SCHOOL GOVERNMENT, whatever is most important or difficult, and often to require repetition and recapitulation. 4. To ascertain if the pupils understand the words they make use of 5. To explain the lessons and, in proportion to their intellectual development, make them understand them before giving them to be committed to memory. 6. To make good use of all the time appropriated to each special subject. 1. To examine every written exercise, either per- sonally or by monitors, and to cause them to be care- fully corrected, and also to point out with precision the mistakes which the pupils may make in reading or answering. 8. To state but few principles at a time, but to ex- | plain them well, and, above all, cause them to apply i them frequently. 9. To speak much to the eyes of the pupils, making use of the black-board (when this can be done with- out injury to the discipline of the class) to explain the lessons, give illustrations, etc. TEACHING AND METHOD. 15 10. To prepare every lesson carefully. 11. To place nothing incorrect under the eyes of he pupils, either in orthography or syntax ; always to ;alk reasonably to them, and express oneself, in good anguage, with conciseness and precision. 12. To employ none but exact definitions and well- founded divisions.* 13. To count much more on a rule strictly followed, )r a labor patiently continued, than on any impulsive iffort. 14. To seek only such results as woutd be really of idvantage to the pupils. 15. To turn every exercise to the greatest possible (Lccount, not only in reference to the specialty taught it the time, but also with a view to others ; for in- itance, to insist that the pupils, while writing their exercises, attend to the penmanship, or commit no ault against orthography in copying their head-lines, iTanscribing problems, etc. 16. To endeavor, as far as the nature of the special exercise permits, to induce the children to reflect, ob- erve facts, and bring into exercise all their intellectual laculties. ] 7. To assert nothing without being positively cer- lain of its truth, especially as regards ^cts, definitions, rr principles. 18. To make frequent use of the system of question end answer, and strictly to adhere to the rules that /ill be laid down hereafter in Article III. • * The principal cliaracters of a good definition are : 1 . To apply to the ■I'hole object and to it only. 2. To be clear and precise. 3. Not to include ] the second part, either the name by which the thing defined is mentioned 11 the first part, or ary name derived from it ' The principal characters of a good division are : 1. To embrace the whole Object that is to be divided. 2. To rest on the essential points in it. 3. To resent the distinctive parts, not mixing up the one with the other. 16 TEACHING AND METHOD. ARTICLE II. On the four methods of primary teaching. There are four methods that at the present day di- vide the domain of elementary teaching : the indivi- dual, the simultaneous, the mutual, and the mutual- simultaneous. 1. The master who instructs his pupils by giving to each one of them, individually, lessons on each parti- cular branch, follows the individual method. 2. The master who unites those pupils who are of equal capacity into sections, and instructs one of these sections while the others are studying, follows the simultaneous method. 3. The master who divides his pupils into a certain number of sections, and gets pupils more advanced called monitors to hear the lessons, while he confines himself to the supervision of the general order of the school, follows the mutual method. 4. The master who, having divided his pupils into sections, teaches each division alternately, but, instead of leaving the others to study, causes repetitions or even lessons to be given them by the monitors, adopts the mutual-simultaneous or mixed method. The individual method can only be employed in pri- vate tuition; it has been altogether excluded from public schools, owing to the loss of time it occasions. The advantages belonging to the simultaneous method are unqestionable, especially in a school numer- ous enough to require several assistant teachers, for each of them, having few subdivisions, can give the pupils composing them longer time and more con- stant attention. But what chiefly gives value to this method is that, by continually bringing the master into contact with his pupils, it gives him the means of de- veloping their intellectual faculties, studying their TEACHING AND METHOD. 17 characters and dispositions, and thus training their hearts to virtue. The mutual method allows of a great number of pu- pils being placed under the charge of one master, with- out the aid of assistant masters, but it fails in es- tablishing sufficiently direct intercourse between the master and pupils. The mutual-simultaneous method joins to the advan- tages of the purely simultaneous system that of more surely and usefully occupying the pupils' time, and may have the very best results ; it is, in fact, the meth- od ordinarily prescribed in the present work in all those lessons to which it can be adapted. ARTICLE III. Oil instruction by question and answer. ! Instruction by question and answer is made use of in all specialties, but especially in catechism. The following are the principal rules or remarks ibearirig reference to it. i 1. In putting the question, the master should take jcare to pronounce each word distinctly, emphasizing a jlittle the word that expresses the. principal idea. ' 2 . Every question should be clear, brief, special, and jadapted to the capacity of the pupils. 3 . The questions should follow each other so quickly p'.hat the minds of the pupils may be always kept on jhhe alert. j 4 . The master might follow the order of the desks liin questioning the pupils ; however, to secure attention, pt is sometimes good to deviate from this practice, and iiddress his question to one or another of those who Hire most deficient or seemingly inattentive. ! 5. For the same purpose, the question might be put •t^enerally, without previously indicating who would 18 TEACHINa AND METHOD. be called upon to answer it; then some one mi^ht be se- lected for that purpose, and if he did not know what the question was another might be called upon. 6. In general, questions should be given according to a certain order, so as to explain the lessons ; in re- capitulations, however, this rule might be departed from. 7. Ko question should be put that supposed the ad- mission of a false principle or an erroneous proposition, , such, for instance, as the following: "Which is the eighth sacrament ? " " Why did the Holy Ghost be- come man ? " " How many venial sins would be re- • quired to make a mortal sin ? " 8. The minor questions should have, as their object, the meaning of the words, before entering on the meaning ofthe propositions. 9. A question should not be put always in the same words ; it will be sometimes advisable to vary the for- mula, so as to exercise not only the memory of the pu- pils, but, likewise, and more especially, their judgment. ,„ 10. Those forms of questions should be avoided to which the pupils may answer simply yes or no. Such i questions do not sufficiently exercise their judgment. ■ 11. The pupils should be taught not to answer too • hastily, but to reflect, on the question put to them. 12 They should also get into the habit of making the question enter into the answer, that is to say, of expressing all the terms of the proposition, or all the parts of the phrase ; they should be required to speak loud enough to be heard by all in their division. 13. The master should watch carefully that the pupils i acquire the habit of a good pronunciation. 14. No pupil should be allowed to answer without ii having been asked, or having obtained permission to answer. 15. The pupils who should be questioned most fre-- quently are those of average attainments, or the most! s^ MEMORY LESSONS. 19 backward ; they should be made to give their answer in a complete sentence, and not a word at a time. If they cannot be brought to this, the answer should be divided into distinct parts, each making complete sense ; or it should be repeated three or four times by pupils who speak very distinctly. 16. In general, the teacher should not hold persist- ,3ntly to one form of an answer rather than another, but be satisfied if the answer given by the pupil is precise md exact. ] 7. The pupils should not be suffered to laugh at or mock those who cannot answer. 18. When the pupil who is questioned does not know the answer, the master should cause another to 2:ive it, or give it himself, and oblige the pupil to repeat It once or twice. 19. When the master gives an answer it should •possess the following qualities : 1 st, it should be brief; 2d, true and exact ; 3d, it should be adapted to the !;3apacity of the average pupils, and even of those most deficient ; 4th, it should have a complete meaning, in- Idependently of the question. CHAPTER YI. ON MEMORY LESSONS. Although the essential part of teaching is to train bhe judgment of the pupils, still we must attach a due pmportance to the exercise of the memory, and facilitate such lessons as much as possible. The principal means of assisting these exercises of memory are : division of the lessons and preliminary explanation of the texts to be studied. 30 MEMORY LESSONS. ARTICLE I. Division of memory lessons. To give a pupil a task that is too long or above bis capacity is to disbearten him and give bim a disgust for study. On the other band, to divide bis labor into ^ monthly parts, and subdivide , these into weekly and! daily lessons, to take note of bis passage from one to the? other, and reward bim by good points which be mayr show to bis parents as a proof of his success, is the true means of securing without much trouble, and in a short time, the most satisfactory results. § 1. Division of the prayers. The prayers may be divided into six parts. The first part might comprise the sign of the cross, the Our Father^ the Hail Mary^ and the Apostles^ Creed. The second part, the / confess^ the prayers before.' and after meals, the acts of Faith, Hope, Charity, and I Contrition. The third part, the Commandments of God and thea Q\mxch\th.Q Fater 2i;ndi Ave Maria. ' The fourth part, the morning prayers in use in the diocese, the Credo, and the manner of saying the rosary. The fifth part, the evening prayers and the Angelus. The sixth part, the Confiteor, the answers at mass, ,; and the De profundis. § 2. Division of catechism. I In general, it is advisable to follow the same order ij as in the catechisms of the parish ; should there be im the class children from different parishes, they might, especially as the time draws near for making their first t MEMORY LESSONS. 21 jommunion, be formed into different sections, so that ill might Jearn those lessons on which they would be examined by their pastors. Should none of the pupils be preparing for first 'ommunion, or if the catechism of the parish was not 3egun till some time after the opening of school, then ]he following division might be adopted : 1. The lessons that treat of God and Jesus Christ, ;he general definition of the Sacraments, and the )articular definition of each. 2. All the lessons that have reference to the Apostles' Jreed. 3. Those that treat of the Commandments. 4. Those that refer to the Sacraments. 5. All those that might not be included in the afore- laid divisions. The catechism should be gone through two or three dmes a year. § 3. Division of the other specialties. I Grammar, arithmetic, etc., should be so divided that ihe pupils may learn the definitions and principles, Ivith reference to those applications of them that they 'vill have to make in the course of the month. I The divisions of sacred history are naturally fixed yy the epochs, and those of profane history by dynas- (ies and reigns. i Geography should be divided into several parts, so I'S to make the lessons on it corresj)ond with the .lustrations on the maps. The monthly lessons being determined upon, the jaaster should subdivide these into daily lessons adapted |iO the capacity of the pupils. 22 MEMORY LESSONS. ARTICLE II. On the explanation of the lessons the pupils should study. As the pupils learn with difficulty and soon forget what they do not understand, it is indispensable that memory lessons be preceded by some exercises calcu- lated to make them understand the subject. And, first of all, it should be ascertained that all can read well the text they will have to study ; then it should be explained to them with all the clearness possible, making them understand the meaning of each word as well as of each phrase. Afterwards some questions might be put to them, so as to be satisfied that they have well understood what was said to them. After these explanations, the master should observe to his pupils that the best method of studying the lesson is not to read it from one end to the other and recommence again and again, but to adopt the following method : 1 . To read the whole text, with great attention, two or three times. 2. To commit to memory one or two lines. 3. When these are well known, to learn others and unite them to the previous ones. 4. When, by this means, a whole sentence is well i known, to repeat it several times without looking at the book, and then to pass on to the following sen- j tence and study it in the same manner. Memory lessons that are too long or too difficult should not be given to pupils ; and in what regards grammar, and, above all, arithmetic, they should not be made to learn the rules and definitions until after a certain number of practical exercises on those subjects. Every means that zeal and experience can suggest i should be used to get the pupils to study at home, ,: and the parents should be induced to assist in this, ,i MEMORY LESSONS. 23 and if they can, without inconvenience, get them to repeat their lessons before sending them to school. The master should try to excite a noble emulation among his pupils ; he should avoid using threats as to the means he will make use of, because, while they are under the influence of fear, their understanding is not free, and study becomes very difficult to them, some- times even absolutely impossible. The master can take a few moments on Monday evening to explain to the pupils the lessons they will have to study during the week. ARTICLE III. Hoio to get the children of the lower classes to learn their prayers. When the children are not sufficiently advanced to study the prayers by themselves, they may be taught by one of the following methods : I Those who ought to learn the same prayer should be classed together ; a monitor may repeat a small jjor- tion of it, three or four Avords, for instance; all should repeat it together, or individually, two or three times, •slowly and distinctly ; when they know that well, the |monitor should add some more words, and get them to lirepeat them in the same manner. I A whole prayer — for instance, the Our Father — might be repeated aloud several times, while those who ought to learn it should be required to repeat it after the [monitor in an under-tone. I To teach them to say the rosary, the beads to be used 'in Church should be distributed, and two pupils should be called out into the middle of the class ; they should remain standing, facing each other ; should make the 24 MEMOKT LESSONS. sign of the cross together ; say the versicle Dignare ; then the Credo y etc. ; after which one of them should say Pater y etc., to which the others answer Panem nos- trum, etc. They should thus continue to the end of the first decade. The master should require all to fol- low exactly, and should remark that the rosary is said in the same manner to the end. ARTICLE IV. Classification for recitations. It is essential, whatever be the number of classes of which the school is composed, that the pupils of eachi class should be divided into several sections, so thati each one may have lessons proportioned to his capacity : otherwise some would be overtasked, while other?i! would lose time. In general, pupils are divided into three sections foji this purpose; the lowest comprising beginners, andc such as have a very weak memory ; the second, includlj ing the average class of boys ; and the first sectiori such as are gifted with an excellent memory. In theJ upper classes a fourth section is formed, under the titlf of the section of honor, which includes the mosk talented. • i Should it be discovered that a pupil was unable t^ keep up with the lessons given in the section in whicK he was placed, it would be necessary to make him fall back into a lower; but should this be the result of negligence on his part, it would be proper, before doii so, to intimate this to the parents, that they might all that was in their power to induce him to study. Should a pupil be admitted during the course of tl year he ought to be classed in the section correspon( ing to his capacity, and follow the actual lessons of tl MEMORY LESSONS. 35 ection. However, he should be indiiced to study >rivately the previous parts; and the same remarks rill apply to those who should be promoted to a ligher section, so far as regards those subjects that .ave been gone over by the section into which they are tromoted. ARTICLE V. Order of daily recitations. To avoid the confusion which a too great number of i.aily lessons, entirely different in kind, would occasion 1 the minds of the pupils, the recitations should be ^xed as follows : At the beginning of the month the master will make ".nown to the pupils of the different sections the lessons hey will have to learn during the month in each of ihe different branches of instruction. He will, then, etermine the one which will be first recited, and sub- ivide it into daily lessons, according to the capacity f the pupils or the difficulty of the subject. When the pupils shall have well mastered the first i>art, the teacher will pass to the one next in order ; le will subdivide it, and get it said like the preceding, Old so on with all the lessons of the month. The pupils who compose the lower section, having 9wer specialties to study, can devote a greater num- ber of days to each one ; for instance : those least ad- lanced might have the prayers for the six or seven Tst recitations of the month ; the catechism for the welve or fifteen following, etc. Those of the second ection might have the prayers for the first three or our recitations of the month ; the catechism for the en or twelve following, and in a similar way with the est ; reserving, however, the last days for making a 36 MEMOBY LESSONS. recapitulation and preparing for the monthly examina- tions. The different branches of instruction for recitation may be set down in the following order : 1. Prayers; 2, Catechism; 3, Spelling; 4, Geography; 5, Arithmetic ; 6, Grammar ; 7, Sacred History ; 8, Profane History ; 9, the principles of Geometry nec- essary for Linear Drawing. The studies for the month should always begin ac- cording to the order mentioned above ; however, should the pupils of the first or second classes know their pray- ers well, it might be sufficient to make them say some portion of them every Wednesday, at the commence- ment of recitation in the aftern^fon. On Saturday, the recitation should be begun by the gospel of the follow- ing Sunday. If the pupils do not know the catechism thoroughly, they should be made recite, at the beginning of the week, the lessons that might be given them for the Church as mentioned in page 21. The master should be careful to explain those lessons during the catechism of each day. It is necessary, from time to time, to give for monthly lessons, and especially for competition, a recapitula- tion of the parts already recited, so that the pupils may not forget what they have once learned. ARTICLE VI. Becitation of lessons. At the hour fixed by the regulations, the master should have the memory lessons for the day recited all round. For this end, after having called the at- tention of the pupils by the signal, he raises one finger, and all the pupils of the first section stand up. The one who is appointed to begin gives out the first - MEMOKY LESSONS. 27 question, the next in order answers, and proposes the second question ; and so on with the others. When the last pupil has answered he puts his question, which is answered by the first, and thus the recitation continues, either until the lesson is ended or enough has been said to make it evident that all know it well. If the lesson is not dividedinto question and answer, one of the pupils should recite it until such time as the master, striking slightly upon the cover of his book, thereby intimates to the next to continue. When the pupils of the first section have recited their lesson, he assigns them some task to occupy them, and passes to the second, section, making the pupils that compose it- recite their lesson in the same manner. If the time assigned for repetition should not be found sufficient, a short time might be taken from ! reading or writing to enable the monitors to perform tthis duty. As the method of recitation here described would occupy considerable time, the sections might be re- 1 quired to pass to different parts of the class-room, and : some of the more intelligent of the pupils might be selected to hear these recitations of the difierent sec- ' tions. The master should make certain that the monitors ' know their lesson, should examine if they discharge well the duty with which they are intrusted, and : should make sometimes one section, sometimes ; another, recite to himself. He will avoid beginning always with the same I pupil, so that they may not be able to calculate upon 1 reciting one part of the lesson rather than another. The number of mistakes that will be suffered to pass I must be mentioned ; should any one exceed that num- 1 ber, notice must be taken of it and the delinquent sent ' to some ap2)ointed place to continue his studies there. 28 READING LESSONS. In the lower classes the recitation will be begun by the pupils who study by themselves ; the master, will next make the others pass alternately before him in groups of the same capacity, and will make them say the portion of the prayer they have to learn. According as a child knows a prayer, the master will take note of it in the register prepared for the purpose. Remarks. — He should not, in recitation, attach very great importance to things entirely secondary ; fori instance : either the age of historical personages^ or the date of events not of primary consequence. He should be attentive to make the pupils acquire a good pronunciation, speak slowly, articulate well, and, above all, avoid stammering in reciting their lessons. This last point deserves all the attention of the mas- ter ; it is better for the children to have a few lessons to study which they will properly enunciate, than to have a great number and contract thereby the habit of a defective pronunciation. CHAPTER Yll. ON HEADING LESSONS. ARTICLE I. On the six orders of reading. Reading will be classified into six orders. The pupils of the first will study the first card or the alphabet. Those of the second will study the second, third, and fourth cards ; they will spell, sylla- ble, and read words into which no more compli- cated elements enter than that of a consonant fol- READING LESSONS.. 29 lowed or preceded by a vowel, or of a vowel between two consonants. This order might be subdivided into three groups : one for each of the cards 2, 3, and 4. The pupils of the third order will study the cards 5 and 6, from which they will learn simple sounds other than vowel-sounds, compound consonants, and diphthongs ; tliey will spell, syllable, and read simple words. The pupils of the second and third order will make use of the Primer. Those of the fourth order will read the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ ; the master will make them spell in turns, syllable, and read. Those of the fifth order will read the " Duties of a Christian " and Sacred History. Those of the sixth order will read Latin and manu- scripts. ARTICLE 11. General directions in r eference to reading. All the scholars of the same order should have the same book and follow together during the time of reading, unless the Brother Director grants a special 'dispensation in certain cases. In the lower classes the master will call upon those Ito read first who have been promoted to the writing class, so that they may have time to devote to that lexercise. After that he will follow the order of the sections, going from the lower to the higher, but in each section beginning with the more advanced pupils. To assure himself of the attention of the pupils the master will, from time to time, stop the reader by 'Striking the signal, and select some one who appeared to him to be inattentive ; this pupil will be required 30 READING LESSONS. to continue the reading at the point where the other • stopped, without repeating one word of what had beeni already read. It is necessary in the reading lesson to secure the following good results : 1. That the pupils pronounce all the syllables well I and without repeating them. 2. That they preserve their ordinary tone of voice, , reading loud enough to be heard by all who follow the : same lesson, yet not so loud as to disturb those in the i other sections. 3. That they avoid a singing tone, as well as all movements of the head or body. 4. That they observe the punctuation. 5. That they make the inflections correctly, avoid- ing such, however, as would be too difficult or arti-- ficial. 6. That they read with feeling, but without undue ' emphasis, and simply in the conversational tone. 7. That they get the habit of understanding what they read. It is important that the pupils be accustomed to give an account of what they read, because that is a powerful means of helping them to acquire ideas ; it will, therefore, be of very great benefit to them that the master question them as to what they have read, so as to assure himself that they have under- stood it. To facilitate this exercise, we have placed, at the end I of the different chapters of our reading books, questions ! bearing on the ideas expressed therein. During the reading lesson the master will be very careful : First, to watch over the scholars, so as to » preserve order and silence ; second, to have the lesson i book in hand and follow it closely ; third, to correct i the reader every time he makes a mistake. When the reader cannot correct his mistake BEADING LESSONS. 31 let some pupil more advanced be called upon to read what the other could not pronounce, in a clear and dis- tinct voice ; the master himself should not speak until after two or three pupils have been successively called upon, none of whom could give the true pronunciation. If there are children in the class who stammer, they should be required to read and recite the lessons very slowly. ARTICLE III. For the lower classes a card should be so fixed on the wall that the master might, by means of a pointer,* and without leaving his place, point out the letters, syl- lables, or words. There should likewise be cards, either portable or fixed, in different corners of the class-room, so as to occupy, under the direction of the monitors, those sections to which the master is not actually giv- ing a lesson. The settees should be placed in front of the port- able cards, so as to prevent the inattention that fatigue would produce. The monitors should also have small pointers for their use, the points of which should be covered with leather or cloth for the better preservation of the cards. As to the method to be followed in giving the lessons, where the classes are numerous the following may be made use of : The master, when the reading class is about to begin, should call before him the monitors of the second and third sections, and decide upon the lesson they are to * This pointer ehould be held in the middle by a string attached to the ceiling, in order to lessen the fatigue of using it. The point should be covered with cloth or leather so as not to injure the cards. 33 READING LESSONS. hear their fellow-pupils recite; he should hear thej repeat it on the card and the primer, correct thei with great care, and oblige them to pronounce eac syllable well ; he should then send them to repeat i in their respective circles. While the monitors are thus employed, he shoul make the writers (if there be any), and afterward tt children of the first order, read to him. He should then cause the different groups to pass i succession before the large chart aad examine th pupils on the lesson which the monitors have bee hearing them repeat. He should reward those wh merit it, and then send them back to their seven places, where the monitors may exercise them anew i reading in the primer, in the page corresponding t the part that has been studied. When he comes to the third order, the master e: amines them in the same manner ; afterward he makt them spell, , syllable, and read in the primer. If there be but few children in the class, the folloT^ ing system might be adopted : 1. The master should make the writers if there b any, read. 2. He should at the same time give the lesson on th card to the three first orders of reading. In teachin beginners to read he will make use of the first card^ in passing to the second order he will make use of the second, third, or fourth cards, while he will make use of the fifth or sixth card for the pupils of the third order, who will spell, syllable, or read, as he directs. 3. He will give the monitors the task of repeating the lesson to the pupils of the first and second orders on the portable cards and in the primer, while he himself hears the third and fourth orders read, and inspects copy-books. It would be advisable to make all the pupils of the fourth, and even of the third, order of reading READING LESSONS. 