of the people for the important social and political duties which devolve | manner required by law, it is assessed upon the persons residing in the

on them.

The manner in which the inhabitants of school districts may provide for the preservation of their libraries, is pointed out at page 290, Common School Decisions. Books may, and doubtless will, occasionally be lost, and they will gradually be worn out by continual use, so that it may be necessary to replace them by others. But if 100, or even 50 persons in a district shall have been benefitted by the perusal of a volume before it is lost or destroyed, the money which it has cost will not have been unprofitably expended. With proper care, and a periodical (at least an annual) collection and examination of the books, as already suggested, there will be very few losses, and many years will elapse before it will become necessary to replace them by new ones.

Expenses.

Although the common school fund amounts to nearly two millions of dollars, and yields an annual income of more than one hundred thousand dollars, it pays but a very small proportion of the expenses of the The expenditures in a school district, embrace three classes of objects: 1. The compensation of teachers.

common schools.

made by the town assessors for town and county purposes. If a tax district, according to their taxable property, as ascertained by the roll for fuel is not voted, it is furnished by the persons sending children to school, in proportion to the number of days of attendance. But if any one neglects, on the request of the trustees, to furnish his quota, they are authorized to provide it for him, and charge the amount against him for collection in the rate-bill.

The expense of this part of the system is defrayed by a tax on the property, excepting the single case in which fuel is furnished in kind. in some cases appear to be unduly favored, it often happens in this case, And if in respect to the compensation of teachers, taxable property may that it contributes largely to the expenses of the commion schools, without deriving any direct benefit from them. A man of wealth may never have sent a child to school in the district in which he resides, and furnish it with fuel. It is not designed by presenting this view of and yet his property is taxed to build a school house, keep it in repair, the subject, to impugn the justice of the rule. On the contrary, it is believed to be perfectly just on account of the interest which every man of property has in securing, through the moral and intellectual improvement of those who surround him, a substantial basis for that public orbe uncertain and precarious.

2. The construction of school houses, and supplying them with neder and tranquillity, without which the tenure of his possessions would cessary appendages and fuel.

3. The purchase of school books,

The two first classes of objects are provided for by law, so far as to "authorize or direct the necessary funds to be raised; and the third is left entirely to voluntary contribution.

On a careful examination of the whole subject, it will be apparent that the proportions in which the expenses of the common school system are provided for by those who educate their children in the common 1. The compensation of teachers. The sum of two hundred and schools, and by the possessors of property deriving no benefit from seventy-five thousand dollars is annually distributed to the school dis-them, are as well adjusted to the accomplishment of the objects of the tricts from the common school fund, and is appropriated to the compen-institution as is practicable. sation of teachers, who have been inspected by the proper authority, and received a certificate of qualification. The board of supervisors in each county are required to cause to be levied, by tax, on each town, a sum equal to that which such town receives from the common school fund as its quota of the annual income. The sum thus levied, is also appropriated to the payment of the wages of teachers qualified according to law. The inhabitants of each town have authority to vote, at their annual town meeting, an additional sum, not exceeding the amount directed to be raised therein by the supervisors; or in other words, not exceeding its quota of the income of the common school fand. Thus each town is annually taxed to an amount, equal to the sum it receives from the common school fund, and it may by its own voluntary act, be taxed twice that amount.

These sums are paid to the commissioners of common schools in each town, who distribute them among the school districts within their jurisdiction, according to the number of children in each district over five and under sixteen years of age. Several towns have local funds, the income of which is also paid into the hands of the commissioners, for distribution with the other school moneys, and is also appropriated to the compensation of qualified teachers by force of a provision of law, which requires all moneys paid by commissioners to school districts to be so applied.

At the expiration of each term in a school district, the trustees pay the teacher so much of the school moneys, as is appropriated to that term by vote of the inhabitants of the district at their annual meeting, and the residue of his wages for the term is collected of all who have sent children to school, in proportion to the number of days their children have attended. Indigent persons may be exempted by the trustees from paying any part of the rate-bill; so that the compensation of the teacher for the term, excepting so much of it as is provided for by the public money, is paid by such of the patrons of the school as are of sufficient ability to pay any thing.

It is proper to add that parents may, if they please, pay directly to the teacher the amount due from them. In this case, the amount so paid is not included in the rate-bill, and the fees of the collector, who is allowed five per cent, on all moneys collected by him, is saved by the person or persons making such payment.

These provisions constitute the entire law for the compensation of teachers. They are founded upon the principle, that the income of the common school fund, with an equal amount raised by taxation, and such further sum not exceeding that amount, as may be voted by the inhabitants of towns, shall be appropriated exclusively to that object; and that the residue shall be provided by those whose children have the benefit of instruction.

This rule is, as respects the pecuniary ability of the contributors, often unequal. Thus, a man worth one thousand dollars, who sends four children to school, pays four times as much as a man worth ten thousand dollars, who sends only one child to school; but, on the other hand, the compensation of teachers is but a part of the expense of the common school system, and as will be seen herealer, property is very largely taxed for other objects.

