Facts recorded in Scripture may be given orally as gallery lessons, taking care to exhibit some picture representing the

subject proposed for the

lesson—take, for example, the finding of Moses—which represents the daughter of Pharaoh coming down to bathe with her maidens, and also
the infant Moses in the ark, cradle, or boat, which was made for the purpose. The subject is then to be propounded to the children as follows,
and the teacher is to take care to repeat it clearly and distinctly in short sentences, and to be careful that all the pupils repeat it as distinctly
after him; by thus means the essence of the story is infused into the minds of the children, with the addition of their being taught to repeat all
the words distinctly and properly, which will assist their pronunciation very much when they begin to read the lesson described in another part
of this work.

"And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the river's side, and when she saw the
ark among the flags she sent her maid to fetch it, and when she had opened it she saw the child, and behold the babe wept. And she had
compassion on him; and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse
of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go; and the maid went and called the child's
mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages; and the woman took the
child and nursed it, and the child grew, and she brought hum unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son, and she called his name Moses:
and she said, Because I drew him out of the water."—Exodus ii.

Q. What does this picture represent? A. The finding of Moses. Q. Who came down to wash herself at the river? A. Pharaoh's daughter. Q. Who
was Pharaoh? A. The king of Egypt. Q. What is Egypt? A. A country in Africa. Q. What is Africa? A. A part of the earth on which we live. Q. Where
did her maidens walk? A. They walked along by the river's side. Q. When Pharaoh's daughter saw the ark amongst the flags, what did she do? A.
She sent her maid to fetch it. Q. And when she opened it, what did she see. A. She saw the child. Q. What was the ark? A. A sort of boat made of
rushes, such as grow in the river. Q. Would not the water get into this? A. No; it was kept dry inside by pitch and slime. Q. What were the flags
that the ark was among? A. A sort of plant that grows in rivers. Q. Did the child laugh? A. No; it wept, and she had compassion on him. Q. And
what did she say? A. This is one of the Hebrews' children. Q. What did his sister say to Pharaoh's daughter? A. Shall I go and call to thee a nurse
of the Hebrew women? Q. What is meant by his sister? A. The sister of Moses who stood to watch what would become of him. Q. What did she
ask to call a nurse for? A. To nurse the child. Q. What did Pharaoh's daughter say? A. Go. Q. Who did the maid fetch? A. The child's mother. Q.
When she came what did Pharaoh's daughter say to her? A. Take this child away and nurse it for me. Q. And what did she say she would give
her? A. Her wages. Q. Did the woman take the child? A. Yes; and nursed it. Q. What became of the child? A. It grew, and she brought it unto
Pharaoh's daughter, and it became her son. Q. What name did she give him? A. She called his name Moses. Q. What for? A. Because she drew
hum out of the water. Q. Look at this picture, what is the girl holding over Pharaoh's daughter's head? A. A sort of umbrella. Q. What is she
holding it up for? A. To keep away the heat of the sun. Q. Were there slaves in those days? A. Yes. Q. Is the little girl holding the umbrella meant
to represent a slave? A. Yes. Q. Do you know what a slave is? A. A person who is taken from his home and made to work for nothing and against
his wills.

Christ with the doctors in the temple, forms, when given as explained, a good gallery lesson—thus:

"And it came to pass that after those days she found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them
questions; and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him they were amazed, and his
mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How
is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business. And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them; but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart: and Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."—Luke ii. 46-52.

Q. Where did they find him? A. In the temple. Q. Sitting in the midst of whom? A. Of the doctors. Q. What was he doing there? A. Hearing and
asking them questions. Q. And they were astonished at his, what? A. Understanding and answers. Q. What did Jesus' mother say unto him? A.
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Q. What more did she say? A. Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. Q. What did Jesus say unto
her? A. He said, how is it that ye sought me? Q. Did he say anything more? A. Yes; wist ye not that I must be about my father's business. Q. What
is the meaning of wist ye not? A. Know ye not. Q. When Jesus went with them, where did they come to? A. To Nazareth? Q. What is Nazareth? A.
A town in Asia. Q. His mother kept those sayings, where? A. In her heart. Q. In what did Jesus increase? A. In wisdom and stature. Q. What do
you mean by increasing in stature? A. Growing larger.