33 write, so that they may not lose time while the master giving a lesson to the lower orders. The i^upils who are studying the first card will ive at first only five or six letters for a lesson; hen they know these well they can pass on to the ^e or six letters following, making use of frequent capitulations. The letters should be said sometimes in order and ■metimes without order, so that the children may not low them merely by rote. Particular care should ) taken to make them distinguish well such letters resemble each other; and the names of which ey might easily confound. The pupils of the second order should receive for a St lesson the first line of the second card. They ould be required to spell all the syllables, then name em without spelling them. When they can pronounce em in any order and without hesitation they should .ss to the second line, always being answerable, bow- er, for what they had already learned. They will ) on in this way to the end of the second card ; en they will be required to syllabi's and read. The same method should be adopted in regard to the cceeding cards ; pupils of the third order following in like manner. When a pupil does not know a letter or sylla- ble the master should get it repeated by another who iknows it well, and should then require the one who did not know it to repeat it once or twice. . To fix the attention of the pupils, each of them might be required in excejotional cases to syrable. The last three or four minutes might be emjjloyed in making all the children of one section syllable simulta- neously while insisting that they all follow in an un- der-tone. No pupil should be allowed to pass to a higher les- son until he knows the preceding one well. 34 EEADING LESSONS. ARTICLE IV. On the primer. The primer is divided into three parts ; the first part contains the alphabet, and words divided into syl- lables in connection with the difierent reading cards ; the second part contains words divided into syllables ; ; the third part words not divided. This book is given to children of the second andl third order. It is used by those of the second order to review the ^ alphabet, exercise themselves in learning to spell,, syllable, and read words formed of the syllables whichi they learned of the card. It is used by those of the third order for reading ini the same way words corresponding to the fifth andl sixth cards, and for exercise without the aid of cards. ARTICLE V, 'On reading-hoohs. The pupils of the fourth order should read the life ofl our Lord Jesus Christ and the abridgment of Sacredi History ; those of the fifth, the "Duties of a Christian"; both classes should be exercised in spelling, syllabling,; and reading, according to circumstances. ARTICLE VI. On Latin. || Those pupils should be taught to read Latin whqc know how to read English sufficiently well, which, or-* dinarily speaking, does not occur except in the highest^) classes. READING LESSONS. 35' Beginners should syllable in order to accustom themselves to a good pronunciation ; nevertheless, they should follow the same lesson as the other pupils. When there are children learning to read Latin in the lower classes they should read it only in the afternoon after having read in English ; in the other classes, they should follow the daily regulations and the order of books mentioned in Article VIII. AKTICLE VII. On manuscripts. The pupils of the upper classes should be taught to read manuscripts, and, for this purpose, copy-books litho- graphed and uniform should be procured. Each copy-book should contain different kinds of writing, arranged in order and passing from the easy to bhe difficult. It will be a great advantage, as was said previously, :o make the pupils give an account of what they •ead in the manuscripts as well as in their ordinary oooks. AETICLE VIII. Order of hooks for daily reading. To keep alive the attention of the pupils the different )Ooks should be distributed in the following order for each school day in the week. Higher classes. Monday and Tuesday — " Duties of a Christian." Wednesday — Sacred History, or some other school >ook. 36 ON WRITINa. Friday — Manuscripts. Saturday — Latin in the Psalter. Middle classes. Morning — Monday ..." Duties of a Christian." ** Tuesday... " '* Wednesday, " *' Friday. ... " " Saturday. . . " Afternoon — Monday. . . . Life of Jesus Christ. " Tuesday... " " Wednesday " " Friday , . . Abridgment of Sacred History. , " Saturday ... " The master should recommend the pupils to hold I their books so as not to soil them, to cover them, not tO) write upon them, unless to put their names only on i the first leaf, and he should make an examination oft their books at least once a week.* CHAPTER Vm. 0]Sr WEITING. AKTICLE I. General considerations. It is not advisable to put the pupils to writing (| until they read passably well in the primer ; yet, if t * If the pupil should be required to bring all his books every time he > comes to school he ought to have a strap or string to bind them together, and he should be directed also to put a little piece of board under the strap to prevent rubbing, etc ON WRITtNG. 87 some of those who are in the three first orders of read- ing are grown, and have but little time to attend school, they might be put to read first and afterward allowed to write. It must be well understood that such a permission does not extend to the time fixed for ex- ercises of piety and catechism. The principal aim in the exercises in writing should be to give the pupil in the end a rapid and very read- able style of penmanship, one that is both firm and ele- gant. The first means of leading the children into a good style of writing is to watch that they always go through it to the best of their ability, not only in their copy- books but in their exercises of orthography, written tasks, and arithmetic ; without this attention they lose at one time what they have acquired at another, and make little or no progress. The second means is to make them observe and imi- tate successively a series of well-executed and gradu- ated head-lines. The third means is that the master be methodical! an his instructions ; that he be well skilled in the prin- ciples of the art ; that he explain them on the black- iboard ; that he correct with indefatigable perseverance and judgment both the work done and the posture iBtc, of the pupils. This third means supposes that the master will de- vote his attention to acquiring a good style of pen- manship . The pupils should be arranged according to their capacity during writing. The beginners' desk should be nearest the master's place, so that without leaving It he might be able to tell if they hold the pen properly, and make the movement of fingers and hand as direct- id ; also, if they do not rest before the table or lean too much over upon the copy-book. 2 38 Oif WEITING. ARTICLE 11. Arlwles made use of in writing. 1. Paper, — It is very important that the paper made use of be of good quality, that is to say that it be white, smooth, dry, and especially well sized, so that it may not take the ink, which would be a great hindrance in writing. The master will see that the pupils always have paper enough for writing purposes, and will enjoin upon them to ask it of their parents whenever necessary, never suffering them however to bring it unless sewed. He will watch closely that the copy-books are kept In good order, being neither crushed nor turned down :at the corners. 2. The Inh^ — Inkwells should be sunk in the desk between every two pupils ; they should be refilled as often as necessary. In taking ink the pupils should dip the point of the pen lightly into the inkstand and shake it above the opening, and not on the floor or desk, taking care not ; to soil their own paper or that of their companions Ink should be furnished gratis to the pupils. 3. Plotting Paper. — Each writer should have a sheet- of blotting paper and apply it to the page he has \ written, but so as to dry, — not blot it. 4. Head-lines. — In those classes in which the sys tem of traced lines that we shall speak of in Article i III. is followed, the pupils should not receive separate i * Receipt for making Ink, — Boil for three quarters of a hour about six t pounds and a half of logwood in ten gallons of rain or river water. Hav-'' ing passed the mixture through a sieve or cloth put about two pounds and a I half of rock alum and as much copperas into the liquid, which should boil ' for five or six minutes ; after which, add about two pounds and a half of gum, and when that is dissolved remove the vessel from the fire. To inrj. crease the quantity, put water on the dregs and repeat the operation ; af-f ter which mix the liquids according as you wish to deepen the color. ON WRITING. 39 head-lines until they come to the seventh order and are fit to write on the blank page ; in other classes they should be given at the commencement. The model given ought to be in keeping with the kind of writing in wliich the pupil is engaged. The masters should not write head-lines on the pu- pils' copy-books, nor form capital letters there, nor make any tracings on the copy-books or leaves of their books, not even for the holidays. The copy-slips should contain sentences of Holy Scripture or Christian maxims drawn from some books of piety. However, from time to time, the most ad- vanced, in the class might be required to copy invoices, accounts, letters, etc. All the copy-slips should be arranged properly and suspended in view of the writers during the lesson, or better, perhaps, placed on the desk for facility of in- spection. The pupils should be required to copy them exactly and keep them clean ; they should be forbid- den to write on them or carry them home. The copy- slips ought to be changed from time to time to excite their diligence and prevent them from transcribing them merely through routine. ARTICLE III. On the method of writing. We call method of writinor that series of exercises which we require the child to follow in order to write well in each of the styles adopted. A method of writing to be good ought, above all : 1st. To economize the time both of pupil and mas- ter. 2d. To facilitate, in regard to the latter, the means of illustration and correction. 3d. To present models so graduated as to help him 40 , ON WRITING. to surmount the chief difficulties, and in each case to facilitate the execution of what is to follow. 4th. To be sufficiently varied so as to keep up the interest of the pupils during the time they are engaged on the same exercise. 5th. To follow a uniform scale of progress, and one attainable by the generality of pupils. 6th. To be sure^ that is, that it will really lead them to acquire a good style of writing. Vth. To present, from time to time, recapitulatory exercises. The method, therefore, consists chiefly in the choice of the models to be followed; these, however, would be of little use if the pupil was not led to observe them and imitate them to the best of his ability ; all the ef- forts of a good writing-master should consequently have this object in view. Three principal means have been made use of for that purpose. The first consists in placing the model before the pupil, or on the desk at the left of his copy-book, mak- ing him copy it part by part, inspecting his labor and pointing out, by corrections, wherein his imitation was deficient. The second consists in giving the pupil a transpar- ent model, exercising him in filling up the outlines un- til he has acquired facility in doing so, then taking from him this artificial aid and placing the copy-slip under his eyes, as in the first instance. The third means consists in giving the pupils traced copy-books, that is to say, presenting on the first line of each page (and sometimes in the middle) the model itself, and beneath it an outline sufficient at first to make the imitation easy, but afterward becoming less and less complete, so as gradually to free the pupil from all artificial help. This last means, uniting the advantages of the other ON WKITING. 41 two and appearing the most judicious, has been gen- erally adopted in our schools, and, consequently, the in- stitute has caused a systematic course of writing to be executed on this basis, which unites the qualities pre- viously mentioned. Among other advantages this means excludes the necessity of models being hung or placed before the pupils, which rendered supervision very difficult. It dispenses with the use of transparent models, the ruler, and the j)encil. It makes it easy for the pupil to work alone, and en- ables the writing-masters to give writing exercises or ' tasks to be done at home. This means, although it appears more expensive than the others, is in reality more economical. First, because the child has need only of his copy- I book, and incurs no other expense. Second, because, by acquiring a good hand-writing i in a shorter time, he spends less than he would by another means. Third, because all the lines being traced, and the [necessary distance between them calculated, there is no [ paper wasted. ARTICLE IV. '. The different styles of writing and the size of the letters. We distinguish four different styles of writing : the r running or English hand, the script, or Italian hand, fthe round or French hand, and the Old English or I Gothic. The pupils should be taught that which is in most . general use in their country. The better to increase the number of varieties which ; are a source of emulation, the writing will be divided into twelve orders ; the first three orders will be sub- divided each into four exercises ; the fourth order will be subdivided into six exercises. 43 ON WHITING. Table of the orders of writing. 1 . Four exercises — Letters of straight strokes. 2. Four exercises — Round letters. 3. Four exercises — Large letters not looped. 4. Six exercises- — Looped letters. 5. Text-hand — Alphabet, words, and figures. 6. Medium size — Capitals. 1. Fine — ^Detached phrases. 8. Free — Detached phrases 9. Round — Small letters and capitals. 10. Italian — Small letters and canitals. 11. Gothic — Small letters and capitals. 12. Ornamental — Application of the four styles of writing. When a pupil is promoted he should contiuue the preceding order on the reverse of the leaf, and when he has reached the seventh order he should practice alternately the text-hand and the medium size. The height of the characters for the first four orders should be from six to seven millimeters ; for the fifth, five ; for the sixth, four ; for the seventh and eighth, from three to two. The distance between the lines will vary according to the different exercises, thus : in the first and second orders it will be equal to the body of the writing ; in the third, to twice the body ; and in the fourth and fifth to about three times. ARTICLE V. On the general position of the body and copy-booh and on holding the pen. A right position of the body, the arms, the hands, , the fingers, the place of the copy-book, and the man- ner of holding the pen have always been prescribed ON WRITING. 43 and recommended as points of the greatest importance in order to write well. The body should be almost erect, a little nearer the desk on the left, yet without touching it. The left fore-arm is laid wholly on the table, and the hand on the pajDcr so as to be able to move it when needed ; the middle of the right fore-arm should rest on the edge of the table, and the elbow should be four or five inches distant from the body. The right hand should be gently rounded, and the wrist should not toucli the !;able, but be raised about two centimeters from it. The copy-book should be so placed that the lower edge would be almost at right angles with the direc- ion of the fore-arm. The pen should be held by the three first fingers of :he hand ; the thumb and the middle finger should support and direct it; the index finger should rest jiore or less heavily on the pen to produce the body strokes ; the thumb should touch the pen opposite to ':he first joints of the fore-finger. Finally, the ring and little fingers are kept bent, so is to make the movements of the others more free and liasy. I Before allowing the children to use copy-books, it would be a help to them to place in their fingers a oenholder, of the size of such as are ordinarily used, dn which were three grooves, marking the position of the fingers; they should likewise be taught to assume a good posture of the body, and to make with ^ase all the movements necessary for graceful pen- aianship. ARTICLE VI. On the writing lesson. First. On the explanation of the rules of writing: The master should explain the rules and principles of 44 ON WRITING. writing, and give demonstrations on the black-board ' at the beginning of Monday's lesson for about a: quarter of an hour ; he will himself trace, or call upon one of the pupils to do so, the copy which the pu- pils should imitate according to their order, or accord- ing to the particular letters to which he desires to draw their attention. He will show, for instance, to those of the first orderr how to form the connection in the middle of the: preceding stroke, and to join it to the middle of the:* next. He will explain to those of the other orders the forms of each letter they study ; the principles in rela- tion to the opening and closing of loops; to the sep- aration of the letters ; to the connection between letters of the same word; to the connection between different words, etc. The master should study attentively the explanation of the method adopted, so that he may fully under- stand the principles he will have to teach. It is important that the pupils begin immediately, to write in their copy-books the letters thus explained^ to them, otherwise the explanations will fail to pro-* duce the good effect that might reasonably be expected of them. ' In correcting the writing the master may, if he judges necessary, repeat the explanations he ^ave on: the black-board. ill Second. Method of correcting the writing : During the writing: exercise the master remains in his seat so' as to maintain his supervision more easily. i He should examine, as far as possible, the position! of the pupils, as well as the manner in which they exer cute the movements of the fingers and hands ; he then calls each one to him in turn, to take account of hia work and correct the writing. ! ON WRITING. 45 In examining the work of the pupils he should give is attention to the following points : 1. Regularity in the height of the letters. 2. Regularity in their slope or inclination, which hould be that of the model. 3. The space between the words ; and, also, between he letters of the same word, which should always le sufficient and uniform. 4. The equality, neatness, and steadiness of the down trokes. 5. The connection. 6. The form of the letters. 7. The lightness and ease of the strokes. The master should not write a line, or even a word, n the copy-book, but should adopt the following lethod : If the lette¥S are not in a straight line he will draw with he pen a straight and horizontal line, to show what tarallel the pupil ought to have followed ; if they are lOt of the same height or length he will draw in like lanner two horizontal lines, the distance between vhich will mark the uniformity the pupils should have iven to those letters, so as to be neither too short nor ao long ; if they have different inclinations, or if the trokes are not straight, he will draw parallel lines close o the letters indicating the slope they ought to have aken ; if they are too far apart or too crowded he will Taw pen strokes at the right distance the pupil should ave observed. j If two letters are badly placed or ill connected he i-^ill write those letters, to give them to understand )0w they should be made. To correct a junction badly executed he will write •bove with the pen, to show how it should be done. He will proceed in the same way to correct a letter adly formed, or else he may write it in the space etween the lines. 46 .ON WRITING. He will point out to the pupils only two or three faults at a time, and always such as are of most im- portance ; a greater number would distract their attention too much, confuse their minds, and retard their progress. When he examines the copy-books he should take account of the last corrections ; if the pupil has profited by them he should express his satisfaction ; if they have been disregarded he should repeat them, admon- ishing the pupil to be more careful in observing them, and in addition making him write, by his side, the; letters or words corrected. It is well to follow up a fault until it has almost dis- appeared, above all if it bears on an important point ; ; and it is likewise necessary to watch that they retain i improvements already made, even when these are nott| the special objects of present explanation en the black-, board or of correction in the copy-books. By thus following up the scholars, we can scarcelyj4i fail to secure their application and to accelerate theiri (!( progress. During the whole time of the writing exercise that master should never lose sight of his pupils; he should? watch particularly over the beginners, the negligent! and the giddy, and be careful that nothing escapes his attention. ANOTETER METHOD OF CONDUCTING THE WRITING LESSONS. A master who has much authority, and all whose pupils are of the same order, might adopt the follows ing method : He might place the most advanced of his pupild between the two most backward ones, then the secondft| between the two next, and so on with the third, the, fourth, etc. ; he might reserve for himself those who! compose the middle of the class, and correct theml without leaving his place, as has been said. | The best pupils might write a line on the page o< ON WRITING. 47 3ach of those placed under their care, and whilst these ast were imitating it they might themselves write in Lheir own copy-books. Toward the middle of the lessons they might inspect bhe work of their fellow-pupils, point out the defects, ind write another line in their copy-books. The master, toward the close of the exercise, should 3all these groups of three before him, examine the work ione, correct the copy-book of the monitor, and reward lim according to the progress made by his pupils. The great advantage of this method may be summed ip as follows : 1. The lowest pupils of the class receive great assist- ance, and make rapid progress by reason of the lines vritten on their copy-books and the numerous correc- tions made. 2. The master can devote his time almost entirely o those who compose the middle of the class, and, jonsequently, he can bestow much care on them. 3. The best pupils being thus called upon to teach i.re obliged to become familiar with the principles of vriting, and, consequently, perfect themselves specially m the elementary forms. The inconvenience of it is the extra noise it occasions in the back desks. ' Third. The general inspection of copy-books at the ilose of the writing lesson : Toward the close of the vriting lesson, both in the morning and the afternoon, .he master will take some time to examine the copy- books, or have them examined, so as to assure himself ihat each one has done his duty. ^ He will examine whether they have written a suffi- ;ient quantity, whether they have made any progress, .nd whether their copy-books are neatly kept. 48 ON WRITING. ARTICLE VII. i On keeping ^e copy-books neatly and how this end is tO' he attained. A good master, who has at heart the advancement of his pupils, will be not only very exact in requiring themi to follow the regulations as to writing given in the' preceding articles, but, convinced that the neatness and good preservation of the copy-books contribute veryjj much to the progress of the pupils and the good rep-v utation of our schools, he will insist upon the fol- lowing : i 1st. That all the copy-books be clean and neat andr not crumpled or bent at the corners. ' i 2d. That the pages be well filled and no papen spoiled. 3d. That the margins of the paper be left uniformi and not too wide. 4th. That they neither tear nor skip any page, not) even the first. i 5th. That they be careful to put their names and the* date of the month on each page. J 6th. That they write only what is given as a model,li and that they strive to imitate it exactly. Yth That, in writing, they follow carefully the char^^ acter of letters prepared for each order, and that th6< leaves be turned in such a way that the other side mayi be written on to the edge of the paper . 8th. That each one have a sheet of paper to put under his copy-book while writing, and a cartoom into which to place it when the writing lesson isi ended. If it is important that the copy-books of the writing class be well kept and corrected carefully, it is not less so in regard to the exercise books of orthography and arithmetic. The master should examine them strictly at least once a week so as to be able to judge if they ON GRA^fMAR AND ORTHOGRAPHY. 49 are kept in good condition. He might make this ex- amination while the pupils write their competition. The exercises should always bear the date of the day on which they were written. The time devoted to writing not being sufficient to train the pupil to a good, free hand the deficiency should be supplied by requiring that the theme-books of dictation, exercises, etc.,be very well written. The 3opy-books will be taken for the competition of running band. It is important to give the pupils as written exercises such only as are in -their copy-books, until they have oassed through the first five or six orders ; it is only i:hen they should be allowed to write dictations, copies of texts, verbs, etc. To anticipate this would put them .n danger of acquiring habits of defective penmanship, labits which, once contracted, it would be very diffi- cult, almost impossible, to correct. Should exceptional circumstances require that a pupil be exercised in orthography before reaching the seventh order of writing, he might be required to copy some models at the end, or repeat at a height of three milli- neters the exercises he had already gone through at a leight of six or seven. In all cases it is necessary to watch carefully over the written exercises, so that he may acquire a good, run- ling hand, conformably to the models of the eighth order. CHAPTER IX. ON GRAMMAR AND ORTHOGRAPHY. AKTICLE I. General considerations. To make the pupils acquire a correct knowledge of )rthography much importance should be given to good 2* 50 ON GRAMMAR AND ORTHOGRAPHY. reading, and they should be frequently exercised in spelling in the lower classes. They should be required to study diligently the dif- ferent exercises on the principles of orthography. Some of the exercises are oral, others must be writ- ten. The most important of the oral exercises are: 1 . Recitation of the grammar with explanations and questions. 2. Conjugation by propositions. 3. Grammatical analysis. 4. Invention. * The most important of the written exercises are : 1. Copying of words and a fairly-made abstract of corrected texts. 2. Conjugations. 3. Transformation of phrases and completion of words given incompletely. 4. Dictation, properly so called. These exercises are well calculated to develop the understanding of the pupils, and are not open to the objections made to cacographies and cacologies ; con- sequently we make great use of them in the book of " Orthographical Exercisesy ARTICLE II. The lesson in grammar immediately precedes that • in orthography. The master will make the pupils recite the lesson in . grammar corresponding to the lesson of the day, and will satisfy himself by various questions that they un- derstand it; he will then call upon them to give up- on the black-board the oral exercises placed before) dictation in the book of ^^Orthographical Exercises.'^'' If he desires to make a grammatical analysis, he will have the text of it written beforehand upon the black-' ON GRAirMAK AND ORTHOGEAPHY. 51 board ; the pupils in regular rotation will pronounce a word each, they will state the class it belongs to, and, if sufficiently advanced, will also mention its properties and function. The master will, from time to time, call upon them to repeat the grammatical definitions of which they make application, and will exercise them in reasoning by requiring them to state the grounds of their analysis. It will be very advantageous in the upper classes to . exercise the pupils in resolving a phrase into propositions and indicating the principal terms in each, with the words that relate to them. If the subject under consideration is a conjugation, the master shoulrl name the infinitive of the verb, or, still better, he should have it written on the black- board; he should then tell the pupils whether he 'wishes them to conjugate the entire verb, or give only sertain tenses, or certain persons, etc., and they will repeat in regular order the forms required. It will be very useful to make them conjugate by propositions, that is to say, adding to the verb a com- jplement or given attribute, which is generally repeated for each person. To cultivate the imagination of the pupils, it would be profitable to give them some exercise in invention, as for example, to give three or four names for a cer- :ain species, three or four adjectives that might qualify |a given noun, etc., etc. ; or they might be required to jcomplete propositions of which only one clause was given, or to finish a phrase of which they know only 3ne part ; or some other task of a similar nature. Specimens of this kind of mental exercise may be found n the book of " Orthographical Exercises.^^ It is desirable that the masters should not deviate from the following system in teaching grammar : 1. The numbers to be explained and studied ought f:o have reference to the lessons of orthography for the 3ay, or at least for the week. 52 ON GRAMMAK AND ORTHOGKAPHY. 2. The exceptions to a rule should be learned only • after the pupils are well grounded in the rule. 8. What is of importance is, not that the pupils should know many rules, but that they should under- stand very thoroughly those which are most useful, and that they should make numerous applications of i them. 4. The oral exercises should, as far as possible, be made upon the black-board. 5. Most importance should be given to those oral exercises which, from their nature, are best calculated to develop the intellectual faculties. 6. In making the grammatical analysis the pupils should be required to speak of the properties and the functions of the words, but only as far as they are in the course. T. Frequent recapitulations are indispensable in teaching grammar. ARTICLE m. Orthography, The lesson in orthography comprises the correction i of written exercises, the dictation of the day, and ex- • planation of the task for the following day, and an ex- amination of previous corrections. §1. Correction of written exercises. It is essential that the written exercises be carefully '^ corrected, otherwise the pupil will derive no profit u from them, but will, on the contrary, contract there- from a habit of spelling incorrectly. This correction is made like that of dictation : the i pupils spell in rotation, and each corrects according to) the number of mistakes he has made. ON GRAMMAR AND ORTHOGRAPHY. 