room for any thing to be said pro or con in regard to the subject; and as it would be difficult to add to what others have said, touching the methods to be employed to insure success, I shall merely attempt to relate something of my own experience in the introduction of the study into my own schools. The first concise and instructive article on the subject, I remember to have read, was in a report of Horace Mann to the Board of Education of Massachusetts, in which he clearly set forth the requirements of the teacher, and endeavored to impress upon him the necessity of cultivating what ever musical talent he possessed, and, as a motive thereto, assured him that he would the better meet the wants of his awakened patrons, and secure to himself the more desirable situations, as these were ever at the command of the best qualified teachers. This report was widely circulated throughout New England, and wherever teachers profited by these hints, beneficial results immediately followed in the better discipline of the village schools, and the wider reputation of the teachers of the rural districts. On entering upon the duties of a teacher, I determined to adopt the practice of singing daily at the opening and close of school; and if successful in this, I resolved to make use of my limited musical education in teaching my pupils the rudiments of the science. My first attempt was attended with a great many difficulties. The remote location and semi-barbaric state of the people composing my patrons, precluded the idea, at first, of my making any very great advancement in the common branches, much less the fine arts; but, being young and enthusiastic, I resolved "to try." The school-houses in the section of country lying adjacent to the boundary line of Maine and Canada, are not so bountifully supplied with those "aids" to teaching which our city instructors deem so essential to the illustration of any given subject; consequently, the teacher of this benighted region is obliged to exercise his ingenuity to supply the deficiency. As I entered my school-room, the first article of furniture I missed was a blackboard. I could endure the sight of the seats in a cir cle, facing the wall, fo could remedy with ha the coming Saturday. blackboard with the fourteen miles distant, lage, was a subject of cern; but the Yankee v loss for ways to supply getting my little flock of dren of five families, in their various text-book his lesson, and giving clear idea of what I sho hands in the way of dep ity, and good recitation had ever sung in scho half-surprised look, the "No, ma'am." I then you to sing, if you are g dren;" at which a slight among the larger boys. for the remainder of the a lumberman's hut, and that I wanted a blackb in teaching his boys. having preceded me, father that they were "music," at which the h ejaculated a depreciative I spoke of the black bo and said, "Look a he ma'am, I want them boy ritin', and cipherin', and inter their heads none o for they are to chop t the world, and music ain but for such curly-heade en like you to waste th saw that the latter part intended as complime seemed any thing else, so but explained to him th was not to teach music metic and writing, and t in making clear to all in what I would be obliged separately. This satisfie his axe, he hewed from door-yard a board nearly two feet wide, and ab thick. Taking it to the placing it upon a block high, he said, "With a p this will do for a substi go to mill and get the stuff for a better," and it answered very well for a week, at the end of which time a good pine blackboard was sent me by this noble old fellow. I could not be otherwise than delighted, for I felt I had conquered him, and could, without fear or trembling, teach his boys any thing I pleased. There is nothing so interests and draws the hearts of the patrons towards the teacher as the knowledge that they are essential to his, or her, comfort and usefulness. The first music lesson I essayed to give was to a class of beginners in the Multiplication Table. I argued, this is practical and will not offend these sober lumbermen, and I will only teach it them by ear, which will require no more time than the repeating it without the tune. Thus I quieted my conscience for teaching a proscribed branch. When I commenced singing the song "Two times one are two, two times three are six," the silence was insufferable. I felt the eyes of these native critics upon me, and the blood mounted to my face, and I think their pity and love were excited. They did not laugh, but looked embarrassed, and presently one or two of the big boys joined in the chorus of "Five times five are twenty-five," which is sung to the familiar tune of "Yankee Doodle." After having taught them several simple airs, I one day drew the G clef and scale upon the board, and explained its use. Next day, being dismal and rainy, I employed the half hour allotted to recess in teaching the letters upon the base and treble staff, and, a few days after, the notes and their names, at which there was some laughing, but I succeeded so well, and they remembered so admirably, that I sent fifty miles to the town of A- and procured a dozen copies of the "Singing Bird," from which, before two months, they were able to sing quite readily any tune written in the key of C. There were some who had not good natural voices, and