salutary and conservative principle of virtue scarcely ten who could not read.

A long time and of knowledge in an early age. We hope ago, in the little State of Connecticut, it was to excite a feeling of respectability, and a sense impossible to meet a man, born in the country, of character, by enlarging the capacity, and in- who did not know how to read and write, and creasing the sphere of intellectual enjoyment. who was not skilled in figures. A similar exBy general instruction, we seek, as far as possi- ample could not be found on the continent, or ble, to purify the whole moral atmosphere; to even in Prussia! And do we comprehend on keep good sentiments uppermost, and to turn what profound bases rest the strength and durathe strong current of feeling and opinion, as tion of the democracy in the old provinces of well as the censures of the law and the denun- the United States ? Without doubt, slavery

ciations of religion, against immorality and may divide the all-powerful republic, but it will crime. We hope for a security beyond the law not destroy the ordinances upon which rests this and above the law, in the prevalence of enlight-strong society; if liberty should ever be driven ened and well-principled moral sentiment. We from Europe, it would have a sure asylum among hope to continue and prolong the time, when, the industrious population, the well-informed, in the villages and farm-houses of New Eng- moral and religious people of Massachusetts and land, there may be undisturbed sleep within Connecticut. unbarred doors. And knowing that our government rests directly on the public will, that we may preserve it, we endeavor to give a safe and proper direction to that public will.

School-Rooms Should be Attractive.

Ir is the duty of teachers, as well as of parents and school committees, to see that the cir"We do not, indeed, expect all men to be cumstances under which children study are philosophers or statesmen; but we confidently such as shall leave a happy impression upon trust, and our expectation of the duration of their minds; for whatever is brought under the our system of government rests on that trust, frequent observation of the young must have that by the diffusion of general knowledge and its influence upon their susceptible natures for good and virtuous sentiments, the political fabric good or for evil. may be secure, as well against open violence and overthrow, as against that slow but sure undermining of licentiousness."

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Shabby school-rooms induce slovenly habits. Ill-constructed benches may not only distort the body, but, by reflex influence, the mind as well. This is speaking like a statesman; and let us Wintry blasts, sweeping in through open floors, not imagine it to be an isolated language, a par- or broken windows, not only injure the health, ticular opinion: it is thus that all friends of but chill the warm glow of youthful enthusiliberty and democracy in the United States, and asm. Conditions like these seldom fail to disthey are numerous, think and express them-gust the learner with his school, and neutralize selves. The free schools," said the celebrated the best effort of his teachers. On the other English geologist, Mr. Lyell, in his Travels in hand, neat, comfortable and agreeable places America, "those schools where are assembled for study may help to awaken associations enthe children of all religious sects and all classes chaining the mind and heart to learning and of society, are the most original things that the virtuous instruction with links of gold brightNew World has produced; the Americans have ening forever.-Duxbury (Mass.) School Report. a right to be proud of them." When we know what Horace Mann has done for Massachusetts, THE letter h seems to meet with strange treatwhat Henry Barnard has done for Rhode Island ment from some of our English friends. For and Connecticut, we ask, if, notwithstanding instance, the barber, in the cholera season, tells our old civilization, we have nothing to learn his customer that "the cholera is in the hair." from New England? The schools admirably His customer expresses his astonishment at such kept, the books of education as well printed as intelligence, and is somewhat alarmed. The composed, the masters and mistresses liberally barber, seeing his mistake, explains that he does remunerated; these are what Europe can envy not mean "the 'air of the 'ead, but the hair of the United States. In 1832, out of one hun- the hatmosphere." An English lady, who had dred townships or parishes of Massachusetts, just called upon a friend, says she went to a numbering nearly two hundred thousand in-" very queer 'ouse. It had an 'all right through habitants, ore could find among the young per- the middle of it, and a hell on each hend."— sons from fourteen to twenty years of age, Mass. Teacher.

