I

entrust their most precious charge. was struck with the great absence of openness and straightforward dealing among many of the heroes and heroines; of nine stories which I counted, the interest of eight mainly depended on some unnecessary concealment, or half-telling of truth, among the best characters.

There were a great many good papas and mammas, but their mode of treating their children differed in every imaginable way. Some believed that never-failing gentleness was the universal panacea, whether for the cruelty of a thoughtless boy, or the indolence of a sickly girl;others found the cure for every evil, in energy and watchfulness;-in a third family, corporal punishment was pretty freely administered; and the use of it, under any circumstances, deprecated in a fourth: -one circle was enlivened by merry Christmas parties; and another, taught to consider that the instruction of some poor children was the only allowable recreation for the festival.

Matters of religious doctrine were plentifully sprinkled throughout, and the same diversity apparent;-by some, the depth of impression on the feelings was considered the soul of religion; and by others, constant good deeds insisted on as more important; that the sacraments, especially baptism, are generally necessary to salvation, as taught in the Catechism, was in one held up as a "perilous error," while the very object and aim of another was to set forth the blessings and privileges belonging to the rite.

I pointed out a few instances of the most glaring opposition in opinion to the mother, and asked if she did not think there was danger of creating a confusion in a young mind, by allowing the perusal of so many conflicting opinions;—no, she was quite satisfied; all must be good, for all were decidedly religious; and it was very illiberal to imagine that none but our own opinions could be right.

This visit to the study led me to make some reflections which may not be useless as suggestive, whether to those who train young minds, or to those who are at an age to have the direction of their Perhaps I have described an extreme case; but is there not a danger that the superabundant feast of learning provided

own.

in the present day, may injure the health of the mind, as much as the strength of body is impaired by over-indulgence in food? The peasant who toils hard for his supper is not particular about the cookery; if he has enough, he eats and enjoys it: but to those who daily sit down to a plentiful table, selection is necessary;-and so must it be with study. In those days when books were procured with great difficulty and expense, the lover of learning fed upon whatever was within his reach, glad to acquire knowledge any rate; often were there difficulties to encounter, which enter not into the imagination of the modern student. His danger arises from another quarter. I would only point out, in few words, that if the peril of Scylla no longer exists, there is still a Charybdis to fear. Not that I would check the desire for knowledge; which is one of the worthiest characteristics of youth, and the pleasure of maturer age, but give it a right direction. And first, as regards the all-important subject of religion,too much of it in the heart cannot be; but the indiscriminate bringing forward of it in books is to be avoided; and above all, the standard of morality of the characters in religious tales should be carefully examined before they are considered safe reading for the young. The absence of doctrinal teaching is no advantage, it leads not to enlightened liberality, but unconsciously to indifference; and no one can be a proper judge of controverted points, who is not at first well acquainted with one side of the question.

In history, gain first the facts which are universally acknowledged; and do not attempt to form decided opinions without a study of contemporary letters or journals, where they are to be had. It is often said, that it is impossible to judge a historical person by the prejudices of his own times; but it is no safer to look through the prejudices of another age; every period has a bias of general opinion, which impedes an impartial view; -beware, therefore, of the hosts of modern memoirs which seem intended to overthrow all received opinions. Above all, beware of that fatal error so often cherished by the young, that books may be read for mere amusement, and leave no impression on the mind. We may as soon feed on

poison and live, as maintain a vital spirit of religion, while our minds dwell on tales and characters professing low or light principles. But we are speaking chiefly of good books-good in their subjects, their objects, and equally so in adornment and type; only too many and too various among these, the danger is that, as the mixture of all colours (each so lovely when alone) is said to produce the no colour white, so an amalgamation of every shade of doctrine and opinion may produce a judgment of no colour at all. The words of two wise men may not inappropriately be called to our aid, to conIclude these few remarks.

Lord Bacon says, "Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." And George Withers:

"For many books I care not, and my store
Might now suffice me, though I had no more
Than God's two Testaments; and therewithall
The mighty volume which the world we call.
For these, well look'd on, well in mind preserved,
The present age's passages observed,
Are books, which better far instruct me can,
Than all the other paper works of man;
Though some of these I may be reading too
Where'er I come, or whatsoe'er I do."

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ABRAHAM'S DEATH.-When the days were come that Abraham, the friend of God and father of the faithful, should die, then did he gently lay himself upon his bed, being old and full of years; and he called unto him his children's children; so they came, and stood round about him. Then spake the patriarch, with a serene countenance, saying. My children, the God in whom I have believed, calleth me unto him;" and then he blessed them. But his children wept, and said: "Oh, that the hour of thy departure might be delayed yet a little while." "Nay, my beloved," was his answer, "I have walked before Him as a child, all the days of my life on earth; and his truth and love have been my shield and buckler. How, then, when He calleth me, should I delay a moment to go unto him." And having said this, he bowed down his head and died; and the form of the deceased was as the form of one who slumbereth in peace. From the German of Krummacher.