Property, as such, pays the entire expense of building and repairing school houses; besides which, it always pays a sum towards the compensation of teachers, equal to the amount paid by the common school fund, and it may double that amount. On the other hand, those who send children to the common schools pay somewhat more than foursevenths of the entire compensation of the teachers, and furnish their children with school books. By regarding extreme cases on either side, some inequality is apparent. But a vast majority of those who educate their children in the common schools, are abundantly able on the score of pecuniary ability, to do so: and wherever an individual has children without the means of educating them, the trustees of the district may exempt him from the payment of any part of the teachers' wages. The exemption takes place at the close of the term. Until that time the children of such a man meet all the others on terms of entire equality in the school. No child can be excluded from it on account of the inability of his parents to pay for his tuition. It is to be regarded as a settled principle, that the school is open to all the children residing in the district; and nothing short of a degree of impurity of conduct and character, too gross for association with others, would justify the trustees in excluding a child even temporarily from it.

If the expenses of the common school system were all defrayed by a public fund and by property, it is apprehended that the worst ef fects would ensue. A man with a large number of children, may sometimes feel the expense of their education a burden. But his contributions, for the very reason that they are made with some difficulty, give him a deep interest in seeing that the affairs of the district are managed with economy and prudence. The effect of the present mode of providing for the expenses of the system, is undoubtedly to surround it with interested and careful observers, who will be vigilant in detecting abuses, and prompt in seeking the proper redress.

The Prussian system is maintained upon a plan very similar to ours, so far as its expenses are concerned. The government pays something towards the support of schools. The property of the vicinage pays something more, and the residue is paid by those who send their children to school, or, in the language of Mr. Cousin, "those who actually profit by these establishments," [Schools.]

The common school fund affords nothing more than an inducement to the inhabitants of school districts to tax themselves for the support of their schools.

3. The purchase of school books. Every person sending a child to school, must provide the necessary school books. There is no provision by law for indigent persons. Possibly there should be. But it may safely be said, that a case rarely, if ever occurs, in which a poor child is not furnished with the necessary Looks, through the liberality of individuals.

General Observations.

Some of the most prominent features of the commen school system have thus been briefly surveyed, and its policy, so far as respects the distribution of power through which it is controlled, has been cursorily 2. The construction of school houses, and supplying them with ne-examined. It is, emphatically, an institution for the people, and to cessary fuel and appendages. The whole expense of purchasing a lot, building a school house, and furnishing it with a few indispensable articles, asa stove, water-pail, broom, wood-house, &c., is paid by the taxable property of each school district. But no tax for these objects can Le levied unless it is voted at a regular meeting of the inhabitants, by a majority of the persons present. The tax having been voted in the

them has heen allotted a large share of its administration. On the zeal with which their task is performed, and on the degree of importanco which they attach to its elevation to a grade commensurate with its high objects, must depend, to a very considerable extent, the rank they will hold in the political system under which they live, and the part they may take in giving a direction to its movements.

that which other States or Nations have attained, but to that height which may be reached by cultivation of the intellectual powers, with all the facilities of modern improvements, during the entire period when the faculties are quick and active, the curiosity insatiable, the temper practicable, and ments of arithmetic, generally constitute the learning acquired in Common the love of truth supreme. The ability to read and write, with the rudiSchools. To these our Academies and Colleges add superficial instruction in the dead languages, without the philosophy of our own; scientific facts, without their causes; definitions, without practical application; the rules of rhetoric, without its spirit; and history, divested of its moral instructions. It is enough to show the defectiveness of our entire system, that its pursuits are irksome to all, except the few endowed with peculiar genius and fervor to become the guides of the human mind, and that it fails to inspire either a love of science or passion for literature.

There is danger that they will never answer the ends of their insti- | villages. The standard of Education ought to be elevated, not merely to tution, if the teachers-the body of men who are relied on to infuse into them the moral and intellectual improvement, which constitutes the vital principle of the whole system-are not fully adequate to the task. Will not those who are the most deeply interested in elevating the standard of education, adopt the only measure by which the object can be accomplished? Will they not bring to this subject the practical good sense by which they are distinguished, and see in this, as in all other cases, that even the ends of economy are best answered by employing those who are most skilled in their art? The value of the common school system is universally acknowledged and felt in this State. In this respect public opinion needs no impulse. But it is no more than just to say, that the importance of a higher standard of education, is not so generally or correctly appreciated. Opinion has, however, made some advances in this particular; and a confident belief is entertained that the liberal provisions of the legislature for the preparation of teachers, will meet with such a reception from an en-theless, the chief of our responsibilities. The consequences of the most lightened people, as to remedy effectually the only material defect in our common school system, and leave nothing to be desired in relation to it, excepting that it may be permanent in its duration.

JOHN A. DIX.

Superintendent of Common Schools.

PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN NEW YORK.

"Postponed, omitted, and forgotten, as it too often is, amid the excitement of other subjects and the pressure of other duties, Education is, neverpartial improvement in our system of Education will be wider and more enduring than the effects of any chance of public policy, the benefits of any new principle of jurisprudence, or the results of any enterprize we can accomplish. These consequences will extend through the entire develop. ment of the human mind, and be consummated only with its destiny.

"We seem at last to have ascertained the only practicable manner of introducing Normal Schools into our country. It is by engrafting that system upon our Academies. I earnestly hope you will adopt such further legislation as is required to make this effort successful.

