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xviii. 23); which viewed as literary compositions, are, strictly speaking, not parables, but tales.

"A comparison differs from a tale in that it is employed to illustrate something beyond itself. It differs from a parable in that the illustration is confined generally to one point. In the above example (the grain of mustard seed), the comparison between the illustration and the thing illustrated is confined to one quality, that of rapid and extensive increase. There is no general resemblance in other respects between the two things compared. An attempt to discover such resemblances would be ridiculous. To the same class of compositions belong the two foundations (Matt. vii. 24); the leaven hid in the meal (Matt. xiii. 33); the treasure hid in a field (Matt. xiii. 44); the merchant seeking goodly pearls (Matt. xiii. 45); the net cast into the sea (Matt. xiii. 47): the fig-tree (Luke xxi. 29); and several others.

"The parable, strictly so called, is an allegory. It is employed to illustrate something that seems at first to have no connection with it, and the machinery of the composition must correspond with the several parts of the matter to be illustrated. The explanation of the parable of the sower will illustrate this in a very striking manner. To this class of compositions belong the parables of the tares, the day labourers, the nuptial entertainment, the ten virgins, the faithless husbandmen, and several others.

"The fable is a composition designed to illustrate a proposition, which is called the moral of the fable. It is not necessary that the machinery of the fable should bear any resemblance to any moral process to which the proposition may be applied. Herein it differs from the parable. The machinery of the parable, or allegory, must correspond with the moral processes it is intended to illustrate. The machinery of the fable represents nothing. It is required only that the result shall illustrate a proposition, and this proposition must seem to flow from the plot of the fable. In the fable of the unjust judge (Luke xviii. 1—5), the proposition to be proved or illustrated is the advantage of perseverance in prayer. The same lesson is taught by the fable of the midnight visitor (Luke xi. 5—8).”

In no school would this work be out of place. Independent of its specific object, it would form an excellent class-book: and that boy will have no contemptible knowledge of the things best worth knowing, who shall have assimilated all the information which may be derived from this single volume.

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BY

OUTLINES OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, FOR FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS. ROSINA M. ZORNLIN, AUTHOR OF RECREATIONS IN GEOGRAPHY,' &c. &c. 12mo. pp. 128. (London: John W. Parker and Son.) THIS excellent little volume is an abridgment of the first 118 pages of Miss Zornlin's well-known book, "Recreations in Physical Geography." It has not, however, the too common character of abridgments, that of mere curtailment, for by re-writing and condensing the language, the authoress has been able to retain the substance of the original, and even to add three chapters on topics not included in it, namely, on Latitude and Longitude, Geology, and Electricity and Magnetism, and to append some "Exercises for the Examination of Pupils." For its size, we think this the best book that has yet appeared on the subject. The familiar and elegant style in which, like the rest of Miss Zornlin's publications, it is written, will make it highly interesting to children, while the careful arrangement and division of the matter admirably adapt it to the purposes of class teaching.

We would beg leave to suggest to the authoress, that the second and third chapters, which treat of subjects more strictly belonging to mathematical geography, might very properly be omitted in a second

edition. In the case of school-books, it is desirable that each should keep close to its peculiar object, and not take too wide a range. The space occupied by these two chapters would be better filled by extending the Geology to other countries besides England. We would also call attention to an error in page 47, in which the Schwarzwald is termed a prolongation of the Alpine System, and the Danube is accordingly said to rise in the Alps. Even the Jura, which intervenes between the Alps and the Schwarzwald, is not properly considered a part of the Alpine System, as there is so distinct a separation between the two ranges.

NOTES AND SKETCHES OF GALLERY OR

COLLECTIVE BIBLE LESSONS; WITH NOTES GEOGRAPHICAL AND EXPLANATORY. BY GEORGE HENRY

TAYLOR, MASTER OF THE MODEL SCHOOL, AND NORMAL MASTER OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY'S TRAINING INSTITUTION, BATTERSEA. (London: Longmans, 1851.)

We are always ready to welcome an elementary text-book which comes to us fresh from the hands of one actually engaged in the business of teaching; we have then reason to expect that it will prove really useful, its principles and methods having been subjected to the test of experience, which they could not have been if it had come from the closet of the theorist, who merely looks on from a distance at the practical part of education. On this account we are disposed to bestow upon the work before us a more than ordinary degree of consideration.

Mr.