53 § 2. Dictation. Dictation, properly so called, is the most ordinary- exercise in teaching orthography, and may be thus con- ducted : The master, or pupil appointed by him, dictates slowly and distinctly the first proposition or the first line ; one of the pupils at the greatest distance from him who dictates repeats it in the same tone, and all the pupils write it in silence ; then one of the least advanced repeats it aloud. In the same way the second proposition or line is dictated; then the third, fourth, etc., etc. fc When a sentence is finished the master makes a sign to some pupil to begin the spelling of it ; after some words are spelt he calls upon the next to continue, and so on to the end. Should any very important words occur, or any great difiiculty present itself, he will interrupt the exercise to require the spelling of those words, and to question the pupils as to the rules of which they make application. He then passes to the second sentence; he dictates it, and has it sj)elt in the same manner, and so on with the others. In classes where the pupils are of very unequal capacity they might be divided into two sections, and half the time devoted to each. While the teacher is dictating to those of one section the pupils in the ( other might be employed in making a clean copy of some dictation or of some exercise previously corrected. It would be advantageous in the upper classes to dictate to the pupils promissory notes, receipts, con- tracts with workmen, and other business forms, BO that they may in this way learn how to do the like. In those classes in which the pupils are but little advanced, dictation should be confined to words or propositions which they have previously read, spelt, 54 ON GRAMMAR AND ORTHOGRAPHY. and corrected ; otherwise it would be to them only an i occasion for making numberless mistakes and fixing erroneous forms in their minds. This is the reason why, in the first course of orthographical exercises^ the text for dictation for each lesson is in full in the pupil's \ reading book. The master should first have it read, then spelt with open book and with closed book; or'; else — what is even preferable — he will not give the dictation of a text until the written exercises in refer- ence to it have been made and corrected. If there should be any pupils unable to write from .1 dictation it would be an advantage to them to place 1 them before the black-board, and appoint some pupil of a higher order to make them write words or phrases it in the first orthographical exercises. Should there be any pupils not yet advanced to the sixth order of writing, or any even who do not know how to write, the following method might be adopted in their regard : \ Let them take in hand their reading book, or the book of "orthographical exercises"; let some line be^i selected which they will be required to read, syllable,! and spell several times ; at a given signal let all but one close their books; let this one take the line just gon( over, read it slowly and in a loud voice, while the others will be expected to spell, each in his turn, the words as he pronounces them. Afterward, or even during the spelling, this line! should be written on the black-board, the better to assist •! the children to remember the spelling of the words that compose it. In order that the dictation proper may not become a monotonous task, throwing the pupil into a state of listlessness, the master should from time to time vary it by pronouncing, for example, words and phrases in the singular which the pupil might be directed to write in the plural; or giving out in the future tense verbs which might be required to be put in the present, etc. ON GRAMMAR AND ORTHOGRAPHY. 55 These transformations should be, as far as possible, Df the same nature as those which the pupils have made n their orthographical exercises. 3. The preparation or explanation of written exercises. It is indispensably necessary to prepare the pupils or the written exercises, especially when there is ques- ,ion of transformations; otherwise the pupils, not under- standing what is required of them, will either do nothing or bring, each of them, a different version, vhfeh would render correction impossible. The following method might be adopted in making ihis preparation: While the pupils have their books open before them ihe master causes the title of the exercise to be read loud, and explains what kind of work is required of ihem; he then selects a pupil who reads the first jentence such as it is in his book, and alters it to the ibrm indicated by the title ; the next boy does the same vith the second sentence, and so on. An analogous system is followed when the exercise s composed only of detached words ; each pupil reads la turn two or three, and spells them under the form required . The master should stop when satisfied that all the I'upils understand the nature of the exercise required :f them, and when he thinks them capable of writing fc without further assistance. § 4. Upon the verification of the corrections. To make certain that the correction of the tasks md of dictation has been done well, the following aethods might be adopted : \8t method. — The spelling being ended, the master akes the writing books, sometimes of one desk, some- 56 ON ARITHMETIC. times of another, but so as to see them all nearly an! equal number of times, or he takes the writing books: of three or four pupils, whom he has remarked either for their attention or their negligence ; he examines, them, and rewards or punishes, according to the num-i ber of mistakes that have been left uncorrected. 2(? method. — The master takes the writing books, as: has been said, and gets them examined by some of the* more advanced pupils. i ^d method. — In some classes the pupils make rivals camps ; then each pupil examines the work of hisoppo-: nent, and that one of the two that has done the cori rections best during the spelling is rewarded. i The master should be attentive that the pupils applyi themselves to orthography, not only in dictations and; accompanying exercises, but also in all they will have to write, such as letters, problems, copy-books, etc. When the pupils have become thoroughly familiaii with the first part of grammar, and have been sufiil' ciently exercised in orthography, they might get a& exercises resumes and short narratives ; in a wordj exercises calculated to cultivate their imagination, traici their judgment, purify their taste, and make them ac quire a correct, natural, and even elegant style. CHAPTER X. OTSr ARITHMETIC. ARTICLE I. |i General considerations. Although arithmetic is a specialty of the first im portance, we are nevertheless obliged to limit thi ON ARITHMETIC. 57 eacliing of it to what is most essential, owing to the *.ttle time the pupils can devote to it. E In the elementary classes the essentials of arithmetic consist in figuring and the intelligent solution of roblems. The definition of each of the fundamental rules, the lultiplication table, and the terms used in the metrical ystem are almost all that children should be lade to learn by heart ; as to the other elements, they dll learn them by usage, reflection, and the explanation f the master. Addition being the principal operation, it is import- nt that the pupils study it systematically, that they ractice it for a long time, and that they acquire great ccuracy in it without which they could derive no enefit from the subsequent rule. In teaching arithmetic it is of less importance to i3ach the pupil to calculate quickly than to do so accu- itely ; the essential thing with them is not to go fast, ut never to go wrong. They should be taught to make use of the correct ?rms, and never in their work to employ a useless xpression ; they should also be taught to be orderly 1 their work and to make their figures well. ARTICLE II. On the different orders of arithmetic. We may classify eight orders of arithmetic, the first ve being employed on the four fundamental rules nd the others on decimals, the solution of problems 1 the first four rules, the metrical system, and subse- uent rules. When the pupils have been so exercised in a rule as 'i be familiar with its practical working, the master 58 ON ARITHMETIC. sliould make them commit the definition of it to memory, and by questioning sometimes one and some- times another make them repeat it before a demonstra- tion, or when occasion will arise. For pupils of the different orders the following rules should be prescribed : Those of the first order should be exercised in the numeration of the first twenty numbers, etc., in the ad- dition of single figures. Those of the second order should be employed in the numeration of numbers of two, three, and four fig- ures, and in the addition of those numbers. Those of the third order might subtract whole numbers, after first giving their numeration ; they should moreover study the multiplication table. Those of the fourth order might be exercised in the multiplication of whole numbers. Those of the fifth order in the division of such num- bers. Those of the sixth order might study : 1st, to read decimals ; 2d, to make calculations in the four funda- mental rules taking in any number ; 3d, to solve small problems bearing on each of them. Those of the seventh order might solve every kind of problem belonging to the first four rules, and study the metrical system and fractions. Those of the eighth order might study the theory oi proportions and solve problems in the rule of three, sometimes by the method of equality of ratios or proportions, sometimes by that of unity ; they could then pass to the more advanced operations. ARTICLE III. On the principal exercises that constitute the teaching of arithmetic. The principal exercises that constitute the teaching of arithmetic are : 1st, the ciphering done in turns on ON ARITHMETIC. 59 the black-board ; 2d, the ciphering done in the same way in their writing books ; 3d, the ciphering done separately by each of the pupils ; 4th, the memory part of arithmetic ; 5th, the demonstrations and state- ment of principles ; 6th, the analysis of problems, their exposition and solution ; Tth, the clean copy made of corrected problems. The masters will make use of one or the other of these different exercises according to the rules to be taught and the order of the class they teach. § 1. Ciphering by turns on the hlach-hoard. Ciphering by turns is especially useful for those pupils who are not yet in their sixth order of arith- metic. For this exercise the master sends one of the pupils ito the black-board ; he dictates to him the numbers on which he wishes him to operate, and causes them to be read by the pupils who are least advanced ; the oth- ers then make their calculations by turns and in a loud voice — each one a column, or two or three figures. The pupil at the board writes the partial results ex- actly as announced and as rapidly; When the answer has been found, it should be read iby two or three of the most deficient of the pupils, land then other sums may be calculated in a similar 'way. It would be very ins tractive to the pupils to cause them to make continued additions and subtractions ; ithese are made in the following way : Continued addition. — When an addition is completed ■the amount obtained is regarded as a sum to be added to the previous ones ; the line of division between them is effaced, and the calculation made as in ordinary ad- dition. 60 OlSr ARITHMETIC. Reinarhs. — When in continual addition- a zero occu- pies the first place to the right, before recommencing the operation a new cipher, a 9 for instance, should be substituted, otherwise there would be always the same sum for that column. It would be neces- sary, before beginning the additional calculation, to change some cipher occasionally, so that the pupils might not remark that the numbers always went on doubling. Continued subtraction. — When a subtraction is finish- ed, the remainder may be regarded as a number concerning which we wish to find the difference between it and the number above ; then the line oi division should be effaced and the question considered which of the two numbers is the smaller, and, conse- quently, which should be subtracted from the other ; after which the operation should be repeated. The exercises of continued addition and subtraction are convenient, inasmuch as they allow of an indefinite number of operations, without the necessity oi writing, each time, the new given quantities. Application of cyphering in turns to assist in the study of the multiplication table. When the pupils have studied and recited the multi^ plication table, in order to ascertain that they are masters of it exercises like the following might b€ made use of : The teacher might have the first nine figures writ- ten in a horizontal" line on the black-board, but with- out any order, as for instance : 19823'7645. He will then have written underneath the number by which he wishes to multiply, say for instance, 4J He will then call on each pupil to answer the product ON ARITHMETIC. 61 of one number, without, however, setting it down or taking any notice of the tens carried. When the pupils have gone through this three or four times with the same multiplier another might be substituted, and the products found in the same manner. When sure that the pupils are familiar with the products of the first nine numbers, they might then be exercised in multiplication, in a manner analogous to that we have just pointed out. Remarks in reference to ciphering alternately. The master, when beginning the exercises of cipher- ing alternately, will select the last desks for numeration ;and such operations as are most simple. He will make it a point to get the pupils to express themselves with precision, as we have already observed, tand also to speak loud enough to be heard by all those of the same division. If it be found impossible to make all the pupils ifollow the same operation, they might have as many Iblack-boards as there are different orders ; the master isending to them, under the direction of monitors, the pupils to whom he could not give the same lesson. It would be desirable that such boards be portable; ;they should be placed in sight of the pupils of each lorder, who could remain at their desks, and, without iconfusion or disorder, either calculate orally or by writing, according as required. § 2. Ciphering alternately on the copy-books. To sustain the attention of the pupils, whom a itoo-prolonged exercise on the black-board would Ifatigue, and also to habituate them to the practice of 2** 62 ON ARITHMETIC. writing the figures, it would be advisable to repeal ofteu the ciphering alternately on their copy-books. This operation is the same as was described iij preceding paragraphs, with this sole difference, that each pupil writes the partial results on his copy-boot as they are given out, as he did precedingly on the black-board. It is essentially important that the master require the most backward pupils to repeat the given quantities of the operation as well as each result as soon as obtained, in order to make certain that all are work ing correctly and on the same numbers. Toward the close of this exercise he will take a few moments to examine personally, or make the monitors examine, the work done on the copy-books. § 3. Ordinary ciphei^ing in the copy-books. When the pupils have been exercised in ciphering al- ternately, they may be directed to work individually in their copy-books. We should insist upon each one making the calcula tions requisite in a low tone, or even mentally, so as not to disturb those near him. If in a class of arithmetic there are several divisions^ the master should direct those pupils with whom hei does not immediately occupy himself to employ them- selves individually, either with sums taken from thei book of exercises in ciphering, or from the arithmetic used in the institute, pointing out the numbers of the sums they should Avork upon ; or they might be told to transcribe in a fair hand those sums that had been previously worked. § 4. Mental arithmetic. Mental arithmetic is that process by which we write! neither the given quantities nor the partial results, but! ON ARITHMETIC. 63 pass from the question given to the answer, without stating the intermediate operations. This method of calculation is very useful as an exer- cise to the understanding of the pupils, and accustoms them to dispense with artificial helps ; it offers, besides, a great variety. Thus, for example, we may give to the pupils who are in addition to pass from one number to another, naming the intermediary ones, as from 2 to 2, from 5 to 5, from 10 to 10 — this may be done either ascend- ing or descending. Or they may be required to say how much must be added to a given number to obtain another given number. Or in how many ways a certain number, 12 for in- stance, may be made up of other two numbers. Or to start from a number, 3 for instance, and tell the results obtained by adding constantly a certain number of units. Mental arithmetic is done in turns like the exercises on the black-board, only it should last but for a short time, as the puj^ils, having nothing to fix their eyes on, are easily distracted from what is the object of the lesson. § 5. Demonstrations and recitations. Demonstrations and explanations, as well as the reci- tation of definitions and principles, do not constitute separate exercises in arithmetic; the master makes them, or has them made, when occasion offers, when he judges it necessary to make the pupils understand how to go through calculations or solve problems. Thus when the pupils know the mechanism of ad- dition, and sufficient explanations have been given to them on that subject, they should be asked, for example, 64 ON ARITHMETIC. what is addition ; what name is given to the result of that operation ; how the numbers should be arranged ; why it is necessary to begin at the right hand, etc. It is necessary to insist upon the pupils being very exact in the recitation of definitions and principles. i § 6. Analysis and solution ojf problems. Starting from the sixth order the pupils should be required to solve problems in arithmetic ; but it would be to them a purely mechanical progress if they were not drawn to reflect upon the data. Therefore, after having read the problem to be solved, and written on the black-board the conditions it con- tains, the pupils should be required to give an account, first, of what is asked of them or what they have to find out; second, of what they know in reference to it; third, of the operations necessary from the nature of the problem. In this way they will be made to reflect on the end proposed ; on the data which are their starting point ; on the operations to be gone through or the course they must follow. When a problem has been explained the master will cause its solution to be written at the head of the black-board or in the copy-book ; finally he will require it to be worked out by any process he may determine on as most useful ; he will afterward give others of a similar nature, leaving the pupils to reason upon them individually and go through the operation. § 7. Problems transcribed. It would be of great advantage for the pupils to have a copy-book on which to transcribe problems that have HISTORY. 65 been corrected, and also to copy in the same invoices, estimates, accounts, etc. The master should watch that the pupils write care- fully, arrange the whole in good order, and make the figures well. CHAPTER XI. HISTORY. Starting from the second classes some ideas of sacred history should be given to those pupils whom the Brother Director judges sufficiently advanced in the other specialties ; he will act in the same way with the higher classes, as regards profane history. The following method might be adopted : The pupils take their books and read the lesson ; the master gives them fiiUy, yet briefly, such explanations as are necessary ; he questions them afterward both on what they have read and on the explanations he has given them, and ends by making them distinguish what they have to learn by heart from what they have only to give the meaning of. Before beginning a new lesson, he will make some of the pupils recite what he had given them to commit to memory, and give a statement of other facts. In some classes the following method is used with advantage : The master, after having questioned the pupils upon what had been gone through previously, states in as interesting a way as possible, and in detail, the facts that make the subject of the lesson ; from time to time he interrupts his recital by questions, so as to keep their attention excited ; finally, he gives them either as 66 ON GEOGRAPHY. memory lesson tlie facts in question in the abridgment of sacred history, or requires them to state the same briefly in writing. It will be very profitable, whatever course of in- struction may be followed as regards history, to accus- tom the pupils to point out on the maps the places in which the facts mentioned in the lesson occurred. CHAPTER XII. ON GEOGRAPHY. The principal exercises that constitute the teaching of geography are : the pointing out on the map ; the reading of the texts accompanied by questions ; topo- graphical descriptions without the aid of maps ; east- ing and map-drawing, when the pupils are very far advanced and have plenty of time at their disposal. The first mentioned of these exercises is also the most important, and may be performed as follows : The pupils who study geography should be called up before the map ; one of them should read from his book the lesson of the day, and another should point out the towns, rivers, etc., as the reader named them. After having thus gone through the lesson four or five times, the reader should close the book, the master or monitor should point out on the map in any order the towns, rivers, etc., whose situation has been pointed out to the pupils, and they should name them in their turn as soon as mentioned. Finally, the pupils might be required to pass, one by one, before the map ; and each one might then repeat the lesson, and give the necessary illustrations. DRAWING AND GEOMETRY. 67 It is advantageous, above all, in recapitulations, to question them as to the situation of the countries, towns, etc., without allowing them to look at the map. They might be asked, for instance, to bound such a State, what places it would be necessary to pass through to go from such a town to such another, etc. Easting is also very useM, because by it the pupil conceives the reality of what he has only learned on a map. It might be studied in this way : The pupil whose turn it was to answer might pass into the middle of the class-room ; he should be made to point out the four cardinal points and the intermediate ones, or he might be asked to say on what side is such a town or such a kingdom, or through what countries would one pass by traversing in such a direction. If the Brother Director judged it expedient to allow some of the pupils to study map-drawing he should not jDcrmit them to take their work home unless they be exact, neat, and traced with firmness and delicacy, and bearing the names and titles very well written. CHAPTER XIII. DRAWING AND GEOMETRY. The drawing taught in our schools comprehends, above all, geometrical tracing and projections. As regards the first of these two the master might proceed in this way : Let him place under the eyes of the pupils a diagram whereon are traced the figures that are the subject of the lesson ; then let him explain it to them and ques- 68 DRAWING AND GEOMETEY. tion them to be certain that they understand what they have to do ; finally, he should make them repro- duce it on a smaller scale on their copy-books, or on fly sheets. When the pupils understand geometrical tracing they might be made to study the application of it in a few easy designs, given them to be copied according to a metrical scale. As to projection, they might be taught in a similar way. The master might place before the pupil a picture whereon were traced the plans or figures that were the subject of the lesson ; he should explain them and by questions make certain that he understands them ; finally, he should tell him to copy them according to a given scalfe. It would be of great service to have beside him a sketch of the plans, and to reproduce them on his copy-book or other paper. The pupils should be taught to draw the principal objects under their eyes, such as tables, desks, windows, doors, etc.; this is a work of real benefit to mechanics. Ornamental drawing being very useful to me- chanics in general, the pupils might be practised in it, and for that purpose make use of a method simi- lar to that of which we spoke in the chapter on writ- ing and which we named traced copy-books. The pupil should have at first the fig are in full that he is to copy, then he should have that figure sketched sufficiently on his copy-book to make its imi- tation easy ; finally, he should have the sketch lighter still, and thus go on copying the model with the assis- ance of outlines less and less complete Geometry is studied at the same time as drawing. In this the pupils should not be kept too long at de- monstrations, but should be carefully exercised in plan-drawing and mensuration. ON CATECHISM. 69 CHAPTER XIY. ON CATECHISM. ARTICLE I. On the excellence of catechism. It is in this essential part of instruction that a zeal- ous Brother ought in a special manner to show himself worthy of the holy employment he exercises. The si- lence imposed on him during class seems to have been enjoined only to give more force to his words during catechism. A Brother who is full of the spirit of his vocation will always regard the instruction on catechism as the most exalted of his duties, because it associates him with an infinite number of holy persons who have made it their glory to discharge this office, and, above all, with Jesus Christ himself, who passed the greater part of his public life in evangelizing the poor. He will often reflect that this is the most essential part of all instruction, that it is on account of the good that through it we can do to souls the other special- ties have been introduced into our classes, that our schools have been founded or established, that our con- gregation has been instituted, that the Church has ap- proved it and the sovereign pontiffs have accorded it the precious favors we enjoy in our institute. He will also reflect on the need his pupils have of being instructed in our holy religion whilst they come to school, since, alas ! the great majority of tliem will hear it no more spoken of when they have left, and will henceforth have no other help to persevere in vir- tue than the remembrance of the catechism taught them by the Brothers who had charge of their educa- tion. 70 ON CATECHISM. ARTICLE II. Preparation for catechism. A superficial knowledge of religion is not sufficient to qualify a Brother for teaching catechism. The mas- ter who appreciates the ends of his vocation to the Christian Schools will make a profound study of the moral teachings and maxims of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that, being well filled with them, he may be able to instruct those whose education has been intrusted to him by the divine Father of all. He will find in the catechisms of Collot, Couturier, Charency, Guillois, and of the Council of Trent abund- ant explanations to give the needful development to the catechism of the diocese. If it is important never to give lessons in the sciences without being well prepared for them, it is still more so in regard to religious instruction, whose object is so vast and so sublime. Consequently a good master, however great may be his accomplishments otherwise, will never teach catechism without especial and sufficient j)reparatioD. To prepare for catechism he ought, as a general rule: 1st. To determine on the object of it, and decide on a chapter to be explained. 2d. To make certain that he understands well the meaning of all the words employed both in the ques- tions and the answers. 3d. To prepare all the minor questions calculated to give the pupils an understanding of the proposition, and, if need be, to prepare the words considered sepa- rately. 4th. To present considerations that might naturally be suggested by the subject. 5th. To seek for historical facts or passages of the Holy Scripture that have reference to it. ON CATECHISM. 71 6th. To find comparisons calculated to make the children understand that which to them would be a little difficult. 7th. To foresee the practices that should be the fruit of the catechism. Tt would be an assistance to the master to write down, in whole or in part, on a loose sheet of paper, the comparisons he might have met with in preparing his catechism, the important minor questions, and the reflections ; he should place this paper in his book at the chapter he is to explain, and make use of it during the lesson, ARTICLE III. Subject for instruction. Ordinarily speaking these religious instructions have, as their subject, the very text of the catechisms of the diocese, and, as much as possible, the same order should be followed as in the parishes, excepting when catechism is taught on the principal truths, or on the mystery whose feast is celebrated. We ought, according to our regulations, to teach catechism on the principal truths, especially at the pe- riod of first communions ; a great variety of questions ought to be addressed to them, without order and often without connection, but always referring to what has been studied; they should turn principally on the fun- damental truths and on the sacraments. ARTICLE IV. On the method of teaching catechism. The master, during catechism, should keep himself seated with modesty and gravity, and as everything 73 ON CATECHISM. about Mm ought to speak to the pupils, — his air,his looks, his tone of voice, etc., should proclaim the importance of the exercise he is engaged in, and how much it mer- its the attention of the pupils. He should be very exact in beginning it at the hours enjoined, so as to lose no portion of a time so precious. The master should exercise a very great vigilance o\eT his pupils, and make certain that they listen to him with attention ; he should require of them to keep their hands modestly resting on the table and their eyes fixed on him. He should begin his instruction by makipg two or three of their number give an account of what was the subject of the preceding catechism, and, after having himself, as well as the pupils, made the sign of the cross, he will propose the first question, such as it is in the catechism of the diocese. The question being stated, the master calls on one of the jDupils, who stands up and answers, if he is able to do so, and one or two others repeat after him what he has said ; if he does not know the answer the mas- ter should require it to be given by one of the most advanced of the pupils, or give it himself, and cause him to repeat it once or oftener. The same system is adopted with the other questions, conformably, however, to what was said on the article of instruction by question and answer. If the master noticed that a pupil was inattentive, he might stop the course of the lessons and make him a sign to repeat what had been said. The master should avoid : 1st. Questioning more than two pupils to obtain an answer which the first called on could not repeat ; it is preferable to give it himself, so as to lose none of the time set apart for catechism. ON CATECHISM. 