THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER.

47

sees a poor child in distress in the street, while standing with a party of his boys at the schoolroom door, and says to them, "Let us go and see what is the matter with that poor child." A feeling of compassion and benevolence springs up in an instant in all their hearts, responsive to that in his own. If now he goes to the child, comforts and consoles him, gives him the necessary help, and shows him his way home, employing his pupils as much as possible in the work,-they witnessing the scene, and acting in it so far as they can render any aid, he will find that their souls will fall, at once and spontaneously, into the same train of feeling with his. They will sympathize with the case, and join cordially in the endeavor to relieve it. A boy who has been selfish, rough, and unkind before, will become, for the time being, compassionate and gentle. His soul takes on, as the physicians say, a healthy moral action, which is a great step towards his moral recovery. The pupils will all enjoy the pleasure of doing good, they will realize the excellence and beauty of benevolence, and will feel a much stronger desire to relieve any future distress which they may witness, than could have been produced by any mere arguments or persuasions, however theoretically true.

Thus the secret, as it seems to me, of the art of training up the rising generation to virtuous character, consists, not in the power of the teachers to indoctrinate them with correct theories of moral duty, and to urge upon them arguments for the support of such theories, but in inducing, through his personal influence and example, a habit of right action, in all the pursuits, occupations, and pleasures of childhood. A teacher who has the right views and feelings in respect to his duty will take a great pleasure in doing this. His opportunities of giving theoretical instruction will not be neglected; but he will feel that they are only auxiliary to the influence of his life. He will diffuse about him, by simply acting out his own principles and character, a sort of atmosphere which will bring the moral feelings of his pupils into harmony with his own. He will take the strongest interest in the characters which most need his influence, the impatient, the idle, the vicious,—just as the surgeon in the hospital takes the strongest interest in the worst cases of disease. He attributes the faults or faulty habits, which he observes, to their true cause, peculiar constitutional temperament, or untoward external influences, and feels confident that, if he can supply the right moral remedy, by substituting good external influences in place of the bad, all will be well again. Thus he thinks indulgently of the offences which he sees, and speaks leniently, while he acts earnestly and decidedly. The bad as well as the good, consequently, soon learn to consider him as a friend.

If, now, a teacher has, in addition to these qualifications, the other essential ones; if he is well educated himself in the branches which he has to teach; if he is systematic in all his arrangements in school; if he is firm and steady in his government, and has the power to excite among his pupils a love for the acquisition of knowledge, and a desire to improve; and if he is governed honestly and really by religious principle in all his conduct and character, he is prepared for his work.

BISHOP POTTER'S LECTURES ON NATURAL RELIGION BEFORE THE LOWELL INSTITUTE.

These have been very remarkable, not only for their intrinsic excellence, but for the model which they presented to all who have occasion to speak either publicly in the lecture-room, or privately in the school-room. They were distinguished for the complete mastery of the subject, for variety of illustration, drawn from the most extensive reading and the widest observation, for a rich and flowing eloquence, for entire self-possession, and, most of all, for the high standard to which every principle was referred. Not a small merit was their beginning and ending always precisely at the time fixed. No one came from them disappointed, and no one, to hear each lecture through, was obliged to disappoint any with whom he had made an appointment. Great additional interest was given to the subject by the familiarity they showed with the cognate one of Political Economy, upon which these lectures throw, and, when published, will be considered as throwing, a new and most important light.

APHORISMS FROM BACON.

It is a strange desire which men have, to seek power, and thereby lose liberty.

He that cannot see well, let him go softly.

In evil, the best condition is, not to will; the next, not to care. Boldness is blind: wherefore it is ill in counsel, but good in execution. For in counsel it is good to see dangers; in execution not to see them, except they be very great.

Dickinson Printing-House, 52 Washington Street.... Damrell & Moore.

Ir is frequently the case that the teacher performs too much of the work which should be performed by his pupils. It is, often, much easier for him to do it than it is to cause them to do it. But this does not answer the design of education. It is for the best good of the pupils that they be induced to depend, mainly, upon their own efforts and resources, and it should be a prominent object of the instructor, to train and discipline his pupils to habits of self-reliance and patient thought. He must render some aid, but the greater danger is in the excess and not in the deficiency of assistance.

