Under this head may be comprehended, -to use the language of philosophers, the proper development and culture of the powers of sensation and perception, of conception, of abstraction, classification and generalization, of the association of ideas, of memory, of imagination, and of the powers of reason, as exerted in the discovery and communication of truth, whether metaphysical, theological, scientific, or practical.

The means commonly employed in the culture of the powers of sensation and perception are the realities of the material world, or representations of them by plates, maps, or charts; conception is the reproduction of ideas thus acquired in the absence of the object which first produced them, and is, in part, the basis of memory. Its culture is illustrated by efforts to reproduce a globe, or map, in their absence, so as to see and read the countries and names represented thereon, as if present.

Its culture, however, is generally incidental, and not prominent, avowed and scientific, to the extent that is desirable.

The faculty of memory, in various forms, is exercised in almost, if not quite, every study, as in reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, the study of language, of algebra, of geometry, of mental and moral philosophy, and of all the branches of science, whether pure or mixed. This faculty, then, is the ground and basis of all mental culture, and is, of necessity, disciplined in all.

The powers of abstraction and classification, and of reason, are specially cultivated by the study of

language, the sciences, and intellectual and moral philosophy.

The imagination is cultivated by practice in rhetorical composition, and by the study of nature, of poetry and of the fine arts.

The association of ideas is incidentally cultivated in all study, as well as in all life, but is rarely the subject of formal, avowed and scientific culture, and here is a wide field for improvement in the theory and practice of education.

With respect to the most perfect development and culture of these powers, one general principle holds true and deserves profound attention. It is to be effected only by voluntary, deliberate and earnest effort on the part of the scholar,—an effort which often involves pain as well as pleasure. Hence the significant expression, patient study.

Indeed, in order to secure the desired results, teaching must be a system of intellectual gymnastics, designed to bring into stated and vigorous exercise all the powers of the mind, so as to give a perfect command of them, and to secure strength, rapidity, readiness, and skill in their use.

It is obvious, therefore, that inasmuch as the ends to be obtained can be reached only through the will, the great practical question is, how in the wisest, safest, and most salutary manner, to infuse energy and firmness into the will, and to fix it in the purpose of carrying the powers resolutely through whatever intellectual gymnastics may be required for their perfect culture and development.

Nor is this a question of slight concern; for a

moment's thought will convince us that intellectual results, apparently the same, may be produced under the influence of very different motive powers. The pupils of two or more schools may apparently be alike as to the results of instruction. They may be well versed in geography, in history, in grammar, in rhetoric, in the learned languages, in the sciences, and yet, in fact, their real education may have been utterly unlike in its nature, tendency, and results, because they have been habitually stimulated and impelled by unlike powers, in the pursuit of these attainments.

There are moving powers, which, although for a time they give the requisite energy to the will, nevertheless impart ultimately lasting disease and painful weakness to the whole mental system. Others there are which not only impart present energy, but also permanent health and enduring vigor.

It is not, then, a matter of indifference what motive powers are aroused and brought to bear upon the will; for, great as may be the value of present and splendid mental developments, the permanent life and health of the mind outweigh them all.

It thus appears that the impulses by which a scholar is governed in making attainments, are, on the great scale and in the long run, of more importance than the attainments themselves; because in these moving powers lies the character of the man himself, as he is, and often as he is to be forever.

And certainly if the true and only rational end of education is to make man in himself such that he

shall be fitted for action, duty, and enjoyment in all stages of his existence, then it follows that he does not deserve the name of an educator who by a constant use of the wrong moving powers in the course of instruction, sacrifices the very end of all true education, even the endless vitality and energy of the mind itself, for the sake of producing some splendid but transient developments of intellectual culture.

It is a matter of fundamental moment, therefore, to take a comprehensive survey of all the moving powers which may be used in education, and to inquire in what way they ought to be employed to secure the proper results of intellectual discipline.

And here, before we proceed, let us reverently reflect that the human mind and the corporeal system with which it is connected are the result of no accident, but of divine power and wisdom.

It is God who for wise and benevolent ends has so made us, that there is an established and necessary connection, through the will, between the development and culture of the intellectual powers, and the action of those from which arise our emotions and passions. If, then, we would gain His ends, we must study His ideas.

Nor can any man become, in the highest sense, a finished teacher, unless he thus studies and understands these moving and impelling powers, and how to use them according to the divine plan to produce the greatest and the best energy of the will in the work of mental culture.

And, in fact, here is the source of the greatest

differences among teachers whose intellectual attainments do not appear much to differ. One has by careful study a knowledge of all those powers of emotion and passion by which the will can be aroused, invigorated, directed and fixed, and employs them with energy and skill; the other does not understand them, and employs them accidentally, rudely, unskilfully, or not at all.

Is it not a matter of just surprise that such a teacher can be found? Even those artisans who labor to develop the properties and modify the forms of matter, deem it essential to study the tools to be employed in their various 'processes, that they may use them with higher skill. The carpenter, the watchmaker, the surgeon, the dentist, can exhibit each a well considered variety of implements, carefully adapted, thoroughly understood, well tried. One or two tools, to be used on all occasions, will not suffice.

But too often it is otherwise with the teacher, though the subject of his labors is not insensate matter but immortal mind. Some have never surveyed the whole set of implements, varied and powerful, which divine wisdom has prepared for their use. Some seem to rely almost entirely on one, and that the rudest and coarsest of the set; I refer to corporeal punishment, in the fear of which the most influential motives seem in their view to be summarily comprehended. Few are aware, until they have made the survey, how numerous and varied are the forces to be employed, and how much room there is for study and skill in their application.