The Slater cuts off his thin edges, chip, chip,
And fastens each slate with a pin,

'Till he 's covered the roof from valley to hip,
So that moisture can never get in.

The Carpenter cuts through the wood with his saw,
And soon smooths it down with his plane,
And then, to take out each diminutive flaw,
Sand-papers the surface again;

And then, with his hammer and nails, or with screw,
Soon fixes each piece in its place,

Or joins the strong mortice and tennon with glue,
Adds mouldings the edges to grace.

The Smith blows the the fire until furious heat
Makes iron to soften and glow,

Then swings the great hammer the metal to beat,
While sparks fly about at each blow.

The glazier cuts out with his diamond keen
The polished and transparent glass;

And the painter, to make the house fit to be seen,
O'er all his neat colours must pass.

The shoemaker sews with his bristle and thread
The shoes which his wife has to bind;

Still he whistles or sings, bends forward his head,
And throws out his arms to the time.

The tailor sits cross-legged (as folks had to sit
E'er chairs were invented or made)
And stitches to make us each garment to fit,
That all may be neatly arrayed.

The village girl sits by the door with her wheel,
And sings to its murmuring hum,

While she thinks of the pleasure her mother will feel
To see all the thread she has spun.

The Mariner spreads the broad sail to the wind,
And heaves up the anchor, yo ho!

With his compass and chart leaves his country behind,
Across the wide ocean to go.

Whate'er be your trade, or whate'er be your lot,
This great rule of life keep in view:
Communicate freely the blessings you've got,
For God gives them freely to you.

SINGING.

Singing forms an important part of the plan of every well regulated Infant School, experience having proved its use in promoting the happiness and cultivating the moral feelings of little children. It is therefore very desirable that every teacher of infants should be competent to instruct them in singing. It is not consistent with the plan or limits of the present work, to give any system of music; but we subjoin a few directions for the arrangements necessary in teaching infant children.

The best mode of arranging the children for the singing class is to place them in parallel rows in the gallery, as by that means all can see and hear the teacher. A few children of superior natural abilities will soon advance far beyond the rest of the class, and these may be selected to act as monitors; one being placed at either end of each rank. In this way, they will greatly assist in leading the others. On the other hand, some will be found who experience great difficulty in judging of time and tune; and such should be separated from the rest, and placed by the teacher's sice, who will only allow them to sing as he finds them capable, and thus prevent them from interrupting the progress of the class.

When an exercise or a song in two parts has to be practised, the teacher, after selecting those who are to sing each part, should separate them to the right and left, by a space down the centre; and in this case, it is best to begin with a few only of the most advanced, allowing the others to join by degrees.

In

In training the voices of infants, a very limited scale should be adopted at first, beginning upon sol; the first exercises should range upwards to do, and then be extended downwards to complete the octave. the earlier exercises, the teacher should pay more attention to purity of tone than to time, and great care must be exercised to prevent straining the children's voices. The most common error is that of allowing them to sing in a loud and harsh manner; so large a number singing together having a tendency to produce too loud a tone. With the younger classes in an Infant School, it would be useless to attempt to teach the notation of music; but much may be done to train the ear and voice of even the youngest, by singing with them easy chants and songs. The teacher should first make sure that they remember and can pronounce the words to be sung; and then the melody should be sung many times over to them, and their attention called to those passages which require to be sung loudly or softly, or in any peculiar manner. When the teacher thinks that they have acquired the melody by ear, they may be allowed to join him in singing it; and all that is farther requisite is, to separate those who sing out of time, and make them sit quietly; until, by listening to the rest, they have learned the air, when they may join. It is an error to repeat the same air too frequently, as the children will become tired of it; and then they will sing it badly. Experience has taught us that this is one of the most frequent causes of bad singing in schools, variety being absolutely necessary to keep up the attention and interest of children in every study.

We have added a small selection of airs to some of the foregoing songs, composed expressly for this work by James Uglow, Esq.

Composed by J. UGLOW.

How lovely are

the

days of spring, How

Ρ

beau- ti-ful, how bright, When na-ture smiles on

ev'ry thing, And all the world is light, The

sunny fields are fresh and green, All cov'r'd o'er with