73 2d. Making the same answer be repeated by more than two or three pupils placed beside each other ; however, it would be useful to have it repeated by others whom he saw to be inattentive, or whom he judged to be but little instructed, especially if the an- swer is difficult and the matter very important. 3d. Always questioning according to the order of the desks, because the pupils, whose turn to answer is far off, would not be attentive to all the questions put. The master, pointing out one desk and then another, will so manage that all the pupils, and, above all, the most backward, be questioned, or have to repeat some (answer, and he should not let them know the order he may have adopted for the day. The master should not speak during the exercise as if he preached, but question the pupils almost con- stantly. To gain their attention, he should make his instruc- tions in an interesting and persuasive manner. Far from reproving the pupils who could not answer, ihe should from time to time give rewards to those who have been most attentive, though they may not have been the quickest in learning. Finally, he should make use of all the means that a wise and enlio-htened zeal could suggest. I He should avoid imposing any punishment at that time, but should content himself with taking note of (those most reprehensible. I The master should say nothing during these instruc- stions of which he is not perfectly certain ; answers, •mterpretations, facts cited ; everything should be taken 'from approved and authentic works ; nor should he de- 3ide in the question as to whether sin is mortal or /enial ; he should be satisfied with saying, " it is a great sin ; it is a very serious fault." The master, during catechism lessons, should always 3 74 ON CATECHISM. give to his words an expression of the most profound conviction ; he should speak only with gravity and dignity of the truths of religion ; he should inspire his pupils with a great respect for the presence of God, a lively gratitude and generous love toward our Lord Jesus Christ, a holy and salutary fear of the judgment of God and a great horror of sin; he should lead them to make frequent and holy use of the sacraments of penance and the holy Eucharist ; he should inspire them with a true and sincere devotion to the most holy Virgin, their patron saint and angel guardian. He should not allow the pupils to raise objections nor to discuss points of doctrine. About five minutes before the end of catechism the master should take up again the principal questions he may have put, and cause them to be repeated by some of the pupils, while making them remark their import- ance. He ought to close the exercise by mentioning one or more pious practices in reference to the subject treated of It is desirable that he should not point them out directly, but lead the pupils, by questions, to find them for themselves. ARTICLE V. Time that should he employed in teaching catechism. Catechism should be taught every day for half an hour, from 4 o'clock to half-past 4. From the first of November till the last day of January, inclusively, it should be taught from half-past 3 to 4. On the afternoon preceding the holiday it should last for an hour, commencing for that purpose half an hour earlier. « The same rule will prevail for the vigils of holidays that take the place of the weekly holiday. ON CATECHISM. 75 On days of half holiday the lessons will be short- ened, and catechism taught at the end for half an hour. On the afternoon of Wednesday in Holy Week cate- chism will be taught for an hour and a half, until 2 o'clock, on the principal truths of religion, and from 2 till 3 on the Passion, and the manner of spending the following days until Easter Sunday. On the vigils of Trinity Sunday and Christmas cate- chism will be taught for half an hour on the principal truths of religion, and for an hour on the object of the feast. On those days prayers will be said at 3 o'clock. On the vigil of Pentecost the same regulations will be observed as on the eve of holidays. ARTICLE VI. Particular regulations for catechism on the Sundays^ feasts, and vigils of holidays. On all Sundays and holidays of obligation catechism ' will be taught for an hour and a half, excepting on Easter, Pentecost Sunday, Trinity Sunday, and • Christmas. The pupils will go to the class-room for half an hour before catechism, and, during that time, two or three of this number chosen by the master will read aloud from some good book, each one reading a little so as mot to fatigue themselves : all the others will listen in silence. The same regulation will be observed in the lower classes, and if there are no children there fit to iread some may be taken for this purpose from the higher classes. On Sundays and on the vigil of holidays catechism ' will be taught during the first half hour on the principal mysteries and other truths, the knowledge of which is necessary for salvation. On festival days catechism will be taught on the subject of the feast. 76 ON POLITENESS. On the vigils of holidays the master may from time to time, during the second half hour of catechism, take as his subject the manner of spending the day in a Chris- tian manner, how to sanctify one's action, to raise the heart to God, to make a good confession, etc.* On Sundays, after catechism has been taught on the principal mysteries, the master may have the gospel read once or twice, and ask the pupils what they have remarked in it. Finally he will question them, by way of recapitulation, on all that has been said during the catechisms of the week. As the catechism of Sundays and holidays lasts longer than that of other days, the master will choose an edifying example which the pupils may relish, and which will be in keeping with the subject treated of; he will relate it to them, in an interesting way, toward the end of the exercise. Pupils who are strangers may be admitted to the catechisms, provided they do not injure the discipline of the class. CHAPTER XV. OTif POLITENESS. Next to religion, nothing appears to be of more im- portance than good breeding and politeness. The * The Brothers will take particular care that the pupils who have made their first cominuni on, and those who are about to make it, go to confes- sion once a month. As to the others, it will be sufficient if they go once every three months. They should be taught how to make their coiifession, how they should examine their conscience, what they should say before ac- cusing themselves, how they should accuse themselves, what they should say during absolution and the priest's blessing, and by way of thanksgiving. They should also be instructed as to the obligation of saying their penance, and how to perform it. ON POLITENESS. 77 master will, therefore, do all he can to make his pupils contract these good habits. For this purpose he will strive always to serve as a model to them, never doing anything beneath his dignity, making use of no expressions but such as are becoming and courteous, avoiding all that are harsh and trivial, as well as all hasty and angry proceedings. He should reprove the pupils who may offend against politeness, and should take advantage of every favor- able opportunity to give them public instructions on it. He should recommend to them to be, above all, res- pectful to persons consecrated to God, and to the dignitaries of the State ; he should make them ac- quainted with the duties that politeness prescribes to them in regard to their parents, teachers, fellow- pupils, land all with whom they may have intercourse. He should be strict as to their saluting him every time they pass before him, and not speaking to him or the other Brothers but with their heads uncovered, land in very respectful terms. He should not suffer them to quarrel among them- selves, give nick-names, or ridicule the natural defects of others, or draw or write upon the walls, desks, or windows. He should not allow them to remain with their heads covered in class, unless their health require lit, or to stare at any one, particularly at those who are their superiors. He should insist upon their never receiving anything without thanking the person that gives or presents it CO them. Finally, he should watch over them so that they ac- quire all the habits of politeness required, now-a-days, r'rom such as have received a Christian education. It would be useful for this purpose if the master now Imd then read to them some good book on politeness. 78 OH ASSISTING AT THE PUBLIC SERVICES. CHAPTER XYI. ON CLEANLINESS. The master, while making the inspection directed in the regulations, should make certain that their pupils keep themselves clean, that they wash their hands and face, that they do not come to school barefoot, with torn clothes, or hair in disorder. They should also pay special attention, 1st, to the cleanness of the floor of the class-room ; 2d, to that of the walls and ceiling, where spider-webs should never be allowed to gather ; 3d, to the state of the books, portfolios, and copy-books of the pupils ; 4th, to that of the desks, tables, and seats ; 5th, to the clean- ness of the yard, stairs, water-closets, and corridors. The pupils should be cautioned against performing the necessities of nature in the street, and still less near churches, such being altogether contrary to decency and modesty. Such pupils as have dangerous infirmities should be sent home to their parents until completely cured. CHAPTER XYIL ON ASSISTING AT THE PUBLIC SERVICES OF THE PARISH CHURCH. If the Brothers cannot get the pupils to hear mass every day they should, by way of compensation, make them recite three decades of the rosary. They might, in like manner, make them recite the prayers at mass; but they should neglect nothing to secure such an arrangement that mass be said at least ON ASSISTIKG AT THE PUBLIC SERVICES. 79 I twice a week at an hour at which the pupils could be i conveniently brought to church. On Sundays and holidays of obligation the masters should conduct the pupils to the services in the parish ■ church, unless that be absolutely impossible. The pupils should assemble in the school before going to the parish church ; they should leave early enough to be in church before mass or vespers com- menced; they should pass oat, one desk after the other, and range themselves two by two. I The master should watch strictly over his pupils ^'while leading them to church, taking care never to :give any sign indicative of impatience or displeasure. There should be a pupil appointed to offer the others holy water as they enter the church, and the same when leaving, as will be mentioned in the article on lithe officers of the school. It will be advisable for one master to enter the li church first, then the master of the following class will I' watch over the pupils who are still without ;• the master whose class will enter last should appoint a pupil to fulfill that office for him. The pupils should enter the church in silence and with an especial modesty. As they reach the place assigned them, they should |; arrange themselves in straight line, and, at a given i: signal from the master, kneel down and bend in adora- 'i tion to the blessed Sacrament. I During the service, the pupils who cannot read I' should say their beads, and hold them in such a way ji that the master can see the use they make of them ; 'tthe others should read their prayer-books. \ Care should be taken that the pupils do not disturb kthe singing in the church by singing too loud or too [| slowly, or in a false note, or by singing an accompani- ment to the Preface or the Pater Noster. The pupils should kneel, stand, or sit during the 80 ON ASSISTING AT THE PUBLIC SERVICES. services of the church, according to the usages of the place. At the consecration, all should join their hands and bend respectfully to adore our Lord. The masters should not make use of a book in church except on Sundays and holidays, and they should at the same time have the list and endeavor not to lose sight of their pupils. They should not leave their place to admonish those who may be in fault, nor should they threaten them in the church. To excite the pupils to pray the whole time, the masters might suggest from time to time Ave Maria in a low tone, while looking toward those who are saying the beads ; or, while turning toward the others, they might name the prayers that the priest is saying. The special means to obtain order and piety in the church from the pupils are : 1. To insist that they always make use of their books. 2. To place them so that they can be sufficiently separated from each other. 3. So to place himself that he can easily keep a watch over them. 4. To place beside himself those whose character re- quires the most strict supervision. 5. To edify them all by his fervor and modesty, with- out, however, being wanting in vigilance. 6. Not to allow them to bring to church anything that can distract them. If, at the end of the services, the crowded state of the church makes it difficult to leave, the pupils should be made to sit down until the crowd has slackened. When the time for departure has come all, at a sign from the master, should kneel down to make an act of adoration ; then they should rise in the order of pews and make the genuflection together, going out two by two. ON PRAYERS AND SINGING OP HYMNS. 81 The pupils should not be allowed to shake the dust from their knees in the church, or to leave papers, etc., on the floor. One of the masters should remain at the door of the church to prevent them from amusing themselves or making a noise while leaving. When the pupils are returning home from church they should be dismissed, two by two, and, as far as possible, according to their districts, as in the case when leaving school. CHAPTER XVIII. ON PRAYERS AND SINGING OP HYMNS. ARTICLE I. On the prayers that are said in school. It is the duty of a good master to inspire his pupils w4th the relish and habit of prayer, and to make them form the custom of having recourse to God in the different circumstances of life, and, above all, in their personal trials and family afflictions. In regard to the prayers to be said in school, they should be such as are prescribed in the book of the " Exercise of Piety." Every half hour, when there are no prayers pre- scribed by the book of exercises, a pupil should say aloud : Let us remember that we are in the holy p7^esence of God / The exercises will be immediately suspended, and the pupils and master should recollect themselves for the space of an Ave Maria. The pupils should be recommended to offer up during that time some ejac- 82 ON PRAYERS AND SINGING OF HYMNS. ulatory prayers, which should be taught them, and the master might, in an extraordinary case, question them, so as to be certain that they liave done so. These prayers will be useful to the master in helping him to renew his attention to the presence of God, and to the pupils in exciting them to think of God from time to time during the day. In the afternoon, evening prayers should be said at the end of school at half-past four ; and from the first of November to the first of January at four o'clock. When the sound of the bell is heard, announcing that the most holy Sacrament is being brought to some sick person, all the pupils should kneel down, and each in silence should adore our Lord Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist, until the master makes them a sign to rise. The De profundi^ should be said after morning and evening prayers — 1st, on the first day of school after the death of a Brother of the community ; 2d, on the day after the receipt of a circular ; and, 3d, on the death of a pupil of the same school. No other prayers than those enjoined shall be said without an order from the Brother Superior of the institute. ARTICLE 11. On the reflection at the end of morning prayers and the examination during evening prayers. The book of Exercises of Piety for the use of our schools contains a reference to the duties of a Christian, a series of important reflections susceptible of develop- ment and explanation; they form five articles, each containing five reflections, and might serve as subjects of meditation during the month. Every day, after morning prayers, the reflection or maxim marked for ON PRAYERS AND SINGING OF HYMNS. 83 the day should be read ; the master should explam it for three or four minutes, making the pupils under- stand their obligations, and suggesting to them the means and resolutions they ought to adopt to fulfill them faithfully. The same book contains likewise an equal number of articles and important reflections for the evening, which maybe read and explained in the same manner. They have a certain connection with the reflections of the morning, so that the pupils may be led to examine themselves as to the manner in which they have ful- filled the resolutions then taken. By this means v^^e shall each month place before the eyes of the pupils their principal duties, and the faults most commonly committed at their age ; Ave shall make them contract the holy habit of foreseeing in ithe morning the dangers to which they will be exposed during the day, and of examining themselves in the evening as to how they have gone through the day. It is in these short exhortations principally that a good master should show himself zealous to gain over |to God the souls of the children intrusted to him; he should never fail, therefore, to prepare beforehand what he ought to say, and to be deeply impressed with it himself, so as to express it with much unction and in ta truly persuasive manner. ARTICLE III. On deportment during prayers and the manner of saying them. The master should remain standing during morning, evening, and opening prayers. The pupils during these exercises, as well as during the prayers that are not daily, should remain on their knees, in good order. 84 ON PRAYEKS AND SINGING OP HYMNS. with their arms crossed and their eyes cast down. They should remain standing while reciting the rosary. During the other prayers the master and pupils will keep their seat with a modest and recollected exterior. All the pupils should prepare themselves to say the prayer as soon as the signal will be given ; they should make the sign of the cross together at the same time as the master. At the blessing they should, in the same manner, make the sign of the cross altogether, and should bow when the words Father^ Son, and Holy Ghost are pro- nounced. He who says the prayers should do so in a loud voice, in an intelligible manner, and slowly, observing all the pauses, so that the other pupils may be able to hear distinctly all that he says. All should follow him in a subdued tone, so that his voice may always predominate, and to avoid confusion they should stop at all the pauses lie will make. The master should not speak to the pupils, either individually or in general, during prayers ; if he re- marks that they do anything deserving of censure, he should be content with making them a sign, or mark- ing them on his list. He should ever abstain from anything that could distract their attention from the prayers, as would be the case if he made them pass from one place to an- other. The principal attention of the master during prayers ought to be to watch with the greatest care over all that occurs in the class-room. He should take care to do nothing out of place, and to say the prayers him- self with piety so as to be always a source of edifica- tion to the pupils. ON DISMISSAL. 80 ARTICLE IV. On the singing of hymns. The pupils should sing two or three verses of a hymn. 1st, at the beginning of each catechism, by way of prayer ; 2d, in the middle of the catechism, on the vigil of holidays and on Sundays ; 3d, during the re- union on Sundays and festival days (at this time, also, they may be taught those hymns of which they do not know the air) ; 4th, every day after evening prayers. That this exercise may be beneficial, we must take care that the pupils do not scream, that their voices harmonize, and that as far as possible they attend to the words. It is necessary to insist upon their keeping their hymn-books in their hands. The master should not hesitate to keep pupils a long time at the same hymns ; it is of more importance that they know but few and know them well than to know a great many superficially. CHAPTER XIX. ON DISMISSAL. ARTICLE I. Oti the manner in which the pupils should leave school. The pupils of the lower classes have shorter prayers than the others, and beginning them some minutes soon- ( er should go out first ; after them should come those of the third and second classes, then those of the up- per classes ; precaution should be taken that a lower class shall have passed out when that which ought to follow it shall have finished the prayer or the singing of the hymn. 3* 86 ON DISMISSAL. To make the pupils leave the master will give a sig- nal to those of one desk ; they will, uncovered and in si- lence, leave their place one after the other, and bow to the crucifix in passing, salute the master, and go in silence to range themselves in the place assigned to each division. When they shall be all in good order the master will strike his hand three times in succession ; at the first they will uncover ; at the second they shall sa- lute ; at the third they will file off in the greatest or- der. The master will be careful that the pupils walk in the streets two by two, at a distance of two or three paces apart, with modesty, but yet without constraint or affectation in their behavior ; that they do not throw stones ; that they do not run or shout ; that they annoy no one ; in a word, that they conduct themselves orderly and with becoming reserve. Should they meet a priest carrying the holy Viaticum they ought to kneel to adore Jesus Christ in the most holy Sacra- ment. As the masters cannot see how the pupils conduct themselves in the streets the Brother Director, in con- currence with them, should give directions to some pu- pil to watch over and report faithfully what they may have remarked. The masters should take care to reward each day such of the pupils as shall have conducted themselves best when in ranks, and to impose some punishment on those who may have disturbed good order. ARTICLE II. On the duties of masters during and after the dismissal of the pupils. One of the masters will superintend the pupils while leaving, and another may watch over those who may be outside. ON DISMISSAL. 87 When the pupils shall have left the school, the mas- ters will re-enter, assemble in one of the class-rooms or in any other place appointed by the Brother Director, and kneel down before the crucifix. If it is in the school attached to the house, the Brother Inspector or the first master will say, May Jesus live in our hearts^ and the others will answer, for ever ; all will then go to say the Sub tuum in the chapel. In the school out- side of the house, the Inspector or the first master will say Dignare me laudare te, etc., and the others will an- swer i)a mihi virtutem, etc., then all will leave the school in silence, continuing the rosary to the house, — there they will go to the oratory and recite the prayer Domina mea. In the evening, after the prayer Domina mea, the Brothers will make a slight examination of their con- duct during school ; finally the Brother Inspector or the first master will say, May Jesus live in our hearts, and the others will answer, for ever. SECOND PAET. ON THE PAETICULAE MEANS BY WHICH TO OBTAIN OEDEE AND APPLICATION FEOM THE PUPILS. CHAPTER I. ON EMULATION. ARTICLE L General considerations, and an 'enumeration of the prin- cipal incentives to emulation made use of in our schools. Emulation has cMefly for its object to excite in the mind of the pupil sentiments calculated to aid him in the fulfillment of his duties. Its principal advantages are, that it makes him accomplish much in a short time without undue fatigue, that it renders punishment rare, and inspires attachment to the school and teacher.^ To appreciate a means of emulation we must exa- mine whether the sentiments it inspires are noble and legitimate ; whether it is really effective in procuring and maintaining order and application ; and whether it does not necessitate or occasion, though unnecessarily, too much fatigue or excitement. In general, an incentive to emulation, however good it may be, fails to produce always the same effects ; the pupils, after a while, become habituated to it, and are in the end very little stimulated by it. It is of ON EMULATION. 89 importance, then, to have many such incentives at our disposal, and to use them by advancing gradually from the weakest to the strongest . We should be very sparing of those that are most effective, and never dis- continue any one before we have drawn from it all the advantages possible. Although a master should give the preference to such helps to emulation as are calculated to excite the industry of the pupils uniformly and permanently, yet he may, from time to time, make use of means whose effects are dependent upon circumstances; thus, for example, if he wished that some lesson or lessons to which he attached special importance should be quickly learned, they might be given as a trial of abil- ity open to all. The principal means of exciting a well-sustained emu- lation are: the taking of places in class, competitions and examinations, promotions in the order or section, the formation of two rival camps or division of the class into different groups contending with each other, challenges, privileges or good notes, weekly reports, honorable mention or monthly reports, titles of honor, crosses of honor, inscription of names on a tablet placed cons^jicuously in the class-room, rewards, and distribution of prizes. AETICLE II. The tahiiig of places. In those specialties in which the pupils take places this means of emulation may be used with great profit. Whenever a pupil gains an advantage over those immediately preceding him, he passes above them at a sign from the master. These changes of place are principally made use of 90 ON EMULATION. in tlie lower classes for lessons in reading, and in all the others for writing and memory lessons. This means of emulation is advantageous, as by it the pupils are constantly kept on the alert ; the exer- cise of competition is made permanent ; and the master is furnished with an efficacious means always at hand, both for reward and punishment. In employing this means he must avoid : 1st. The making a pupil advance too much at once. 2d. The making him pass from one section to another, that being reserved to the Brother Director or the In- spector. 3d. The making him advance through motives for- eign to the specialty in which the. pupils are actually competing. AETICLE III. Competitions. In general, one competition a week on each of the specialties seems to be indispensable. Besides the weekly competitions, a monthly compe- tition should be made in each specialty, having as its object all that the pupils have studied during the month. Ordinarily, the competition should be in charge of the master; but the monthly ones ought to be in charge of the Brother Director or Inspector, who, on the same occasion, might make the promotions from section to section he determines upon. Before making a monthly competition the pupils might be placed in order, taking as the basis the places obtained in the weekly competitions. In case of equality between two pupils the prefer- ence should be given to him who was first before the ON EMULATION. 91 competition, unless it be thought more" advisable to give them the same place. When a competition is finished, the result is regis- tered on a book or board, and for that purpose the following plan might be adopted. 1 St. The master reads out the places, recommending the pupils to bear in mind the number given them. 2d. The pupil whose duty it is to register the competition, names in succession all the pupils in the order of last registration, and as they answer they give the number they have received ; he writes these numbers opposite their names in the column arranged for the specialty in question. Method of malcing oral competitions. In oral competitions we must watch that the children do not whisper the answer to one another. The competition should not be made to depend upon one or two questions, but upon a great number, so that merit only and not chance may determine the places. To judge of the merit of the pupils in oral competi- tion, one of the following methods may be adopted : \st method. All are arranged according to the order of the last competition ; the master either makes them recite the lesson, or interrogates them at the end of the first round ; all those who have not known what was asked of them lose a place ; then he recommences a second round, acts in the same manner, and so on to the end. 2d method. The pupils are arranged as in the other method, according to the order of the last competition; the master either makes them recite the lesson or ques- tions them ; at the end of the first round those who 92 . ON EMULATION. have known tlie lesson pass to the head of the division, and the others to the foot. The former are examined a second time ; those who answer correctly remain, the others join those who had failed in the first round. Finally, all those who have failed are called upon to recite the lesson, and those among them who again fail to answer the ques- tion proposed take the lowest places. A third round may be made in a similar manner. This process greatly stimulates the pupils because it occasions great mutations ; but it has also the incon- venience of discouraging the good pupils who, through a slight forgetfulness, fail in the first round. Sd method — The master has the names of the pupils who compete under his eyes, in alphabetical order, or, better still, in the order of the desks ; he makes them recite the lesson, and marks a figure at the side of their names, according to the merit of their recitation. He fixes a maximum, 5 for example, for the pupil who knows well the first part of the lesson that has fallen to him, and who, moreover, pronounces distinctly while saying the lesson or answering ; he marks for the others 4, 3, 2, 1, according to their merit, and to him who knows nothing of the answer he ought to give. When the master has completed interrogating the pupils an equal number of times, he adds up the num- bers of each, thereby determining their places. The pupils who have the same total occupy the same places in regard to each other. This method is the fairest, but it requires much at- tention on the part of the master ; it may be used with advantage in small classes, its chief merit being that it can be employed without obliging the pupils to change places. It might be rendered easy by giving a pupil the task of writing down the numbers as the master de- termined them. ON EMULATION. 