of business creeps out in a pleasant hint that they had better put £100,000 of the money into Consols or East India stock, so that it may grow till it is wanted.

It is a worthy feature of this great design that the only condition by which it is fettered is, that under no circumstances shall its beneficence be hampered, either now or hereafter, by religious or sectional distinctions of any sort. The poor of London-be they only well conducted-will all be freely and without reservation its perpetual beneficiaries. Such charity as this will live forever in the memory of England. And though, with excellent taste, Mr. Peabody says nothing of the kind, surely it should serve to cover a multitude of small offenses between us and our Transatlantic fellow-Saxons, that this American merchant, living and thriving amongst us, has nothing but good words and actions for us after knowing us fam liarly for a quarter of a century, while our opinion of him is so high, and well justified by experience, that if anything could lessen our wonder at this munificence-unparalleled as it is in amount, and exquisite as is the spirit in which it has been conceived and proffered, it would be that the author of it is George Peabody.

From the London Times we learn that on the occasion of voting to Mr. Peabody "the freedom of the city (London) in a gold box," Mr. Charles Reed made an excellent and eloquent speech in which he paid the following noble tribute to Mr. Peabody:

At the present time, the country rings with the name of a man hitherto but little known among us, who by an act of unparalleled munificence had laid this city and the nation at large under the deepest obligations. (Cheers.) If it were a mere question of money-giving, large as the amount undoubtedly was, he should not have submitted a motion such as that he was about to propose to the court, because the bestowal of money did not in itself of necessity give any evidence of the charity of the donor, (hear, hear :) some men gave grudgingly and meanly, others lavishly and indiscriminately, while some bequeathed with a regretful relaxing of a sordid grasp, hoarded treasure which it was impossible for them to retain. But the free-handed charity of which he spoke commanded their profoundest admiration, and it was because it bore about it the tokens of unaffected and overflowing benevolence that he asked them to confer upon the donor an honor which if it could be purchased with money would be utterly valueless, but, being the reward of the truly meritorious alone, was ever

accepted as a mark of high distinction. (Hear, hear.) About fifty years ago a youth entering upon the busy scenes of commercial life, with a patriarchal example before him, registered this vow: "If God spares my life and prospers me in business, then the property with which I may become possessed I will devote to His glory in seeking the good of my fellow-men, wherever their claims may seem to rest most upon me." (Hear, hear.) The promise of the youth had been the life-long purpose of the man, and George Peabody had given to the world a splendid example of unwavering fidelity to an early resolution. (Cheers.) Prospered beyond his utmost expectations, he revisited the home of his childhood in 1852, and founded in Danvers, Massachusetts, an educational institution for the benefit of his fellow-townsmen at a cost of £20,000. "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth," and the wealthy London merchant went out again in 1857, to build and endow in Baltimore, where he had first commenced his business career, an institution devoted to science and morality, and embracing a free library, which had already cost him more than £100,000. (Cheers.) This might seem to have been enough for one man; but, resolute to his purpose, Mr. Peabody considered that a residence in this metropolis implied a claim upon his bounty, and he was not slow to recognise the liability. He said, "It is now twenty-five years since I commenced my residence and business in London as a stranger; but I did not long feel myself a stranger or in a stange land, for in all my commercial and social intercourse with my British friends during that long period I have constantly received courtesy, kindness and confidence. Under a sense of gratitude for these blessings of a kind Providence, encouraged by early associations, and stimulated by my views as well of duty as of inclination to follow the path which I had hitherto marked out for my guidance, I have been prompted for several years past repeatedly to state to some of my confidential friends my intention at no distant period, if my life were spared, to make a donation for the benefit of the poor of London." And thus the opulent banker, retiring from business, and with enfeebled health returning to his native land, ratified his word by securing at once and forever the sum of £150,000, for the poor of this metropolis. (Cheers.) It was nobly done; the gift was as graceful as it was great, and one knew not which most to admire the breadth of the liberality, or the pious simplicity of spirit which enhanced it. (Cheers.) Here was a man, a denizen of this city, bound to us by no ties but those of common humanity, at a crisis when some men delighted themselves in reviving the memory of ancient jealousies, talking fiercely of national

animosities and implacable hates, who stood out and rebuked our unworthy suspicions by an act of kindness to our poor, which brought the blush of shame to our cheeks as we thought of merchant princes of our own who, living, had been strangely insensible to the claims of Christian charity, and, dying, had left no trace behind. (Hear, hear.)

