with each other in extolling the character of one whose sun went down in the high noon of his glory, leaving a nation I had almost said a world

to mourn his loss. I scarcely need say that I refer to Dr. Arnold, late head-master of Rugby School. When he took charge of the school at Rugby, he maintained that, in the actual working of the school, he must be completely independent, and that their remedy, if they were dissatisfied, was not interference, but dismissal. On this condition he took the post, and any attempt to control either his administration of the school, or his own private occupations, he felt bound to resist, as a duty, he said on one occasion, not only to himself, but to the master of every foundation school in England. At a subsequent period, in a letter to the under Secretary of State, in relation to a candidate for an office as teacher, in the gift of the government, he says: "I am anxious to understand clearly, whether he is to be in any degree under the control of any local board, whether lay or clerical; because if he were, I could not conscientiously recommend him to take an office which I am sure he would shortly find himself obliged to abandon. Uniform experience shows, I think, so clearly the mischief of subjecting schools to the ignorance and party feelings of persons wholly unacquainted with the theory and practice of education, that I feel it absolutely necessary to understand fully the intentions of the government on this question." These are not the opinions of a weak or inexperienced man, but of one who just before his death was thought worthy of a professor's chair in the University of Oxford. How sad the reflection, that, if Arnold

himself, with his noble and lofty spirit, were to seek employment in our public schools, he would be rejected. And how many Arnolds are there, who for the reasons above specified, have devoted their services to other pursuits, instead of training, "by every rule of wholesome discipline, to glorious war the hosts" of youth among us? And how many, engaged in the work, are fretting in their harness, and waiting only for an opportunity to abandon the profession forever? Indeed, Arnold himself was on the verge of leaving his post at Rugby, on the occasion of an unreasonable interference on the part of those who had charge of the general interests of the school. Who can read, in the life of Arnold, the account of this conflict of his liberal, generous, and noble spirit, with the contemptible bigotry and sectarianism that beset him, without kindling in the cause of the hero, and shouting at his triumph?

Again, this system presents a formidable barrier to the attainment of high professional eminence which should be one of the controlling motives of the teacher's mind. It is with great difficulty that the teacher can exert a direct influence upon society, in his professional character. He is obliged to act through the Committee. If in the discharge of his duties, he has discovered happier methods of imparting instruction; if he has succeeded in arousing to higher action the energies of the young, he is by no means certain of receiving the credit due to his efforts. That which is due to superior skill in the instructor, may be, and very often is, ascribed to incidental circumstances and extraneous influences. I by no means assert that this would be intentionally

done. But it is by no means easy for one who has not been actually engaged in the work, to determine the amount of labor that is necessary to bring about results apparently the most trivial. Gentlemen, have you ever seen those within your school-rooms who were eloquent in their expressions of praise, at the ease with which all your operations are performed, and who expressed regret that it was not their happy lot to teach? have you ever noticed the difference between the views which a teacher would take of your schools, and those of one who has had no experience in the employment? Which have been the most discriminating, and the most just? I am not aware that it is customary in any portion of this State, for teachers to make reports of the progress and condition of their schools to the Committees in which they labor. These are always received from a Committee, and from those the teacher has no appeal. Suppose we wish to obtain information respecting the condition of the schools, in any of our cities and large towns. What are the means of information that come most readily to hand? The reports of the Committees of these towns. But, do you, gentlemen of the profession, always find these reports satisfactory? do you obtain from them the information you desire? are they of a professional character? do they appear to come. from teachers, or from those who have only seen others teach? It is certainly very desirable that Committees should make reports of what passes under their notice in the examination of schools. It is still more desirable that teachers themselves should report on those matters which escape the notice of others, and which would be

alike interesting to other members of the profession and to the community at large. A course like this would furnish a noble field for the display of professional talent, and would present the strongest incentives to the mind of the teacher, to make discoveries and improvements which should be known beyond the walls of his schoolroom. This course would contemplate the teacher as an individual man and as a responsible agent. The other regards him as an overseer, intended to carry out the views of the Committee.

In speaking of the clergy of any of our cities, individuals eminent in the profession at once arise before the mind. The same may be said of the bar, and of the medical profession. But is it true to the same extent, of the educating profession? Are they not rather concealed in the machinery of the system which they are required to work. I know there are men connected with our public schools somewhat extensively known as teachers. I think, however, that authorship has done quite as much for them as teaching. Most worthy men, no doubt, those are who if left to the free and full development of their educational views in the conduct of their schools, might prove the greatest blessings to their age; but under the existing system, his individuality is merged in a kind of social menstruum, and his hard-earned reputation complacently borne off by those, perhaps, who never devoted an hour to teaching in their lives. In a subject so vast as that of education, there is, of course, a most inviting field for improvement and discovery, — here is range for the master spirits of the race. Why then should it not be

men,

thrown open to free investigation, like any subject pertaining to the great interests of the race? Let teachers be situated so that they can mutually incite each other to higher attainments, and greater success,

and when new discoveries crown their labors, let them have the satisfaction of knowing that they are acknowledged and honored as such. The Royal Society is devoted to the promotion of science, but I am not aware that it has ever laid down any explicit rules to guide its members in the path of discovery. According to our system of school-government, it ought to pass definite laws for the observance of its members in the several departments of science, and if any should presume to overlook the bounds of their conventional universe, and call up a new world from the depths of space, a resolution should be passed that no such world existed; but if forced to acknowledge it, it should, at a regular meeting of the society, be formally introduced to the notice of mankind.

It seems to me perfectly clear that the teacher should be left to the selection of his own means in imparting instruction. But this is not allowed- new books may be introduced, which he cannot approve, and the statements of which he may find himself obliged to contradict or modify at almost every step. If the teacher be not qualified to select his text-books, he surely is not qualified to use them. Nay, more; if he be not better qualified than any one else to perform this service, he must have been entirely false to his trust, and if so, should be removed. This practice of having text-books selected by committees, has the merit of peculiar