93 4th method — The pupils take places according to the last competition ; the second pupil attacks the first by putting a question to him ; if the latter gives a cor- rect answer he remains in his place ; should he fail in bis answer his adversary takes his place, and the first defends himself by putting a question in like manner. In case of equality the master himself questions the 3ompetitors and decides between them. The conqueror takes the first place, and the fourth and third, the sixth and fifth compete in the same manner ; after- ward, the third competing with the second and the ifth with the fourth. The master should take care that the pupils, in ques- doning each other, always express themselves in re- spectful terms, and address no question outside of the 3rogramme. This method stimulates the pupils exceedingly, but t demands a good deal of time, and occasions a little loise. Manner of deciding upon written competifio7is. The written competitions may be valued, 1st, by '30unting the mistakes : 2d, by determining a maxi- num for each answer ; 3d, by counting the correct an- swers ; 4th, by comj^aring the papers with each other, f the competition is in writing or drawing, and ar- ranging them as they approach more or less to the model. The master may make use of that method which is most convenient, considering the specialty in which 'he pupils are competing. : In written competitions, the master should see that he pupils do not copj^ one from the other ; as a pre- •aution they may be put at some distance from each )ther, or so placed that the rival competitors be side by .ide. 94 ON EMULATION. BeniarJcs in reference to some competitions. Reading — In the lower classes the competition in reading is daily, since the master makes pupils take places in proportion as he determines their merits ; in the other classes such competition takes place once a week, on Wednesday. The pupils, after being arranged in the order of the last competition, remain standing,; and read each a fixed number of lines ; the masteri makes them go up or down, according to their merits,i and recompenses the two or three first, as well as all those who have gained places. Grammar — The competition in grammar has gene-; rally for its object : 1st, the intelligent recital of thef definitions and rules ; 2d, oral conjugation ; 3d, gram- matical analysis, simple or argumentative. Orthography — The competition in orthography hast for its aim to ascertain if the pupils know thoroughly the spelling of the words they have copied or written during dictation, and also whether they know bow tO( apply the rules of grammar they have studied during the week. In making this competition, the master gives out: either a simple dictation or one requiring transforman' tions, as directed in the book of exercises ; he then;' gathers the copy-books, corrects four or five of them, to^ serve as models, which he gives with the others to some* of the more advanced pupils, who complete the correc j tion during the first lesson in writing, or at any otheij time determined on by the master. ' If the pupils have made a great many mistakes iti would be necessary to go back to the lessons to whichli the competition had reference, as it would be evident, that they had gone over them very superficially. ^ ON EMULATION. 95 On the different methods of making competitions in arithmetic. First method — The master dictates, or gets written Dn the black-board, four or five problems, beginning with the most easy ; the pupils work singly, and, as they have completed their work, range themselves along the wall of the class-room ; at the end of the time fixed for the competition they exchange copy-books ; jhe master then causes the answers and, if necessary, the whole work to be written on the black-board, and 3ach one marks with a pencil on the copy-book he holds in his hand the number of correct answers ; finally the 3upils read these numbers aloud, give back the copy- Dooks, and take places according to the order ; in case )f equality, the decision should be given in favor of lim who did his work most skillfully. Second method — The pupil who has first finished his oroblems writes No. 1 at the head of his competition 3aper and gives it to the master ; he then receives the ioiDy-books of the other pupils, and writes in pencil the lumbers 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., in the order they are presented o him. The master examines the copy-books of the five or ix first pupils, and causes the others to be examined from them ; finally he classes the pupils according to ,he number of their correct answers, and, in case of jquality, gives the preference to him who has the lowest (lumber marked on his competition paper. Third method. — The master has the number of .nswers obtained from each x>upil registered daily; le adds these up at the end of the week or month .nd takes them as the basis of competition. Fourth method. — The pupils are placed in orderaccord- ng to the last competition ; they are tried in figuring in lurns either on the black-board or on their copy-books ; -s soon as the master has observed any superiority on 96 ON EMULATION. the part of some pnpil over those above him he makes • himt a sign to advance one or more places, as in the reading lesson. ARTICLE IV. On the examinations. The Brother Director or the Inspector will each month' examine the pupils in the different specialties, as is- directed in the School Government, for the use of the Inspector, chapter iii, article ii. He should not confine himself, as regards memory lessons, to simply having the pupils recite what they have learned, but should put various questions to themi to make certain that they understand it. Should the pupils be very numerous, they might be stationed in different parts of the class-room according'! to their respective sections^ and monitors might be. assigned to each. The Brother Director should go: round the different groups to see if the pupils know* their lessons and understand them, and if the monitors^ discharge their duty well. ! The pupils to be examined might be determined by lot, and even the questions to be put to them ; however, it is preferable to question all and to make.- the examination a recapitulation of everything laid! down in the programme of studies for that month. The examination being ended, the Director decides i whether they should advance in the different special- ties or go over again what they have already studied. In either case, all the pupils of the same section i ought to study the same parts. Should the Brother Director authorize them to ad- vance in the different specialties, and some of theiri number did not know their prayers or catechism, they^ should be obliged to recite them at a different time, in-i dependently of the lessons of their section. ON EMULATION. 97 ARTICLE V. ^ On promotions. The following is the means of emulation which we designate by the name of promotions. The subject-matter of each specialty is divided into a certain number of parts called orders. The children who study the same part form a sec- tion : thus there are, for one class and each specialty, as many sections as there are parts of that specialty called orders ; this does not include what is reviewed by way of recapitulation. The passage from one section to another more ad- vanced, or from one order to a higher, is called pro- motion. The Brother Director or Inspector alone can grant a promotion, and this should not be done until after dis- covering by a sufficient examination that the pupil is well versed in the specialties of the order in which he is. The principal advantages of promotions are : 1. To lead the pupils to study well what is pre- scribed for the order in which they are, in the hope of answering creditably at the examination, and being judged worthy to study the more advanced parts. 2. To oblige the master to be methodical in his teaching, in not authorizing the study of any part until an examination has shown that the pupils are suf- ficiently familiar with what goes before. 3. To put it in the power of the Director or In- spector to give an account of the progress of the class in general, and of each pupil in particular. Among the methods to bring about promotions, we will mention the three following : I^irst method. — The master, toward the end of the month, makes a preparatory examination, after which 3** 98 ON EMULATION. he draws out a list of the pupils whom he believes fit to be promoted, but without making those whosa* names are on the list aware of it. Should there h< any of whose capacity he is doubtful, he should place a mark opposite their names, that the Brother Director or Inspector may examine them more particularly. After being made acquainted with the progress of the pupils, he grants or delays the promotions according as he judges to be most expedient. Second method. — The master, after his own private competitions, makes the pupils take place according to their merits ; the Examiner questions them, begin- ning with the first of each section, and determines how many of them should be promoted to the higher order. Third method. — Sometimes the promotions are granted to a whole division at once; the Inspector examines the pupils, and if he finds that the generality of them, and above all three-fourths of the section, are well acquainted with what they had to study, he announces that the whole division is promoted to a higher order. The rewards granted for each promo- tion are granted to all the pupils who, in reference to their places, have answered in a satisfactory manner. Every promotion should be registered and rewarded by four or five good notes, or, better still, by a privi- lege of a special class, exclusively at the disposal of the Examiner, and which might be called a 7iote of success. The Inspector should not be too ready to grant pro- motion, especially in the elementary branches ; he should require in these all the perfection that may reasonably be expected from children . Whatever method may be adopted in regard to promotion it is important that they be made regularly each month. This stimulus to emulation more than any other will ON EMULATION. 99 be productive of the happiest results, provided there be great Zealand perseverance on the part, of both master and inspector. ARTICLE VI. On the passage of pupils froyn one group to another. When all the pupils of a class are of one order, as happens in reading in the higher class, or when the pupils of a section are very numerous, we may employ with advantage the following method, as a stimulus to emulation : The master, after having made one or more com- petitions, presents the Brother Director a list of the pupils according to their ability ; the latter separates from the head of the list three or four pupils to make the group of the most advanced, or the fourth section, and from the foot of the list he separates about two- fifths of the entire number to make a group of the most backward, or first section ; then he divides all the others into two equal parts, making of them the second and thii-d sections. Suppose, as an illustration, a division consisting of 40 pupils ; of these, 4 might be selected for the section of honor, 10 for the third, 10 for the second, and 16 for the first order. In the interval between one examination and another, the pupils of one group contend with each other, but not with any other group. After each particular competition the master will re- ward the pupils who are first in their section, and put down the others who remained last, unless their place was not the result of idleness or inattention. When examination-day has come, the master arranges the pupils, according to their ca])acity, in different groups ; the Inspector questions them, and, according 100 ON EMULATION. to their answers, advances the two or three first of the groups 1, 2, and 3 ; and, should there be occasion for it, degrades the last of the groups 4, 3, and 2. He pro- ceeds in such a way that the section of honor is increased by two or three pupils after the examination, while the first section is diminished to an equal extent ; the second and third sections keeping their number unaltered. The pupils who have remained first in the section of honor, as well as those who have advanced a section, receive the rewards granted to promotions. Should it happen that the most advanced group con- tains three or four pupils more than the others, we take some of the most capable of its number to form a sec- tion of honor, and unite the groups 1 and 2 into one. This means of emulation is a very powerful one, be- cause, by establishing in the class four first and four last grades at diiferent intervals, each pupil may hope for an honorable place or dread a humiliating one ; it in- troduces an equivalent for promotions in the specialties in which all the pupils follow the same lesson, and, by making the two or three first of the different groups advance to a higher group, it has also the effect of en- couraging the backward pupils, by having no longer to contend with opponents who were their superiors, and by giving them the prospect of attaining to the head of their section, and of ultimately being pro- moted. But that this means may produce all its fruit, it is necessary, first, to attach as much importance to a pas- sage from one group to another as to a promotion, properly so called ; second, not to allow a pupil to pass from one section to another during the interval be- tween the examinations; third, to recompense, after every particular competition, as we have said, the one who is first in his section, and to punish him who is last. ox EMULATION. 101 ARTICLE VII. On the formation of rival camps. One means of emulation which has its advantao-es. but its dangers also, is to arrange the pupils into two rival camps having equal chances of success. A bond of union is established between those of the same camp, from which arise both industry and order, the idle becoming interested and stimulated to work . It is not necessary to establish too strict a union among those of a camp, as would, for instance, be the case were all belonging to the camp that lost to be punished, or those who in that camp knew their lessons well and endeavored to maintain order, to receive no reward ; to act so would be unjust and discouraging. The solidarity, however, should be sufficient to give strength to this means of emulation; such a result might be brought about by the following means : The master should have under his charge a closed box with an opening from above; every pupil who did not know his lesson, or who committed a fault, should be obliged to place a good point therein ; on Sunday morning all the good points should be given to the victorious camp. In reo-ard to this means of emulation the folio win gr rules may be adopted ; 1st. It is often necessary to reconstruct the ri\al camps and change the leaders, choosing those among the pupils who know their lessons very well, and who, moreover, have considerable influence with their fel- low-pupils. 2d. It is necessary to be careful that the rivalry be , not carried too far among the pupils and occasion quarrels. 3d. When too close an intimacy has been observed be- 102 ON EMULATION. tween two pupils they might with advantage be placed in opposite camps. 4th. If any pupils should be charged with negligence or a disposition to damage their side, and their com- panions dreaded failure on that account, the leader of the camp should report them to the master, who might strike their names from the list of competitors and have them inscribed on the black-board ; the leader of the opposite party might name in like manner an equal number of the most backward of his followers, and have their names inscribed in the same place, but these last should share in the good points if their party gained and they themselves knew their lesson . The pupils inscribed on the black-board, so far from being exempted from the recitation, should be ques- tioned more carefully than the others, either by their opponents inscribed on the board or by the master. Sometimes, instead of forming two camps, the class should be divided into several groups, each under the conduct of a master ; they should compete with each other as to' good order and industry, and, according to their respective merits during the week, good points should be distributed to the pupils that compose them. ARTICLE VIII. Challenges. The challenge is an oral exercise in which all the pu- pils of a division interrogate those who contend for the first places, or in which they successively and recipro- cally question each other. Previous to a challenge the day and subject are fixed upon and notified ; all the pupils prepare them- selves for it ; each one, without going outside of the ON EMULATION. 103 programme, arranges his questions and prepares an- swers to them. It is necessary to insist, 1st, that the same question be not put by two pupils ; 2d, that every pupil know the answer to the question he proposes. A challenge has, ordinarily, as its programme what was studied during the fortnight ; but sometimes it embraces the whole studies of a month. We shall here point out two methods of making use of this means of emulation. First method. — The time being come for action, the five or six first pupils, arranged according to the order of proficiency, advance to a given place in the class- room to answer successively the other pupils, who in turn propose one of the questions they have pre- pared ; in proportion as a pupil fails, he loses a place at the end of the first round; the three first only remain to give the answers of the second round ; they are re- warded as well as each one who may have cornered his antagonist. Second method. — Each pupil, beginning with the last, addresses a question to the pupil next in place, who answers, and, in like manner, questions the one above him, and so on with the others. When a pupil does not know the answer, he requests his rival to give it, and puts a question to him in turn. Challenges should not be too frequent. They should be made chiefly on the truths of religion, on the part of the catechism explained during the month, on history, spelling, grammar, and geography. ARTICLE IX. On privileges or good points. Privileges or good points in our schools are certain impressions on paper or pasteboard to which a given 104 ON EMULATION. O value is attributed. There are privileges of five, ten, and even of twenty ordinary good points.* The master should attach great importance to the good points, so that the pupil may appreciate them ; he should give privileges of twenty and even ten, but very rarely, so as to keep in reserve the most efiicacious means for times of apathy ; and he would even do well not to make use of them before Easter, unless it might be in exchange for good points of less value. If we succeed in exciting an interest in regard to these points, as in the case of good notes, it is certain, as proved by long experience, to produce the most ben- eficial results. How many punishments will, by this means, be avoided ! How many pupils, ordinarily good, but who may have forgotten themselves for a moment, will be able, by presenting good points, to make satisfaction for a fault which we should have pun- ished with regret ! Of what great benefit will it be by exciting a noble emulation among the pupils ! Even the parents will take an interest in it, and there will be found among them such as will be the guardians of the good points of their children, only giving them up to purchase their rewards. Yes, we venture to assert that that means alone, made use of with becoming ex- actitude and gravity, would suffice to obtain all that constitutes a well-regulated class, order, advancement, satisfaction of the parents, and the reciprocal attach- ment of masters and pupils. In general, the good points are distributed at the end of each exercise, but in the lower classes they are also given during the lessons, to prevent the levity so nat- ural to young children. Good points are useful to the pupil : 1st, to enable him to participate in the rewards given at the end of * It might be taken as a basis that a good point of five exempts from a task of five lines. ON EMULATION. 105 each month, or every three months ; 2d, to exempt him from some punishment or satisfy for certain faults. It would be an advantage if the Brother Director had at his disposal some good points of a particular class called notes of success ; he would make use of such to reward those pupils who were first in the exam- inations and monthly competitions, as well as all those who merited to be promoted from one order to an- other, or to be placed in a higher section. The pupils who may have obtained and preserved the greatest number of notes of success should compete for special prizes, either toward Easter or at the close^of the year. ARTICLE X. Weekly certificates. The co-operation of the parents being indispensable in Drder to obtain application and good conduct from the pupils, nothing should be neglected to secure it. Among the means that may be employed for this end the nost effective are weekly certificates and honorable nention. The weekly certificates are of three kinds, according jO the marks very good, good, and pretty good. To diminish the labor of the Brothers, there should DC three certificates for each pupil, and on Saturday each one should receive that which he deserves ; that s to say, those pupils who have been uniformly correct n their conduct, who have always known their lessons, md who have come every day before the opening of ;lass, should receive the certificate very good. To those vho have conducted themselves properly, and have liilfiUed exactly all their duties, the certificate good ihould be given ; while pretty good should be given to 106 ON EMULATION. those who have not received more than five bad notes during the week. On Monday morning the pupils bring the weekly cer- tificates distributed to them on Saturday; they give them to an inspector appointed for the purpose, who places them in order in a compartment of the desk. The pupil who has every week received the certificate! very good is entitled at the end of the month to honor- able mention, or the certificate of honor. Hejwho has received during the week more certificates! marked good ihsm pretty good, has a right to a satisfac- tory testimonial. The master will keep account in a catalogue or a copy- book of the certificates awarded to each pupil ; this might be designated by figures ; for instance, 5 for very good, 4 for good, and 3 for pretty good. The catalogue arranged with wooden pegs may be used with advantage for the distribution of weekly certificates. ARTICLE XI. JBonorable mention. Honorable mention will be awarded by the Brother Director toward the close of the week, immediately after the examination. It may be written thus : CHRISTIAN SCHOOL. HONOEABLE MENTION. Awarded to , in testimony of his gooc conduct and application during the month of 18... The Director of the school. ON EMULATION. 107 To entitle a pupil to honorable mention, which is in reality a certificate of good conduct, he must have faithfully discharged his duties in class during the whole month, obtained several promotions, incurred no punish- ments, and received every week the certificate very good. ARTICLE XII. On some other means of exciting emulation. First. — The right of requesting pardon : One reward of very great moral influence, and which the pupils ap- preciate highly, is the right to solicit for some one of their comrades an exemption from punishment. This right is generally granted only to a pupil who is first for good conduct. He can make use of it only under color of a request and when the fault to be punished is one against neither religion nor morality. The number of such exemptions that he may solicit in one week must not exceed five. Second. — Desk of honor and charge of a class": The pupil who is first in good conduct might be rewarded by assigning him a special desk, called the desk of honor ; and to him also should be given every honor- able charge, such as monitor, leader of a camp, etc. Third. — The cross of honor : The cross of honor, when its use is properly regulated, will contribute greatly to the advancement of the scholars and the good discipline of the class. We must be careful, however, never to grant it except to merit, and not, as a general rule, to allow it to be worn by the same pupil for more than eight days. It would be advisable to have, in all classes, a cross for each specialty, and, in addition, one for good con- duct ; and as to those who are first in the specialties, 108 ON EMULATION. we should insist that they have received besides the weekly certificate very good. As it is not the intrinsic value of the cross that makes its merit in the eyes of the pupils, we should avoid having it too costly, so that the parents may not be put to any very great expense in case a child should lose one. Should a pupil wearing the cross of honor become guilty of some neglect of duty, it should exempt him i from punishment on the first offense ; should he again i offend, we may limit ourselves to depriving him of I it, for it is not fitting that one wearing that mark; of distinction should be subjected to punishment. Fourth. — The roll of honor: The roll of honor, which is used with great advantage in a large numberi of schools, is afiixed in some conspicuous part of the^ class-room ; on it are inscribed the names of the pu- pils who by their good conduct deserve to be held up, as models to the others. ! The pupils who deserve to have their names so{ inscribed are mentioned by the Brother Director! after the distribution of honorable mentions ; they are exempt from tasks and every humiliating punishmenti during the month ; if they have committed a con- siderable fault they should, in punishment, have theiri names erased from the roll of honor, and, from that' moment, be treated like the other pupils. It must be well understood that the names of but! few should be inscribed on the roll, and that the ex- punging of any name should be a punishment veryi rarely inflicted. ARTICLE XIII. General reinarlcs on the means of emulation. In reference to the means of emulation of which we have spoken, we should bear in mind that it is not nee- ON EMULATION. 109 essary to employ all simultaneously ; it is the duty of the Brother Director to choose among them, always re- serving the most efficient for the most difficult period of the year, and for the most advanced classes. The pupils do not value any reward whatever unless the master himself attaches very great importance to it. We must avoid both prodigality and parsimony in regard to such rewards, because in the former case the children will lose esteem for them, and in the latter many will be discouraged, seeing all their effi^rts una- vailing. In regard to the pupils who are habitually inatten- tive and volatile, it will be a most useful thing to ob- serve the circumstances or occasions in which they do not give way to this habit, and to take advantage of such to give them some reward ; by this means, many whose natural character punishment could not alter might be allured to regularity of conduct. Recompenses should be given to merit or efforts to do well rather than to success, and never to favoritism . We should never make trial of a means unless we feel that we have the constancy necessary to draw from it every possible advantage. We should not too readily relinquish a means of emulation, while it would be imprudent to make too frequent use of such as are most efficacious. The means of emulation we have described should be generally employed in our classes ; however, our dear Brother Directors may make use of others that may ap- pear to them more efficacious, provided they are of easy application and entail no disagreeable conse- quences. 4 110 ON EMULATION. ARTICLE XIV. On the exchange of good points. § 1. Method of distributing rewards. The Brotlier Director will apportion at the end of each week for the lower classes, and of every three months for the others, a certain number of rewards to be distributed to the pupils. Their total value may- be proportioned to the number of children, to their application, their progress, and the good order of the class.