"Provision has been made for the establishment of school district libraries. If I do not greatly err, this cheap and easy mode of bringing into contact with the juvenile powers the discoveries of science and the mysteries of the arts, will be the era of a new impulse to the cause of Education. The Common Schools may resist every other influence, but they cannot withstand that of the general improvement of the community. I cannot too earnestly solicit your co-operation in the beginning of this wise and momentous policy.

The following extract from Governor Seward's Message, presents, in a summary view, the present condition, not only of the Common School System of this great State, but also of her Academies and Colleges The sug gestions which follow are as applicable to our State as to New-York. Our system of inspection is by no means as vigorous as hers. The plan proposed, of a County Board, formed a part of the original bill passed by the last Legislature, and in our case was to be composed of delegates from each board of school visiters. Nothing really efficient can ever be made out of this part of our school system as at present organized. If Connecticut, with such colleges, academies, private schools, and common schools as are already in existence, would but take up the cause of Education, both in its primary and higher departments, with the spirit which her own prosperity and enduring fame, and the peace and prosperity of the whole country imperiously demands, she might have the best system of Public In-mies, and inspectors are the legal visiters of Common Schools. How ut

struction on this side of the Atlantic. But to our extract.

"Union College continues to maintain its high rank among the literary institutions of our country. It has three hundred students. Within the last ten years, eight hundred and seventy-four persons have received from its faculty their first degree in the arts.

"The College at Geneva enjoys scenery and associations eminently congenial to literature, and is happily located in regard to its sphere of usefulness. It is already beginning to justify the long delayed and limited public favor it has received. Its number of students is fifty, being an increase of forty within two years.

Hamilton College is surmounting the embarrassments with which it has so long struggled, and gives gratifying promise of renewed usefulness. "Columbia College, in the city of New York, contains one hundred and fifty-seven students, which is an increase of twenty-seven over the number of the preceding year. None of our scientific institutions have more faithfully and perseveringly maintained their standard of preparatory qualification, more diligently discharged the duties of instruction, nor sent into public life men of more eminent abilities, sound learning and elevated patriotism, than this ancient and venerable institution. It was excepted from the legislative patronage bestowed at the last session. Is it not both wise and just to admit it to an equality with other institutions?

"In reference to all our Collegiate Institutions, it affords me pleasure to state that their usefulness has been increased and their prospects are more auspicious than heretofore.

There are one hundred and forty-six incorporated Academics, seventynine of which are subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, and participate in the distribution of the Literature Fund. The act of 1837 renders the terms of admission to these advantages so easy, that it is probable all will soon be placed on the same basis. The number of students in the Academies subject to visitation, is about ten thousand, and the number in all the Academies in the State is estimated to exceed fifteen thousand. The sum to be annually distributed hereafter, is $40,000, being an addition of $23,000 to the previous annual appropriation. "There are ten thousand five hundred and eighty-three organized Common School Districts in the State, of which nine thousand eight hundred and thirty have maintained schools during an average period of eight onths within the last year. The number of children between the ages of five and sixteen in the School Districts is five hundred and thtrty-nine thousand seven hundred and forty-seven, of whom five hundred and twen ty-eight thousand nine hundred and thirteen received instruction in the Common Schools within the year.

"The Colleges, Academies and Common Schools constitute our system of public instruction. The pervading intelligence, the diminution of crime, the augmented comforts and enjoyments of society and its progressive refinement, the ascendency of order and the supremacy of the laws, testify that the system has been by no means unsuccessful in diffusing knowledge and

Virtue.

It must nevertheless be admitted that its efficiency is much less than the State righfully demands, both as a return for her munificence and a guaranty for her institutions. Some of our Colleges and Academies languish in the midst of a community abounding in genius and talent, impaTient of the ignorance which debases, and the prejudices which enslave. The Common School System, but partially successful in agricultural dis, is represented as altogether without adaptation to cities and populous

"Visitation is the very principle of life to all seminaries of instruction. It acts upon both instructors and pupils by all the incentives which excite, and all the motives which encourage emulation. It would, if carried into effect, call to the aid of the State, in this mighty interest, the ally at once the most natural and efficient, parents themselves. The Regents of the University are, by virtue of their office, visiters of the Colleges and Acadeterly this duty of visitation has fallen into disuse, your own observation and the public voice abundantly testify. The office of Inspector of Common Schools is unhappily always involved in the political organization of parties. Generally it falls, by custom strong as law, upon young men engrossed by private affairs. Its duties confer, in public estimation, nothing of the dignity, and maintain little of the importance, which would induce their faithful execution. For this evil of our whole system, there is a remedy, simple, economical and effectual-the establishment of a Department of Education, to be constituted of a Superintendent appointed by the legislature, and a Board to be composed of Delegates from subordinate Boards of Education to be established in the several counties. The State Board might exercise a general supervision, with powers of visitation of the Colleges, and the County Boards the same powers in their respective counties. The duties of all these officers, except the Superintendent, ought to be discharged without compensation, and the tenure of office might be made so long as to ensure efficiency. I am satisfied the State abounds with competent individuals who would assume those duties without other remuneration than the consciousness of rendering enlightened and patriotic service in the cause of Education."

PENNSYLVANIA.