GARDENS AND BIRDS AT
MELBOURNE.

IN the towns you see plenty of people about, both men and women; you would not think there was any want of them, but the moment you get out into the country you perceive the immense scarcity of men. Women are eagerly engaged on landing; and men, who could resist gold, and would be willing to work in agricultural labour and gardening, would be jumped at for 12s. per day. My brother has a gardener just now, and his garden is as well kept as an English one, while the gardens of several other gentlemen are perfect wildernesses; they have, literally, nobody to cultivate them. They are magnificent wildernesses, in which arums, such as we cultivate in the house, are now standing, putting up their marble-like spathed flowers, with jonquils, the native indigo, splendid cacti, prickly pears, roses (red and white), stocks, as large and tall as shrubs, yellow jasmine, date-trees, tobaccotrees, the two species of India-rubber, and a host of strange shrubs and curious flowers amid a mass of weeds up to your middle. I shall send a list of the flowers and shrubs in my next; and of many of the plants that stand out through the year in the gardens here. At present, I can only give you a general idea. It is strange to drive up to a good house with its English look, its English approach, and English fields all around, and on reaching its shrubbery find it looking as if it were deserted. The walks all overgrown, and the most gorgeous flowers and beautiful tropical plants and trees lost in a desert of weeds; while the cockatoo, the parrot, the little love-birds, flit about with their strange voices. The honey-bird, a bird covered with longitudinal black and white streaks, about the size of a sparrow, is busy sucking honey from the splendid orange and scarlet flowers. I hear a bird, too, though I do not know its name, that has a song containing some of the most striking notes of the nightingale; and the piping crow, or rather magpie, is seen about, but does not pipe for some time yet to come. — Letter from Australia, òy William Howitt.

ELASTIC CORD-DUMB-BELL PRACTICE.

ACCORDING to promise, we now commence a short series of papers upon Calisthenics, a mild kind of gymnastics.

These exercises are carefully accommodated to the delicate organization of the female sex; but in order that our readers may not have any fear with respect to their effect upon the gentler sex, we may remark, that this series of papers have been written under the guidance and supervision of a medical man familiar with such matters, and that the exercises themselves have been conducted by an able and experienced teacher of calisthenics.

It is an admitted physiological fact, that imperfections in the female form originate, for the most part, in defective or irregular muscular action. The calisthenic exercises are calculated to cure deformities of the figure, especially of the chest, to invigorate the system, and conduce to elegant deportment and symmetry of form.

all

All these exercises are based upon physiological and philosophical principles; the former we have already explained, and the latter will be evident as we proeeed, for it will be seen that the centre of gravity is the ruling principle as regards many of the postures; in fact, grace of carriage and attitude depends, in a measure, upon this principle. Dr. Arnold remarks, that " grace of carriage includes not only a perfect freedom of motion, but also a firmness of step, or steady bearing of the centre of gravity over the base. It is usually possessed by those who live in the country, and according to nature, as it is called, taking much and varied exercise. What a contrast is there between the gait of the active mountaineer, rejoicing in the consciousness of perfect nature, and that of the mechanic or shopkeeper, whose

*The term is derived from two Greek words, signifying beauty and strength.

confinement to the cell of his trade, soon produces in his body a shape and air that correspond to it."

These exercises, with great propriety, now form part of the education of our best seminaries. Before commencing the series, we must offer some preliminary cautions: 1st, that they should not be performed after a full meal; 2nd, that there should not be any ligatures or tight strings, straps, &c., on any part of the body, but that the clothes should fit easily and loosely; 3rd, that the body should not be too warmly clothed during the exercises, but that an additional wrapper should be provided, to cover the body as soon as they are finished; by this means, cold will be avoided; 4th, that the exercises should generally be performed in a room, in preference to the open air; 5th, that due regard must be paid to the health, age, and strength of the pupils exercised; in fact, to treat them as you would delicate creepingplants, to coax and train, but not to strain them.

Our readers and pupils are requested to consider that all the directions, furnished with the illustrations, are issued by the calisthenic tutor, and that they are to be minutely performed by the pupil as laid down. It is necessary to explain this now, in order to prevent repetition.

The first things to be attended to are the cautions we have given above; and then the necessary apparatus, consisting of dumb-bells, back-board, clubs, wands or poles, triangles, and elastic-cord, must be procured.