Many books of scripture stories have been written for children, but it is far best to select simple and suitable passages from the sacred volume,
and have them properly illustrated by coloured plates. By this method the children become acquainted with the very letter of scripture. Written
stories often leave very wrong impressions; and the history of David and Goliah has been given in an infant school, so that it would make an
excellent counterpart to Jack, the giant killer. Surely such things ought never to be! Abundance of historical portions, full of moral and religious
instruction, and such as are calculated from their simplicity and beauty, to deeply impress the minds of children, can be selected from both
Testaments; but the miracles and parables of our Saviour constitute the richest store.

MORAL TRAINING.
One of the grand aims of the infant system was intended to improve the system of moral training. The great deficiency in our systems of
education, with respect to moral training, is truly lamentable, from the highest down to the lowest schools in the land. There is room for
immense improvement in this matter, it is hardly possible to visit a school and witness proper efforts made on this important subject; and never
will education produce the glorious effects anticipated from it, until this subject is legislated for and well understood by the public; and I pray to
God that he will enable me to use arguments in this chapter to prove effective in the minds of my readers, so as to induce them to co-operate
with me to produce another state of things. In these days there is much said about education; it has at last arrested the attention of parliament;
and through them, the government, and, as it should be, through the government, the sovereign. Thus is truly encouraging and will act as a
stimulus to practical men to develop a system workable in all its parts, and thus carry out the views and benevolent intentions of the legislature.
Infant education, however, must be the basis, this is beginning at the right end; if errors are committed here the superstructure is of little avail.
The foundation of moral training must be laid in infancy, it cannot be begun too soon, and is almost always commenced too late. Mere infants
can understand the doing as they would be done by; no child likes to be deprived of its play-things, his little toys, or any thing which he
considers his property; he will always punish the aggressor if he can, and if he cannot he will cry, or put himself in a passion, or seek aid from
his parents, or any other source where he thinks he may get justice done to him. Little children have beautiful ideas on this subject, and would
have, if properly trained, correct notions as to the rights of property; to teach them to respect the property of others, and even to respect
themselves, is far preferable to cramming their memories with good rules in theory; this was the old plan; we have proof that it has not worked
well. The new plan must operate upon the will, it must influence the heart of the child; this is the Scripture plan, which continually refers to the
heart, and not so much to the head. Every opportunity must be allowed the child to develop its character; to do this it must be associated with
its fellows; if the child is a solitary being, his faculties cannot be drawn out, it is in society only they can be beneficially acted upon, and it is in
the company of its fellows, that it will shew its true character and disposition; hence the necessity of moral training. There should be
temptations placed within reach of the children, such as fruits, flowers, and shrubs. The child taught to respect these will set due bounds to his
desire, gardens will cease to be robbed, hedges will not be broken down, turnips and potatoes will not be stolen to the extent which is but too
prevalent in the present day. And I am perfectly convinced that every pound the country spends in promoting a rightly directed education, will be
saved in the punishment of crime, which in a political point of view, is quite sufficient to induce the country to call for a properly directed system
of national education, which must ultimately be based on the oracles of eternal truth. If these ends could be obtained by theory, we have plenty
of that in these days. All the writers on education tell us that such and such things should be done, but most of them that I have read, forget to
tell us how to do it. They complain of the schools already in existence, they complain of the teachers, they complain of the apathy upon the
subject; all of which is very easy. And I regret to say there is but too much cause for all these complaints; but this will not remedy the evil, we
must have new plans for moral training; teachers must have greater encouragements held out to them; they must take their proper rank in
society, which I contend is next to the clergy; and, until these things take place, we may go on complaining, as talented men will sooner devote
themselves to any profession rather than to the art of teaching.