Extract from Governor Porter's Inaugural Address to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, January 15, 1839.

"In a Republican Government, general intelligence should be diffused among the citizens. They are thus enabled to perform their duties as constituent parts of the government, intelligently and correctly. Every means, therefore, for educating the whole people in useful knowledge, should be resorted to. In carrying out this system, our State is now progressing with the great experiment of her Common Schools, Academies and Colleges.Whether the course adopted, in all its details, is the best that could be devised; or whether like every thing else which is the offspring of human action, it is imperfect and will require the corrections which experience teaches us are necessary in all our projects, time will develop. I feel disposed to give every necessary aid to accelerate the march of intellect and enlighten the human mind, the better to enable us to preserve and hand down to pos terity, unimpaired, the civil and religious privileges received by us as a sacred inheritance from our fathers."

VIRGINIA.

We have seen an extract from Gov. Campbell's last message to the legislature, which gives a most deplorable picture of the state of education in Virginia. From this it appears, that of the white male population arrived at the age of puberty, very nearly one fourth are unable to read and write. A much greater proportion of the female population is supposed to be in the same predicament. But what is quite discouraging to the adoption of a Common School System like that which Governor Campbell recommends, is the statement, that one fifth of the white families of Virginia are so extremely poor as to be unable to contribute any thing towards the education of their

children.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.

Vol. I.]

HARTFORD, FEBRUARY 15, 1839.

THE CONNECTICUT COMMON SCHOOL JOURNAL WILL BE PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH, AT THE PRICE OF FIFTY CENTS A YEAR, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. Persons wishing to subscribe, can forward their names and remittances, to the Secretary of the Board at Hartford, or to the Vice-President of the County Association, or to the postmaster of the town in which they reside, who can render the Journal essential service by acting as its agents.

To any Teacher who will forward the names and remittances of four subscribers, an additional number will be sent.

And to any person who will forward an order and remittances for fifteen numbers, two additional copies will be sent, if desired. All subscriptions to the Journal must begin with the first number. The back numbers will be sent, as long as they can be supplied. Twelve numbers, comprising at least One Hundred and fifty-two closely printed quarto pages, equal to at least Four Hundred octavo pages, will

constitute the volume.

All subscriptions must be paid in advance-and all letters relative to the Journal niust be post paid.

Printed by Case, Tiffany & Burnham, Pearl-st.

SEMINARIES FOR TEACHERS.

a

[No. 8.

A term of years is required to fulfil the duties of an apprenticeship to any of the mechanical trades. An artisan does not venture to solicit the patronage of the public, till he has undergone this apprenticeship. This training under the instruction of experienced masters, is deemed of still more importance in what are termed the liberal arts, such as painting, sculpture, and engraving. To foster them, academies are formed; models are collected; lectures are delivered; and the young novitiate is willing to devote years of patient and assiduous labor, to fit himself for success in his profession. We hear, too, of what is termed regularly bred merchant; and the drilling of the counter and the compting house is considered indispensable to prepare one for all the complicated transactions of trade and commerce. And if men are to be trained to arms, academies are established, at which experience, ingenuity, and science are put in requisition, to qualify the young and inexperienced for military exploits. In fact, there is scarce any pursuit connected with the business of life, but what men have endeavored to render successful, by a process predicated on well known principles of human nature;by making it, in the first place, a distinct profession or calling; then, by yielding to those who have long been engaged in it, the deference which their experience justly demands; and finally, by compelling those who would wish to adopt it, to devote themselves to it, and to pass through all the preparatory steps which are necessary for the consummation of their acquaintance both with its theory and practice. In this way only we hope to form good mechanics, painters, engravers, sculptors, farmers, merchants, physicians, and lawyers.

The following remarks on Seminaries for Teachers were published, in substance, more than twelve years since, by the Rev. T. H. Gallau-kind. But my subject is a very practical one, and I intend to treat it det. They were from his own reflections, without any knowledge of foreign institutions of a similar kind. He seems, at that time, to have anticipated what is now beginning to be regarded as so essential to success in the cause of popular education. We earnestly invite the attention of the readers of the Journal to this important subject.

