uld propose that we have a composition exercise _this_ week
similar to the one on Thursday last. It was very interesting, and we
think all would be willing to try their thinking powers once more. We
would propose, also, that the readers of the compositions should sit
near the centre of the room, as last week many fine sentences escaped
the ears of those seated in the remote corners.

"We were requested by a very public-spirited individual to mention once
more the want of three nails, for bonnets, in the entry. Also, to say
that the air from the broken pane of glass on the east side of the room
is very unpleasant to those who sit near.

"Proposed that the girls who exhibited so much taste and ingenuity in
the arrangement of the festoons of evergreen, and tumblers of flowers
around the teacher's desk, be now requested to remove the faded roses
and drooping violets. We have gazed on these sad emblems long enough.

"Finally, proposed that greater care be taken by those who stay at noon
to place their dinner-baskets in proper places. The contents of more
than one were partly strewed upon the entry floor this morning."

If such a measure as this is adopted, it should not be continued
uninterrupted for a very long time. Every thing of this sort should be
occasionally changed, or it sooner or later becomes only a form.

14. THE SHOPPING EXERCISE.--I have often, when going a shopping, found
difficulty and trouble in making change. I could never calculate very
readily, and in the hurry and perplexity of the moment I was always
making mistakes. I have heard others often make the same complaint, and
I resolved to try the experiment of regularly teaching children to make
change. I had a bright little class in Arithmetic, the members of which
were always ready to engage with interest in any thing new, and to them
I proposed my plan. It was to be called the Shopping Exercise. I first
requested each individual to write something upon her slate which she
would like to buy, if she was going a shopping, stating the quantity she
wished and the price of it. To make the first lesson as simple as
possible, I requested no one to go above ten, either in the quantity or
price. When all were ready, I called upon some to read what she had
written. Her next neighbor was then requested to tell us how much the
purchase would amount to. Then the first one named a bill, which she
supposed to be offered in payment, and the second showed what change w