We will now endeavour to show how these things are to be remedied, so far as moral training is applicable to infants from twelve months old to
six or seven years. In another part of this work, we have shewn what may and ought to be done in the play-ground; in this chapter we will
endeavour to shew what may be done to this end in the school-room. In the pages on gallery teaching we have given specimens of lessons on
natural objects and scriptural subjects. Moral training may receive considerable aid from gallery teaching also; the children must not only be
continually told what they ought to do, but as often what they ought not to do; they must be told that they are not to fight, and the reasons must
be given; they must be told that they are not to throw stones, and also told the consequences; they must be told not to strike each other with
sticks; they must be told not to play in the dirt; they must be trained in cleanly and delicate habits; they must not only be told all these things; but
they must be watched in their private hours, they must be encouraged to assist and love each other, and it must be proved to them that this is
the way to advance their own individual happiness. It is self-love that is the cause of half our miseries. Children cannot be told this too soon; it
must be explained and proved to them that evil, sooner or latter, brings its own punishment, and that goodness as assuredly brings its own
reward. Opportunities will be continually developing themselves for giving moral training to the children, the judicious teacher will seize these as
they occur, and always make the best of them for the good of the children. A school is a family upon a large scale; nay, 'tis a commonwealth,
and no day will pass without facts shewing themselves, to enable the teacher to give sound moral instruction. It is true we want a better race of
teachers, but we must have a better sort of schools first; for it is only from these that a better race of teachers can be supplied. The well trained
infants of this generation, will make the efficient teachers of the next.

We will suppose the children to be seated in the gallery, the doors of the school closed, and every thing snug and quiet; the teacher must be
alone, and there must be nothing to distract the children's attention. He must then bring out his store of facts which he has noted down as they
occurred; he makes his selection according to circumstances, according to the state of his own mind; not forgetting the state of mind that the
children may be in, and especially the state of the weather. The following little ditty may then be repeated, the subject being On Cruelty to
Animals.

I'll never hurt my little dog,

But stroke and pat his head;
I love to see him wag his tail,
I like to see him fed.

Poor little thing, how very good

And very useful too;
And do you know? that he will mind
What he is bid to do.
Then I will never hurt my dog,
Nor ever give him pain,
But I will always treat him kind,
And he will love again.

If the children do not appear so bright as the teacher should desire, the before-mentioned ditty, after it has been repeated, may be sung. But the
tune must be such as would be likely to operate upon the moral feelings; great caution and circumspection is necessary in selecting proper
times for children, and this must be guided by the subject treated of. If the subject is exhilarating, a lively tune must be selected; if the subject is
serious, a corresponding tune must also be chosen; but if the subject is intended to operate upon the feelings, what is usually called "a love
tune" will be the most desirable. The tune having been sung, and the feelings operated upon as desired, the teacher may entertain the little
pupils with some one of the numerous stories written about the dog. But before he does this, he must exhaust so much of the subject as
appears in the before-mentioned ditty, by question and answer, similar to the other lessons mentioned before, something like the following:—

Little children; you have just sung that you would never hurt a little dog, can you tell me why not? Some of the children will be sure to say,
Please, sir, because he has got the sense of feeling. Teacher. Right, a little dog has got the same sense of feeling as you little children have, and
when it is hurt, how does it shew that it has got the sense of feeling? Children. Please, sir, it will cry out. Teacher. Yes, it can only tell us it is hurt
by doing so. A poor dog cannot speak, and so we should never hurt it. Has a little fly the sense of feeling? Children. Yes, sir. Teacher. Right
again, and so has every creature that God gave life to, and we should never give any of them unnecessary pain. In the song that we have just
sung, you said you would stroke and pat the little dog's head. What would you do this for? Children. Please, sir, the little dog likes it, and he is not
afraid of us when we do it, but loves us. Teacher. So he does, and will always love those that are kind to him; no one but a very bad boy would be
unkind to a dog. You told me, little children, that a poor little dog cries out when it is hurt. Now when he is pleased, what does he do? Please, sir,
he wags his tail, and his eyes look very bright. Teacher. So he does, which is the same as if he said, How happy I am to be with such good
children who do not beat me as some wicked boys and girls would, but love me and pat my head, and feed me; for you, little children, you have
said you liked to see your little dog fed, and remember, any of you that have a little dog, or who may have one when you get older and larger, that
it is very cruel not to see it fed every day; the poor dog cannot ask for its dinner as a little child can, and that is the, very reason why we should
always remember to give it to him. Will you all remember this? Children. Yes, sir, we will. Teacher. You sung in your song that the dog was very
useful, tell me how? Children, Please, sir, he will mind the house, and bark when any one comes to steal anything. Teacher. Yes, you see how
sensible the little dog is, he knows what a wicked thing it is to be a thief, and so he barks when he sees one. How else is a little dog useful?
Children. Please, sir, they often lead poor blind people about. Teacher. So they do, and good faithful guides they are. When they see any danger
they will lead their master out of it, and they will bring him safely through the crowded streets; and when they go home the poor blind man
divides his bit of bread with his good dog; and dogs are useful in other ways, they catch hares and rabbits for their masters, and do many other
things. You said also that the dog minded what he was bid to do, did you not? Children. Yes, sir, and they will often go back a long way for any
thing they are bid, or stay all day minding their master's coat while he is at work. Teacher. Right, and little children when they will not do as they
are desired are not so good as a little dog, and should take example by one. Do you remember what you said the dog would do if you treated
him kindly? Children. Please, sir, that he would love us again. Teacher. Right. When we love any thing, a dog, or a horse, or a little lamb, it will
love us again; for you know, little children, that love makes love, and if you all love one another, and are kind to one another, and never beat or
strike each other with any thing, then you will all be very happy, no little children in the world will be more happy, or have prettier smiling faces
than you will have; for when we look kind and pleasant we always look pretty, but when we look cross and angry, then we look ugly and frightful.
Remember then, never be cruel to a dog, or any thing else, but think of this lesson, and the pretty song we sung. Now, little children, shall I tell
you a story, a real true story about a very cruel boy? If the children say, Yes, the following may be related.

