k to the
school. I thought, however, that I would attend to see how the
children behaved, but did not let them see me, until the corpse was
arrived at the ground. As soon as I had got to the ground, some of the
children saw me, and whispered, "There's master;" when several of them
stepped out of the ranks to favour me with a bow. When the corpse was
put into the ground, the children were arranged round the grave, not
one of whom was more than six years of age. One of them gave out the
hymn, in the usual way, and then it was sung by the whole of them;
and, according to the opinions of the by-standers, very well. The
novelty of the thing caused a great number of persons to collect
together; and yet, to their credit, while the children were singing,
there was not a whisper to be heard; and when they had finished the
hymn, the poor people made a collection for the children on the
ground. The minister himself rewarded one or two of them, and they
returned well stored with money, cakes, &c. This simple thing was
the means of making the school more known; for I could hear persons
inquiring, "Where do these children come from?" "Why, don't you know?"
replied others, "from the Infant School." "Well," answered a third,
"I will try to get my children into it; for I should like them to be
there of all things. When do they take them in, and how do they get
them in?" "Why, you must apply on Monday mornings," answered another;
and the following Monday I had no less than forty-nine applications,
all of which I was obliged to refuse, because the school was full.[A]
[Footnote A: This circumstance took place in the heart of London, and
some of the chief actors in it are now men and women; and should
this meet the eye of any of them, I am sure they will not forget the
circumstances, nor entirely forget their old teacher.]
NATURAL HISTORY.
When teachers are conversing with their children, they should always
take care to watch their countenances, and the moment they appear
tired, to stop. An hour's instruction when the children's minds and
hearts are engaged, is better than many hours effort, when they are
thinking of something else. In addition to thirty-four pictures of
Scripture history, we have sixty of natural history, each picture
having a variety of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and flowers. The first
thing we do is to teach the children the names of the different
things; then to distinguish them by their forms; and, lastly, they a
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