Mr. Taylor has chosen a subject in which he will become the competitor of an able writer who has hitherto held undivided sway. Stow may be considered as the originator of Collective Bible Lessons; and any success that English teachers have had in this department is due, in a great measure, to the example of pupils of his, and to the excellent illustrations of these lessons contained in his " Training System." There is still, however, plenty of work left for a follower, if he will systematize the practical results that have already been attained, and from them deduce the principles upon which such instruction should be based. But this does not seem to be Mr. Taylor's opinion; he proposes to himself a different object. "By the publication of the present little work," says Mr. Taylor, "I seek mainly to accomplish three things. First, To change the style of address now so common and so ineffectual in giving Bible Lessons, and to fix their peculiar character. Second, To present teachers with an example of what ought to be done in preparing Bible Lessons. Third, To assist the teachers of elementary schools in a work so laborious and important as that of getting up' Gallery, or Collective, Bible Lessons.'

We could find no fault with this purpose, if Mr. Taylor had given us something better than Mr. Stow's method, or even anything as good; but, as it appears to us, his manner of carrying out the objects which he has in view is open to great objections.

We must premise that Mr. Taylor has confined himself exclusively to the Bible Narratives, for the following reasons:- "To appreciate and fully comprehend the glowing imagery of the Bible, a refined taste and cultivated imagination are required; to the teacher, who must picture out' this imagery, a skill beyond these acquirements is

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necessary. Nor do I like that admixture of elementary science which this plan necessarily involves; the proper place for such explanations seems to me to be the Scripture Reading Lessons." We have always thought quite otherwise, and Mr. Stow seems to have thought so too, for he has given half-a-dozen illustrations of Emblems and Single Terms pictured out, and only one of a Narrative so treated.

Mr. Taylor has adopted in his lessons the general outline employed by his experienced predecessor in the Battersea Model School, who is on all hands acknowledged to be the most successful follower of Mr. Stow in this department of teaching; but in the most essential feature, the narrative, he differs widely from both of these gentlemen. Mr. Stow makes a point of" picturing out" the whole narrative, and Mr. M'Leod gives it "in the form of a familiar lecture," both making great use of the ellipsis and of questioning; but Mr. Taylor rejects the ellipsis and questioning in this part of the lesson, and simply relates the facts himself, partly in his own language and partly in the language of Scripture. He says, as Mr. Stow has said before him, that "it is utterly useless to preach to children;" and yet he has adopted a "style of address" certainly not far removed from that which he tells us he seeks to change.

As specimens of Mr. Taylor's "Sketches" we subjoin an extract of a lesson from the Old Testament, and another of a lesson from the New.

CAIN AND ABEL.

"We read that 'Cain talked with Abel his brother.' It may be that he put on the appearance of great kindness, and asked Abel to go with him into the fields, for, presently after, they go out together. As they are going along Cain tries to pick a quarrel with his brother. He speaks of the sacrifice; thinks that God is a respecter of persons, and that judgment is not given according to works. Abel, we may suppose, would answer mildly, and with a firm faith in the justice and mercy of God. This only serves to enrage Cain the more; he can no longer contain himself, and, in a fit of revengeful passion, he takes the life of Abel, his brother. How horrified he must have been when he saw the lifeless corpse of his poor brother stretched upon the grass and dyeing it with blood! Did he think of his father and mother? Did he see them wailing over the dead body of their son? Did he look at himself as the first murderer, and the murderer of his own brother? Did he think of his Maker, who had shortly before so kindly warned him of his conduct? It may be that all these things rushed through his mind, and added to the horror of his situation. It is probable that he now dug a hole and hid the body to prevent discovery."

66

THE CRUCIFIXION.

Slowly the procession moves up the hill of Calvary. At last the top is reached, and preparation is made for the crucifixion. A large hole is dug in the ground to receive the cross. The Saviour is stripped naked, laid upon the cross with his arms stretched out-the iron nails are taken and driven through his hands and his feet into the wood of the cross-he is then lifted up the end of the cross is let fall into the hole-and the horrid work is completed !"

This style of narrative pervades the whole of the "Sketches." We can only say, that the fictitious minutiae of detail with which Mr. Taylor amplifies the sacred text, are calculated to produce a very questionable effect upon the minds and feelings of children. This is

the very plan which the Jesuits adopt with their pupils; and one of the known results of their teaching is, that an exact acquaintance with the events recorded in the Bible becomes an impossibility. Our readers will agree with us, that the above description of the most solemn event in the world's history is, to say the least, extremely painful.