From the Indiana School Journal.
Order.*

BY B. C. HOBBS.

OUR Executive Committee having limited this report to fifteen minutes, I will proceed without taking time for a preface; and shall endeavor to give you a concentrated article-what the doctors call a " Liquid Extract."

There are certain elements essential to the

Yes, sir; Yes, ma'am; No, sir; No, ma'am ; I thank you, sir; I thank you, ma'am." The children, very intent on the performance. when aunts and cousins came, arranged themselves in a row, bowed and said, "How do you do sir, how do you do ma'am, yes sir, yes ma'am, no sir, no ma'am, I thank you sir, I thank you ma'am," and turning to their mother added, "There, mamma, we've said it!"

Such disappointments and mortifications are character of a successful disciplinarian, a few often met with in the school-room for want of a uniform discipline. The school should be ever of which may be hastily noticed. Order requires industry. A dull, sleepy teach- ready for company. Better step recitations at er, who has not energy, life and action, need any time than advance without order. Let it Order is the work of be a sine qua non at all times, company or no never expect to succeed. labor, and will not dignify the halls of learning company, and when friends call, you can give them a mutually pleasant reception.

without it.

Punctuality is also essential. It requires a A teacher's eye should be habitually trained regulator in propelling power of machinery. A to see floor, desks, wall, yard, premises, everyteacher must have punctuallty as the regulator thing; and should feel the sensation of pain of his discipline. Attendance, recitations and when all is not as it should be. It might well dismissions must all be obedient to it. There be made a grave question, if a school without is a kind of periodicity in man - he eats, drinks, neatness, inside and out, should be entitled to sleeps, wakes and lives by it, and his movements the educational funds of the State. A teacher are most agreeable to himself, as well as to others, when he has a time for everything and everything in its time.

Watchfulness must be habitual. A teacher must be a "wide-awake" in the true meaning of the term. He must be quick to perceive, and prompt to act, as the occasion suggests.

must have a conception of what is essential in all these matters, — of a general fitness of things all around him, and a will to attend to them.

A good disciplinarian must have originality. He may learn much by observation and experience, but he must conceive what he needs for himself. We must all find that we cannot safeSelf-control is indispensable. A fiery, resent- ly copy beyond certain limits. Every well regful teacher is in frequent trouble. He should ulated school must be like itself. Like every keep calm, cool, and conscious of what he does well made man, it must have individuâlity. To and says. It is hard to undo a precipitate act reach this it requires some central leading obor recall an inappropriate word. When wrath ject, from which others radiate. That central comes unbidden, smother it; keep reason on object is the design which has created the instiits throne, and let conscience be heard in the tution; by this we judge of all the rest. strife of passions.

A writer on etiquette, says that dress must have its central regulator. You see the gentleman first in the clean bosom and neat neck-tie. We then wish to see an adaptation of his dress, from hat to boots.

A teacher must be uniform in his order. Indeed, we cannot call that order which is without uniformity. Some are extremely careful, when company is expected, to train rapidly, in anxiety for the occasion. The school not hav- It is so with a farm. You begin with a neat ing the habit of order, on the approach of com- house, yard and garden; then radiate to the pany, either become forgetful, or fail to reach circumference, keeping in mind the leading dethe teacher's expectations. Such order often sign, and you are able to see beauty blend with reminds me of the matron who was expecting suitability. It may resemble other farms, but her city friends on a holiday visit. She assem- be like none. So must the school be—so, the bled her children, told them when their aunts teacher. and cousins came, they must be sure to say, "How do you do, sir? How do you do, ma'am?

