educational pursuits in our city; in the faithful discharge for so many years of the responsible duties of the office of Master in our Public Schools; in the kindness and benevolence of his disposition; in the affability of his manners and the strictness of his integrity; in his enthusiastic love of his profession, and ever fresh interest in the noble cause of Education, we recognize an example deserving our highest admiration,—a model,— worthy of our careful and most faithful imitation.

Resolved,―That, Resolved, That, while we regret that the pressure of years has prompted his retirement from his office as a colaborer with us, we desire that he may long enjoy a vigorous old age of honorable repose, sustained and solaced by the consciousness of past fidelity, by the cordial esteem of his fellow instructors, and by the faithful teacher's best earthly recompense,-the grateful respect and abiding love of his numerous pupils.

JOSHUA BATES,

Committee, HENRY WILLIAMS, Jr.,

CORNELIUS WALKER.

MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. THE Annual meeting of the Massachusetts Teachers' Associa tion will be held in Lowell, on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.

All teachers who would like accommodations with private families, are requested to send their names to Mr. Samuel Coolidge, Publisher of the "Massachusetts Teacher," at least two weeks previous to the meeting.

NORFOLK COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

THE sixteenth Semi-Annual meeting of this Association will be held in South Dedham, on Thursday and Friday, the twentyfifth and twenty-sixth days of October.

Lectures will be delivered by S. J. Pike, Esq., Principal of the High School, Lawrence; Rev. Mr. Ryder, of Roxbury, and Dr. Jarvis, of Dorchester. The subjects proposed for discussion are "Grammar;" "School Libraries; "Should Prizes be recognized among the Incentives of the School-room." JOHN WILSON, Sec.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. THE fifth semi-annual meeting of the Middlesex County Teachers' Association will be held at Lowell on Friday and Saturday, the 26th and 27th of October.

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.

Those already appointed will be held as follows, viz.:
At Chelsea, Oct. 1-5.

THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION offers the following prizes for original Essays:

TO MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION, for the best Essay, on either of the following subjects, a prize of TWENTY-FIVE

DOLLARS.

1. The Relation of the Common School to the State. 2. School Supervision.

3. The Relation which the Common School sustains to the College and the University.

To the FEMALE TEACHERS of the State, for the best Essay on either of the following subjects, a prize of TWENTY-FIVE

DOLLARS.

1. Primary School Instruction, and the Methods of Teaching Young Children.

2. The True Mission of the Teacher.

3. The Objects of Common School Instruction.

The Essays must be forwarded to the Secretary, Charles J. Capen, Esq., Latin School, Boston, on or before the 21st of October. Each Essay should be accompanied by a sealed envelope enclosing the name of the writer. The envelopes accompanying unsuccessful Essays will not be opened. The prizes will be awarded by an impartial committee; but no prize will be awarded to an Essay that is not deemed worthy of one. The successful Essays will be regarded as the property of the Association.

Boston, June 18th, 1855.

JOSIAH A. STEARNS, President.

THE

MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER.

Vol. VIII, No. 11.] WM. H. WELLS, EDITOR OF THIS NUMBER. [November, 1855.

POPULAR EDUCATION IN UPPER CANADA-
NORMAL SCHOOL AT TORONTO.

THE time has arrived when the "schoolmaster" must go "abroad" to gain instruction, as well as to impart it. The teacher who is satisfied with his own experience, and will not take the trouble to inquire what progress others are making, is in great danger of finding that he is detached from the rest of the train, and that the passengers have all gone into the "car forward."

Teachers above all other classes in the community, are favored with frequent and regular vacations, and are, therefore, the more inexcusable if they fail to become in some degree familiar with the systems and modes of instruction that are adopted in the best schools. Most of the teachers of the State are so situated that they can enjoy these advantages with only a moderate expenditure of either time or money.

Availing ourselves of a recent vacation, we went as far as Canada West, and spent several days in studying the educational system of that Province. We stopped en passant at Utica, with the assembled teachers of the Key-stone State, and found that the New York State Teachers' Association embraces several hundred of the best teachers in the country, with three times as much intellectual and moral power as they can bring to bear effectively in one organized body. We lingered also at Trenton Falls, near Utica, long enough to learn that it is one of the most beautiful summer retreats that an exhausted teacher could possibly desire.