Perhaps some of my illustrations may be considered of too humble a they wish to get a shoe made, to whom they apply? Do they not take in a practical way. Permit me, then, to inquire of my readers, when considerable pains to find a first-rate workman; one who has learned his trade well, and who can execute his work in the best manner? And when our wives and daughters want a new bonnet, or a new dress, will they not make a great many inquiries, and take not a few steps, and consume no small portion of very valuable time, to ascertain the No important result can be attained with regard to the accomplish- important fact, who is the most skilful and tasteful milliner and seammcat of any object which affects the temporal or eternal well-being of stress within their reach; and are they not willing to undergo many our species, without enlisting an entire devotedness to it of intelligence, inconveniences, and wait till their patience is almost exhausted, and zeal, fidelity, industry, integrity, and practical exertion. What is it, their wants very clamorous, in order to obtain the precious satisfacthat has furnished us with able divines, lawyers, and physicians?tion of having the work done by hands whose skill and ingenuity have The undivided consecration of the talents and efforts of intelligent and been long tested, and on whose experience and judgment in adjusting upright individuals to these professions. How have these talents been colors, and qualities, and proportions, and symmetry, and shape, they matured, and these efforts been trained, to their beneficial results? By can cafely rely? a diligent course of preparation, and a long discipline in the school of experience. We have our theological, law, and medical institutions, in which our young men are fitted for the pursuit of these respective In your very articles of dress, to clothe a frail, perishable body, that professions, by deriving benefit from the various sources of informa- is soon to become the prey of corruption, will you be so scrupulous in tion which libraries, lectures, and experiments afford. Unaided by the choice of those whom you employ to make them; and yet feel no such auxiliaries, genius, however briliant; invention, however prolific; solicitude in requiring of these to whom is entrusted the formation of observation, however acute; ingenuity, however ready; and perseve-the habits, and thoughts and feelings of a soul that is to live forever, rance, however indefatigable; have to grope their way through a long a preparation for their most responsible task; an apprenticeship to their and tiresome process, to the attainment of results which a little ac-important calling; a devotedness to a pursuit which involves all that quaintance with the labors of others in the same track of effort, would can affect the tenderest sympathies of a kind parent,—the most ardent render a thousand times more easy, rapid and delightful. Experience hopes of a true patriot,-the most expanded views of a sincere philanis the storehouse of knowledge. Now why should not this experience thropist,-the most benevolent wishes of a devout Christian? be resorted to as an auxiliary in the education of youth? Why not make this department of human exertion, a profession, as well as those of divinity, law, and medicine? Why not have an Institution for the training up of instructers for their sphere of labor, as well as institutions to prepare young men for the duties of the divine, the lawyer, or the physician?

Is a shoe, or a bonnet, to be put in competition with an immortal mind!

I am told that the Patent-office at Washington is thronged with models of machines, intended to facilitate the various processes of mechanical labor; and I read, in our public prints of the deep interest which is felt in many of those happy discoveries that are made to provide for the wants, and comforts, and luxuries of man, at an casier and a cheaper rate and I hear those eulogized as the benefactors of our Can a subject of more interest present itself to the consideration of race, whose genius invents, and whose patient application carries into the public? Does not the future improvement of our species, to which effect, any project for winnowing some sheaves of wheat a little quickthe philanthropist and the Christian look forward with such delightful er, or spinning some threads of cotton a little sooner, or propelling a anticipation, depend on the plans which are adopted for the develop-boat or a car a little faster, than has heretofore been done; and, all this ment and cultivation of the intellectual and moral powers of man? while, how comparatively few improvements are made, in the process Must not these plans begin with infancy and childhood? Do not the at- of educating the youthful mind; and in training it for usefulness in tainments of the pupil depend upon the talents, the fidelity, and the integ-this life, and for happiness in the life to come!

rity of those by whom he is taught? How will he learn to think, to Is human ingenuity and skill to be on the alert in almost every other speak, to read, and to write with accuracy, unless his instructers are field of enterprise but this? How can we reconcile our apathy on this able to teach him? Shall their ability depend upon their individual subject with the duties which we owe to our children, to our country, experience and attainments? Are you satisfied with a divine, a law-and to our God? yer, or a physician, who has qualified himself, or pretended to do so, Let the same provision, then, be made for giving success to this defor his profession, by solitary, unaided, unadvised untaught, inexpe- partment of effort that is so liberally made for all others. Let an inrienced efforts? You do not do this. Why not, then, require in the stitution be established in every state, for the express purpose of traininstructers of youth, to whom you commit the training up of your off- ing up young men for the profession of instructers of youth in the spring, an adequate preparation for their most important and respon-common branches of an English education. Let it be so well endowed, sible employment? by the liberality of the public, or of individuals, as to have two or three professors, men of talents and habits adapted to the pursuit, who should devote their lives to the object of the Theory and Practice of

But this preparatory discipline is considered indispensable not merely for the learned professions, but for the ordinary occupations of life.

the Education of Youth,' and who should prepare, and deliver, and would carry with them the spirit of the Institution, and thus, by these print, a course of lectures on the subject. various processes of communication, the whole mass of public sentiLet the institution be furnished with a library, which shall containment, and feeling, and effort, would be imbued with it. all the works, theoretical and practical, in all languages, that can be obtained on the subject of education, and also with all the apparatus that modern ingenuity has devised for this purpose; such as maps, charts, globes, orreries, &c.

Let there be connected with the institution a school, smaller or larger, as circumstances may dictate, in which the theories of the professors can be reduced to practice, and from which daily experience would derive a thousand useful instructions.

To such an Institution let young men resort who are ready to devote themselves to the business of instructers of youth. Let them attend a regular course of lectures on the subject of education; read the best works; take their turns in the instruction of the experimental school, and after thus becoming qualified for their office, leave the Institution with a suitable certificate, or diploma, recommending them to the confidence of the public.