The good disciplinarian will not overlook the laws of Physiology. He will consider the physical necessities of his school. He will find

A report read before the State Teachers' Asso- that pure air and an active flow of blood will ciation, Dec. 27, 1860,

give a healthy action to his own brain, as well

as his pupils'; and he will not consider his dig- sin not." Think well of what you say, and nity lost, should he occasionally kick the foot- never proceed without a consciousness that both ball, and let his voice right merrily ring out. Church and State will defend you. The eye If any one is doubtful on this subject let him must be steady and look straight to its object; read the experience of Pestalozzi, who got into the voice must be calm, and the words plainly the secrets of the profession and practiced them. uttered - without insult, braggadocio, unmean"Be a whole man at one thing at a time." ing threats, or scare-crow terrors. The boy that When you play, play — when you teach, teach; would contest your authority, first aims to unand let your school see that you are ever up to man you. He would work you up to ungovwhat you are at, out of doors and in. If you ernable passion, that will betray folly and lose would shoot well, let your bow be unstrung manliness, and then he can do with you what when not in use; but be careful when you min- he wishes, and the magistrate may take sides gle with your pupils thus, to make yourself in against you. Do not let him reach his object. the fullest sense of the term a man, and it will Many successful teachers fail at this point. never lessen either your dignity or influence. Much of the teacher's want of qualification to govern himself and his school, grows out of the neglect of regular, active, animated exercise.

Conscience must be kept busy on its throne and rule well. It will regulate the predisposition to partiality, guard you against making favorites, and make you willing to risk much in Were I to judge by myself, I should say that the line of duty. It will caution you against the art of school government is acquired by at- short cuts to reach ends by unjustifiable means; tention and reflection, and is matured by expe- and admonish you that the right way is safest rience. Some may be gifted more than others, and best, though not always most expeditious. but the qualities here noticed I consider essen- Conscience is your window toward Heaven, and tial to all. Success mainly depends on an ear- when you can see your Divine Author through nest resolution to succeed well, and cheerful it, it will calm you in trials, and spare you of patience in overcoming difficulties. unnecessary fretfulness. It will teach you that all men are frail, and need the aid of Him who rules over mind as well as matter.

No teacher can excel in his profession without a high aim. He should take both his Creator and His works for models, and though he may never exactly imitate, he will approach nearer perfection than when he copies lower every system for the government of nations,

standards.

There is a constantly acting and all-powerful Providence, who hears and answers prayer; and

states, schools or families, must recognize this fundamental principle to secure his blessing. As we see and understand this law, we recognize the power of love. We are not satisfied to be feared alone: we would be loved as well as

"Order is Heaven's first law," is an old adage. We We see it illustrated in the vegetable and animal kingdom, in the continent and ocean, in the planetary system, and in the beauty and method feared. Fear and love should merge in obligaof the universe. Everything in the works of tion to the same Great Author, and in imitation the great Jehovah is but a lesson exhibiting of Him, we will cultivate kindness, gentleness forethought, design, object, order, a fixed and matured plan of reaching results - the end and patience toward others, and a deep interest being seen from the beginning. It should be in their welfare; an interest that prompts us to man's highest aim to be like Him, and to reach make sacrifices and endure privations. As selthis he must act in sympathy with and in imi-fishness leaves, love enters.

These principles must be recognized in all tation of his great Author. He must study His laws, enter into His designs, and feel a depend- good and perfect governments. All order withence upon His Providence. In this, calmness, out them is imperfect — but a partial success. firmness and a fixed purpose must mark all the features and movements of the man.

The successful teacher must see a rational way to reach his objects; a way that will be justifiable by the laws of the land, by the common sense of mankind, by his own conscience, and then make it work. Never enter upon a purpose until you can see your way through, nor let passion blind you. "Be ye angry and

Ir is a curious fact in the grammar of politics, that when statesmen get into place, they often become oblivious of their antecedents, but are sel dom forgetful of their relatives.

REMEMBER, no desert is so arid, no desolation so complete, no waste so unrelieved, as the uncul tured human soul.

LOQUACIOUS mouths are like badly-managed banks. They make large issues on no solid capital.