A poor little dog was once going along the streets of a town, and a carriage which was coming up the street very fast, ran over it, and the poor
thing was very nearly killed, but it had still strength to crawl over to a house where a boy was standing at the door, and it began to whine and
looked up in the boy's face, as if to say, you see how much I am hurt, so please take me in and try and cure me; but the boy was a very cruel boy,
and had no pity on the poor dog, but took a large pot of boiling water and threw it over the poor wounded little dog, so that it died soon after in
very dreadful pain. But the chief governor of the place, that is, the person whom the king had put there to punish wicked people, heard of what a
cruel thing this bad boy had done. So he brought him up to the market place, and he made a man take off this cruel boy's clothes, and lash him
on the bare back before all the people of the town, in order that he might know a little of the pain that the poor dog had felt. From this story, little
children, you may learn, that you must not begin to be cruel, if you do, the habit will grow up with you as it did with this bigger boy, and will never
leave you, even when you are men.

Such lessons as these, given at proper times and when the infant mind is in a fit state to receive them, will do more to prevent what you wish to
avoid, than any thing which could be possibly done at a more advanced age; this is indeed moral training, and when such is given generally in
infant schools, we may look forward to a generation very superior to the present, in the genuine parts of Christianity, and in every moral and
social virtue.

The beneficial results of moral training have been practically shown in every infant school where the subject has been properly understood and
carried out, and numerous anecdotes illustrative of its beneficial effects might be here introduced, which would convince those who have any
doubt on the subject, of the good effects of exercising kindness and consideration for others, in opposition to reckless mischief,
hardheartedness, and cruelty, vices which render the lower orders dangerous and formidable; but as a complete collection of such anecdotes
would form in themselves a volume, we will for the present lay before our readers a few taken at random, to illustrate the subject; they are from
the appendix of the first report of the Edinburgh Infant School Society, the model school of which was organized by the author of this book.

"Two of the children, brothers, about five and four years of age, coming one morning late into school, were to go to their seats without censure,
if they could give an account of what they had been doing, which should be declared satisfactory by the whole school, who should decide; they
stated separately that they had been contemplating the proceedings of a large caterpillar, and noticing the different positions of its body as it
crossed their path, that it was now horizontal, and now perpendicular, and presently curved, and finally inclined, when it escaped into a tree. The
master then asked them abruptly, Why did you not kill it? The children stared. Could you have killed it? asked the teacher. Yes, but that would
have been cruel and naughty, and a sin against God. The little moralists were acquitted by acclamation; having, infants as they were, manifested
a character which, were it universal in the juvenile population, would in another generation reduce our moral code to a mass of waste paper, in
one grand department of its bulk.

"This anecdote illustrates the good effect of inculcating into the infant mind an abhorrence of cruelty to animals, which is too often a seed sown
in the young heart, which goes on increasing daily with the growth of the child, until a fearful career of crime is ended by murder, and its
necessary expiation on the scaffold. How many men who have suffered death for murder, could date their first steps towards it, from the time
when in infancy they tortured a fly, or spun a cock-chaffer.