once said that she never heard the sound of her voice until a fellow teacher came into her room, then she became self-conscious and every defect in the room was immediately apparent. The quiet-toned, firm, smooth, clear voice is a powerful factor in a school room. The best teachers are those who have perfect self-mastery in this essential. The loud-mouthed, ranting, scolding teacher holds her position near the bottom of the list, although her methods and knowledge may be approved and extensive.-Teacher's World.

THACKERAY once failed and succeeded in the same evening. At Manchester he attempted a lecture before a society audience. He broke down and was very much annoyed with himself. His friend, John Bright, was present, and Thackeray said to Bright: "Who will ever come and hear me lecture if I break down like this?" Bright said to him, "Never mind; very few people but break down at some time or other. I'm going to another meeting to-night; you must come with me. I'm not going to speak to fine folks, but to a set of good, honest working men, and you must try again." Thackeray went, spoke, “and, said Bright, in his downright way, "I never heard a better speech in all my life; it was a capital speech, and they were all delighted with him."

THE teacher is a stair-builder, building from the regions of the known to the unknown. If the steps are too easy, the climber is wearied but not strengthened. If the steps are too high, over-straining even will not allow them to be surmounted. The unskilled teacher leads the child against a blank wall, where, in vain endeavor, he bumps his shins and his toes. A skillful teacher sees where the step is beyond the child's strength, and regrades the work to suit the capacity of the learner. Do not ask the child to attempt that which is beyond his reach, but rather to stretch toward it to grasp. -Western Ed. Journal.

A PLAIN man of the people, an extraordinary fortune attended him. He

counter; he did not offend by superiority; he had a face and manner which disarmed suspicion, which inspired confidence, which confirmed good will; he was a man without vices; he had a strong sense of duty which it was very easy for him to obey. Then he had what farmers call a long head; was excellent in working out the sum for himself, in arguing his case and convincing you fairly and firmly. Then it turned out that he was a great worker and with a prodigious faculty of performance worked easily.-Emerson.

EVERYTHING I most value of teaching thought, and teaching practice, and teaching experience, came from this teaching work daily in the National Schools. Never shall I forget those schools in the suburbs of Gloucester, and their little class-room, with its solemn problem, no more difficult one in the world: how on earth the Cambridge Honor man, with his success and his brain-world, was to get at the minds of those little laborers' sons, with their unfurnished heads, and no time to give. They gave me the great axiom: "The worse the material the greater the skill of the worker." They called out the useful dictum with which I ever silently stepped over the threshold: "If these fellows don't learn, it's my fault." They disentangled all the loose threads of knowledge in my brain, and forced me to wind each separately in its place, with its beginning and its end. They bred in me a supreme contempt for knowledge-lumps, and for emptying out knowledge-lumps in a heap, like stones at the roadside, and calling it teaching. They made me hate the long array of fine words, which lesson-givers ask, and pupils answer, and neither really know the meaning of. They taught me how different knowing is from being able to make others know. Nay, they taught me the more valuable lesson still, how different knowledge which can be produced to an examiner is from knowledge which knows itself, and understands its own life and growth. There I learnt the great secret of St. Augustine's golden key, which, though it be of gold, is useless unless it fits the wards of the lock. And I found the wards I had to fit, the wards of my lock, which had to be opened, the minds of those little street boys, very queer and

tortuous affairs; and I had to set about cutting and chipping myself into the wooden key, which should have the one merit of a key, however common it might look, the merit of fitting the lock, and unlocking the minds, and opening the shut chambers of the heart.-Thring.

IT will not be difficult to educate school boys to respect flower-borders, window-boxes, vines, and shrubbery, if teachers themselves will display intelligent interest and affection for the school grounds. When these are of considerable size, a great educational field can be opened by teachers who know something of botany, plant-growth, and forestry. Such surroundings can be employed to the highest advantage in cultivating in children observation, and in imparting elementary ideas of natural science. How many teachers are there who care for these things or are qualified to instruct children in the laws of plantgrowth? We apprehend that there are comparatively few who do not need an elementary education in botany and forestry. The beginning of this educational reform really lies with the teachers themselves.-New York Tribune.