It is usually the case that one extreme follows another. This is true in all departments. It is frequently so in educational matters. In past years teachers have sometimes left their pupils too much to the words and matter of the text-book. They have explained but little, and have deviated but little from the words of the book. This was considered an error, and in the attempt to produce a change some over-reached the proper bounds, and went much too far. Oral instruction, with such, became the only true method of instruction, and text-books were regarded as superfluous articles, if not as positive evils. The teacher was to utter words of knowledge, and the pupils were to receive them; and those teachers who could not teach without books were no longer qualified for their situations. But we have reason to rejoice that, while this exclusive feeling for oral instruction has gained but little ground in the community, teachers have been induced to give more attention to the general subject.

Of course we do not object to a degree of oral instruction. Every good and successful teacher will make use of it, but he will use it cautiously. The constant and excessive practice of simplifying and diluting every exercise that comes before a class. only tends to make puny and inefficient scholars. The true business of the educator is to "draw out" and expand the mental faculties of his pupils, and thus superinduce vigor of thought and originality of action; not to think and act for them, but to cause them to think and act for themselves.

But we might almost infer that many regard the mind of a child as a sort of "passive recipient," into which knowledge may be poured, both ad libitum et ad infinitum. Unfortunately, however, such knowledge is inclined to "run out," and the oft-repeated filling of the receptacle only makes it the more certain that the operation will require repetition. But, if we mistake not, the correct course is, to induce pupils to study their lessons until they shall not only commit the substance to memory, but, in a good degree, comprehend the principles contained therein, and their general application. The teacher's skill should be exercised in expanding and extending the subject in order to test the understanding of the pupils and at the same time more clearly to elucidate and confirm that understanding. This may very properly be done by oral instruction. It should, however, be imparted in such a manner as to elicit the views of the pupils and awaken thought and mental action. Otherwise a lesson may be explained to a class, and, at the time, made apparently plain, and yet, if the several members have not in a great measure discovered the facts and principles by their own patient application, they will soon forget what has been rendered so simple by extraneous aid.

There is nothing, we think, which demands so much skill, judgment, and prudence in the teacher as the proper mode and extent of rendering assistance to his pupils. He must not only know how and when to give, but also how and when not to give, and still inspire a cheerful spirit of perseverance on the part of the young aspirants after knowledge. In reality, the mind should be so cultivated that it may produce as well as receive; for, however much it may receive, it can accomplish but little real good in the community unless it possesses the power of producing. One has very truly said, "It is not that which is done for a pupil that is most valuable to him and others, but that which he is led to do for himself." The longer pupils can be induced to study and think in the investigation of a truth or principle, the more valuable will it be to them when attained, and their minds will be the better prepared to grasp and comprehend other and future difficulties.

Again; the teacher should strive to incite in his pupils a desire to do well, rather than much, remembering that a LITTLE, well done, is far preferable to MUCH that is but half done. He should urge them to thoroughness in all that they do, and, to this end, the exercise of the passing hour, whether it be a spelling lesson or a mathematical exercise, should be made the exercise, and receive perfect and undivided attention, and be thoroughly committed and clearly understood. He should labor to make his pupils feel that the chief merit consists in the manner and perfection of their performances; that while many can do, but few do well, and that fewer still excel. He should cause them to realize that, in subsequent life, no employment or profession can honor, elevate and reward them, unless first, by their own abili· ties and well-applied talents and efforts, they have contributed to adorn and elevate the business or profession of their choice in other words, he should instruct them, in whatever pursuit they may engage, to perform its duties well and thoroughly, and, if their calling is a laudable one, success and honor must and will attend them.

Another particular, from which the business of teaching has suffered, and now suffers, is the tendency to require too many studies. This evil also follows one of an opposite nature. In bygone days it was not customary to pursue many branches. In our Common Schools, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, constituted the catalogue of studies. These truly were some of the more important, but by no means all that were important. The subject of studies was considered and discussed, and more branches were, very properly, introduced into our schools. But, the attention once aroused, the true medium was soon passed and the evil of multiplicity has followed that of deficiency. This, certainly, calls for consideration; for, we think, nothing so much conduces to superficialness as attention to a multitude of studies at the same time. The mind, to be sure, needs some variety, some change. Too long confinement to one subject will fatigue it, and, if we may use the expression, monotonize it; but too great a variety will distract and weaken it. It should, therefore, be a prominent object with the teacher to ascertain the number and the kind of studies which his classes. can pursue to advantage, and having satisfied himself, he should not be swayed by the wishes of such pupils as are constantly seeking for "some new thing," -for some higher study. He should never allow variety to take the place of thoroughness, but ever strive to induce his pupils to feel that the only sure way to gain promotion in their studies is to merit it by first obtaining a clear and full understanding of the more simple, but not less important branches.