Even, however, if the "Notes and Sketches" were entirely free from objection, we cannot see what would be the use of filling 250 pages with them. The first and second objects would have been attained by the insertion of three or four lessons, instead of which there are thirty from the New and twenty-seven from the Old Testament; and for the third object, the only parts of the work of any use are the "Notes geographical and explanatory," which "have, in many instances, been transcribed literally from good authorities in such matters," whence teachers may obtain them for themselves. By far the greater portion of the space is taken up with the "Sketches," which can serve no purpose but that of sparing teachers the very labour which, if their lessons are to be worth anything, they ought to undertake for themselves, for a good lesson cannot be provided by committing to memory what has been written by another.

Mr. Taylor has added fifteen " Hints to Teachers," most of which are useful; but with regard to two of them we cannot agree with him. In the first of these he says, "Let your lessons be characterized by great unity and simplicity in the matter of them;" and, as "examples in the way of illustration," he adds further on, "Peter's conduct at the betrayal and the trial should form the subjects of separate lessons." This would obviously be defeating the unity of the subject, and departing from the simplicity of the sacred narrative. In the second, he says, "There is one very common practice against which, in the Bible Lesson, I caution you. Is the lesson upon the Pharisee and the Publican? then must the teacher adduce other examples remarkable for pride in the one case, humility in the other. Is the lesson upon the cleansing of the leper? (Mark i.) then must reference be made to Miriam and Gehazi, and others ad libitum. Is the lesson upon the miraculous passage of the Red Sea? then must the division of Jordan be spoken of. All this seems specious enough, but it is not more pernicious in practice than false in theory." This practice has, however, the authority of Mr. M'Leod (see Vol. V. No. 9, of this Journal); and Mr. Taylor has not said anything to alter our conviction that it is a useful one; in fact, he says himself, after some disparaging remarks, "The practice in itself is not objectionable, but it should be confined to the Scripture Reading Lessons.'

We must observe that there is throughout the volume a dogmatic tone which is not calculated to induce teachers to adopt Mr. Taylor's views, particularly where they differ from those of Mr. Stow and Mr. McLeod.

THE

FAMILY ALMANACK AND EDUCATIONAL REGISTER, FOR 1852. (London: J. H. Parker.)

We have received the issue of this very useful almanack too late to do anything more than acknowledge it. It is much more copious and

complete than the issue for 1851, and we hope to turn to its mass of statistical information on the subject of education in our next.

SECOND CLASS-BOOK OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: EMBRACING ORGANIC LIFE, AND THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND MAN. BY WILLIAM RHIND. 12mo. pp. 96. (Edinburgh:

Sutherland and Knox.)

It is hard to say what is not included by some writers under the head of physical geography. Here is a little book, professing to treat of a branch of it, one half of which is occupied with vegetable and animal physiology. "The first portion of this Class-book," says the author, treats of the structure and properties of organic bodies, as it is necessary first to know something of the nature of plants and animals-their relations to each other and to the soil and atmosphere-before the laws of their distribution can be properly understood." True, and it is necessary also that the child should be taught to read before he can understand this or any other book; but Mr. Rhind does not think of giving a few preliminary chapters for that purpose. If every class-book were to go over all the preliminary ground before treating of its own more immediate subject, we should have to buy the same matter, in different shapes, over and over again, and a reading book would be the only one that could keep within its own province. As to physical geography, there is nothing in the whole range of natural science which would not serve to elucidate it. It is only by defining the limits of the particular subject, and strictly adhering to them, that an author can hope to produce a really useful class-book.

The fact seems to be that the author wanted to treat of natural science generally, for not only is one half of the book professedly taken up with vegetable and animal physiology, but in the second half there is quite as much that belongs to botany and zoology as to physical geography, properly so called; and geology also occupies a considerable share of the space, all the pictures of animals referring to extinct species. It is quite in accordance with this, when Mr. Rhind observes, "The First and Second Class-books form, together, an elementary system of natural science."

We are also at a loss to make out for what class of pupils the book is intended. In his preface the author states that "there is nothing here introduced but what experience has proved can be readily understood and appreciated by pupils generally," and yet, at the end of his book, he makes the following recommendation :-"The teacher may accustom his pupils to give the Latin, French, English, and German names to objects of natural history, by writing out on a black-board all the names that occur in the lesson for the day. In this way the pupil's acquisition of languages will be extended and kept up, and also his literary progress encouraged, by thus finding his acquirements turned For pupils far enough advanced to be learning three languages besides their own, the book is much too elementary in its character; while, for children, and especially for children in elementary schools, it is not sufficiently simple, either as regards the matter or the style.

to use.

On these grounds we regret that we cannot give our approbation to the work as a class-book. At the same time the large amount of infor

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