The ear: music.-The varied world of sound, comprising music and speech, is another wide field of culture to the intelligent mother and the elementary teacher. The extent to which the sense of sight may be cultivated, as regards precision and certainty and truth of action, is indicated in the perfection which is attained by the sculptor and the painter, whose copies of nature are, in some instances, so faithful, and so beautifully perfect, as to confer an immortality of fame upon their authors. But little notice, comparatively, is taken of the delicate susceptibility of the ear, in relation to the offices of culture. Yet no sense, not even that of sight itself, is capable of attaining to so high perfection by the aids of training and discipline. The innumerable minute distinctions of sound, which the performance of even a single piece of music, by a single performer, often requires; but, still more, the multitude which the composer of one of the master-pieces of harmony must be capable of recognizing, discriminating, and combining, with a measured exactness transcending all other efforts of perceptive intellect: these remind us, most impressively, of the extent and value of cultivation, when we recall the fact, that the performer and the composer commenced their artistic training on the common footing of all human beings, á percipient mind, and an organ capable of telegraphing to it the notes of the singing bird, the song of the mother or the nurse, or the artless strains of some juvenile performer on pipe or flute.

Speech. We have yet another proof of the susceptibility of the ear to the influences of cultivation, when "the well trod stage," in the exhibition of a play of the myriad-minded' Shakspeare, displays in the voice of the skillful actor, the whole world of human passion, with its ever-varying tones, uttered in the language of poetic inspiration, now moulded by the serene influence of heavenly contemplation, as when Lorenzo speaks to Jessica, while they sit on the moonlit bank, of the "smallest orb which she beholds, still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim ; " now breathing the deep tones of Hamlet, solemnly musing on the mysteries of life, and death, and destiny; now the hollow mutterings of conscious guilt from Macbeth, while meditating the murder from which he yet recoils; now the hoarse accents of remorse wrung from the bosom of him whose "offence is rank" with the blood of a brother's murder;" now the scarce articulate horror of "false, fleeting, purjured Clarence;" the maddened scream of mingling grief and rage from the injured mother, Constance; the love raptures of the empassioned Romeo; the ringing laughter of Mercutio; or the torture of Othello, as he fluctuates from

the ecstacies of overflowing love and joy, to the curses of hatred, the outbursts of grief, and the agonies of despair.

In all these forms the well trained actor, by the mastery of his artistic skill, exerts a power over the sympathies of his audience which far transcends the highest achievements of representative art in any other form. The arduous training to which the histrionic artist subjects his voice, in order to produce such effects, shows to what extent the cultivation of the ear may be carried. It is by the indications of this faithful, prompting monitor, that he guides every step of his vocal efforts, till he attains to those consummate effects of genius which, in some instances, have conferred on the individual a fame coëxtensive with the civilized world. Yet he who is, perhaps, thus renowned, commenced his early efforts, with the usual stumbling utterance of a school-boy.

Enunciation.-Passing from the higher sphere of music and poetry, in their influence on the cultivation of the intellect, through the medium of sense, we come to one of the most important stages of education, in the discipline of the voice for the useful purposes of speech, as dependent on accuracy of ear,-the only reliable guide to correct results. The unconscious freedom with which we utter thoughts in our native tongue, leaves all persons who are not advantageously trained by precept or example, exposed to the evils of incorrect habit, in utterance. The extensive prevalence, also, of corrupted usage, in the negligent practice of general society, increases the liability to error in the style of the individual. There was wisdom in the Roman maxim, that the nurses of children ought to be persons of correct habit, in enunciation. The influence of early example, is the most binding rule of speech, as the baffled and disappointed teacher, after all his endeavors, is often made to feel.

One early begun and long continued daily practice, in primary training, should consist in the careful, correct, and distinct articulation of the component elements of speech, as accomplished in our own language. These should, at first, be practiced with reference to the exact sound of every letter of the alphabet, singly and separately; afterwards they should be enunciated in the groups which constitute syllables, on a graduated progressive scale of difficulty, till every variety of combination can be uttered with perfect distinctness and perfect fluency; finally, the pronunciation of words should be practiced in a similar manner, till the style of the young learner is freed from all corrupt and local mannerism, and he is prepared to take his place among the cultivated in speech as well as thought, and, by his personal manner of expression, to evince the style of educated habit as preferable to that of vulgar negligence.

Elocution. In the secondary and in the more advanced stages of education, the discipline of the ear should be extended, so as to embrace all the refining and highly intellectual influences of music and poetry, as combined in elocution.

Intellect, feeling, and imagination, are all inseparably united in the appropriate expression of sentiment, as embodied in the language of oratory and poetry; and their finest effects in utterance depend on a nice susceptibility of ear, which culture only can secure to full extent. Music and elocution, the most humanizing of all arts, prescribe the apparatus and the forms of training to which the ear should be subjected, through the whole course of education. In the analysis and the discrimination which vocal discipline demands, in the recognition which it secures of the almost infinitely diversified and ever varying character of tones, in their expression of intelligence or of emotion, there is an admirable discipline of intellect implied, which, though less formally displayed than in other modes of exercise, is not, on that account, the less effectual. Of the high moral value of the susceptibility which such training tends to cherish, it is not now the appropriate time to speak. We may advert to it under a subsequent head.