Another advantage resulting from such an institution would be, that it would lead to the investigation and establishment of those principles of discipline and government most likely to promote the progress of children and youth in the acquisition of intellectual and moral excellence. How sadly vague and unsettled are most of the plans in this important part of education, now in operation in our common schools. What is the regular and well-defined system of praise and blame; of rewards and punishments; of exciting competition or appealing to better feelings; in short, of cultivating the moral and religious temper of the pupil, while his intellectual improvement is going on, which now pervades cur schools? Even the gardener, whom you employ to deck your flower beds, and cultivate your vegetables, and rear your fruit trees, you expect to proceed upon some matured and well understood plan of operation. On this subject I can hardly restrain my emotions. I ani almost ready to exclaim,-shame on those fathers and mothers, who inquire not at all, who almost seem to care not at all, with regard to the moral discipline that is pursued by instructers in cultivating the temper and disposition of their children. On this subject, everything depends on the character and habits of the instructer; on the plans he lays down for himself; on the modes by which he carries these plans into effect. Here, as in everything else, system is of the highest importance. Nothing should be left to whim and caprice. What is to be this system? Who shall devise it? Prudence, sagacity, affection, firmness, and above all, experience, should combine their skill and effort to produce it. At such an Institution as I have proposed, these requisites would be most likely to be found. Then might we hope to see the heart improved, while the mind expanded; and knowledge, human and divine, putting forth its fruits, not by the mere dint of arbitrary authority, but by the gentler persuasion of motives addressed to those moral principles of our nature, the cultivation of which reason and religion alike inculcate. In addition to all this, suppose that some intelligent and respectable individual, after having made himself master of the subject in all its bearings, and consulted with the wise and judicious within his reach, who might feel an interest in it, should prepare a course of lectures, and spend a season or two in delivering them in our most populous towns and cities. The novelty of this, if no other cause, would attract a great many hearers. Such an individual, too, in his excursions, would have the best opportunity of conferring with well-informed and influential men; of gaining their views; of learning the extent and weight of all the obstacles which such a project would have to encoun

I have scarcely room to allude to the advantages which would result from such a plan. It would direct the attention, and concentrate the efforts, and inspire the zeal, of many worthy and intelligent minds to one important object. They would excite each other in this new career of doing good. Every year would produce a valuable accession to the mass of experience that would be constantly accumulating at such a store-house of knowledge. The business of instructing youth would be reduced to a system, which would embrace the best and the readiest modes of conducting it. This system would be gradually diffused throughout the community. Our instructers would rank, as they ought to do, among the most respectable professions. We should know to whom we entrusted the care and education of our offspring. These instructers, corresponding, as they naturally would, with the Institution which they had left, and visiting it at its annual, and my imagination already portrays, delightful festivals, would impart to it, and to each other, the discoveries and improvements which they might individually make, in their separate spheres of employment. In addition to all this, what great advantages such an institution would afford, by the combined talents of its professors, its library, its experimental school, and perhaps by the endowment of two or three fellowships for this very object, for the formation of the best books to be employed in the early stages of education; a desideratum which none but some intelligent mothers and teachers, and a few others, who have devoted themselves to so humble, yet important an object, can duly appreciate. Such an institution, too, would soon become the centre of informa-ter, and the best modes of removing them; and, if it should indeed aption on all topics connected with the education of youth; and thus, the combined results of those individuals in domestic life, whose attention has been directed to the subject, would be brought to a point, examined, weighed, matured, digested, systematized, promulgated, and carried into effect.

pear deserving of patronage, of enlisting public sentiment and feeling in its favour.

If the experiment could, at first, be made upon a small scale; if such an Institution could be moderately endowed with funds sufficient to support one or two professors, and procure even the elements of a sen-library, afterwards to be enlarged, as private or public bounty might permit; if it could be established in some town large enough to furnish from its youthful population pupils to form its experimental school; and if only a few young men, of talents and worth, could be induced to resort to it, with an intention of devoting themselves to the business of instruction as a profession,-it would not, I think, be long before its practical utility would be demonstrated. The instructers, although few in number, who would, at first, leave the Institution, would probably be located in some of our larger towns. Their modes of instruction would be witnessed by numbers of the influential and intelligent, and, if successful, would soon create a demand for other instructers of similar qualifications. And as soon as such demand should be produced, other individuals would be found willing to prepare themselves to meet it. And thus we might hope, that both private and public munificence, so bountifully bestowed, at the present day, on other useful objects, would eventually contribute a portion of its aid to an establishment designed to train up our youth more successfully to derive benefit from all the other efforts of benevolence, or institutions of literature and religion, which are so widely extending their influence through every part of our highly favored country,

