I have seen what I could have wished had been otherwise, viz., not sufficient discrimination used in giving _religious instruction_; improper times have been chosen, too much _shew_ has been made of it, too much freedom has been used with _the divine names_; and I have sometimes been so shocked at the levity displayed, as to have considered it little less than _profanation_.
I wish to lay the utmost stress on what has been stated, as a failure on the part of a master and mistress is most grievous and lamentable.
I have seen schools, where little or nothing has been done, because of the inefficiency of the teachers.

Moral and religious qualifications are confessedly of the first importance, but those which are mental are to be highly estimated.

I differ with a gentleman who has written on this subject, when he says, that any clever boy who has been educated in a national school, will accomplish the end; because the system through which he has passed neither gives a sufficient knowledge of _things_ nor of _words_, nor does it sufficiently develop the faculties to prepare him for such a service.
One cause of failure in these respects has been undoubtedly the paltry remuneration which some receive, and I would earnestly recommend the supporters and conductors of infant schools to try the effect of liberality by all the means they can command.

Persons of talent ought to be found for this work, and then they should be appropriately paid; but if _any_ are to be deemed suitable, and if the having them at a low rate be a special reason for their engagement, it would be better at once to revert to the old system, than to destroy, by such means, the public confidence in the plans now suggested.
I entertain a full conviction that the infant system will flourish most where I once least expected its adoption: I mean in Scotland, because of the high importance attached to the essential qualifications of teachers, and because of the attention and kindness which they continually receive.
It is to be lamented that most of the schools connected with the established church are managed by women only, whilst the schools connected with the dissenters are generally conducted by a man and woman; the consequence is, that the children educated under the dissenters will be better taught than those connected with the established church, which is an error I should be glad to see remedied as soon as possible.

I have no need to speak in favour of infant school masters, as many of them have been the greatest enemies I ever had, whilst on the contrary, the mistresses have generally been very friendly to me, and not been subject to those petty jealousies which the masters have too frequently evinced; nevertheless, the subject treated of in this place involves a principle which cannot be conceded without doing great injury to the infant system, and on those grounds I advocate the necessity of a master in conjunction with the mistress.
Many teachers, and other persons who have written on the subject, have talked largely of making improvements, whilst the hints given in this book have been entirely neglected; as this was the first book that ever was written on the subject, and the writer of it the first man that ever brought the thing practically to bear, it sounds a little odd, that people should talk about improvements before they have pointed out the errors of the original inventor.