EVERY one will acknowledge the indispensable necessity of a teacher's securing good attention. By attention we mean "fixity of thought, steadiness of mind."

1. Says Mr. Fitch: "Attention is—1. An act of the will. 2. It is the one of all the mental faculties which is most under our control. Therefore the degree of attention we give depends upon our disposition, and is therefore largely a matter of discipline, and other things being equal, that teacher will gain the best attention who has most personal influence, and who is looked up to with the greatest respect." (Teacher! is your character, conduct, and manner such as will entitle you to respect?) "3. Attention is a habit. If truly given, every day it becomes the easier. And every day we listen languidly to a lesson or sermon the habit of inattention is strengthened."

2. Attention is promoted by a deep and earnest interest in and sympathy with the child, as well as for him. We must enter into sympathy with him, so as to understand his nature, his weaknesses, and his trials, and make all due allowance for them.

3. If the teacher would secure attention, he must be accurately and abundantly prepared; for no teacher can teach all he knows, and the moment a teacher approaches the limit of his preparation, he shows his weakness and embarrassment, the child detects it, and he is gone.

4. Improve well the circumstances which surround the daily life of the child, for you must here gather your best illustrations. Teachers can do this, if they are industrious, and will keep their "Sunday-school spectacles on."

5. Give the children frequent change of posture to relieve them. Study to do this especially in infant-classes. Give much freedom of motion and gesture to the little ones. If they speak of God and heaven, let them point and look upward in harmony, and thus teach them in a reverent manner to act out their words and feelings.

6. Simultaneous reading and making of ellipses, leaving the children to fill in a word at the close of the sentence or lesson, will aid in securing attention.

7. Recapitulation is very important to gain the attention. The scholar must give attention to be prepared for the expected review. Therefore always ask in detail, in order to see that all is understood. No child or man ever takes pains to grasp a subject, so as to fasten it in his memory, unless he expects to be called upon for it, or in some way to find use for it hereafter. We cannot retain in our minds isolated or abstract knowledge. Todd beautifully says, "Ask a child if he knows what whiteness is, and he will tell you no; ask him if he knows what a white wall or white paper is, and he knows at once. Ask him if he knows what hardness is, and he will only stare at you; but ask him if he knows what a hard wall, or hard hand, or a hard apple is, and he will tell you at once." Connect the lesson with previous knowledge, and take great care to sustain attention with abundant resources, for if it is once lost, it is a very difficult thing to regain it on the same lesson.

8. Pictorial power. Word-painting by the aid of the imagination and ample details; the power of describing scenes and incidents, so as to appear real to the child's imagination, will assist you in gaining his attention. If you will dwell on all the little details of a fact clearly, you will be graphic in picturing it out in words; and without these details, the teacher may sometimes be very graphic with children, even in the simple act of reading with suitable emotion, emphasis, and action. Said a little girl, "Oh, father, Mr. F., the minister, read the 21st chapter of Revelation in church to-day, and it was just as if he had taken a pencil and paper and pictured it right out before us." It is St. John's elegant description of the Holy City. The Bible makes great use of the imagination in its numerous emblems, metaphors, similes, etc. In fact, we cannot worship God without the aid of the imagination. God is compared to a sun and shield; a rock and refuge. Heaven itself is described with its streets and harps and crowns of gold, its arches, mansions, rivers, etc. Even our divine Redeemer calls himself the vine, the tree, the lamb, the bread, and fountain of living waters.

9. Avoid a stereotyped or routine mode of teaching. If ever so good, strive to improve it; vary it, and freshen it up in some way, and thus keep each child expecting something.

10. Awaken curiosity. Archbishop Whately says: "Curiosity is the parent of attention; and a teacher has no more right to expect success from those who have no curiosity to learn, than a husbandman has who sows a field without ploughing it;" duly regard their love of approbation by cherishing their self-respect; and if you would retain attention, patiently cultivate their inquisitiveness, for it will prove one of the grateful rewards for your kindness. Says an old writer: "The general occupation of infancy is to inquire. Education directs their inquiries." Therefore, bear patiently with your little ones, and answer all their endless questionings. Do not rashly check the rising spirit of free inquiry with an impatient word or frown. Says the poet:

Now, I will freely acknowledge—1. That attention, such as we want to get from children, is a very difficult thing for anybody to give. The incidents of yesterday and the cares of to-day and business and pleasures of to-morrow, will divert and scatter attention. 2. That fixed attention to religious subjects is particularly hard for any one, and especially hard for children to give; but hard as it is, we must have it, and no half-hearted, languid attention either, if we are to do any real good in the Sunday-school. 3. Says an old writer to Sunday-school teachers: "Let me tell you, you will not get it by claiming it; by demanding it as a right; or entreating it as a favor, by urging upon your pupils the importance of the subject, the sacredness of the day, the kindness of the teachers, or the great and solemn character of the truths which you have to impart. All these are legitimate arguments to be used with older Christians, but will not do to rely upon with children. Nothing in the long run—except fear, which is a very unsatisfactory motive—can keep a child's attention fixed but a sense of real interest in the things which you are saying. The subject must claim attention for itself, and therefore, the teacher needs always to be accurately prepared and well furnished with correct knowledge, parallel passages, illustrations, facts, anecdotes, definitions of hard words, allusions, poetry, etc. In all your teaching, forget not to recall the fresh spirit of your childhood in all its warmth and earnestness, remembering that he is the wisest teacher who can combine the man's intellect with the child's heart."

Now it may be, after all, teacher, that your children may be inattentive, or they will disobey your commands, or they will fail to treat you with respect; but if that should be so, we will reply, in conclusion, in the impressive words of Mr. Fitch: "Ask yourself in that case whether your own behavior is uniform and dignified; whether you ever give commands without seeing that they are obeyed; whether you waste your words or your influence in an injudicious way; whether there is anything in your conduct that reveals to the children a want of punctuality or order, or of earnestness or steadfastness on your part? For children are very keen observers of character, and, in the long run, are sure to feel loyalty and affection for one who is manifestly anxious to do them good, and who can be uniformly relied on in word and in deed."