HE who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool: shun him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not is simple: teach him. He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep: wake him. He who knows and knows that he knows is wise: follow him. -Hindoo.

"How do you accomplish so much in so short a time?" asked a man of Sir Walter Raleigh. "When I have anything to do, I go and do it," was the reply. The man who always acts promptly, even if he makes occasional mistakes, will succeed when a procrastinator would fail-even if the latter have the better judgment. "Get a move on you!" is good practical advice.

FOR seat-work in spelling ask pupils to select words (from a certain lesson assigned) in which there are silent letters. Have them arrange words in columns, putting in the first all the monosyllables, in the second all the dissyllables, etc. Assign certain combinations such as "kn" (when "k" is always silent). Ask them to write as many words as they remember, beginning with this combina

THE fruit tree that is forced into bearing prematurely, stops growing and decays early. So it is with all processes in intellectual development; that which is hurried is dwarfed. Take time for growth.

THE highest good of the child should be the sole aim of the teacher, without the slightest regard for false standards. The teacher who strives for examinations and promotions, can never really teach. The only true motive that should govern the teacher must spring from the truth found in the nature of the child's mind and the subject taught.

THE only safeguard of a republic is popular education, education of all its citizens. And this education must consist in much more than being able to write their names and read their ballots.

greatness. The man who rises often does so by treading on others. The most generous spirits are incapable of this. Competition brings to the front the strongest characters, but not the gentlest nor the noblest. This does not mean that competition is not right, as our world is constituted. We need the strongest in front, and competition puts them there. But men cannot all be leaders, and many of the best must be content to serve in the rank and file, doing their duty for duty's sake and without the inspiration of laurels to be won."

PRESIDENT GARFIELD, while a teacher in Hiram College, was once asked by a young teacher the secret of the art of holding the attention of pupils, and his answer was: "See to it that you do not feed your pupils on cold victuals. Take Take the lesson into your mind anew, rethink it and then serve it hot and steaming, and your pupils will have an appetite for your instruction and you will have their attention." There is a whole book in it.

You have heard it said, perhaps, "Don't pet the children." Why not? Haven't the tiny tots just come from a warm, loving home life, where the mother's caress was the balm for every ache? And now, I suppose, that they have arrived at the dignity of entering the public school, no matter how homesick and mother-sick their lonesome little hearts, no matter how strange and cold seem their surroundings, the teacher is never to give them a "love pat," an affectionate caress, a motherly hug? Such a thing as putting an arm around some neglected child is to be looked at with disapproval? No, no! The teacher without a loving motherly heart in her bosom is out of place in the primary school-room. Don't let your natural inclinations be trampled on in that style, you primary teacher.-N. W. Monthly.

THROW all the cheer you can muster into your work. Carlyle says: "Give us the man that sings at his work; he will do more in the same time, he will do it better." Let happiness and good cheer abound in the school room. A brave heart, a devoted spirit, a firm faith in one's self, an honest ambition, and a desire to grow are some of the essentials that go to make a successful teacher. Be hopeful ever in your sorest straits;

you need the inspiration that comes from cheerfulness and large hopefulness. They alone win who believe they can win. Nine-tenths of the things you worry about never happen. Meet things as they come, never anticipate or welcome them. Keep your absences down by making your school so good that none can afford to be away from it for even a half-day. Make the wheels of government go smoothly, keep them well oiled and in gear. and in gear. Don't begin to cram your pupils for examinations. Teach and review and leave the rest to the pupils. Don't worry. Don't overeat. Don't starve. Sleep and rest abundantly. Work like a man; but don't be worked to death. A light heart lives long. Character building should be the objective consideration of all teaching. Inspire pupils will lofty motives, and their actions will not need much of your concern. You should have high ideals constantly in mind. Expect a great deal of your pupils, and never accept poor work. Live in the present. Keep abreast of the times. Don't let outside interests or personal affairs interfere with your school duties. It is your business to teach; everything is second to that. To the school belong your best efforts, your best thoughts, your best aspirations, your best endeavors.-Missouri Journal.