could, I am persuaded, never learn to sing well, notwithstanding the assertion of Mr. Mason that all children, from six to ten years of age, who are capable of learning to read, are capable of learning to sing. 213 that isolated region at the end of four months (their scholastic year); and these sturdy wood-cutters approvingly said, "The best school they ever had was the one in which the young woman taught their children to sing;" and I believe many a bleak winter's evening, during the snows and winds of that inhospitable season, has been made more cheerful by the music of those angels of the fireside. I felt confident that the seeds of a noble ambition to drink of the deeper springs of knowledge were there sown, which will yet spring up, and bear golden fruit. Those grand old woods will never be silent monitors over a happier school, or those forest birds listen with envy to sweeter songs, than the children sang on that closing day of school. I have pursued a like course in my teaching, in the prairies of the West and in the Middle States, and sometimes have, out of my own funds, hired an instrument to facilitate the study, and have ever found that music is a wonderful power in disciplining a school. It harmonizes the discordant elements, and, as one of our good poets says There is in souls a sympathy with sounds. Some eminent educator, I cannot now remember who, has said of music, "It is a moral means of great efficacy. Its practice promotes health; it disarms anger; softens rough and turbulent natures; socializes and brings the whole mind, as it were, into a state of fusion, from which condition the teacher can mould it into what form he will, as it cools and hardens." Mr. Mason, in his "Musical Letters," tells us that in Germany music is taught in every institution of learning, and with the greatest fidelity. He describes the teachers as men whom God has made teachers, whose hearts are filled with the love of little children, and he also says a teacher cannot obtain a situation unless he understands, theoretically, the science of music. In Prussia, M. Cousin, in his Report on Public Instruction, says, "Music is carried to a very high degree of cultivation. There and happy; yet, how few, comparatively, profit by it. One has no time, another has no ability; and thus a thousand excuses are made for neglecting the improvement of the immortal mind. It is difficult, in all cases, to account for this; but when we reflect that man is a creature of habit, we begin to perceive the secret of much of his apathy in regard to a matter of such vital importance. The mind may be as much under the dominion of habit as the senses. Its cravings or desires are equally subjects for cultivation. Reading may become a habit, and study may become a habit, just as indolence and listlessness may become habits. That the habit of reading may be, in some cases, so engrossing as to become positively injurious to every thing like great achievements, is, no doubt, true; but there is nothing good in this world that is not susceptible of abuse. danger is to be feared from the constant occupation of the mind with books, than from the utter neglect of them. There are individuals, and not a few, who never read a book, from the beginning of the year to its end. Many of these individuals know how to read, and are not regarded as positively ignorant; though the amount of knowledge which they possess is very small. Not unfrequently, these persons Less those from which he is a tiresome task, are ever eyes; and he grows up w of reading or study, an with a thorough dislike that bears the smallest book. To many this m ble; but it is neverthele are hundreds and thousa early training at school, given them an aversion no subsequent experienc cient to overcome; and the neglect, during yout instructors, renders then comprehension-in fact a ble in riper years. There is no occupation others have not preceded books that we have the n experience. How much u then, may be avoided by has been done by those w before us in the various human labor! This is a su of consideration; and, in it, we see that due care sh create in young persons a But, as in the formation in reading-the young m watched and instructed however, very frequently committed by parents and teachers in their zeal to guard the minds of those under their care, against the influence of pernicious books. Some proscribe all works of fiction, and peremptorily deny the smallest indulgence in every thing of this character. Others do not go so far, but tolerate the writings of the old novelists, under the fanciful idea that whatever is old and regarded as standard, must be innoxious. Prohibitions of this kind are unwise, and very rarely, perhaps never, result in any good. The true way to deal with the young is to attract, is to lead-not to drive them. Let them be inspired with a desire to improve, and with a love for what is excellent. Let them see that their happiness, their pleasure, and their welfare, are, in every thing, consulted by those placed over them. Afford them recreation for the mind, which is just as essential as exercise is for the body. To compel young persons to refrain from reading all works of fiction, is to deprive them of one source of comparatively innocent mental diversion, at the risk of driving them to others that may prove to be positively injurious. Young