so successfully accomplished at
this stage in any other way.

Children may be taught to _write_ almost as soon as they can read a few
of their lessons. Care being taken that they hold the pen properly, they
will soon learn to form the letters as an amusement;--and when these are
known, they will soon be able to combine them into words. When they
begin to write sentences, it ought to be from their own minds, or
memories, but not from copies. Writing is merely an imitation of Nature
in her operation of conveying ideas by speech; and the nearer the
imitation can be made to correspond with the original, the more perfect
will it be. Speech is intended solely for the communication of our
ideas;--and so should writing. We teach children words and the names of
things, but we never teach them to express their own thoughts, by
rehearsing after us either long or short speeches of our own. Neither
can we so readily teach children to express their own thoughts by
writing, if we attempt to do it by making them copy words which others
have thought for them, and the ideas of which they themselves perhaps do
not perceive. Copy-lines are a great hinderance to the young; and even
for teaching the correct and elegant formation of the letters they do
not appear to be always necessary.

Note V, p. 320.--Arithmetic, and numerical calculations of every kind,
are wrought by what have been termed "the four simple Rules," viz.
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. They who are expert
and accurate in working _these_, have only to learn the several rules by
which they are applied to all the varied purposes of life, to be perfect
arithmeticians.

But when the working of these four rules is analysed, we find that, with
the exception of the multiplication table, the whole four are merely
different applications of the rule of addition. Subtraction is wrought by
_adding_ a supposed sum to the figure to be subtracted;--multiplication
(with the exception mentioned above,) it wrought simply by _adding_ the
carryings and the aggregate of the several lines;--and division, with the
same exception, is also in practice wrought by a series of _additions_. If
then we shall suppose the multiplication table fully mastered, it follows,
that the person who has attained greatest expertness _in addition_, will
be the most expert in the working of any and every arithmetical exercise to
which he may be called.

But _expertness_ in arithmetical calcul