THE Philippine islands number about 1,200, with an area of 115,000 square miles and a population of nearly 7,000,ooo. Luzon, the largest island, is about the size of Cuba. The principal products are sugar, coffee, hemp, tobacco, and indigo; it is probable that, with proper development, the revenue from the islands would largely exceed the cost of government. The Philippines were discovered by Magellan, who lost his life there in a battle with the natives.

NOTHING is so contagious as enthusiasm; it is the real allegory of the lute of Orpheus; it moves stones, it charms brutes. Enthusiasm is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes few victories without it.-Lord Lytton.

EXERCISE, especially exercise out of doors when it is convenient, is the best of all appliances. Do not sit motionless within doors, if there is a sun shining without, and you are able to stir. Particularly endeavor to keep a good heart,

ever takes away your cheerfulness. Sunshine in the inside of one is even more important than sunshine without.-Carlyle.

THE true test of civilization is not the census, not the size of cities, not the crops; no, but the kind of men the country turns out.-Lyman J. Gage.

DIVINE IMMANENCE.

BY LYMAN ABBOTT.

F I am asked why I believe in this universal presence and potency of God, this Divine Immanence in nature and in man, I reply that the reasons are many and cumulative. Shakespeare's affirmation, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will," is the expression of a substantially universal belief. I suppose that there have lived very few men or women in this world who have not at times felt this truth, even if they have not articulated it in intellectual expression. That there are forces or a force within me, impelling me, determining for me, placing me where I never would have placed myself, laying on me duties I never would have assumed myself, seems to me as clear as any fact in life. And it seems so not to me only but substantially to all thoughtful men and women. So universal a belief argues a wide observation and experience, from which, by an unconscious inductive process, humanity has reached its conclusion. That conclusion is confirmed by a study of history. Nothing is clearer in such a study than that nations are not mere aggregations of individual wills, but that there is also a guiding, controlling factor, mysterious but irresistible. No one can read Sir George Trevelyan's "History of the American Revolution" without being convinced that the separation of the American Colonies from Great Britain was to be; that it was ordained, determined, enforced, in spite of the reluctance alike of Great Britain and of the colonists themselves-in spite, that is, of the very men who worked out that separation. So no one, it seems to me, can doubt that our present relation with the Philippines was brought about by forces, or a force, acting in men and conjointly with them, to ends which those men

Manifest Destiny, call it Providence, call it what we will, doubt and discuss as we may about the ends to which it should conduct us and the manner in which we should co-operate with it, and the results which we should seek to gain—that it exists appears to me as certain as that there is a law of attraction of gravitation.

Ever since history began, this Destiny has been believed in by mankind. Indeed, if there is no such superhuman factor in human life, a science of that life would be impossible. If humanity is simply an aggregation of individuals, whose conjoint action is determined by accident, or by the balance of forces in the human wills, the study of the progress of the human race would be as impossible as the study of the progress of the skippers upon the surface of a brook on a summer's afternoon; there would and could be no progress to be studied. As there could be no physical order in nature were there not one Infinite and Eternal Energy in all physical phenomena, so there could be no moral order in the human race were there not one Moral Energy in all human phenomena. The very existence of the sciences of history, economics, psychology and ethics presupposes a Moral Governor in human life.

The phenomena of genius lends incidental and additional confirmation to this belief. Neither heredity nor environment can account for a Paul or a Plato, the author of Job or the author of "Hamlet." Genius must either be relegated to the inexplicable phenomena of life, or it must be accounted for on the hypothesis that it is not the manifestation of an extraordinary power coming no one knows whence or how, but the extraordinary manifestation of that Power which is the secret of all intellectual and moral life.