* Their application and progress may be judged of by their promotions, or, better still, by the number of notes of success they may have merited. A master who wishes to excite emulation among his pupils, and to secure progress, will give no reward but in exchange for the privileges that he distributes daily, which may be done, without any injury to the good order of the class, in one of the following ways : At the end of the month, or three moDths, the master, having fixed upon a day for the sale of rewards, gives notice to the pupils to bring all their privileges in an envelope, on which they have written their name and the number of their good points ; two or three pupils should be appointed to verify the correctness of the numbers that have been written. The time for distribution being come, the master places the rewards in a conspicuous place, and taking the best of them shows it to the pupils, starting with a certain number of good points ; such pupils as have that number will rise, when the master may increase the price considerably ; those who cannot bid so high * About one dollar a month for the lower classes, two dollars for the second, and three dollars for the third. These suras may be increased if there, are any special resources. ON EMULATION. Ill will sit down, and the master may go on increas- ing until he comes to the one who bids most for it, to whom he gives it in exchange for the number of priv- ileges last mentioned. He acts in the same way with the other rewards. The following method is still more simple : the re- wards being laid upon a table, the master arranges the pupils in line according to the number of privileges they have got ; the first then advances and, laying down his good points, selects what pleases him most ; the second acts in the same way, and so on. The pupils who may hope to obtain a more valuable reward at another sale should be free to keep their privileges. § 2. Objects to he distributed as rewards. The objects to be distributed should not be high- priced, otherwise many pupils could not share in them. To give large pictures often would be an abase that would lead to contempt, and even a sort of profana- tion. It is generally remarked that the distribution of pictures brings with it but very poor results as to the promotion of religion. It would, therefore, be desirable to substitue for them cheap crucifixes, medals, and statuettes of the blessed Virgin or of St. Joseph, etc., also small historical and moral pamphlets at a low price ; the parents would read them and hear them read with pleasure, and often with advantage. It would be useful to add some class books and such in- struments as are necessary in the study of some of the subjects of instruction. Privileges would be much valued by the pupils, and also by their parents, if, by their means, they could procure some of the things needed in promotions from one order or specialty to another. It would also be useful, particularly in winter, to add to those some articles of clothing ; all, however, must be left to the resources and prudence of the Brother Director. 113 ON PUNISHMENTS. CHAPTER II. ON PUNISHMENTS. ARTICLE I. General considerations. By punishments must be understood, not corporal punishments, since the use of these is absolutely for- bidden, and would constitute a misdemeanor that would bring the master under the lash of the law, but the use of other means, coercive or repressive, calcu- lated to lead the pupil to correct his faults. Hence follow many essential consequences that it is important to note. Since punishment is a means to compass the amend- ment of the pupil, it cannot be lawfully employed unless, when taking into account the character of the pupil, it is judged to be really of a nature to procure that advantage and secure that result. For the same reason, a master should never make use of punishment but to lead the pupil to correct him- self, and never to gratify his own personal resentment. Since punishment is a coercive, repressive measure, it becomes lawful only after the other measures of encouragement and persuasion have been found in- sufficient. We shall here give summarily some fundamental principles in regard to punishment ; the others will be treated of in the different chapters of the third part. 1. We must make the pupils dread the punishment less than the evil that makes it necessary. 2. Punishment being a penalty should never be in- flicted but for a fault that is real, certain, and depen- dent on the will of the pupil. i ON PUNISHMENTS. 113 3. Every punishment ought to be proportioned to the fault, and even be rather too light than too severe. 4. Even the nature of the punishment ought, as far as possible, to correspond with the nature of the fault. 5. It is reason alone which has the right and power to correct. 6. Punishments are a less powerful corrective than the manner of administering them; in other words, the efficacy of punishments comes less from what is pain- ful in themselves than from the way in which they are inflicted, and the manner in which the pupil is obliged to perform them. v. A punishment loses its force when it is inflicted on a great number of pupils at once, and when it is employed too frequently. 8. We must avoid associating in the mind of the pupil the idea of punishment with that of some pious practice or habit that should be dear to him. It would be a violation of this principle were a pupil obliged, for instance, to remain on his knees during the whole time of mass, to recite a decade of the rosary, to discharge the office of reader during prayer, etc., the end would be that we should, by this means, inspire an aversion to religion. If a pupil performed an exer- cise of piety badly, he might be induced to recom- mence it or make up for it by some other prayer. 9. It is very advantageous in certain circum- stances, and always produces .a good moral eflect, to direct the pupil to name himself what punishment he deserves. 10. It is not necessary to punish a pupil who, from no compulsion, accuses himself of a fault, unless it be too frequently committed. 11. We should endeavor to prevent punishments, and make them of rare occurrence. The principal means of rendering punishments un- frequent, are : 114 ON PUNISHMENTS. 1st. To maintain an ever- watchful supervision. 2d. Not to threaten lightly; above all, to give ex- pression to no threats that cannot be easily executed, and which we are not firmly resolved to carry out should the circumstances referred to arise. 3d. To address no threats to a great number of pupils. 4th. Not to require anything from a pupil whilst he is under the evil influence of hasty temper or spite. 5th. Not to impose a task that is too long or too difficult. 6th. Not to require the pupils to commit to memory any- thing but what is really useful, and which has been previously explained to them ; and, excepting in the case of catechism and prayers, to require from them rather the sense of what they have learned than the words. Generally speaking, no punishments should be made use of in the Christian Schools but such as are recom- mended in this School Government. Should some other species of punishment of a similar nature occur to the master as better calculated to bring about the amend- ment of the pupil, he might propose it to the Brother Director and make use of it with his permission. We will here repeat how unworthy it is of a master, and above all a religious master, to strike the pupils, to impose painful punishments on them of any kind whatever, to pull their haii* or ears, to push them rudely, etc. Moreover, as we have said, all such conduct is pro- hibited by the laws under which we live. Neither is it allowed to shut children up in a closet, or make them extend their arms in the form of a cross. ARTICLE II. Observations in reference to the pupils whom we ought not to punish. It is not necessary to punish every pupil and for every fault, but it is advisable to allow oneself to be ON PUNISHMENTS. 115 influenced sometimes and forgive, unless the fault be one against religion or morality, or unless it is question of subduing a hard and stubborn character in whose eyes a pardon would be a sign of weakness. We should not punish a pupil decorated with the cross or inscribed on the roll of honor, or any office- bearer who exercises his office by way of reward ; should he misbehave, his distinction or office should be taken from him before putting him on a level with the other pupils. We should avoid punishing pupils recently ad- mitted to the school, because we know not their char- acter, natural disposition, and inclinations. In general, when many pupils have committed the same offense the same punishment should be inflicted on them, when they are judged to be equally culpable. If the fault of a pupil is unknown to the others, we should be satisfied with the infliction of a private punishment. We should never punish the pupils at the request of their parents ; but, should the fault of which they ac- cuse them deserve correction, they should be required to correct them themselves. Repressive measures in use in the Christian Schools. § 1. Oti reprimands. The most ordinary means of punishment is the re- primand on the part of the master or Brother Direc- tor ; it consists in a reproof conveyed by looks, ges- tures, or words. The reprimand has great effect when the master is beloved, and also when he has habitually a calm look, speaks gently, and is a strict observer oi silence. 116 ON PUNISHMENTS. Reprimands should not be made to extend to the pupils in general, as the effect of such would be to give them a dislike to the master ; but they should be ad- dressed to individuals either by name or pointed out indirectly. A pupil should never be left under the influence of a cutting reprimand without giving him to un- derstand that he can correct himself, and showing him how to do so. With proud and vain characters a reprimand is one of the severest punishments. It may have many de- grees to strengthen its effect; In general, it is a look or word addressed in private to the guilty pupil ; some- times it is a reproach made to him in public, and which humbles him in the eyes of his fellow-pupils ; or it is even a reproof given to him in presence of the Brother Director, or by the latter, guided by the weekly or monthly reports of the master. It is needless to say that the more humiliating a rep- rimand is the less frequent it should be ; that which is given by the Brother Director should never extend be- yond two or three pupils. Reproaches to a pupil would be more efficacious if, at the same time, some words of praise were given to those who conduct themselves well, and even to the pupil himself in reference to matters in which he gave satisfaction. When the class is visited by the Brother Director, or by some stranger, and the master is called upon to say in public whether he is satisfied or not with the conduct of the pupils, he should never express a general censure, as that would give rise to a feel- ing of aversion and injure his authority; in general, he should manifest satisfaction ; still, should there be room for it, he might make a few complaints, but bear- ing only on certain pupils, at the most three or four, and he should avoid naming them unless the Brother Director insisted upon knowing them. ON PUNISHMENTS. 117 The pupil reprimanded should remain standing with his head bent ; and when that punishment is inflicted by the Brother Director, above all, when it bears on the monthly notes, he should be made to pass into the middle of the class-room. That a reprimand may be profitable, the teacher should express severity on his countenance, but neither hatred nor anger ; his language should be al- ways becoming, and, consequently, neither ironical nor insulting; he should carefully avoid every injurious epithet, as well as every expression that, deeply or otherwise, could wound the parents. He should avoid addressing vague reproaches to the pupils bearing on nothing positive, and also exag- gerating the faults that he censures in them. When a reproach is addressed to a pupil, care should be taken not to utter it accompanied by accessories of which he was not very certain, otherwise the pupil would be led to justify himself, either openly, which would greatly injure good discipline, or inwardly, which would prevent the reprimand from producing its effect. § 3. The withdrawal of good notes. One means of punishment very easy of employment is, to oblige the pupils to surrender their good notes in reparation for faults committed. We should avoid requiring many good notes at once unless the pupils have a great number at their disposal, or the fault to be punished is a very serious one. § 3. Loss of place. When the pupils are placed in order the master can punish any one whom he perceives to be inattentive, negligent, or idle, by the loss of place, but never going 118 ON PUNISHMENTS. SO far as to make liim go down a section, which ought to be done only by the Brother Director. § 4. Jb he put standing or sent to an appointed place. Sometimes, to punish a pupil who is inattentive, he is put to stand in his place for three or four minutes ; if he relapses, he may be sent to the middle of the class- room. The master may impose this punishment for any other fault, if he judges proper, avoiding, however, the frequent use of it because it injures good discipline, and taking care not to leave the offender too long in the same position. In some classes the following repressive measures are used with advantage to punish the pupils who come late to school : the first who enters the class-room after the appointed hour is put standing in an appointed place ; he remains there until another comes and re- places him ; this latter remains in his turn until the arrival of a third, and so on ; the last of all undergoes the severest punishment. It might also be an advantage, at the beginning of a lesson, to make the pupil, or two pupils, who were most inattentive during the preceding lesson in the same specialty, stand in the middle of the class-room. To punish a fault of some importance the pupil may be placed in a corner of the class-room with his face turned toward the wall, without allowing him to rest on anything or turn his head. It is easy to under- stand that such a punishment should be inflicted but very seldom, so that the pupils may attach a great idea of shame and humiliation to it. § 5. Isolation. This punishment is inflicted on the pupil who be- haves ill to his companions, or is a cause of disorder. ON PUNISHMENTS. 119 He is placed in some part of the class-room to which the idea of humiliation and disgrace is attached, and where, for his seat, he has a block of wood, and, for writing on, a board, old desk, or used-up table. The pupil who undergoes this punishment follows the class lessons like the others, but during the whole time it lasts no one is allowed to speak to him ; any of his companions who do so ai-e liable to punishment ; the master puts no question to him during the lesson; the Brother Director also avoids addressing a word to him. The punishment of isolation is, to some dispositions, one of the greatest punishments that can be inflicted. Care must be taken not to make use of it for matters of little importance, and not to subject the same puj^il to it for two days consecutively. In some circumstances this punishment might be made still more severe ; the parents of the pupil might be requested to come and take him away at the end of school, and not allow him to leave the house to play with his companions. § 6. Tasks. An increase of labor given to the pupil by way of punishment is called a task ; in our schools we call five lines to write, and sometimes five lines to commit to memory, by that name. There should be a pupil charged with the duty of entering all the tasks in a book set apart for that pur- pose. When a pupil shall have deserved punishment, the master will make him a sign to stand up, and will at the same tioae apprise the task-recorder, by showing him as many fingers as he wishes to give tasks ; or he may mention, in a low tone, the name of the pupil and 120 ON PUNISHMENTS. the number of tasks to another pupil, who will repeat the same aloud. The task-recorder will, at the end of school, men- tion by name the pupils who have received tasks, the number received, and the page they have to copy from. At the beginning of the following class he will examine if all have fulfilled their punishment. Few tasks should be given to the same pupil — from one to two or three at most ; but the master should require, 1st, that they be very well written; 2d, that they contain not a mistake in orthography, nor even the omission of a dot or a mark in punctuation ; 3d, that all the lines be well filled ; 4th, that they be copied from the page and at the line directed. A task that wanted one of these qualities should be all written over again. Perhaps it would be preferable that the task should be considered, not as a direct punishment, but as a means of making satisfaction for bad notes. It might be laid down as a rule that every pupil who, after the deduction made for his good notes, reached a maxi- mum of ten bad ones, should have to write a certain number of tasks to have those wiped out. Should a pupil refuse to perform his tasks, the num- ber should be increased successively by one, two,, three, etc. If, in consequence of this increase, he had I ten tasks or fifty lines to write, he should be directed! to request his parents to inspect and sign his book: when his tasks are finished; and in case he refused I either to write the lines, or request the signature of I his parents, the Brother Director should beg the latter to come and speak to him ; he might return their child to them until he had performed the task referred to, , and a special task in addition imposed on him for his obstinacy. The tasks should not be copied from books of devo- tion, nor should the prayers or catechism be given by ON PTINISHMENTS. 121 way of punishment, unless for unsatisfactory reci- tations in them. § 7. Withdrawal of the cross of Tionor, removal from office. When a pupil who wears the cross commits a fault, should it be a slight one it will be sufficient to give him an intimation or a reprimand ; should it be a serious one, or a cause of scandal, or one into which he has frequently relapsed, the master should deprive him of his decoration. The same rule applies to a pupil on the roll of honor. When a pupil who is an office-holder in the school commits a serious fault, above all, if it is in the dis- charge of his duty, he might either be deprived of his office or a substitute should be appointed for some days. § 8. Inscription on the roll of humiliation. There should be in each class-room a list exhibited in a conspicuous place, on which might be inscribed the names of the pupils most deserving of censure. The inscription on the roll of humiliation is a punish- ment that might be inflicted on the two or three pupils who were the worst conducted during the week or month. In general their names are read out in pub- lic in presence of the Brother Director, and remain in- scribed there until their conduct has given perfect satisfaction. When it can be done without inconvenience, they should be placed at a desk by themselves. Until their names have been efiaced from that roll, they should every day bring up for inspection a task of five lines. To pupils who have a sentiment of honor that punishment is one of the severest that can be inflicted ; on that account it should be very seldom made use 4* 122 ON PUNISHMENTS. of against such, and measures should be taken that they may not have to endure it for more than two or three days. § 9. The being sent to the Brother Director with a Utter describing < the fault committed. It would he of great service to make use of this i measure to check any want of respect to the master. The offending pupil should bring a note to the i Brother Director, pointing out the nature of his fault, , and this latter should impose a suitable punishment ; , it would be always an advantage if the pupil himself I wrote the accusing note. § 10. Letter of the chUd to his parents. A very severe and very salutary punishment is to lay upon the guilty pupil the obligation of writing himself to his parents to give them an account of his conduct. It is evident that this punishment should be imposed but very seldom ; it would even be advisable to limit the ' power of inflicting it to the Brother Director. § 11. Tasks of reflection. Sometimes, instead of ordinary tasks, tasks of re- flection should be given to the pupils of the most ad- vanced division. The master causes five or six questions to be dictated to the off'ender, bearing on the nature of his fault ; as, for instance: 1st. What is sloth? 2d. What injury does the slothful person do to himself, either for time or eternity? 3d. Does he who is slothful love his parents ? 4th. Why is he unhappy ? 5th. What ought I to do to be found no longer among the slothful ? ON PUNISHMENTS. 123 The pupil ought to enter these questions in a fair hand in his task-book, followed in each case by a suitable answer. This punishment is exceedingly moral in its effects, and very well calculated to lead the pupil to amend. § 12. Intimation gi'oen to parents {a reserved punishment). When a pupil entirely neglects his studies, or absents himself from school, or allows his tasks to accumulate, the Brother Director acquaints the parents of it by special letter. § 13. The being put down from a section or class {a reserved pun- ishment). The Brother Director can punish a pupil by making him go down from his section, or even his class. However, before inflicting this punishment, it were well to apprise the parents, so that they may do all that is possible on their part to prevent it. The master should avoid making a pupil stand out- side the door of the class-room, because such a meas- ure, being a public avowal of weakness or want of au- thority, is injurious to his control, and also because the pupil, being there out of his surveillance, might do in- jury and disturb those with whom he could have any intercourse . § 14. Temporary dismissal {a reserved punishment). Temporary dismissal consists in forbidding the pupil to return to school before he has performed certain written exercises imposed on him. That punishment should not be inflicted but for 134 ON PUNISHMENTS. faults of the most grievous kind, and even only for a refusal to perform other tasks. When the Brother Director will deem it necessary, he may acquaint the parents thereof by a note of this or a similar kind : Mr The pupil JSr. ...... having essentially failed in his duties, the Brother Director of the Christian School feels himself obliged to notify his parents that he cannot be allowed to take his place in class before having per- formed the tasks imposed on him. Brother § 15. Apologizing, asking pardon (a reserved punishment). When a pupil has been very much wanting in respect to the master, or has caused any scandal, the Brother Director may require of him, as a punishment, to apol- ogize or ask pardon. § 16. EoypuMon {a reserved punishment). This punishment, which is an extreme measure, should never be inflicted but by the Brother Director, and by him only when he is satisfied that the pupil is a dan- gerous companion for his school-fellows ; or when he has long tried, and in vain, all the incentives to emula- tion, and every other kind of punishment. In this matter the Brother Director should take all the precautions that prudence prescribes as to the local authorities, the pupil, and his parents ; he should give the latter notice of it in the most respectful terms, and should avoid announcing it in the class-room so as in no way to hurt the feelings of the family and friends of the pupil. ON PUNISHMENTS. 135 A master has no right to force a pupil by excessive severity to leave the school ; this would be an indirect way of dismissing him, and dismissal is a reserved punishment. AETICLE III. On accusers and the accused. The master should not be too ready to listen to re- ports and accusations brought against the pupils ; how- ever, he should not refuse to hear those who make them, but should take care to examine everything care- fiilly, and not to correct without reflection, nor im- mediately after the complaints have been made to him. When a pupil accuses one of his companions, the master should find out particularly whether any others saw him commit the fault, and should try to learn some circumstance or another that might lead to a discovery of the truth. If the matter appears to him doubtful, he should not correct the accused unless he avows the fault, and then he should impose upon him only a slight punishment, giving him to understand that the punishment was made slight in consequence of his having told the truth. Should he find out that the ac- cusation was false and inspired by a spirit of hatred or revenge, then he should punish the informer most severely. The pupils should be made to understand well that if they are allowed to inform upon each other, they should never do so but from a motive of charity, and with a view to correct the fault, and in no instance from a spirit of vengeance or a malevolent pleasure in injuring each other. They should never be allowed to make their accusa- tions publicly, or about trifles. 126 ON PUNISHMENTS. ARTICLE IV. Conditions that should always accompany correction. Correction, to be profitable to the pupils, should al- ways have the ten foUowiug conditions : It ought to be: 1. Pure and disinterested; thatt is to say, done only with a view to check insubordina- tion and maintain good order in the class, without al-- lowing aversion, revenge, or ill-humor to have anything; to do with it; motives so unchristian should be far re- moved from persons who, by reason of their state of I life, ought to act only from a spirit of faith and re- ligion. 2. Charitable ; that is to say, that the master should I have no other end in view than to withdraw his pupil I from evil and make him better; therefore, he should 1 never inflict a punishment without examining if it will I be for the benefit of the pupil, and whether the same ) results could not be obtained by other means. For the ! same reason all those punishments should be avoided i that might be useful to the spectators only, and not to i the person punished. 3. Just ; that is to say, that he should never punish \ for doubtful faults. Children know as well as any one s what they deserve ; they know if they are punished . rightly or wrongly, and an unjust punishment is no • less injurious than impunity. 4. Befitting, and proportioned to the fault committed, . As there is a difference beween faults of malice and obstinacy and those of levity, there should likewise be a difference between the punishments inflicted as a . satisfaction for them. 5. Moderate ; that is to say, that it should possess a just mediocrity, being neither too heavy nor too severe. 6. Peaceable ; that is to say, that the master should never punish when under the influence of strong feel- ON PUNISHMENTS. 127 • ing. "Were he to act so, the pupils would soon perceive that he was guided by temper or impulse and not by reason : from that moment he would inevitably lose his authority, for children despise and sometimes hate the master who is guided by passion. In circumstances when he must show firmness and express indignation he should appear inflexible without being violent, and have the air of a judge while preserving the heart of a father. He should also defer punishment whilst the pupil is under his first outburst of temper ; his judgment is too much blinded to avow his fault, overcome his temper, and feel the importance of the advice given him and the necessity of the punishment he deserves ; there is even risk of making him lose the respect he owes the master and committing additional faults. A pru- dent master should therefore wait till passion has cooled off on his own part and that of the pupil if he wishes to act in conformity with his duty, persuaded that no punishments inflicted when under the influence of passion can be well received or produce good fruits. Y. Prudent ; that is to say, to take care to give no punishment that might be followed by unpleasant con- sequences, and for which one would have to blush if it came to the knowledge of the public. 8. Voluntary and accepted on the part of the pupil, whom we should make understand the greatness of his fault and the obligation he is under to remedy it, the great injury he does himself, and might do his fellow- pupils by his bad example. 9. Respectful ; that is to say, that the pupil should receive it with submission and respect, and as if he received some chastisement wherewith God himself punished him. Should it happen to a pupil to be wanting in respect, or in some other way offend against his master, it would be better to make him own his fault and correct 128 ON GOOD OKDER, ETC. it, "by some words addressed to Mm calmly, than punish him ; and even when compelled to come to that through fear of the effects of the bad example he might have given, it would be better to correct the pupil for the disorder or scandal he may have caused, or for having been obstinate, etc. 10. Silent, on the part of the master, who should not speak at that time, at least not in a loud voice ; and on the part of the pupil, who should neither speak nor move. CHAPTER m. ON GOOD ORDER, AND SOME MEANS OF OBTAINING AND PRESERVING IT. Punishments being more or less irritating and un- pleasant, the master should endeavor to make them rare, and, consequently, do his best to establish and maintain good order by other means. Good order consists in the silence of the pupils ; in a becoming and uniform behavior ; and in their atten- tion to the lessons given them. The pupils ought, as much as possible, to observe silence all the time of school, and to study in an under- tone or mentally. They should preserve a becoming posture, and, if possible, all should maintain the same during a given exercise. The general means to obtain order, are : 1. To teach the pupils distinctly what is required of ' them, and to make them understand the signs made use of in the class-room. 2. To be himself exact in keeping silence, and mak- ing use of the signs established in our schools. 3. Not to allow the pupils to talk or play in the ON GOOD ORDER, ETC. 129 class-room at any time, not even at the free times, so as to habituate them to respect it. 4. Never to leave the pupils to themselves, but to prevent faults by being always at one's post, and main- taining an unceasing vigilance. 5. To follow as much as possible the same undeviat- ing system. 6. So to arrange the pupils that all can be well watched and have the fewest possible occasions for disorder ; to place, for instance, the most giddy near his own seat ; to avoid placing a small boy near a tall one or two idle ones side by side, above all, if at a dis- tance from the master. 7. To be very ecomonical of time, beginning the les- sons exactly at the hour prescribed without ever losing a minute. 8. To prepare the lessons well and give them with zeal, clearness, and in an interesting manner, so that the attention of the pupils may be always sustained. 9. If there are many divisions in the class, never to allow any one to be idle. 10. To distribute promptly and in order the articles to be given out to the pupils, such as the copy-books that have been examined, the written competitions, specimen copies, etc. Perhaps the best way for doing that is to get the different articles distributed by the first pupil in each desk. 11. Not to grant permission when, in asking it, the pupils disturb good order or make a noise either with their fingers or mouth ; to answer nothing to those who ask explanations in a loud voice before they have had permission to speak ; and in like manner when a pu- pil makes a mistake, and several are eager to correct him, to give permission to speak to those only who have caused no disorder and have not risen from their place. 