines ?" said Mr. Maynard to five intelligent and attentive pupils, who had requested him to meet them every Saturday morning for the purpose of instruction in Natural Philosophy. This volunteer philosophy class was composed of three boys and two girls, who had solicited1 from him the favor of an hour's extra instruction once a week.

2. The request was most cheerfully complied with by the kind preceptor, who was never weary of the company of wisdom-loving scholars. The class consisted of Masters Frank, George, and John, and Misses Ida and Ella. Frank had al