can not but be of advantage to them in after life, whatever their station may be. And certainly, their familiar acquaintance with the precepts and example of Him who, when all stations of life were at His command, chose to be the reputed son of a poor mechanic, and to live with peasants and fishermen ; or, again, of His apostle Paul, whose own hands "ministered to his necessities," and to those of his companions:-such studies, I say, can surely never tend to unfit any one for a life of humble and contented industry. -American Journal of Education.

NEW YEAR MUSINGS.

BY PROF. RYLAND T. BROWN.

'Tis gone! Another year has fled away-
Forever gone its springtide's joyous day
Whan bursting from Old Winter's icy chain
The babbling brooklet woke to life again,
And gave its soul-enchanting melody

To mingle with the grove's wild minstrelsy.

Gone the lovely flowers-forever gone

The glorious sheen that dress'd the smiling lawn
In robes all rich in Nature's lovely hues,

Bedeck'd with flowers and gem'd with morning dews.

And gone are Summer's glorious sunset scenes,

When here and there a cloud that intervenes

Is pencil'd o'er with hues that seem to be

The gorgeous limnings of Eternity.

And sober Autumn's fading flow'rs are gone-
The fitful winds the forest leaves have strewn

In wild confusion on the cheerless breast

Of Winter. All life's busy myriads rest
Enwrapt in silent shrouds of wintry gloom,—
A mighty grave-a universal tomb.

And oh! since last we hail'd a New Year's day,
How many dear lov'd forms have passed away?—
The smiling infant in its mother's arms-

The youth that bloom'd in more than mortal charms-
The grey-haired sire, and he in manhood's prime
Have fall'n before the ruthless scythe of Time.
O how many a crush'd and bleeding heart

Has felt keen disappointment's bitter smart,
How many hopes, as gilded and as bright
As Orient dreams, have sunk in starless night,
And left the bosom, once they warm'd and lit
A blighted thing, for desolation fit.

But why this gloomy moralizing now?
The new-born Year wears on his youthful brow
No frightful scowl,-no boding marks of care,
ght to mar our joy is pictured there.

us bask our souls in hope's bright ray,
an our heart to meet the evil day.

What though the wintry storms may howl without,
And snow, in whirling drifts, be pil'd about-
What though the world be cheerless, drear and dead,
And all its beauties have forever fled;

Yet blazing on the hearthstone, bright and clear
The glowing fire around us casts its cheer,
Investing home with charms unknown before-
Its joys, by contrast, relish'd still the more,
Its books-its conversation's lively play
Can chase the gloom of Winter far away.
So let us make each heart a sacred fane
Where holy Love and upright Truth shall reign.
Then let misfortune spread its darkest cloud,

And let adversity, its wintry shroud

Around us wrap; yet still we have a home
Lit up by joy, serene, whate'er may come.

PHYSICAL CULTURE.

BY M. L. HOLBROOK, M. D.

The following letter has just been received, and as it has a bearing on an important question, I give it:

DEAR SIR:-Several of your articles on Physical Culture in the Monthly and other papers, have come to my notice. My own observation in public and private schools, for many years, has brought before my mind a class of pupils with delicate constitutions, where life seems to hang by so slender a cord that any little breeze easily destroys it. Confinement and study together seem to prevent that normal growth of the body so desirable in youth, and yet their parents, in most cases, keep them in school almost as regularly as if they were robust children. They possess a preponderance of brain and nerve, but would be healthy if allowed a life out of doors. They are more common in towns than in country, and full as apt to be boys as girls. I have speculated on what can be done

for them, and cannot tell. As you are particularly interested in physical culture, I hope you will at least devote one article to the educational. wants of feeble children, and the way to supply these wants.

Respectfully,

J. G. LAIRD. REPLY.-It is well that we do not live under such regulations as were in vogue in Sparta during, and long after, the reign of Lycurgus. With him the object of physical culture was to fit men to become warriors. He valued men who were brave and hardy and could fight. To secure them he made laws regulating marriages, so as to prevent the sickly from becoming parents. He ordered the young women to be trained in running, wrestling, throwing darts and quoits that they might be strong, and that their offspring might be like them. Children, it is said, were all examined soon after birth, and only the vigorous ones allowed to live. Parents were not allowed to educate their children as they pleased, but at seven years old they were enrolled in companies, and educated so as to secure “vigor, firmness and courage." With such laws the youth referred to by Mr. Laird, would stand little chance of ever becoming men or women; and yet there are many instances where such children have made our most useful citizens. Very often they have large brains as well as feeble bodies, and their great want is such care and body education as shall increase physical growth, even at the expense of the nervous system. The course pursued by the father of the philosophical writer, Herbert Spencer-whose four essays on Education ought to be read by all educators-seems to me to have been very judicious. When a child, Herbert Spencer was too feeble to allow the faint hope that he could ever lead a life of usefulness. This led his father to study well the laws of physical development, and to bring him up in the open air as much as possible, and by gradual and careful exercise to strengthen his muscles and give breadth to his chest. He gave him such education as he could by explaining outward objects, and seldom gave him books, until he had imparted to him the principles of the science he was to take up. As he had an aptitude for mathematics and mechanics, he directed his attention to civil engineering, in order to secure for him a life of out-of-door activity. By this means his health so improved that he began to devote considerable attention to moral philosophy, and while quite a youth, wrote his first book on "Social Statics." To-day he is one of the first philosophical writers of the age. Had he been sent to school like robust children, doubtless he would not have survived.

