of every difficulty, nothing but a larger library.  In schools, however, the pupils have made so little progress in this course, that they all need more or less of the oral assistance of a teacher.  Difficulties must be explained; questions must be answered; the path must be smoothed, and the way pointed out by a guide who has traveled it before, or it will be impossible for the pupil to go on.  This is the part of our subject which we now approach.

The great principle which is to guide the teacher in this part of his duty is this:  Assist your pupils in such a way as to lead them, as soon as possible, to do without assistance. This is fundamental.  In a short time they will be away from your reach; they will have no teacher to consult; and unless you teach them how to understand books themselves, they must necessarily stop suddenly in their course the moment you cease to help them forward.  I shall proceed, therefore, to consider the subject in the following plan: 

1.  Means of exciting interest in study.

2.  The kind and decree of assistance to be rendered.

3.  Miscellaneous suggestions.

1.  Interesting the pupils in their studies.  There are various principles of human nature which may be of great avail in accomplishing this object.  Making intellectual effort and acquiring knowledge are always pleasant to the human mind, unless some peculiar circumstances render them otherwise.  The teacher has, therefore, only to remove obstructions and sources of pain, and the employment of his pupils will be of itself a pleasure.

“I am going to give you a new exercise to-day,” said a teacher to a class of boys in Latin.  “I am going to have you parse your whole lesson in writing.  It will be difficult, but I think you may be able to accomplish it.”

The class looked surprised.  They did not know what parsing in writing could be.

“You may first, when you take your seats, and are ready to prepare the lesson, write upon your slates a list of the ten first nouns that you find in the lesson, arranging them in a column.  Do you understand so far?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then rule lines for another column, just beyond this.  In parsing nouns, what is the first particular to be named?”

“What the noun is from.”

“Yes; that is, its nominative.  Now you may write, at the head of the first column, the word Nouns, and at the head of the second, Nom., for nominative.  Then rule a line for the third column.  What shall this contain!” “The declension.”  “Yes; and the fourth?” “Gender.”  “The fifth?” “Number.”

In the same manner the other columns were designated.  The sixth was to contain case; the seventh, the word with which the noun was connected in construction; and the eighth, a reference to the rule.

“Now I wish you,” continued the teacher, “to fill up such a table as this with ten nouns.  Do you understand how I mean?”