And on any other hypothesis, the unfolding of the life of any child is just as great a mystery as the appearance of Paul or Plato, Shakespeare or the author of Job. This belief is further confirmed by the testimony of the great creative minds-poet, artist, musician, orator, author. The greatest compositions are not wrought out with much painstaking by the human producer of them; they are brought to him and he transcribes them, or the germ of them is communicated to him and he develops it. This

consciousness of receiving from an unknown source is the most common experience of humanity, and would be even commoner were we not afraid to acknowledge it. In such a connection personal testimnoy is perhaps of slight value. Yet perhaps these philosophical reasons for believing in the universal and inspiring presence of God in human life would be of small practical effect with me were they not interpretative and confirmatory of my own experience. If that experience stood alone, I should fear to trust it. But when it simply reiterates the testimony of so many of the best, the noblest, the ablest men of all ages and all faiths, I dare not distrust it. I could as little doubt that I have at times in my own experience the help of a Power not myself that makes for righteousness, and makes as well for clear thinking as for right acting, as I could doubt the influence that comes into my life from a vital book, a great poem, an inspiring preacher, or a personal friend.

TEACHERS AND TOBACCO.

WO young men we chance to know

TW

No

lost election to excellent high school principalships this year because they used tobacco. No matter if the board of education is composed entirely of smokers, the smoking candidate stands little show -almost none at all where in competition with him are equally able and scholarly men who do not smoke. That's all right. It is not narrow. It is not bigoted. It is just a sample of common sense. worthy father wishes his boy to learn to smoke. All realize that it does the youth no good, and usually does him much harm. All recognize that the average boy will get lessons in the art of smoking plenty fast enough without having the public funds paid out for that purpose. We don't put this on moral grounds at all. Some of the dearest friends we have are users of the weed. There are some fearfully disagreeable and disreputable people who do not use tobacco. There are thousands of tip-top, pure-minded, delightful people who do use tobacco. But, just the same, young man, when you enter the teachers' ranks you must eschew, not chew; you must not smoke tobacco. You are employed to educate youth in things that make for their betterment, physically, mentally

and morally. Tobacco using does not do that. Your influence over your pupils is greater than that of any other citizen, the father and the preacher not excepted. Hence it is that the public have the right to say that while you teach, your example must be such as shall build up, not tear down, true manhood. Don't get up on your dignity now and talk of rights, etc. It is not a question of legal rights, but of propriety. You are not obliged to teach school, but while you do you may as well understand, first as last, that the public have a right to say what your manners shall be, and what are the lessons in life you teach.-Michigan School Moderator.

HOW TO WRITE AND TO SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH.

L

BY CARL C. MARSHALL.

ANGUAGE, like painting, sculpture, music or any other means of human expression, has its dependence on the psychological factor. Back of speech there must be a soul. This is why no Professor Garner, or any one else, can teach original human speech to monkeys or parrots. Art expression in any form is only for creatures endowed with an imagination. No lower animal ever yet invented a machine, drew a picture, improvised a tune, or originated a sentence.

In man himself, expression is the gauge of the soul's development, and language, more than any other form of expression, evinces the intelligence that is behind it. Indeed, it may be said that the language is the especial manifestation of the reason, whereas, music and the plastic arts stand for the imaginative emotions.

Now if I am right in this view, it is evident that we cannot get good language expression from a dull, unthinking mind. An attempt to do this results in imitation, not expression. If expression is what we are after, we must not try to get the mind to give out what is not in it. We can no more do this than we can squeeze wine from a turnip. The violation of this principle is common in our schools. Teachers lecture to pupils, or have them read a lot about some matter of the upper mental atmosphere, and then call on them to write "original" essays upon it. The youngster goes to the cyclopedias and biographies, stuffs