CURRENT LITERATURE.
THE MIND OF A. CHILD.
The Mind of a Child. By Ennis Richmond. (Longmans and Co. es.)—" I have been constantly haunted by the feeling that methods for educating our children are developing round us at such a pace that if people do not sit 'down calmly in some quiet corner and look the matter steadily in the face and act upon their reflections, we shall find ourselves rushed into a state of affairs which we shall bitterly regret." So writes the author of this book, and having such a feeling in his mind, be has produced a volume which has the merits of unpretentiousness and earnestness. '1•here is, if po-sible, too much earnestness ; the author appears positively to " worry " about the imperfect systems of education followed more particularly by mothers and governesses. There is, however, a great deal of good sense, good sentiment., and good philosophy in the work, which may be condensed into three rules,—trust to love, act according to nature, and be guided by reason. The treatment cf details—such as the utility of the nursemaid's " Hark to the puff.puff !" or " See the pretty gee-gee " and the propriety or otherwise of swing "You must" to a child—con- stitutes the author's true strength, at all events from the paideutic standpoint.
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