expedient, always kindly, but firmly, and above all he should not despair of ultimate success. Let him remember in the words of Horace Mann, that "there is always an avenue through which a child's mind can be reached; failures come from a want of sagacity and perseverance in seeking it."

As a skillful physician, when called on to see see a patient, suffering from some serious complaint, makes an exhaustive diagnosis, inquires into the previous habits and conditions of life of his patient, notes the nature of his constitution, etc., before venturing to prescribe for him, so should the teacher, when called on to treat a case of confirmed indolence, ascertain all the facts which will throw light on it, and treat it accordingly. He should note who his companions are at school and at home, what he does at home, the nature of the home influence to which he is subjected. These latter may appear to some as beyond the proper sphere of a teacher; but at school being in loco parentis, he can never properly understand a pupil's motives nor thoroughly sympathise with him till he knows perfectly his home-life. Having, as thoroughly as he can, mastered the motives and made himself perfectly acquainted with the pupil, the teacher is now in a condition to try to remedy his carelessness and idleness.- Canada School Journal.

HINTS. Have a clear, well-defined idea of the kind of school you want. Have in mind an imaginary model-school, but do not be discouraged if you fail many times before you attain this; each day's determined work will bring it nearer. Teach pupils how to study. Teach them how to get from a book the thoughts which it contains. Teach pupils to attend to business, to do the work assigned them at the proper time, and to do one thing at a time. In hearing recitations, be interested yourself; be enthusiastic; have a soul in the work. If anything unpleasant has occurred during the day between the teacher and any of the pupils, never allow the school to close without dropping some pleasant word, which will cause all to leave the room with good feeling. Cultivate in pupils, as far as possible, self-respect and self-government. Never attempt to ferret out mischief without certainty of success; better let it pass than fail in the attempt. In governing your school, do not lower yourself to the level of your pupils, but always be dignified in your deportment in all the little things that pertain to the government of your school, thus silently and imper

ceptibly lifting them up to a higher standard. Teach your pupils to study from love of it. All the knowledge you force them to acquire will prove worthless. Better a thousand times turn your pupils out to play than keep them in during recess to get their lessons. If you cannot make study attractive to your pupils, quit the profession.

RECITATION. A portion of the recitation hour should be spent in giving instruction. One of the daily complaints of parents is that teachers assign lessons to be learned at home and to be merely recited at school. The complaint, we fear, is in too many cases well grounded, and should receive the attention of all earnest teachers. Judicious instruction is necessary at almost every recitation. As a general thing instruction should not be given when the lesson is assigned, which would remove all difficulties in the student's way. Let him have the the advantage of grappling with them, if not the joy of mastering them, before he comes to recite. At the recitation let the difficulties be explained, illustrations and new facts thrown in to increase the knowledge and interest of the learner. Of course this must be done in such a way as not to violate a cardinal point in teaching"that the pupil should never be told what he can be led to find out for himself." Here the skill and tact of the teacher are brought into exercise.

The "talking machine" in the teacher's chair may multiply "words without wisdom;" it is the teacher only who, comprehending fully the scholar's difficulties, will be likely to use the right means for their removal.

One plan that I have often found successful is to require different pupils, each in his own language, to explain and illustrate matters of doubt, and then, if necessary, to call upon the listeners to criticise the statements made. By this means not only are the "knotty points" made clear, but habits of quick attention and correct judgment are formed. Eclectic Teacher.

A NECESSITY." A good educational paper is not a luxury to a teacher, but a necessity that cannot be dispensed with," says a principal of one of the leading seminaries of New England, in a letter now before us. "In what sense is it a necessity?" is the interrogative reply of a teacher who takes no educational paper, who reads none,

but still finds occupation and wages by service in the school-room Our reply would be also after the Socratic method. You are a teacher? Yes. One who desires to be a good teacher of children? Yes. An intelligent teacher? Truly. A teacher growing in knowledge? Yes. Desirous of becoming better acquainted with the thoughts, plans, and methods of our best teachers? Certainly. What means do you possess of making such intelligent progress? I use the best text-books which I can obtain in my studies. That is well, but do these add to your stores of general and professional knowledge? No. Do these kindle your zeal in your professional work? Not especially. Have you any regular plan of study or reading which does enable you to keep up with the times, as do other professional people, such as the lawyer or the doctor? No, I have none; I have never regarded that as essential; or, if I have, have considered it a demand I could easily dispense with, as my pupils and patrons will hardly recognize the failure. Can you satisfy your own need of personal improvement, and your own larger usefulness to yourself as well as others, by such reasoning? - N. E. Journal of Education.