Such an Institution would also tend to elevate the tone of public timent, and to quicken the zeal of public effort with regard to the correct intellectual and moral education of the rising generation. To accomplish any great object, the co-operation of numbers is necessary. This is emphatically true in our republican community. Individual influence, or wealth, is inadequate to the task, Monarchs, or nobles, may singly devise, and carry in o effect, Herculean enter prises. But we have no royal institutions; ours must be of more gradual growth, and perhaps, too, may aspire to more generous and impartial beneficence, and attain to more settled and immovable stability. Now, to concentrate the attention, and interest, and exertions of the public on any important object, it must assume a definite and palpable form. It must have a local habitation and name.' For instance, you may, by statements of facts, and by eloquent appeals to the sympathies of others, excite a good deal of feeling with regard to the deaf and dumb, or to the insane. But so long as you fail to direct this good will in some particular channel of practical effort, you only play round the hearts of those whom you wish to enlist in the cause. They will think, | and feel, and talk, and hope that something will be done; but that is all. But erect your Asylum for the deaf and dumb, and your Retreat for the insane. Bring these objects of your pity together. Let the Another obstacle, in the prosecution of such a plan, is the difficulty of public see them. Commence your plans of relief. Show that some-inducing young men of character and talents to embark in it, and to thing can be done, and how and where it can be done, and you bring derote themselves to the business of instruction for life.* into action that sympathy and benevolence which would otherwise I cannot but hope that the time is not far distant, when the education have been wasted in mere wishes, and hopes, and expectations. Just of youth will assume, in the minds of intelligent and pious individuals, so with regard to improvements in education. Establish an Institution, its proper place among the various other benevolent exertions which such as I have ventured to recommend, in every state. The public are made, through the aids of private and public bounty, for meliorating attention will be directed to it. Its professors will have their friends the temporal and eternal condition of man. In the meanwhile, cannot and correspondents in various parts of the country, to whom they will, a few young men, of talents and piety, be led to feel that the thousands from time to time, communicate the results of their speenlations and of our rising generation, the hope of the church and the state, have efforts, and to whom they will impart a portion of the enthusiasm strong claims on their benevolence; and that to consecrate their which they themselves feel. Such an institution, too, would soon be- time and their efforts to such an enterprise, may be as much their duty come an object of laudable curiosity. Thousands would visit it. Its experimental school, if properly conducted, would form a most delight ful and interesting spectacle. Its library and various apparatus would be, I may say, a novelty in this department of the philosophy of the human mind. It would probably, also, have its public examinations, which would draw together an assembly of intelligent and literary in dividuals. Its students, as they dispersed through the community,

of children and youth a profession, to be pursued as an occupation for life, he is *While the writer, in this essay, urges the importance of making the teaching fully aware of the difficulties attending the subject, in the state of society in this country. He would have every thing done that can be, to give efficacy and success to the plan of employing good teachers from among such as can give only a short time to the employinent. This mode, too, has some advantages. But the other mode bas peculiar and great advantages. At any rate, there is no danger, at present, of having too many good teachers who are willing to make it a profession.

as to engage in the missionary cause? Missionaries make great sac-sary to give him what is called a good English education. I do not rifices, and practice much self-denial, and endure weighty labors, with fear to hazard the assertion, that under an improved system of educaout any prospect of temporal emolument, in order to train up heathen tion, with suitable books prepared for the purpose, and conducted by youth for usefulness in this world, and for happiness in the next; and more intelligent and experienced instructers, as much would be acquired cannot those be found who will undergo some sacrifices, and self-denial, in five years, by our children and youth, as is now acquired in eight. and labour, to bring about so great a good as a reformation in the in- Now with regard to those parents who calculate on receiving benefit struction of those youth who are bone of our bone, and flesh of our from the labor of their children, it will easily be seen that, by gaining flesh? Only admit the importance of the object, (and who can deny three years out of eight in the course of their education, there will be it?) and it almost looks like an impeachment of their Christian sinceri- an immense saving to the state. This saving alone would, I appre ty, to suppose that among those hundreds of young men who are press-hend, ff youth were usefully employed, more than defray the additional ing forward into the ranks of charitable enterprise, none can be per- wages which would have to be given to instructers of skill and expesuaded to enter upon a domestic field of labor, which promises so much rience, and who should devote themselves to their employment as a for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. No, only let the profession for life. But if even the advantage to be derived from the project be begun, let the way of usefulness be opened, let the counte- labor of children is not taken into the account, it is evident that, for ance and support of even a few pious and influential individuals be having the same object accomplished in five years that now consumes afforded, and I am persuaded that agents to carry on the work, at eight, you could at least afford to pay as much for five years of instrucleast to commence t, will not be wanting. tion as you now pay for eight. In addition to this, as it is the custom in many of our country towns for the instructer to board in the families of those who send children to school, there would be a saving also in this respect. There would be a saving, too, with regard to all the contingent expenses of the school, such as books, stationery, wood, &c. In a community constituted like that of New England, where so great a proportion of its population is devoted to agricultural and mechanical pursuits, any system of education which could save to the public three years out of eight of the time and labor of all its children and youth, would, it is manifest, add an immense sum to the pecuniary resources of the country, and recommend itself to every patriot and philanthropist, even on the most rigid principles of a calculating economy.

The difficulty is not in being unable to procure such agents: it lies deeper it arises from the very little interest that has yet been taken in the subject; from the strange neglect, among parents, and patriots, and Christians, of a well-digested and systematic plan for the education of children and youth; from the sluggish contentment that is felt with the long established modes of instruction; and from the apprehensions which some entertain, that all improvements are either unsafe or

chimerical.

But these young men are poor, and cannot defray the expense of a preparatory education at such a seminary as has been proposed. Poor young men are taken by the hand of charity and prepared for other spheres of benevolent exertion;-and shall this wide, and as yet almost uncultivated field of benevolence be quite neglected, for the want of a little pecuniary aid? Who gave the first impulse to Foreign Missionary efforts? Was nothing done until the whole Christian publie was awakened to a sense of its duty? Did this mighty enterprise begin in the collected councils of the grave and venerable fathers of the church? Was the whole plan of operation digested and matured in all its parts, and no steps taken until all obstacles were removed, and patronage, and influence, and means collected and concentrated to insure the successful prosecution of the vast design? No; long, long before all this complicated machinery was put in motion, the masterspring was at work, and a few pious and prayerful young men gave an impulse at first to private zeal, and afterwards to public co-operation, and the result fills us with gratitude and astonishment.