persons must have amusement, and a very large amount of it. It is the business of parents and guardians to provide this amusement, and to see that it be not only harmless, but profitable. Under proper direction, works of the fancy may be read with beneficial results. The most suitable place for them is the home circle, at hours when the members of the family assemble for social enjoyment; and, indeed, upon these occasions, very much may be done to cultivate a taste for healthful and valuable reading. It is proper to say here that parents who study the welfare of their children, will make home the most desirable place for them in the world; that here, at proper times, full liberty will be given to engage in all games and sports that may be tolerated with propriety any whann 215 It is to be lamented that so many households are poorly supplied with, nay, almost destitute of, books. This is an evil that should, and can, be remedied, and the most effective means to this end is the establishment of school libraries. There is not a school district in the land in which, with proper efforts, a library adapted to the wants of the people could not be formed. This is a labor that must devolve mainly upon teachers, and their enterprise and success in this direction will not only prove their devotion to the cause in which they are engaged, but will reward them by facilitating the work of instruction. This is one of the ways in which a teacher may confer a lasting benefit upon those among whom he is laboring; and we desire most earnestly to call their attention to it. sion. SCHOOL SUPERVISION. CHOOLS and school systems, like other human institutions, require superviWithout it, they cannot prosper. With it, however, they may fail. The prosperity or failure will depend upon the kind of care and attention which they receive. All experience shows that faithful and intelligent supervision over any undertaking, is a great blessing. It is, in fact, an essential element of success. It breathes into the movement the breath of life, and it becomes a living soul. In all intelligent communities, and wherever education has made substantial progress, this is a recognized truth, a practical fact. And on the contrary, wherever this truth is ignored, there we find the schools in a languishing condition, and the public sentiment respecting them, in a state of apathy and indifference. The contrast presented by these two orders of things, is so marked and so manifest, that it is surprising that greater progress does not result from it, in the more rapid extension of the system of thorough and efficient supervision everywhere. The benefits arising from the operation of this principle are well illustra ted in nearly all of our cities, and on a larger scale in several of the leading States. In no instance will it be found that real prosperity is coincident with the absence of efficient supervision in educational affairs; and, on the other hand, it will be noted without exception, that those cities and States which have vigorously applied this great motive-power to their school machinery, are immensely in advance of all others. The reasons for this are obvious enough, it is true; and yet they do not seem to be appreciated as generally as they ought to be, or they would otherwise be more universally acted upon. Wherever there is supervision that is active, efficient, and wise, there are better teachers, a more appreciative public sentiment, and a higher standard of excellence. There is a deeper sense of responsibility among teachers and pupils; there is an active yet generous rivalry between the schools. There is more organization, more unity and harmony of effort, and more energy of action in every part of the system. This is the uniform testimony of experience, both in the old world and the new; and it is high time that it should be acted upon more generally in this country, where education in its more comprehensive sense is a vital necessity. Supervision is of two kinds: official and non-official. It is of the former that we now speak; not because of its superior importance per se, but on account of its greater efficiency de facto. Undoubtedly, the most effective method of looking after schools and school interests—after teachers and teaching-is that which invokes the active efforts of the parents, and which secures their actual and frequent presence in the school-room. But this plan, as a general thing, fails in practice. Parents will not visit the school, and will not trouble themselves very seriously about its affairs. Hence, official supervision becomes the more a necessity, and hence, also, the importance of making it as wise and effective as possible. But official supervision does success. Perhaps they cians, ambitious of furth hence too anxious to co of the multitude to peri by a faithful discharge of are numerous in which g fer seriously, even if the from the laxity of princi timidity of the supervisor This whole subject will We are far from having r est standard of efficiency Indeed, the masses of the yet been brought to reco sity of supervision at all gard the school as a mach worked under a system tivity in this respect. It tivity in this respect. It future, to consider this i somewhat at length, and s the hope that our plans f vision may be both extende There is great need, both and expansion in this dire |