12. To avoid making a noise oneself, not only by 130 ON GOOD ORDEE, ETC. speaking too mucli or too loud, but also in walking, closing the doors, striking with the signal on the books, etc. 13. Rarely to make use of a sign that can distract the attention of the pupils, and to avoid using it when they are occupied with their lessons. 14. Not to leave in their possession, or under their eyes, anything that can distract the attention of the pupils, 15. Never to show temper. 1 6. To speak, when there is occasion for it, with a certain degree of energy, and not in a pusillanimous, effeminate voice. 17. To observe the rules laid down in the chapter on gravity of demeanor, such as the following : to walk composedly ; to remain as much as possible seated ; to have no familiarity whatever with the pupils ; to preserve a resolute and calm appearance, etc. 18. To give no punishments calculated to disturb discipline. 19. To take every possible precaution that the pu- pils have all they need, — books, copy-books, pens, etc. 20. To be prompt in determining on the pupils who shall be permitted to go out when many ask at the same time. 21. To establish no system of emulation that causes disorder, noise, or quarrels among the pupils. 22. To exact assiduity from the pupils, and as seldom as possible to exempt anyone from the actual lessons. 23. Not to allow the pupils to speak to their master during the change of exercises. 24. If the class of which a master assumes the management is disorderly he should make himself ac- quainted with the causes thereof, and set about remov- ing them, beginning with the principal ones, passing afterward to those of less importance till all have dis- appeared. ON THE SIGNS MADE USE OF IN OUR SCHOOLS. 131 CHAPTER lY. ON THE SIGNS MADE USE OF IN OUR SCHOOLS. To make it easier for the master to observe si- lence in class, a great number of conventional signs have been established to supply in many instances the place of words. To reduce them to some order, they have been distino-uished with reference to the different exercises and actions most ordinarily performed in school. In making use of these signs, the instrument called the signal is employed and used in our schools. The primary and principal use of the signal is to di- rect the eyes of the pupils to the master and make them attentive to what he wishes to intimate or ex- plain to them. Thus, every time it is desired to call their attention, or put a end to an exercise, one stroke of the sia^nal should be e'iven. The masters should all make use of the same signs ; they are explained in the following articles. ARTICLE I. On the sentences that comprise the duties of the pupils. In every class-room there should be six sentences affixed to assist the master in making the pupils know their duties, and reminding them, as he may by a single sign, when they fail therein. These six sentences are thus expressed : 1. We must apply ourselves to study our lesson. 2. We must always write without losing time. 3. We must neither stay from school nor come in late without permission. 4. We must listen attentively to catechism. 5. We must pray to God with piety, in church and in school. 6. We must pay attention to the signs. 132 ON THE SIGNS MADE USE OF IN OUR SCHOOLS. ARTICLE II. On the signs during recitations. To make a sign to say the prayers, the master will strike the signal once to attract the attention of the pupils, then join his hands. To give them notice to repeat their daily lessons he will show the book of the lesson to be recited; if I he wishes the first section to recite he will show one finger to make all those that compose it stand up;; two fingers for those of the second, etc. To kno w if a pupil is attentive during class he will i strike the signal once, to stop him who is reciting the lesson, and will then make a sign to the one whom he wishes to surprise to repeat what his companion has just said, or to continue the lesson if he belongs to ^ the same section. ARTICLE III. On the signs that have reference to the reading lesson. To notify the pupils to prepare for their reading lesson the master will strike once the cover of the book in which he wishes them to read, and will show it ; to the pupils, who will at the same time get theirs ready and find out the lesson. The prayer being said, he ! will strike the signal once to call their attention, and looking at the one whom he wishes to read will make i him a sign to begin. Should the master observe that any of the pupils are inattentive he will strike the signal once to stop i the reader, and will make a sign to him whom he be> lieved to be inattentive to continue. Should it be the next pupil whom the master wishes ON THE SIGNS MADE USE OP IN OTFB SCHOOLS. 133 to read, he will strike lightly with the signal on the cover of the book. To make a sign to him who is reading to correct himself when he has made some mistake he will strike the signal twice and successively ; he will make use of the same sign when he wishes to make the pupils aware that they are failing in their duty. If, after having been corrected, the pupil does not repeat the word that he mispronounced, in consequence of having read several words beyond it, the master will then strike the signal thrice distinctly, to indicate to him to go back, and if he cannot find the word or pro- nounce it correctly he will get another pupil to read it. When one of the pupils could not discover the true pronunciation of a letter or syllable, and the master had called upon another to give it, he should require the first pupil to pronounce it, showing him for that purpose as many fingers as the number of times he wishes it to be repeated. To make a sign to speak louder the master, after striking the signal, will raise its point vertically ; to make a sign to speak lower he will lower it toward the ground. He will also make the same sign to inti- mate to the pupils that they should not speak so loud in following the reader or studying. To order the pupils to make less noise in reading or studying he should raise the signal to his ear, or give one stroke with it to suspend the exercise for a mo- ment. To make a sign to read slowly he will strike the signal twice, and at distinct intervals, after having struck it once to call attention. To make a sign to spell he will lower the signal several times on the open book in his hand. To make them syllable he will make the same sign with the handle of the signal. To make a sign to him who reads fast that he does 4** 134 ON THE SIGNS MADE USE OP IN OUR SCHOOLS. not attend to the punctuation, or does not rest long enough upon it, he will place the end of his signal at the place where he is reading, resting it there. To make a sign to him who is reading that he makes a pause where he ought not, or makes it too long, or to him who is spelling or syllabling that he drawls in spelling or reading, he will glide the signal over the open book. To make a sign to a pupil who spells or syllables to read quickly he will make the same sign, but with the handle of the signal. To make each pupil syllable, the master will strike the signal once to call attention ; then, having made a circular movement with the signal, he will lower the handle of it several times upon the book. To make the pupils syllable together the master, having called their attention and made the circular movement, will lower the signal several times horizon- tally upon the book. To cause a change of lesson he will strike on his book with his hand, and at the same time the reader will stop and say aloud: God he blessed ! and the others will answer: for ever ! To make a sign to terminate the last lesson and close books the master will strike with his hand the cover of the book that is being read. ARTICLE IV. On the signs that have reference to writing. To make a sign to begin writing the master will - strike the signal once to call attention, and will at the same time make the pupils a sign with his hand to i take their copy-books and place them on their knees ; ; afterwards he will strike the signal a second time as ON THE SIGNS MADE USE OF IN OUR SCHOOLS. 135 a sign to them to place their copy-books on the desk and put back the cartoons in their proper places ; a third signal will give them notice to stand and place the copy lines on their rests or on the desk ; a fourth, to be seated and begin to write, after having made the sign of the cross. When a pupil leans too much upon the desk, or does not keep his body in the right posture, the master should make him a sign to take a suitable posture. When a pupil does not hold his pen properly the master should warn him of it, and show him how he ought to place his fingers. Should he remark any one not writing he should make him a sign to write, and for that purpose should raise his hand, making the motion of the fingers. The pupils should cease writing when the clock gives notice that the time has expired ; the master should strike the signal thrice at intervals ; at the first sound of the signal the pupils should put away their pens ; at the second they should take out their car- toons and place them on their knees ; at the third they should put the copy- books into them and deposit them in their ordinary place, and, as soon as the copy- lines have been gathered by the collectors, they should begin the following exercise. ARTICLE V. On the signs used on some particular occasions. To make a sign to a pupil to cross his arms the master should look at him and cross his own ; and to caution him to keep his body straight he should look at him in the same manner, straighten himself up, and place his feet together. In a word, on these and similar occasions he should look at the pupils and do what he wishes them to do. 136 ON REGISTERS AND CATALOGUES. When a pupil asks permission to go to the water- closet he should raise his hand without leaving his seat, and if it is for a small necessity he should show two fingers. To grant this permission the master will turn the signal in the direction of the door, and to refuse it he will lower the signal or his hand toward the floor. To prevent several pupils being at the same time in the water-closet the master should have a small board hung up, bearing on one side the letter O, implying that one of the pupils was out, and on the other side the letter " I," to make known his return. When the pupils fail in anyone of the duties expressed in the six sentences the master, after having called their attention by the signal, will direct some pupil to read the sentence against which they have offended in a loud voice ; he should do the same when he wishes to impose a punishment. CHAPTER V. BEGISTERS AND CATALOGUES USED IN OUR SCHOOLS. It is important in the interest of good order, emula- tion, and success in teaching to have well-kept regis- ters and catalogues. These are distinguished as follows : 1 . The register of entrance and departure. 2. The list for the roll-call. 3. The list of prayers. 4. The register of competitions and promotions. 5. The pocket catalogue. 6. The peg catalogue. 7. The memorandum. ON KEGISTERS AND CATALOGUES. 137 § 1. Tlie register of entrance and departure. This register is placed under charge of the Brother whose office it is to speak to the parents. When a pupil is admitted he enters therein his name and sur- name, the name, profession, and residence of his par- ents, the date of his birth and that of his admission into the school. There should afterwards be entered therein the date of his leaving school, the motive for his leaving, and a resume of the marks he received during his attend- ance. § 3. The roll-call. The roll-call is a copy-book in which the names of the pupils are inserted in alphabetical order, and is made use of for marking absentees. When a pupil's name is called, if present he an- swers God he blessed ! if absent, and without permis- sion, the master places a cipher after his name ; if he is absent with permission he puts a cross there ; by this means we know the number of times a pupil has been absent throughout the year. § 3, The list of prayers. This list makes known at a glance what the pupil knows or does not know of his prayers, and even of his catechism. We enter upon it the names of all the pupils of a class in alphabetical order; and after every general repetition, when it has been evident that the pupil knows an article perfectly, a * is placed opposite his name and under the heading of the prayer that he knows ; if he does not know it, or knows it imperfect- 138 OR REaiSTERS AND CATALOGUES. ly, a point is put there, and when a certain number of points have thus been marked against a pupil it will be well to adopt measures to make him learn his prayers. Should it happen to a pupil after once knowing a prayer to forget it, a point should be placed above the sign already there ; this point, or these points, for there might be several, should not be obliterated until the pupil proves that he knows the prayer perfectly which he had forgotten. ON KEGISTERS AND CATALOGUES. 139 OQ w H El •SS8H %V -SUV •joa^gnoo j n EH •sniaSirv * •BI8^BJd:SaiII8Ag- :♦ E-i* n JO poqiaj\[— opaJO 1 ■si9£.Vi^ SaiujOH * * 1 •8AY * ♦ •J91M * « •qOJtliio B^% JO 9:^u9rapuBraraoo * * •poo JO s^uampnBninioo * ♦ E^ 1 •0-^9 'q^TB^ JO spv * * •0^8 'S98JUO0 I * * •eiBaj^ jaqjB aoBJQ ♦ * • siB9j^ aaojaq aoBJO * * < Oh H OQ 1 •poo HI 8A8r[9q. I * * •jCibh ITBH * * uaq^B^a: mo 1 * ♦ •8SOJ0 aq^ouSis * * +3 pq a b 1 i 1-5 1-5 •aey 140 ON EEaiSTERS AI^ CATALOGUES. After the prayers we mark those parts of the cate- chism which the pupils may have recited without a mistake, and designate them by a figure corresponding! to the parts. Thus, we see that John Smith knows all the articles of the first, second, and third order of prayers, and that he also knew the morning prayers, but the point above the sign shows that he has forgotten them ; we may further observe that he also knows the first divi- sion of the catechism, and that James O'Brien has re- cited the Credo twice and the Gonfiieor four times without knowing them. ON REGISTEES AND CATALOGUES. 141 Abithmbtio. 1st division, 28. 2d division, 33. 1 : - 1 *-a T-( ft 1-1 • Ti t- ^ 00 g O 1H ; "* 00 ■I-l Orthography. 1st division, 30. 2d division, 31 . : 1 : 1 HS T-1 T-l fl T-l 00 iH 5ZJ 00 I -iH 00 O § • T-l T-l (N 6 1 : 1 ; 1 HS s »o « fl ^ ■* eo o {2; § eo to o g§ • ^ P (M T-l ; T»< ^ 00 • tH lO '• o ^ . 9t T-l • lO » o w 6 : 1 : 1 : Ha 8 : lO 1 fl " i eo ■r-l • ^ § ■: « eo [ »o O 00 ^ JO . tH 1-1 "* g e 1 CD .a O) S •c ^ S 0) V ^ es ^ u o ^ 4J d a> CD 1 V -4-3 '0 .d d Qi 03 ?^ a o S « u g 0) OS 1, .d d. •♦J o 4J OQ <3 1 d GD b 0) <4H d< « d^ p. ^ O a> o .d ^ 'S &: a> CD .3 o a> -u -CJ i »4 o o oa d J? 5 o a 5 d OS o ,d V '•B 0) o OQ tt 5 03 0) d ^ S o fl V IB .d 5 .d o 4 -•.A >- a> 0} o d •^ SB -M tn on -S »i< d «-i «^ o 08 142 ON EEGISTEES AND CATALOGUES. § 4. The register of competitions and promotions. The masters should have a book in which to record the weekly competitions, and the Inspector of the classes should have another for the monthly competi- tions. This last register should be on the plan of that given on the previous page. By a glance at that plan we see that John Bush was 58 in the competition for catechism in the month of October, and that he belonged to the first section, that of the beginners ; that in the month of ISTovember he* was 40, and was promoted to the second section. It may be seen that in reading he fell from 40 to 48. and was put into a lower section ; that in orthography] he belongs to the first division, composed of 30 pupils^ and that he has been successively 20, 18, 14, and 11; that in arithmetic he belonged to the second division,i where he was 12th, 8th, and 1st ; that in the month of December he was promoted to the first division,! where he obtained the lYth place in the competition for the month of January. § 5. The pocket catalogue. The pocket catalogue is composed of several little leaves of parchment fastened round by movable bands; under which are inserted others so shaped and fastened together as to admit pieces of movable cardboard on which the names of the pupils are written. This cata-. logue is used for markiag the conduct of the pupils, especially during divine service, catechism, and prayers.^ § 6. The peg catalogue. This catalogue consists of a board that contains in one or two columns the names of all the pupils. By the side of each name there are ten or twelve holes that! ON REGISTERS AND CATALOGUES. 143 serve to mark the good or bad points, by means of small white and black pegs ; the white indicating the good and the black the bad points. When a pupil has done his work well, one or two good points are added to his account ; and one or two bad ones when he commits some fault. It is necessary to be very exact in rewarding or punishing the maximum of each day's good or bad points. § 7. On the memorandumriook and its use. The knowledge of the principal truths of religion and the practice of the duties of a Christian are mat- ters of such supreme importance that a master, called by his state of life to train up youth in the practice of the evangelical virtues, will not be easy in mind as to his obligations in this respect until he has a certain knowledge of the degree of religious instruction and of the conduct of each of his pupils. For this purpose each Brother — at least those who have care of the middle and higher classes — will add to his pocket catalogue a list of all his pupils ; the names should be written in vertical columns in the middle of the page, and the spaces to right and left should be used for the following purposes : Every year, immediately after the reopening of school, the master should examine the pupils during catechism time as to their degree of religious instruction. Let him place at the right of the pupil's name who shall have answered very creditably the number 5, and the number 4 by the side of his name who shall have answered passably ; those who may merit the number 3 and under should be considered too little instructed in the truths whose knowledge is necessary for salvation, and the master ought to question them frequently on these important truths, above all, on the 144 ON ATTENDANCE. vigils of holidays and Sundays, and on the principal mysteries, during the time set apart for catechism. He might even furnish one of the most intelligent and besti instructed of the pupils with a list of the principal questions, and promise him a reward when the child- ren intrusted to him could answer them all. When the examination shall be gone through with, that is to say, when each of the pupils shall have been thoroughly tested, the order of catechism will be re- sumed. It will be advisable to renew this examination at least two or three times a year, and to put down the number that represents the knowledge of each child. To keep himself well informed of the general con- duct of the pupils, the master should write a ^ to the left of their names every time they have given proofs of good sense and good conduct ; and a h wheni they have conducted themselves badly; he should! mark a c at the side of their names every time they have gone to confession, and an o to denote their absence from the offices of the Church on Sundays, etc. ; By this means he may be able in a short time to render t an account of the spiritual state of his flock. CHAPTER VI. ON ATTENDANCE. We should insist not only that the pupils do not ab- sent themselves from school but that they be all present before a quarter to eight o'clock in the morning and a quarter past one in the afternoon. The pupils should not get permission to absent them- ON ATTENDANCE. 145 selves from a class, or from a portion of a class, except very rarely, and never unless for good reasons ; because those who are not regular not only learn little but are a cause of disorder to the others. No pupil should be suffered to absent himself from catechism unless for the most imperative reasons, and then only once or twice. When a pupil may be very useful to his parents he may be allowed at their request to absent himself, but if possible only in the morning. Sometimes those who go to work may be allowed to come in the morning, at the beginning of school, to read and write, and to leave afterward, but always on condition that they assist at catechism and evening prayers. To make a child punctual who, from dislike to study or love of play, absents himself from school or comes late, it will be of great advantage to encourage him either by promising him some reward or by promoting him to some office in the school, where that can be done without injury. When it is necessary to have recourse to punish- ment, the parents should be required to inflict it them- selves, lest what might be given in school should in- crease the pupil's disgust to it. Moreover, whatever may be the cause of his absence, the great means of preventing it lies in the co-operation of the parents. It is necessary : 1. To make them acquainted with the absence of the pupil. 2 . To request them to bring him back themselves and speak to the Brother Director, the Inspector, or the head master. 3. To represent to them the injury that the want of punctuality may cause the pupil, and how detrimental to his progress his absence has already been. 4. Not to accept too readily the excuses that may be offered. 5 146 ON ATTENDAN'CE. 5. To refer every leave of absence asked to the Brother Director, the Inspector, or the head master ; and whoever gives a permission of this kind should make it known to the master of the class. Should the means of encouragement and the co- operation of the parents not lead the pupil to be panctual, recourse might be had to punishments, such as exclusion from rewards, humiliations, loss of place, and delay in promotion. The master should frequently notify the pupils that all absentees must be present and show cause for such absence before the beginning of class, under risk of punishment. To prevent any disturbance to the exercises of the establishment the Brother Director, or the master whom he may appoint, will receive the excuses on the part of the parents every morning from three-quarters past seven to eight o^clock, and in the afternoon from a quarter to half-past one. When the parents shall make any complaint, he whose duty it is to receive such shall excuse the mas- ter as far as possible, and will acquaint the Brother Director with all that was said. Should the pupil have absented himself through his own fault he must be reprimanded in presence of his parent, who should be counseled, in private, how to prevent a repetition of such absence. The Brother whose duty it is to receive absentees will make the master of the pupils brought back ac- quainted with the reasons offered by the parents, and the conditions on which they have been received ; whilst waiting a decision, all such as may have absented themselves will remain in some appointed place until, the master makes them a sign to take their usual place or has imposed some punishment. The master appointed to answer the parents will I leave the door ajar, so as to be able to see his pupils and ! exercise the necessary supervision over them. ON HOLIDAYS. 147 CHAPTER VII. THE HOLIDATS. It is proper that the holidays should be regulated in a uniform way. There are three things to be considered under this head : 1 st, the ordinary holidays ; 2d, the extraordinary holidays; 3d, the manner of announcing the holidays. ARTICLE I. On the ordinary holidays. Holiday will be given on the Thursday of each week in which there is no feast of obligation. When there is a feast of obligation in the week, should it fall on Monday, Tuesday, or Saturday, holi- day will be given on the afternoon of Thursday ; should it fall on Thursday or Friday, holiday will be given on Tuesday afternoon; and should it fall on Wednes- day, holiday will be given on Friday afternoon. When there are two or more feast days in the week there w^ill be no half holiday. There will be a holiday on the day of the feast of St, Nicholas, patron of stud- ents, even if it should fall on the same week as the feast of the Immaculate Conception ; but the pupils should be required to come to school in the morning, where catechism will be taught from eight o'clock till nine ; after which they will be brought to hear mass in the church in which they are accustomed to hear it. On the feast of the Circumcision and All Souls'day, they will be taken to mass. Holiday should be given on the feast of St. Joseph, patron of the institute, instead of on Thursday. Holiday should likewise be given from the Thursday 148 ON HOLIDAYS. in Holy Week till Easter Monday, both inclusive ; on Easter Monday the same regulations will apply as on days of obligation. In those districts in which it will be impossible to conform to the regulations given here as to holidays, school may be held on the feasts of the Transfiguration of our Lord, the Finding of the Holy Cross, the Pre- sentation, and the Visitation of the most holy Virgin. Should the authorities or founders be opposed to giving holidays on the days mentioned in this chapter, it would be necessary to submit to their will and con - suit the Brother Superior on that subject. ARTICLE II. On extraordinary holidays. No extraordinary holidays should be given without an evident and indispensable necessity. When the Brother Director of a house considers himself obliged to give one, he should ask permission from the Brother Superior of the Institute, or, if that cannot be done, he should apprise him of it afterward, stating at the same time the reasons that obliged him to grant it. When a necessity arises for giving an extraordinary holiday it should take the place of the weekly holiday ; but should there be a day of obligation in that week, and the necessity for the extraordinary holiday holds good only for the afternoon, a half holiday only should be granted. The occasions on which an extraordinary holiday may be given are the following : 1. The day when a Brother is buried and the day when the service of the Church is solemnly offered for him ; even if it should be in the same week. 2. The day when some extraordinary display takes place in the city, provided there would be no harm in ON VACATIONS. 149 suffering the pupils to be present at it, and it was judged impossible to prevent them. No holiday should be given on Shrove Monday or Shrove Tuesday, nor on the Rogation days. The time that ought to be devoted to school should not be curtailed, unless under an evident and indis- pensable necessity. ARTICLE III. A^mouncement of holidays. On Sundays the Brother Director of each house will announce to the Brothers the days of obligation that fall in the week, and the days on which holiday will be given, if anything extraordinary is to occur. Each master, at the end of catechism, will tell his puj)ils the recreation day of the week, and anything out of the ordinary course, such as days of abstinence. CHAPTER VIII. ON VACATIONS. Under this chapter we consider: 1st, what regards the vacations themselves and the advice the masters should give their pupils as to the manner of spending them well; 2d, the distribution of prizes; 3d, what ought to be done on the day of reopening school. ARTICLE L What ought to be done on the day be/ore the vacation. Every year all our schools shall be closed for one month. On the last day of school catechism should 150 ON VACATIONS. be taught, for an hour and a half, on the manner in which the pupils ought to conduct themselves during vacation. Among the directions the masters should give the pupils, as to the manner of spending the time well, the principal are : 1. To say morning and evening prayers with devo- tion, and to repeat the Angelus when the Ave Maria bell is rung. 2. To assist at mass, or visit the Blessed Sacrament every day. 3. Frequently to offer up their hearts and actions to God. 4. To be very obedient to their parents. 5. To write one page every morning and evening. 6. To read some religious books, and most carefully avoid all reading that is bad or dangerous. T. To say grace before and after meals. 8. To say the rosary in order to acquire and preserve devotion to the most blessed Virgin. 9. Carefully to avoid all bad company, places, and forbidden amusements. 10. To refrain from bathing naked, even though quite alone. 11. To sanctify the Sunday by assisting at mass and the services of the parish church. 12. To goto confession at least once during the va- cation. The masters should not limit themselves to giving this advice previous to the vacation, but should occa- sionally renew it during the year. ARTICLE II. Distribution of prizes. The Brothers should do all in their power to have the distribution of prizes take place without any cere- ON VACATIONS. 151 mony or concourse of people, especially in those places where the custom of public distributions has not been introduced. Should the magistrates or benefactors require that the distribution be a public one, everything in the way of ostentation should be carefully avoided, such as in- viting musicians there, decorating the hall with a great deal of pomp, etc., etc. If, in some places, it be found impossible to avoid having some literary performance in the form of a dia- logue, it should not be given out to the pupils to be learned, without having previously communicated it to the Superior-General and obtained his express appro- bation . Should the magistrates or benefactors require that the children recite something from the different branch- es they have been taught, in that case, also, it would be necessary to take the advice of the Superior-General and limit themselves to what they found it impossi- ble to refuse. It is advisable to show the writing books and draw- ing books of only the ten or twelve best pupils, and some single sheets of book-keeping and drawing. The copy-books should contain only ten or twelve leaves, and the loose drawings should not be too large. These drawings should be copied from the course in use in the Christian Schools, or from some other simple and easy models. The ornamental part both in drawing and writing should be entirely the work of the puj^ils themselves. All the work mentioned above should be executed gradually during the course of the year and in school time, never during the time of mass, catechism, or pray- ers. As to the distribution of prizes, it is proper: 1st, that the books should be well chosen, and, if they do not all treat of religion, that they should, at least, be 153 ON VACATIONS. instructive and capable of being of service to the children; 2d, that they should be divided in such a way as to satisfy as many pupils as possible, and to avoid giving too great a number of them to the same indi viduals, above all in the lowest classes ; 3d, if there be a sufficient number of prizes the two or three most beautifiil might be given to the first pupils in each specialty, and the others to those who might have made the most progress or obtained the most good notes, or merited the greatest number of promotions. To complete this important article we think it necessary to add here a few remarks : In general we must act conformably to the spirit of the locality, as to the number of prizes to be given and the manner of distribution ; however, it would be advisable to approximate as nearly as possible to the following rules : 1. Two prizes should be given for each specialty. 