The subject of healthful physical training is not now under consideration; yet sensation, and consequent perception, are dependent on the condition of the organs of sense, and therefore of the whole corporeal frame, which must be in a healthy condition to secure the natural and true action of nerve and brain,—the apparatus of perceptive action in the intellect. The attentive and efficient cultivation of health should be regarded, not merely as a condition of intellectual life, but as the first step in the formation of intellectual character. The clear eye and the quick ear of health are highly intellectual in their tendencies, and are for ever detecting and offering material for the intellect to examine or explore. The dull organs of a morbid frame, on the contrary, are too torpid to respond to the awakening touch or beckoning invitation of nature, and leave the clouded intellect to sleep or to dream.

PROGRESSIVE CHARACTER OF THE PROPER DISCIPLINE OF THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES.

The varied exercises of eye and ear, as organs of sentient mind, should always, under the guiding management of the teacher, advance in intellectual character from stage to stage, so as to secure the benefits of a progressive discipline, commencing, indeed, at the threshold of sense, but ever tending more and more inward, till they become nearly inseparable from the action and character of pure intellect. They thus render the keen eye and the quick ear prompters to

clear perception, fixed attention, penetrating observation, careful comparison, and discriminating judgment, and so conduct to consummate intelligence.

The teacher who works in intelligent coöperation with the constitution of the beings whose character it is his office to mould, is content to labor patiently in the field of sensation, as, at first, forming the sole ground on which he can rationally meet the dawning mind, with the hope to exert a genial and effectual influence on its development. He dwells long, accordingly, on the prominent outward characteristics of objects, as most accessible to the unpracticed faculties of infancy, as best adapted to elicit their activity, and tempt them forth to more and more energetic effort. He furnishes, with no sparing hand, the opportunities of intuition, in the abundance and variety of the objects which he presents to the senses. He selects these, however, with such judgment and skill that the young mind shall be incapable of regarding them with a mere vacant aspection or listless intuition, but, on the contrary, shall be made to feel that there is within them a soliciting power, a magnetic attraction, to which its own nature responds, and by which it is led on, from stage to stage, till it finds itself in possession of the mental treasures of clear perception and definite knowledge.

VOLUNTARY EXERCISE OF THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES, A CONDITION

OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.

Attention as a voluntary act.-The teacher who recognizes the law of intellectual growth, is aware that, in adopting measures to aid the progressive unfolding of the perceptive faculties, he may trust largely to the mind's own instinctive and spontaneous tendencies to action, if only due provision is made for mental activity, by supplying the objects of sense which naturally invite and stimulate perception. But regarding the mind as a voluntary and self-directing agent, he knows that unless its own efficient coöperation is secured in the processes on which its energies are exerted, its activity will be ever tending to subside, or to degenerate into mechanical and unmeaning routine. The result, he is aware, must, in such circumstances, be a morbid intellectual inertness of habit, or a deceptive show of forced organic action, instead of the movements of mental life. His great endeavor, therefore, will be to succeed in evoking ATTENTION,-that power of the mind which brings into vigorous and efficient activity the percipient intellect, that power which, by its own innate force, impels and sustains perception, in whatever direction it is called to act, or in whatever process it is employed.

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The customary definition of this power, or faculty, as voluntary per

ception, suggests to the educator his true office in cultivating and developing it. It implies that he no longer restricts his efforts to presenting such objects as solicit and secure the mind's notice, by the law of natural instinct, but that, addressing himself to the principle of volition, he calls it forth, as a moving force, impelling the mental machinery from within, and enabling it to arrive at knowledge, by its own action. The true teacher never commits the error of resorting to the exercise of his own will, instead of that of his pupil, as the propelling power. He is aware that his success, as an educator, is to be measured, not by the force with which he can bring his own power of compulsion to bear on the faculties of his pupils, but by the intensity with which he can bring their mental energies into voluntary play, in processes which leave a residuum of living force, as a result on mental character. He knows well that no degree of exertion can command attention, by a mere act of will, at the moment; that, by the law of the mental constitution, a train of circumstances must be laid before the desired result can be ensured; that an exercise of will is not, in the natural analogies of mental action, a merely arbitrary act of self-determination; but that, on the contrary, will is solicited by desire; a feeling or affection of the mind being the natural and necessary preliminary to volition; and that the intelligent guide of the intellectual powers must, therefore, appeal to feeling, as the natural and reliable prompter of the will. In other words, the educational process, rightly conducted, is so contrived as to create a desire to arrive at the given result, and proceeds upon that security for the action of will in determining the direction of the mind, and sustaining the exertion of its powers.

Trained under such influences, a disciplined attention is the sure fruit of culture; and power of attention is not unjustly termed the key which unlocks all the gates of knowledge, and secures an entrance to its innermost secrets of intelligence.

Attention, as a power or mode of intellectual action, regarded in connection with the cultivation of the perceptive faculties, requires the application of the various expedients by which it may be rendered prompt, earnest, close, and continuous, as the exigencies of subjects and of the mind may demand.

Promptness of attention.-Such results imply that the educator, as a skillful gymnasiarch in the arena of mind, trains it through every variety of evolution by which it may be rendered quick in movement, ever ready for instantaneous action, so as to secure that pliancy and versatility by which it can at once direct itself to its object, or relinquish one object or train of thought for another, when