Besides, the grand object of education-to prepare the rising generation for usefulness and respectability in life, and to train them up for a better and happier state of existence beyond the grave-would not only be accomplished in a shorter space of time, but they would be much more effectually accomplished. At present, with all the time, and labor, and expense bestowed upon it, the work is too often only half done; and the effects of our imperfect modes of instruction are to render youth far less competent to succeed in any pursuits in which they may engage, than if their education was conducted by intelligent instructers, on a well-digested plan, and made as thorough and complete as it might be.

How often has the individual of native vigor of intellect and force of enterprise to lament, through a long life of unremitted effort, his many disappointments in the prosecution of his plans of business, arising altogether from the defects of his early education! And if this early education were properly conducted, what an accession it would yield to the resources of the community, in the superior ingenuity and skill of our artists; in the more accurate and systematic transactions of our merchants; in the profounder studies and more successful labors of our professional men; in the wider experience and deeper sagacity of our statesmen and politicians; in the higher attainments and loftier proconductions of our sons of literature and science; and permit me to add, in the nobler patriotism, the purer morals, and the more ardent piety of the whole mass of our citizens.

Let a MILLS and his associates arise to a hearty engagedness in the project of diffusing throughout our country a system for the best mode of conducting the education of youth; let their faith be strong, and their perseverance unwavering; and influence and wealth will soon contribute their share in the prosecution of the work; poverty on the part of those who are willing to endure the heat and burden of the day, will cease to be an obstacle in the way of acc:mplishing their benevolent designs. Providence can, in this, as in all the other departments of his dispensations, make even the selfish passions of our nature tribute to the promotion of good and charitable exertions.

I know it is no easy task to convince some minds that all these advantages yield just so many dollars and cents to the private purse, or to the public treasury. But my appeal is to those who take a more comprehensive view of what constitutes the real wealth of any commu nity, and who estimate objects not by what they will to-day fetch in the market, if exposed to sale, but by their effects upon the permanent well-being and prosperity of the state.

Those who should devote themselves to the business of the instruction of youth as a profession, and who should prepare themselves for it by a course of study and discipline at such a Seminary as I have proposed, would not find it necessary as our missionaries do, to depend on the charity of their countrymen for support. Their talents, their qualifications, and their recommendations, would inspire public confidence, and command public patronage. For experience would soon prove, if it cannot be now seen in prospect, that to save time in the education of youth, and to have this education complete instead of being With such I leave the candid consideration of the remarks which I imperfect, and to prepare the youthful mind for accurate thought, and have offered in this and the preceding essays; in the meanwhile chercorrect feeling, and practical, energetic action, in all the business of ishing the hope, that that Being who is now most wonderfully adjustlife, is to save money; and even those who now expend a few dollars ing the various enterprises of benevolence, that distinguish the age in with so niggardly a hand, in the education of their dear, immortal off-which we live from all others which have preceded it, to the consumspring, would soon learn how to calculate on the closest principles of loss and gain in the employment of instructers, and be willing to give twice as much, to him who would do his work twice as well and in half the time, as they now give to him who has neither skill nor experience in his profession.

Am I extravagant in these speculations! I think I am not; and if my readers will exercise a little more patience, I hope to show, that in adopting the plan which I have proposed, there will be an actual saring of money to individuals and to the state, in addi icn to those numerous advantages in a social, political, and religious point of view, that would result from it, and which are, if I mistake not, so great, that if they could not be attained in any other way, a pecuniary sacrifice ought not for a moment to stand in competition with them, My reasoning is founded on two positions which, I think, cannot be controverted; that the present modes of instructing youth are sus ceptible of vast improvement; and that, if this improvement could be carried into operation, by having a more effectual system of education adopted, and by training up instructers of superior attainments and skill, there would be a great saving, both of time and labor, and of all the contingent expenses necessary to be incurred.

Suppose, for the sake of argument, though I believe it falls short of the truth, that eight years of pretty constant attendance at school, counting from the time that a child begins to learn his letters, is neces

mation of His gracious designs for the universal happiness of man, on the principles which the gospel of Jesus Christ inculcates, and which it alone can produce, will, sooner, or later, and in some way or other, rouse the attention, and direct the efforts of the Christian world to that department of philanthropic exertion, the neglect of which must retard, if not quite counteract, complete success in all others,—the education of youth.

HISTORY OF NORMAL SCHOOLS, OR SEMINARIES FOR THE EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. The following curious and valuable details on the history of their institutions, are given by Mrs. Austin, in the preface to her translation of Cousin's Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia.

"Schools specially destined for educating the school-master in the principles and application of his profession cannot be traced higher than the commencement of the last century. Franke, the celebrated pietest, must be regarded as their originator. Beside his noble foundations of the Pædagogium and Orphan House of Halle, stood a seminary for the instruction of teachers, whether of learned or popular schools; and under Steinmetz, and his successors in that Abbacy, Klosterberge, near Magdeburg, was long a nursery from whence