The dumbbells we advise (a plan entirely our own, which has been highly approved of by many medical men), are constructed as follows. To the staff a,

Fig. 1.

(which is made of oak or ash, six inches long, and one and a quarter inch in diameter), is fixed a hemisphere (6), with a male screw (e); and to this part is attached at both ends another hemisphere (c), fitted with a female screw, so that

when these hemispheres are screwed together, they form a complete sphere as represented by d, in fig. 1. The object of having these hemispheres constructed in the manner we have described, is to admit of their being loaded, and as the total weight of each dumb-bell, constructed upon this principle, is only two pounds, it is obvious that most delicate children can use them. In using these dumb-bells, we have usually commenced by loading them with pieces of wood, then with peas, shot, bullets, and sand, according to the age and constitution of the individual; but the heavily weighted ones have never yet been employed for ladies, only for young gentlemen. Of course, after this kind has been used, we recommend, for gentlemen, the ordinary ones, weighted according to age &c. We mention this, because calisthenic exercises form a very admirable preliminary course to gymnastics.

Backboards should be fitted to the person requiring them, unless they are

round the waist by a strap (e, f), which buckles in front.

The dimensions of the short backboard are as follows, for a large size: length twelve or thirteen inches, breadth ten inches, lower part five inches, and upper part four inches. These measurements can be reduced according to circumstances, age, &c.

The long backboard should be broad in the centre, as in fig. 3, so that the flat part may reach across the back of

a

Fig. 3.

the shoulders, and the handles (a b) be long enough to hold in the hands when the arms are extended. Some of these backboards vary from six feet in length, to only three feet eight inches.

The clubs for calisthenics should be made hollow, as in the following figure, varying from twenty to twenty-eight inches in length, and be of a proportionate width. The top is made to screw on so that the inside may be loaded as recommended for the dumb-bells. By this means, the weight to be forced through the air can be proportioned to the strength or power of the individual to propel it.

Fig. 4.

They can be constructed as light as three quarters of a pound each, by having the hemispheres of a less diameter and made of thin brass.

The wands, or poles, should be light, smooth, and sufficiently thick not to bend. They vary in length according to the person's height that is use the rule being, that the poles

Fig. 5.

to

shall be of the same length as the height of the person requiring them.

The triangle is a bar of wood attached to a cord at each end; the two cords meet above, as shown in fig. 5, so as to form two sides of a triangle, of which the bar forms the third. A cord is attached to the upper part of the triangle, and this passing over a pulley, enables the teacher to lower or raise the bar so as to suit the height of the pupil.

The elastic-cord is one of the latest improvements in calisthenic exercises.

Fig. 6.

It consists of two handles (a b), of a triangular form, to which is attached an elastic cord, made of vulcanized Indian-rubber. They may be obtained at most toy-shops, and vary in price from two to five shillings, according to the

size.

Some teachers employ the horizontal bar; but as we disapprove of its use, of course, the necessary directions are omitted from our series.

The pupil should commence the exercises with the dumb-bell practice.

THE DUMB-BELL PRACTICE.

The dumb-bells are not to be used at first; but when the pupil has become proficient in the following exercises, then the dumb-bells are to be held firmly in the hands, which are to perform the same motions directed below.

Position of attention.-When the word attention is given by the teacher, the pupil is to draw back the shoulders, so as to make them square; the heels are to be placed in a line, and closed; the knees straight, the toes turned out an angle of 60 degrees, the arms hanging close to the body, the elbows turned in close to the side, the hands open to the front, the little finger lightly touching the dress, and the thumb close to the fore finger. The abdomen is to be slightly

drawn in, and the chest advanced, but without constraint; the body upright, inclining a little forward, so that the weight of it may be principally on the fore part of the feet; the head erect, and the eyes looking straight to the front, as in fig. 7.

88

FIRST PRACTICE. One.-At the word one, raise the hands and bring the tips of the fingers in a line with, and pointing towards the shoulders, the body inclining forward, the head erect, and shoulders kept well back, with the elbows close to the side, as in fig. 8.

Fig. 9.

1

Two. Dart the hands straight to the front, with straight arms, the palms of the hands close together, the thumbs close to the forefinger, nearly in a line with the chin, as in fig. 9.

These two motions are to be repeated from two to one, and again from one to two, several times before commencing three.

Three. The hands are thrown back with straight arms in a line with the shoulders, the palms of the hands to the front, the thumbs close to the forefingers, the head erect, and shoulders kept well back, the body inclining forward, the heels raised off the ground, so that the weight of the body rests on the fore part of the feet, as in fig. 10.