embarraffed by every leffon, every where feels diffatisfied with the irksomeness of his daily tasks, and alike difgufted with his master, his fchool, and his book. Let it alfo be confidered, that this is not only the groundwork, but also the main part of your future edifice, that the whole of the art of reading in the Madras fchool is reduced to its firft elements -letters and their combination into finglé fyllables-and that, in teaching and learning these constituent parts, all the labour of the mafter, and difficulty of the fcholar, confift. It is not enough, then, that you go through this fpelling-book a first time in the most perfect manner. The impreffion of a first perufal, however ftrong and correct at the time, wears off, and to be permanent it must be renewed by revifion as often as fhall be found neceffary. A fecond or third perufal in due form will, in general, fuffice; and for these very little time is required, if, on the first perusal, a juft attention was paid to the foregoing instructions. It is not, however, till on examination the fcholar (by which it will be noticed I mean every boy or girl qualified to remain in his or her refpective clafs) can on

examination of the master or fuperintendant spell readily on and off book every word in it, that he goes through it once more, reading the words without previous fpelling thus, blunt," continuing to be exercised as before in fpelling off book, a practice which is followed up throughout. This reading without previous spelling will be found to cost no trouble or time; you have only to give leave, and it is done. It is the contrivance of the Madras tuition in reading, that every step of its progress not only prepares for, but actually anticipates, as it were, the following step.

In order that this fundamental branch of tuition may receive that attention which its essential importance requires, Mrs. Trimmer has prepared a spelling-book contrived to inftruct, rivet, and confirm the scholar in this elementary process, which I have faid is not only the groundwork, but the actual anticipation of all that follows.

This "Monofyllabic Spelling-book" confifts of all the fyllables which most usually occur in the English language, in a regulated fucceffion from fhort and fimple to long and

difficult. It contains no reading which the child can either comprehend or readily learn by memory, or repeat by rote. While children are thought to be engaged in learning to read, they are often merely exercising their memories. This fecond book is taught by fpelling on and off book, and afterwards reading on book without previous spelling; and spelling off book in the fame precife and perfect manner as the Charity-school Spellingbook. And here, in reality, ends the chief labour in teaching and learning to read, for by the devices which follow it is contrived that little more remains to be done, and what does remain, confifts almost folely in repeating and practifing what has been already taught and learnt.

Obferve, that from this time forward there is no more previous fpelling, in which fo much time is wafted, except indeed the scholar happens to meet with a fyllable which, after all has been done, puzzles him, when he refolves that fyllable, and that only, into letters by previous fpelling, to enable him to read it.

CHAPTER IV.

Of Syllabic and other Reading.

"Let that which he learns next be nearly conjoined with that which he knows already."- -LOCKE.

As fpelling monofyllables on book consists in refolving a fyllable into the letters of which it is compofed, in order to reunite and combine their separate sounds into a single articulation; fo fyllabic reading confifts in refolving diffyllables and polyfyllables into the respective fyllables of which they are composed, to prepare for their future reunion and compofition.

In the first inftance the fscholar pronounces and reads these fyllables, one by one, as if they were monofyllables, paufing an instant between each fyllable, and double that time at the end of each word. There is no other difference between his reading now and in monofyllables, than that he is taught to pause fomewhat longer at the end of a word, than between the fyllables of which the word is compofed.

Thus-he-pro-ceeds-through-the

child's-book-part-first-and-fe-cond

Mis-tress-Trim-mer's-fpel-ling—book—

part-fe-cond-and-is-ne-ver-al-low-ed

-to-pro-nounce-two-fyl-la-bles-to-gether-till-he-can-thus-read-fyl-la-ble

· —

—by— syl-la-ble — and — spell — e-ve-ry · word-dif-tinct-ly.

The object of all tuition is to fimplify. What else was the invention of an alphabet, if I may call it by this name, of fyllables, which is faid to have preceded the alphabet of letters? And what else is the invention of the alphabet of letters? Yet in the common mode of teaching we begin to read words before we can read fyllables, and fyllables before we know our letters, defeating, in a great measure, the facilities, which thefe improvements afford. The Chinese have no alphabet, and their language is faid to confift

of

70,000 written characters. With them it is the labour of the life of man to learn to read. In fome African and Eastern Countries, there is faid to exift an alphabet of syllables, which, compared with the Chinese language, where there is a fpecific fign for every word, or rather for every object or idea, greatly ab

F