The points in Mr. Peabody's life and character especially worthy of admiration and imitation are ;

1. A fixed determination to merit success by earnest devotion to business.

2. An early resolution to use the results of his labors and his funds for the benefit of the world and for the amelioration of the condition of the poor.

3. A decision to give of his abundance during his life time and thus be able to give direction to his beneficence and, to some extent, witness the good results.

For the Common School Journal.

STATIONARY TEACHERS.

THERE are many teachers whose actions say they have made all the progress they intend ever to make. They have been stationary for years; stationary in character, in ability, and in knowledge. Ask many of our profession, what are you reading now, and the answer is, nothing. Ask what are you studying now, and the answer is the same. Make the question more comprehensive, in what way are you growing? and the answer is still the same, I am not growing at all; and if the whole truth was told, it would be added, 1 have no desire to grow; I am pretty well satisfied as I am; I know all I need to know for my present occupation, and I have given up expecting any thing better, and what is the use of knowing things if you don't expect to teach them. We heard a teacher say the other day in reference to a subject which every one ought to know, I shall never teach it, and so I mean never to learn it. Strip this spirit of all

ceased from all activ

excuses and palliations, and its language is this: I have decided to be no more than my immediate duties demand. I am content to be no wiser, no stronger, no better than will keep me from discredit, and shall be no more active than is necessary to do what I must do. In short, I have no care how small and narrow I am in every direction, so long as I can keep my present place and receive my present wages. Now to present no other considerations, what must be the effect of such a spirit on the temper of the pupil? Can he get enthusiasm from a torpid mind? Can he keep up his energy in the presence of stagnation? of stagnation? Can he find Can he find sympathy and aid in one when our mind has ity? It would be as reasonable to expect that the dry bed of a river would give fertility to a field or that the dead limbs of a tree would put forth blossom and leaf. An indolent mind can not make other minds diligent. A teacher who is not growing in knowledge can not be the means of growth to the pupil. He who lets the fire of an honorable ambition die out in himself, can not kindle it in others. The only way to keep the intellect of the pupil active, is that the teacher bring daily to the school fresh activities of his own. The only way to keep a feast of knowledge before the school, is that the teacher feast himself daily on the rich provision made for him, in books and in nature, and in intercourse with men, and the teacher who neglects to do this, is as certainly sterile as the stream whose source of supply is cut off is dry. There is space to mention only an example. Dr. Arnold was himself always growing, always learning something and working with a will and an enthusiasm which his pupil could not fail to catch, and so teacher and pupil worked and grew together, as few schools in the world have ever done. H. B. B.

EDUCATION OR INFORMATION?

A VISIT to the District School and attention to the daily routine of study and recitation leaves, in how many instances,

one impression, and you can not restrain the reflection-Education or Information?

Are these minds working on the soil of the brain, and strengthening it for the realities of life, as Dr. Winship develops the physical powers, by imposing an additional tax each day? Or are they merely cramming it with stores and materials? We have seen a class in Natural Philosophy recite their lesson, of usual length, all in about ten minutes. The teacher asked the questions at the foot of the page and the scholars picked out the answers from the text, which constituted their recitation. Now we thought-Is this education? Perhaps there is no apparatus. Very well. Even if he has no examples to cite bearing on the subject, the teacher can, at least, rake over the ideas the pupil has got from the text, see whether he has misinterpreted his lesson or failed to investigate thoroughly enough. How great has been the activity of the thinking powers to prepare the lesson? How great advancement has been made in the work of teaching the scholar to think? It is taxing the muscle to the utmost that can be done with safety, that adds to the muscular ability. It is putting to the mind the hardest problem, be it in Arithmetic, in Grammar, or Natural Philosophy, that adds to its calibre and grasp. A learning process seems in many cases to be stereotyped upon a school. There was formerly in use the cyphering book, and the test was, not how well, but how much.

Like Mr. Silas Peckham's "feeding establishment," many of our schools deserve the criticism of memorizing establish

ment.

A straightforward business man once observed to us that he wanted his son to get a practical knowledge of Arithmetic; he didn't care any thing about the mental discipline. It might have been supposed that mental discipline was some imaginary result of going to school, not available for any practical end, a mere shadow. Yet it was just what enabled him to buy and sell, and invest, and control his business, while the figures are entrusted to the book-keeper. It is the trained mind, that plans, that governs, that adjudges.