INSCRIBED TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, ASSEMBLED IN EXTRA SESSION, JULY 4, 1861.

only the yard, but the foot and inch, have mea.sured and marked. It would be a capital idea for every teacher to obtain a correct measure

For the Schoolmaster.
The Habit of Neatness.

THE habit of neatness should be encouraged ment of the school-room in which he daily ope- by the teacher, and to call attention to this subrates, and have it written upon the board, that all may learn the length and width and height of the wall around them. When learned, rub

ject, the following remarks are proffered. Children often enter the school-room with

it out. Then call up the subject occasionally to hands, face and clothes dirty, and with hair unsee who can give them correctly. Why, not combed, but they should never be permitted to half of the teachers in the country can tell the remain there in this condition. Three special length of a piece of stove-pipe, or the height of cases here demand our attention. 1. It may be a common door. This arises from the fact that the first time the scholar has presented himself the attention has not been called to these mat- in this plight, and then he should be sent to the ters. Not one man in a hundred can give you dressing room to wash his face and hands, to the height of a common eating table, or dining comb his hair and brush his clothes, a word of chair. This should not be. Children should caution for the future being added by the teachcarly be taught these things. Standards should er. 2. This may be his usual plight on reachearly be fixed in the mind, and these should ing school, though he start from home neat and be obtained from things seen. Measures and clean: he should be sent to the dressing-room, weights of all kinds ought to constitute a part as before, advice or punishment being given, acof the fixtures of a school-room. Coins also, cording to the circumstances of the case, and and bank notes, should be in every school-room notice of his misconduct sent to his parents. as permanent fixtures. When the child sees 3. His usual filthy appearance may be due to

with its own eyes, that a pound of gold is as the culpable neglect of parents; in this case, let light as a pound of feathers, he begins at once the teacher treat the child kindly, send him also to inquire why it is so, and is not satisfied un- to the dressing-room, and if possible, influence til he finds out. These visible, tangible things, the parents to take Letter care of their child. start thought in the minds of children. When The dressing-room should contain a wash

Boys and girls should be allowed to play, even if it be in the mud, but not to come into the house with dirty shoes. When the yard is nuddy, it may be well (if this is not your usual custom) to ring two bells; at the first, they are to clean their shoes; at the second, to come in. There are needed at each entrance a scraper, coarse mat, broom and fine mat.

he begins to think, he begins to ask questions. stand, water-pail, basin, soap and soap-dish, Remember that every question asked by the towels, coarse comb, looking-glass, clotheschild concerning his studies, is worth about ten brush and shoe-brush. times as much as any question asked by the teacher. The child asks for what he desires. The teacher asks him to answer that, which perhaps he has not investigated, or to give the conclusion of an investigation going on in his own mind, but not fully perfected. If he finds that he cannot answer it, he thinks it his duty to answer for him. By doing so, he cuts off the mental investigation which would be left free to Spitting on the floor is not to be allowed at act under its own guidings, would send forth a all, it being needless, unbecoming and filthy. limb healthy and vigorous, capable of bearing Some may think it strange that this should be fruit and sending forth other branches of for- spoken of, yet there is occasion for so speaking, eign growth, unsuited to its place, perhaps, by and I have met with several teachers who have being too large for the parent stock. The busi- had trouble with older boys that chewed tobacness of the teacher should be, to appetize the co. The teacher's influence failed to reach them. mind. That word just suits us, Appetize! Will and there was, unfortunately, no town regulathat do? We do not find it in Webster.

tion to expel them for this expensive, unhealthy and disgusting practice.

LABOR is of noble birth; but prayer is the No one should throw paper on the floor, and daughter of heaven. Labor has a place near the occupant of each desk should be held rethe throne, but prayer touches the golden scep- sponsible for its appearance and, that of the tre. Labor, Martha-like, is busy with much floor under and near to it. Slate-frames should serving, but prayer sits with Mary at the feet be covered with cloth, so as not to scratch of Jesus. the desks. If papers are thrown on the floor,