Miss Harriet Hosmer, the renowned lady sculptor, is a similar case. To save her life, her father gave her, instead of an accomplished education, a gun, a horse, a dog, a boat, skates, etc., and to-day she stands head and shoulders above thousands who spent years in school to the neglect of body culture.

What the feeble youth of this country most need, is a preponderance

of body education. They need to be much in the open air and sunshine; to be encouraged to engage in all kinds of athletic sports, and to be kept confined at books much less than those who are robust. With this treatment many of them will grow into the best of physical conditions. The teacher who understands the human body and its needs, who knows how to detect at a glance this class of youth-as all teachers should-can do much for them. He should consider it a part of his duty to care for the bodies and health of his pupils. He can be less exacting of those who are defective in vital force. Instead of crowding them in their studies, he should let them "make haste slowly." He can keep them out of doors more than if strong, particularly if in the country, and above all, he should advise with the parent in regard to what course is best to pursue, for parents after all can do more than others if they are convinced of the importance of the question.

For the right treatment of such children, hygienic knowledge is of great importance to the teacher. Mathematical knowledge is important in a business point of view. To be able to cast our accounts and always say twice four is eight, saves us many a dollar. Now hygienic knowledge is equally important in another respect. It tells us that fresh air plus good food, plus sunshine, plus proper clothing, exercise, cleanliness, etc., is health and strength and happiness. We often, for want of knowing the hygienic multiplication table, say bad air and food, confinement in doors, etc., is health, and always get cheated, though we do not know how or when. If we knew the physiological computation table as well as we do the mathematical-and we ought to know it a great deal betterwe should not so often come out a minus quantity in strength and power to endure. It will be a happy day for the human race when physiology is as thoroughly taught to every child as are mathematics, for it will give us something else to talk and write about beside physical degeneracy, and open the time when the race shall not, as now, even in our boasted Hub of the Universe, lose two-fifths of all the children born before they reach their fifth year.*— Ohio Educational Monthly.

"In Boston, the number of those who die before five is greater than all the deaths between five and sixty; thus the chances of death in the first five years are greater than in the next fifty-five."-Article on the Material Condition of Massachusetts, in Christian Examiner, July, 1858.

THE secret of the success of a great many individuals lies in their manner of doing their business, in systematizing their daily labors, and letting their head save their heels. Some men can accomplish in a day an almost incredible amount of labor; others appear to be weighed down by doing apparently nothing.

MUSIC.

No man at all conversant with the history of the race, can for a moment doubt the influence of music upon the nations. The gift of song was conferred upon man for noble purposes. Among the Jews it constituted an important part of the temple service. Among the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, it was employed in their religious, and other festivals, with great effect. At the advent of the Saviour, " multitude of the heavenly host," in an anthem of praise, sang, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men." So general has been the practice of music of some sort, that a nation can hardly be found on earth which has not something of music in its worship or festivals.

Man is so constituted by his Maker, that music becomes an important and powerful auxiliary in developing his nature. Under its influence his heart is filled with love, and every gracious emotion flows out in songs of praise to the Giver of all good. Inspired by such influences, he is nerved for deeds of noble daring in behalf of friends, country, and the principles he loves.

The power of music has been seen, felt, and acknowledged the world over. We see this in the national songs of many countries. Let the fiag of any country be insulted, any interest imperiled, or right invaded, and the song of the people will be upon all lips, and every heart will swell with patriotic devotion, and all will be ready "to do or die," to preserve untarnished his country's glory! Nowhere has music more sweetness and power over the heart than when it falls from the lips of children who have been trained to song; nor is the influence less happy upon the children themselves.

It is a remarkable fact that juvenile music was almost entirely unknown in the schools of the country, until about the year 1830. At that time the late distinguished educator, William C. Woodbridge, returned to his home, in Hartford, Conn., after a residence of some years in Europe. While resident on the continent he became much interested in the subject of Juvenile Music, as he saw it developed in Switzerland and Germany. Mr. W. brought home with him copies of the works of Negall, Pfeiffer and Koebler. These were translated and prepared for use in an American community. From that time to the present, musical instruction in the schools for children and youth, has been rising in importance, and now it is very generally considered one of the important branches of a Public School Education.

At the time of consolidacion, ten years ago, there were only two music teachers for the schools, and but two pianos in use in the schools. Now we have five music teachers, forty pianos and three melodeons. These instruments have been introduced without cost to the Board; and by