A few of the impressions received during our visit to Toronto, and facts gathered there, may not be wholly destitute of interest to the readers of the "Teacher."

So much has been written and said of the Prussian system of schools, that well-informed teachers have become familiar

with most of its prominent features; but a system of education, in some respects more complete and imposing than that of Prussia, has sprung up on our own borders, which appears to have attracted less general attention among us.

The present system of education for Upper Canada is identified with the name of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D. D., Chief Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Ryerson entered upon the duties of his office in 1844, and spent an entire year in examining the different systems of other countries, both in Europe and America. The results of these investigations were embodied in an elaborate Report, published in 1846, and in a bill for the establishment of an improved system of schools, which became a law the same year. The system adopted by Dr. Ryerson is eclectic. Many of the general features of the school law were borrowed from the system of the State of New York; the principle of supporting schools according to property, was derived from Massachusetts; the elementary text-books adopted, were those published under the sanction of the National Board of Education in Ireland; and the system of Normal School training was derived from Germany. Dr. Ryerson acknowledges himself specially indebted to these sources, but the features he has derived from them are essentially modified in their application.

The course of instruction provided by law in Upper Canada, embraces every grade of school, from the lowest to the highest. The attention of the Educational Department is devoted more especially to the interests of Common and Grammar Schools, and yet it would be difficult to find another country in which an equal amount of pecuniary aid is furnished to students in the higher departments of education. In the University of Toronto there are distributed annually among the students about sixty scholarships, each worth $150, besides numerous prizes and medals. The scholarships are given to those who sustain the best examinations in the different branches, at several different stages in their college course.

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The Normal School at Toronto is an institution that would be an honor to any country in the world. It consists of a Normal School proper, and two Model Schools. In the Normal School, pupils are taught how to teach;" in the Model Schools, they are taught to give practical effect to their instructions, under the direction of teachers previously trained in the Normal School. The Model Schools are designed to be the model for all the public schools in the Province. The buildings were erected by Government in 1852, and the grounds occupy an entire square of more than seven acres. The whole cost of the buildings and site was about $125,000. The buildings and premises are by far the most commodious and elegant of the kind in America.

The main building is 184 feet long and 84 feet deep, and the extreme height of the cupola is 95 feet. The arrangement of rooms is such that the male and female students are entirely separated, except when in the presence of one of the teachers. More than half of the lower floor is occupied by the rooms of the "Education Office" and the "Map and Public Library Depository.'

The pupils of the Normal Schools are divided into two classes, and the lectures and other instructions are given chiefly by Thomas J. Robertson, Esq., and Rev. William Ormiston. These gentlemen had both been distinguished for their scholarship and ability before engaging in the school at Toronto, and they have shown themselves fully equal to the duties they are now called to discharge. Those who attended the recent meetings of the New York State Teachers' Association, enjoyed the privilege of hearing an off-hand speech from Mr. Ormiston, and it is no disparagement to others to say that it was not excelled by any similar effort during the sessions. Whenever we have occasion again to refer to a speaker who illustrates the vehement in style, we shall name the Rev. William Ormiston.

Much of the instruction in the Normal School is given in the form of familiar lectures, but the examinations of the pupils are thorough and searching. The number of pupils in attendance at the time of our visit was about eighty, but this is considerably less than the usual attendance. The course of instruction extends through two half-yearly terms, and embraces both common and higher branches of English study. The course appears to be less strictly professional than in several of the Normal Schools in the United States. Less time is devoted in the Normal department to the theory and practice of teaching; but this deficiency is in a great degree supplied by the extensive practice required in the Model Schools, under the direction of competent and experienced guides.

The Model Schools are more extensive and complete in their arrangements than any in the United States, unless we except the Model Schools at New Britain, Conn., which are unquestionably the best we have. The number of scholars attending the Model Schools at Toronto is about 400.

The business of the "Education Office" furnishes full employment for the Chief Superintendent and his Deputy, with some three or four clerks. The Journal of Education is issued from this office monthly, under the direction of Dr. Ryerson, assisted by the Deputy Superintendent, J. George Hodgins, Esq.

Another important branch of the establishment is the "Apparatus, Map, and Library Depository." An extensive assortment of works in the various departments of literature and science, is kept constantly on hand, and schools and libraries