2. In case of equality the first or second should be doubled. 3 . The prize for the diflferent specialties should be given to the pupils who, judging by their competitions from a given period, are strongest in those specialties even when they may have been reprehensible as to conduct. 4. The best prizes should be given for good conduct and catechism. 5. ISTo prize should be given in public for specialties about which the pupils could not answer readily and exactly, nor for subjects that are outside of the body of teaching prescribed for the class. 6. We must carefully avoid, especially when it is question of the writing class, giving prizes of encour- agement, punctuality, good conduct, and others of a similar nature ; it will be sufficient to mention the good conduct as appreciated by honorable mention, and the application or progress as shown by notes of success. ON THE OFFICERS OF THE SCHOOL. 153 ARTICLE III. On the reopening of schooL The masters will make the pupils acquainted with the day on which school will reopen, and enjoin them all to be present in class on that day at half-past seven. Catechism will be taught from eight o'clock till nine, after having recited the opening prayer, then they will be taken to mass ; — and in the afternoon school as usual. When almost all the scholars have returned, the priest of the parish in which the schools are situated should be requested to offer up a mass of the Holy Ghost ; if this request cannot be obtained the house should have such mass offered up at its own expense. CHAPTER IX. ON THE OFFICERS OF THE SCHOOL. There are in our schools several officers appointed to discharge different functions which the Brothers could not or should not exercise themselves ; these officers ought to be appointed by the Brother Director in accord with the master. A fresh appointment should be made every month, so as to maintain among them a certain emulation that may lead them to discharge faithfully the duties intrusted to them. It will be ad- visable also to give them a certain number of privi- leges each week. 154 ON THE OFFICERS OP THE SCHOOL. ARTICLE I. The prayer-reader. There will be two pupils appointed in each class as prayer-readers, one for the morning and the other for the afternoon. The morning-prayer-reader of one week will be the evening-prayer-reader for the next week, and vice versa. The prayer-reader will give out the titles of acts and prayers, and also the maxims for reflection andi examination, in the book of the Exercises of piety. No pupil will be intrusted with this office who does not know all the prayers perfectly and cannot read them distinctly ; he must also be quiet and modest, so as to occasion no distractions to others. The prayer readers may be continued in office for more than a month, if it be difficult to find others who can dis- charge that duty equally well. AETICLE II. The aspersory-bearer. As often as the pupils are taken to church one of them should carry the aspersory, to present the holy, water to the others as they enter and likewise when they leave the church. He should preserve a modest demeanor and not make use of the aspersory as an object of amusement. When the pupils shall have left the church he will carry it back to the school to be laid in the appointed place. AETICLE III. The chaplet-bearer. Every time the pupils are taken to church two of them should be employed as chaplet-bearers. They ON THE OFFICERS OF THHE SCHOOL. 155 should be careful to count tlie beads every day, either after mass or in the afternoon, and let the master know when any of them are wanting ; this latter should count them himself on the last school day of every week. As soon as the pupils are kneeling at their place the beads will be distributed to those who do not know how to read ; and when mass is over they will be collected and brought back to the school-room. Those officers should in general be chosen from the class of beginners. They should be well conducted and very careful not to lose any of the beads. ARTICLE IV. The bell-ringer. In every school a pupil should be appointed to ring the bell that announces the different exercises ; he should toll it ten times at the beginning of school and five times every hour ; he should tinkle five or six strokes on it every half hour. He should also tinkle it twice or thrice about three minutes before saying a decade of the rosary and before catechism, to notify the pupils to put away their books and papers and get ready, so that the exercises may be commenced exactly at the hour appointed. This officer should be very regular in his attendance at school and very punctual in the exercise of his office. ARTICLE V. On the superintendents. There should be superintendents in all the classes during the absence of the master, that is to say, before their coming and as often as they shall be obliged to leave during the lesson. 156 ON THE OFFICERS OF THI3 SCHOOL. The superintendent should be forbidden to threaten, and with still more reason to strike, whatever be the fault He should content himself with observing how they conduct themselves, and with writing in one list the names of those who fail in their duty, and in another the names of those who conduct themselves well. The master should examine everything closely be- fore deciding to punish the accused, and the better to know if the superintendent has told the truth, he should privately question the best behaved of the pupils who happened to be witnesses, to learn if all happened according to the manner and circumstances described. The superintendent of a class should be always at the place assigned him, and should so conduct himself as to give good example to the other pupils ; for he should be well convinced that he is appointed not only to watch over them but to serve as their model. The superintendent must be very punctual in his attendance at school, and must be there among the first; he should be attentive to all that passes; he should neither be thoughtless nor untruthful, nor capa- ble of favoritism, and, above all, he should receive no presents of any kind whatever. In the event of the superintendent not having come, the next advanced of the pupils should take his place. The master should hear the complaints made against the superintendent, especially if those who make them are not interested parties, and are prudent and well- conducted. Should he be found guilty he ought to be punished more severely than any others guilty of the same fault, or he ought to be discharged from his office. There should also be superintendents in the different quarters or principal streets to observe how the pupils behave themselves when returning home, and even ON THE OFFICERS OF THE SCHOOL. 157 when coming to school. These superintendents should aever speak to or threaten the pupils, and still less push or strike them; they should be satisfied with ittentively observing what takes place; they should have lists of the best conducted and the worst, and when in class should give them to the master. ARTICLE VI. On monitors. There should be monitors in every class appointed to hear the lessons recited, both in the morning and afternoon, each monitor having eight or ten pupils, as the master shall decide, provided this can be done without injuring the discipline of the class. Others should be appointed to give lessons to the lower classes in reading, spelling, and arithmetic. These officers should be very punctual in their attend- ance, and come to school among the first. The master should himself make some of the pupils recite their lessons to him every day, both to ascertain if they know their lessons and if the monitors have done their duty ; and if these last have been found guilty of negligence they should be either punished or deprived of their office. The monitors should recite their lessons to the master, or a pupil whom he may appoint ; they should be changed, at intervals, so as not to lose their time. To encourage the monitors, especially those of the lower classes, they should be promised a picture or some other recompense on the day on which those un- der their charge have been promoted to a higher order or another section. 158 ON THE OFFICERS OF THE SCHOOL. ARTICLE VII. The task-examiners. There should be pupils appointed in every class to examine the tasks during the half hour of reunion. They should receive the tasks in the order that the pupils enter; they should examine them, and even compare them, getting the pupils to read them while they follow in the book from which the task was given. If the tasks are well done they should efface from the note the name of the pupil to whom they were given. About half-past eight in the morning, and two o'clock in the afternoon, the examiners should lay all the writ- ten tasks upon the master's desk ; the latter, after hav- ing examined some of them, should have them returned to the pupils before the end of class. ARTICLE VIII. The door-keeper. The duty of the door-keeper will be to open and close the class-rooms, morning and afternoon ; he should also have the care of closing and fastening the shutters? and windows. The door-keeper should keep the key of the school at home, that is, supposing the school is not in the house and he lives near it ; otherwise some kind neigh- bor might be requested to take charge of it ; all being left to the discretion of the Brother Director. The door-keeper should be forbidden to give the key to any person whatever without orders from the master especially intrusted with the charge of the school. In every school there should be a pupil appointed! ON THE PLAN OF A SCHOOL, AND FURNITURE. 159 o open and close the school door during the lessons. le should generally be taken from the class of the aaster whose duty it is to speak to the parents. When any one knocks at the door of the school, he hould open it quietly, without making them wait, and ntroduce the persons who wish to speak to the Bro- her to the place where he is accustomed to receive hem ; he should then acquaint the head-master, or re- [uest such persons to wait his arrival. This officer should be chosen from among the pupils vho are most punctual; he should be modest, well con- Lucted, and very polite, so as to be capable of explain- ng himself well to visitors . This same pupil should be generally placed near the loor ; he should superintend the cleanness of the water- ;loset, and take care that two pupils are never there at )nce ; this last is a point of great importance. This officer should be often changed, so that he may lot lose his time. CHAPTER X. I [ ON THE PLAN OF A SCHOOL, AND FURNITURE. The schools should be constructed in such a way that masters and pupils may easily attend to their duties. The class-rooms should be, wherever it is possible, upon the ground floor, between the yard and garden, and all upon the same story. The doors should be so placed that the pupils in entering one room might not be obliged to pass through another. When the class-rooms face the street or a common yard the windows should not be within two meters of 160 ON THE PLAN OF A SCHOOL, AND FURNITURE. the ground, so that passers-by might not see easily into the school; but if not exposed to the view of straugers it will be sufficient if the basement of the windows is raised one meter, thirty centimeters. It were well that all windows had fan-light openings, in order to venti- late the school-room without incommoding the pupils. The class-rooms should be so laid out that they may be very well lit and ventilated, and for this purpose there should be windows at least on two sides. The size of the class-rooms should be about 8 meters and 75 centimeters long, 7 meters wide, and 4 meters high; these dimensions appear to be most suitable. They should be always contiguous, and as much as possible separated only by partitions and glazed doors. The door of communication at least should be glazed, and the openings in the partitions should be so placed that the masters might easily see each other from theii desks. It would be a great advantage to have three or four class-rooms in each school, so as not to have too great a number of different sections in the same room. The water-closets should be so placed that the master might be able to keep a watch over the pupils who go i there ; yet they should be at such a distance from the i class-rooms as not to prove offensive. Each class should have its own water-closet, whose dimensions might be seventy centimeters wide by one i meter of recess. It would be well to have a urinal in lead or any other substitute for wood in each closet, to facilitate cleanliness. Besides the tables and desks, there should be in every class-room a seat for the master, and five pictures re- presenting our Saviour on the cross, the blessed Vir- gin, St. Joseph, the Angel Guardian, and St. Nicholas ; there should also be the portrait of the Venerable J. B. de la Salle, the sentences mentioned above in page 131, a holy- water font, and a stove. ON THE PLAN OF A SCHOOL, AND FURNITURE. 16-^ The desks for writing on should be according to the pattern of those used in our schools. The benches for the lower classes should have a board in form of a desk, on which they might rest their arms, and, if need be, write and cipher In general, forty-four centimeters might be allowed to the writers, and thirty- three to the other pupils. The desks and benches should be arranged in the way most favorable to the supervision of the masters, and to the work and different exercises to be done by the pupils. The higher classes should have a clock that strikes the hours and half-hours, a small bell to give notice of the different exercises, and some black-boards ; one of these latter about two meters long, and one meter, fifty centimeters high ; the others should be about one meter long by sixty centimeters wide, and should be port- able. There should be also a graduated metre, a cyl- indrical liti^e, a cubical decimetre and centimetre made of tin, a large compass, a square and protractor of a large size, some geographical maps, and a closet or shelf for the books, etc., used in class. The lower classes should have also a large sheet with the alphabet and syllables, and several cartoons, or wooden rests, on which the reading cards might be laid. CONTENTS. . PAGE Preface 1-3 8 FIBST PART. On the exercises that are performed in school, and the manner of performing them. Chapter I. — Division of a school, and admission of pupils, 5 Chapter II. — Order of daily exercises 9 The First Qass 7 Second Class 8 Lower Classes 9 Chapter III. — On the entrance into School. Article I . Entrance of the pupils 10 ** II. Entrance of the masters, and commence- ment of school 11 Chapter IV.— On the demeanor of masters and pupils during the lessons , 13 I Chapter V. — On teaching and method 13 Article I. On the subjects to be taught, and method in general IS *' II. On the four methods of primary teaching, 16 " III, On instruction by question and answer. .. 17 ' Chapter VI. — On memory lessons 1 9 1 Article I. Division of memory lessons 20 1 § 1. Division of prayers 30 1 § 3. Division of Catechism 30 1 § 3. Division of the other specialties 31 1 Article II. On the explanation of the lessons the pupils should study 32 Article III. How to get the children of the lower classes to learn their prayers 23 1 " IV. Classification for recitation 34 1 " V. Order of daily recitation 35 i " VI. Recitation of lessons 36 1 CONTENTS. 1G8 PAGE Chapter VII. — On reading lessons 28 Article I. On the six orders of reading 28 " II. General directions in reference to reading 29 " III. On reading lessons for the lower classes. . 31 " IV. On the primer 34 " V. On reading books 34 " VI. On Latin 34 " VII, On manuscripts 35 " VIII. Order of books for daily reading 35 Chapter VIII.— On writing 36 Article I. General considerations. 38 " II, Articles made use of in writing 38 " III. On the method of writing 39 " IV. The different styles of writing and the size of the letters 41 " V. On the general position of the body and copy-book, and on holding the pen 42 " VI, On the writing lesson 43 " VII. On keeping the copy-books neatly and how this is to be attained 48 Chapter IX, — On Grammar and Orthography 49 Article I. General considerations 4d " II, The lesson in grammar 50 " III. Orthography 52 ^ 1. Correction of written exercises 52 I 2, Dictation 53 § 3. The preparation or explanation of written exercises 55 § 4, The verification of the corrections 55 Chapter '^ X,— On Arithmetic 50 Article I. General considerations 56 X " II. On the different orders of arithmetic 57 I " III. On the principal exercises that constitute the teaching of arithmetic 58 § 1. Ciphering by turns on the black-board. . . 59 ^2, Ciphering alternately on the copy-books.. 61 ^ 3. Ordinary ciphering on the copy-books. ... 62 I 4. Mental aritlimetic 62 b) 5. Demonstrations and recitations 63 ^ 6. Analysis and solution of problems 64 4) 7. Problems transcribed 64 Chapter XI.— History 65 " XII.— Geography 66 " Xlll. — Drawing and Geometry « 67 XIV.— On Catechism 69 164 CONTENTS. Chapter XIV. —Continued. page Article I. On tlie excellence of CatecMsm 69 " II. Preparation for Catecliisni 70 " III. Subjects for instruction 71 " IV. On the method of teaching catechism 71 " V. Time that should be employed in teaching catechism 74 " VI. Particular regulations for catechism on the Sundays, feasts, and vigils of holidays. . . 75 Chapter XV. — On politeness 76 " XVI.— On cleanliness 78 " XVII. — On assisting at the public services of the parish church 78 " XVIII. — On prayers and singing of hymns 81 Article I. On prayers said in school 81' " II. On the reflection at the end of morning prayers and the examination during even- ing prayers 83 '' III. On deportment during prayers, and the manner of saying them 83 " IV. On the singing of hymns 85 Chapter XIX. — On dismissal 85 Article I. On the manner in which the pupils should leave school 85 " II. On the duties of masters during and after the dismissal of pupils 86 SECOND PART. On the particular means by which to obtain order and applica- tion from the pupils. Chapter I. — On emulation 88 Article I. General considerations, and an enumera- tion of the principal incentives to emu- lation made use of in our schools 88 " II. The taking of places 89 " III. Competitions 90 " IV. On examinations , 96 " V. On promotions 97 " VI. On the passage of pupils from one group to another 99 *' VII. On the formation of rival camps 101 " Vin. Challenges , 102 " IX. On privileges or good points. , 102 X. Weekly certilicates = 105 CONTENTS. 165 Chapter I.— Continued.* page Article XI. Honorabie mention 106 "XII. On some other means of exciting emulation 107 " XIII. General remarks on the means of emula- tion 108 " XIV, On the exchange of good points 110 § 1. Method of distributing rewards 110 § 2. Objects to be distributed as rewards Ill Chapter II. — On punishments 112 Article I. General considerations 112 " II. Observations in reference to the pupils whom we ought not to punish 114 §1. On reprimands 115 ^ 2. The withdrawal of good notes 117 ^3. Loss of place „ 117 § 4. To be put standing or sent to an appointed place 118 § 5. Isolation 118 § 6. Tasks 119 § 7. Withdrawal of the cross of honor, removal from office 121 § 8. Inscription on the roll of humiliation 121 § 9. The being sent to the Brother Director with a letter describing the fault com- mitted 122 § 10. Letter of the child to his parents ........ 122 § 11. Tasks of reflection 122 § 12. Intimation given to parents (a reserved punishment) 123 § 13. The being put down from a section or class (a reserved punishment) 123 § 14. Temporary dismissal ( a reserved punish- ment) 123 § 15, Apologizing, asking pardon (a reserved punishment) 124 § 16. Expulsion { a reserved punishment) 124 Article III. On accusers and the accused 125 " IV. Conditions thai should always accompany correction. 126 Chapter III. — On good order, and some means of obtain- ing and preserving it 128 Chapter IV. — On the signs made use of in our schools . . 131 Article I. On the sentences that comprise the duties of the pupils 131 " II. On the siarns during recitations 132 166 CONTENTS. Chapter IV,— Contimied. - PAGE Article III. On the signs that have reference to the reading lesson 132 " IV. On the signs that have reference to writing, 134 " V. On the signs used on some particular occa- sions 185 Chapter V. — Eegisters and Catalogues used in our school a 136 § 1. The register of entrance and departure. . . . 137 ^ 2. The roll call 137 I 3. The list of prayers.. 137; §4. The register of competitions and promotions 142 I 5. The pocket catalogue 142 § 6. The peg catalogue 142 ^ 7. The memorandum book and its use 143 Chiapter VI. — On attendance 144 VII— The holidays ...••• 147 Article I. On the ordinary holidays 147 " II. On estrabrdinary holidays 148 " III. Announcement of holidays 149 Chapter VIII. — On vacations ■ 149 Article I. What ought to be done on the day before vacation 149 *' II. Distribution of prizes 150 " III. On the reopening of school 153 Chapter IX. — On the officers of the school 153 Article I. The prayer-reader 154 " II. The aspersory-bearer 154 " III. The chaplet-bearer .... 154 ■ " IV. The bell-ringer 155 " V. The superintendents 155 " VI. The monitors 157 " VII. The task-examiners 158 "VIII. The door-keep'jr 158 Chapter X — On the plan of a school and furnitare 159 INDEX. PAGE Accugers and the accused 125 Admission of pupils 5 Arithmetic 56 Attendance 144 Bell-ringer 155 Camps, rival 101 Catechism, excellence of 69 *' preparation for 70 " subjects for instruction in 71 " manner of teaching 71 " time to be employed in 74 Catalogues and registers used in our schools 136 of prayers 137 Catalogues, pocket 142 peg 142 Challenges 102 Classifications for recitations 24 Cleanliness , « . 78 Competitions 90 Copy-books, on keeping them neatly 48 Correction, conditions that should always accompany. . . 126 Correction of exercises 52 " of writing . .• 47 Corrections, verification of 55 Cross of honor 107 Demeanor during the lessons 13 Dictation 53 Dismissal at the end of school 85 Division of a school 5 " of memory lessons 20 Doorkeeper 158 Drawing and Geometry 67 Emulation B8 Entrance into school 10 168 INDEX. PAGE Examination during evening prayers 83 Examinations 96 Exchange of good points , 110 Exercises, order of daily 6 Explanation of lessons to be studied 22 Expulsion 124 Furniture of a school 159 Geography 66 Geometry 67 Good notes, exchange of , 100 " withdrawal of . ; 117 Good order } .... 128 Grammar and orthography 49 History „... 65 Honor (desk of) 107 " (cross of) , 107 " (roll of) 108 Honorable mention 106 Holidays 147 Hymns, singing of 185 Isolation 118 Latin 34 Lessors in arithmetic 58 " in geography 66 " in grammar , 50 ." in history 65 " in orthography 52 " in reading 29 " in writing 43 Manuscripts 35 Means of obtaining good order 128 Means of emulation 88, 107, 110 Means of repression 112 Memorandum book 143 Memory lessons 20 Method in general 13 Method of writing 42 Monitors 157 Officers of the school, . , 153 Order, means of obtaining good 128 Orders of arithmetic 57 " of writing • 42 *' of reading. 28 Order of daily recitations 25 Orthography 52 INDEX. 169 PAGE Passage from one group to another 99 Plan of a school and furniture , 159 Politeness '. 76 Prayers 81 Prayer-reader 154 Primer 34 Privileges 104 Prizes, distribution of 150 Punishments 112 Question and answer 17 Recitations 26 Reflections at morning prayer 82 Registers and Catalogues 136 Reopening of school 153 Reprimands 115 Rewards 100 Roll call 137 Roll of humiliation 121 Signs made use of in our schools 131 Six Sentences 113 Superintendents 155 Tasks 119 Task-examiner 158 Teaching and method 13 Teaching, four methods of 16 Vacations 149 Withdrawal of good notes Ill " of cross of honor 127 VIRTUES AND DUTIES ^ J. i-@@B m^STll; THIRD PART OF THE E$S4Y m COIVDUCT, KOK THK UHi: UV HaLI.KT & BllKEN, PllIXTKKS, .IS it f a thoughtless turn, the rules of inflexible justice; 6. To study thoroughly those things which are lecessary or useful in giving a lesson, omitting those hat are merely speculative or that tend to divert him rora his main pursuit, and to make him neglect his iuty; 7. Not to enumerate or dwell upon what he has lone for his pupils, the great pains he has taken in heir education; not even to speak of it, unless very arely and with a view to give them a useful lesson; 8. Not to spare himself in the exercise of his office, lor be content with the simple fulfilment of his obli- gations, but to go to the extent of his ability, observ- ng no other limit than that prescribed by the rules of iradence, wisdom and obedience. CHAPTER XIV. GOOD EXAMPLE. There is an obligation of such weight, that all other )bligations unite in enforcing it upon a Master; it is hat he never fail to give to his pupils a good example, md hence to be truly virtuous. In short, example is the first, the most far-reaching md the most powerful means of instruction ; in the ed- ication of the heart, it is almost sufficient of itself, vhile nothing can supply its place. 36 GOOD EXAMPLE Children are much more observing than we gen- erally suppose; they discover by a kind of instinct, while they have the faculty to appreciate the degree of I virtue in those persons with whom they have con- stant intercourse, especially in their master ; and they never fail to deduce consequences deeply affecting their conduct through life. More than this, their minds not being sufficiently de- veloped to comprehend the extreme beauty of virtue, they fail fully to comprehend the real value of good I example ; whilst naturally inclined to make no allow- ance for their master's faults and easily scandalized by the most trifling things, they are sure to exaggerate any of his actions which may seem to be wrong ; hence the least inconsiderate step on his part, or a mark of na- tural affection given to a pupil may become the cause ■ of mortal injury to their souls. Hence the absolute necessity to the work of educa- tion that the master should never cease to edify by ' his example. He is a religious, and consequently all his actions should only tend to strengthen the convic- tions of his scholars, that he is virtuous and eminent- ly so : he teaches them to walk in the footsteps of our ■ divine Lord, and hence he should be able to say to them, under all circumstances, " Be ye imitators of me as I also am of Christ." Moreover, this edifying example of a master is de- - manded even by men of the world : a public man, he is i narrowly watched by the public; all his actions and! words are subjected to the most rigorous scrutiny and passed upon by the sternest judgment ; every one imagines himself authorized to exact of such a man the most unsullied examples of virtue and piety ; : to require his conduct to be in exact agreement with i the habit he wears and the importance of the trust confided to him. j By these considerations, and still more by reflecting on the designs of God in his regard he will not fail to j (i D EXAMPLE. 37 encler himself edifying in church, in school and every- vhere, especially will he be watchful to make the sign )f the cross with respect ; to say the prayers in the chool with piety ; to assist at the offices with modes- y, and keep a special guard over his eyes, both in shurch and in the streets. Besides, he will feel it a )inding duty to be reserved in his intercourse witli eculars. In his intercourse with the scholars, the master will )e governed by our rules and regulations. Yes, it is >f the very highest importance that he observe with jreat care and exactness the precepts given in the chapter on prudence, and so often repeated or referred o, in the different regulations enjoined in our Insti- ute. That he never allow himself to speak in private o the scholars, to be alone with any of them, to touch heir hands or faces, to fondle or caress them, to re- :eive their embraces or keep them near his person, lo matter what may be the reason. In regard to hose scholars for whom he m-^y have a peculiar at- achment, he should observe, in addition to the above ules, not to entrust them with any office, not to give hem any commission, nor allow them, under any •retext, to accompany him to any part of the house ; lot to be blind or indulgent to their faults, not to lonor them by special commendations, or bestow ipon them rewards except in case of their very man- test merit. Alas ! should it happen that the conduct of a teacher •roved a scandal to his scholars ; that his words or cts awakened in them the susj^icion of his being ctuated by an unlawful passion, what a terrible mal- diction would be invoked upon his head ! Then in- Leed would be fulfilled the fearful threat of eternal ruth : " Woe to that man who shall scandalize one of hese little ones !" His reputation would be forever )la.sted in school and in the world ; he would stand )efore all, the object of suspicion, his words of coun- 38 GOOD EXAMPLE. sel would become like the idle wind, and all his acts of devotion bear the sad impress of pretence and hypoc- ' risy. Yes, we repeat it, it is of the highest importance that the master fail not to exhibit to his pupils, in his • everyday life, a bright, christian example! that he ^ should be able to say to Our Lord at death, when an account of the souls committed to him will be re-j quired : " Of those whom thou hast given me I havel lost none," at least I have lost none by the force of| bad example ; for I have sought always to do good in their presence, that I might glorify thee and lead them to glorify thee by the practice of every christian virtue. INDEX TO CHAPTERS. Page Chaj. 1. — Gravity 8 Chap. II — Silence b Chap. III. — Prudence and Reserve Chap. IV.— Wisdom 13 Chap, v.— Piety 17 Chap. VI.— Humility 19 Chap. VII.— Patience 22 Chap. VIII —Constancy 24 Chap. IX. — Firmness 25 Chap. X. — Meekness 27 Chap. XI. — Vigilance 80 Chap. XII.— Zeal 82 Chap. XIIL— Generosity 34 Chap. XIV.— Good Example 35 HOV -1 igi*!*