DEFENSE OF HIGH SCHOOLS.

When I was in Wittenberg, in Germany, where Luther nailed up his theses against the church-door, I saw there in bronze, in raised letters, the propositions he defended in the first Protestant Reformation. Under universal suffrage there is or will be needed a second Protestant reformation, to rescue the school, as the first did the Bible. I beg leave to nail upon the door of this Boston audience hall certain American propositions as to schools for the people. I should be grieved if the hammer should have an apologetic sound as it fastens up the propositions which I propose to stand by, although I can do no more than nail them up to-day. They are these:

1. The education of poor children is the Plymouth Rock of American liberty.

2. No more mischievous lie is in public circulation than the assertion that the high schools are maintained by the poor man's money. The poor man pays only a poll tax. The rich support the high schools.

3. The education of poor children, until they show of what they are capable, is the only measure that can give the state the full strength of its citizens.

4. Children are not educated to this degree in the common schools; but the abler of them may, in the high schools, awaken to a consciousness of their own capacities.

5. So far from its being an objection to high schools that they teach the poor and ignorant to be dissatisfied with their condition, the merit of high schools is that they awaken in poor children that have capacity a dissatisfaction with their condition and an omnipresent spirit of aspiration and self-help.

6. Educated only in the rudiments taught in the common schools, the mass of poor children, even when of equal natural ability with the sons of the rich, are not likely to obtain an equipment that will enable them to compete with rich men's children, educated well.

7. The abolition of the high schools, open to the poor, tends, therefore, to widen the chasm between the children of rich and poor, and to make of the latter an inferior class.

8 American institutions cannot bear the existence of permanent and hereditary class distinctions, based merely on birth and wealth.

9. The high schools are needed as much as military, naval, and agricultural schools. The latter are supported at the public expense, although only a few attend them. The benefit they confer on the whole people is the justification of the tax on the whole people for their support.

10. The high schools are the nursery of that united citizenship which is essential to the perpetuity of American institutions.

11. The high schools are the indispensable nursery of teachers for the public common schools.

12. They are the nursery of industrial schools, and of the inventors. who spring from the ranks of labor.

13. They are the nursery of colleges, and of the lawyers, physicians, and preachers, which the colleges help to prepare for the service of the people.

14. Secondary instruction gives civilization the benefit of its best leadership. It is a silver link between the iron link of primary and the golden link of liberal education, and gives the best public men a connection closer than they would otherwise have with the masses, and gives the masses a confidence they would not in America otherwise attain, in their best educated public men.

15. High schools are opposed by and to sectarians, who wish to have all instruction in their own hands, and who attack the common schools, which are the corner-stone of American civilization.

16. The assumption that the children of atheist parents have such rights that the public school system of the United States should be made atheistic will never be tolerated by the American people.

17. The assumption that an Italian priesthood are representatives of Romish children, and, as a foreign power, can make a treaty with our government and settle all difficulties by dividing the school fund and abolishing the high schools will never succeed in the United States.

The ages will respect no state that is not made up, as the Plymouth monument is, of education, law, morality, freedom, presided over by a genius having in its arms the volume of religious instruction, of political sanity, of patriotism, of pure homes, of self-help, and pointing upward, to the unobscured celestial constellations, with whose motions our political and educational movements must harmonize, if they are not to end in chaos. - From a Lecture in Boston, by JOSEPH Соок.

ADVANTAGES OF THE TOWN SYSTEM.

Except in the cities, the district system has generally prevailed in this country. Every one who has given the matter any attention is aware of the disadvantages of this system; and many earnest efforts have been made to remove the evil by a change to what is termed the town system.

In some states, the town system has been established by law; in others, enabling acts have been passed allowing the towns to abolish the district, and establish the town system.

The advantages of the town over the district system may here be considered:

1. Under town supervision, the schools would all be of the same length, giving the children in every family an equal amount of instruction; under district supervision, the length of the different schools varies from twelve to thirty-six weeks during the year. And as all parents are taxed equally, according to their ability, to support the public schools, and as every man is interested in the education of every other man's children, all should enjoy equal school advantages.

2. Under town supervision, just so many schools would be established as are needed, and no more. Under the district system, the number of schools is determined by old district lines, without regard to the number of pupils to be provided for. The result is, some of