Teacher is improved.-His temptations.

happily done, when it is achieved through the medium of the pupils themselves.

3. It wakes up the teacher's own mind. This is by no means the least important point to be gained. The teacher, by the very nature of his employment, by daily confinement in an unhealthy atmosphere, by teaching over and over again that with which he is quite familiar, by boarding with people who are inclined to be social, and by the fatigue and languor with which he finds himself oppressed every night, is strongly tempted to neglect his own improvement. There are but few who rise above this accumulation of impediments, and go on in spite of them to eminence in the profession. A large proportion of all who teach, rely upon the attainments with which they commence; and in the course of two or three years, finding themselves behind the age, they abandon the employment. This is very natural. Any man who treads in a beaten *rack, like a horse in a mill, must become weary, however valuable the product may be which he grinds out. It is essential that he should keep his own interest awake by some exercise of his ingenuity, and that he should compel himself to be industrious by undertaking that which will absolutely demand study. The above process will do this; and while he may have the exquisite pleasure of seeing the growth of his pupils' minds, he may also have the higher satisfaction of feeling the growth of his own.

I must here add, that it has not been my intention

Books not to be neglected.-Given only as a specimen.

in what I have said, to inculcate the idea that the study of books should in the least degree be abated to make room for this process of waking up mind. The various branches are to be pursued and as diligently pursued as ever before. The time to be set apart for this exercise should be short,-never probably to exceed five minutes. It is to come in when the scholars need rest for a moment, and when, if not employed about this, they would probably be doing nothing, or perhaps worse than nothing. It should be managed with care, and should never be made a hobby by teachers, as if it were of more importance than any thing else. One secret of success in this-as indeed in every thing-is, that it should not be continued too long at once. The pupils should be left "longing--not loathing."

Let me again remind the reader that I have given the above as a specimen. The choice of the ear of corn was merely accidental; it happened to lie on my table when I wanted a text. The teacher should look upon this simply as a specimen, and then choose his own subjects. The main point aimed at is this:-Never ask leading questions which your scholars can hardly fail to answer; and never lecture to your pupils till you have somehow first kindled in them a living desire to know; that is, avoid alike the "drawing-out" and the "pouring-in" process. Rather let it be your object to excite inquiry by a question they cannot answer without thought and observation,-and such a question as they would deem it disgraceful not to be able to answer This adroitly done is "waking up mind."

Aptness to teach.-Difference in men; in teachers.

CHAPTER VII.

CONDUCTING RECITATIONS.

In considering a teacher's qualifications, the power of exciting an interest in the recitations of his school may not be overlooked. No man can be successful for any length of time without this. This comprises what is usually implied by APTNESS TO TEACH. All men have not this faculty by nature in an equal degree. Some may talk for an hour upon an interesting topic in the presence of children without commanding their attention; while there are others who can take even a common-place subject and secure for any length of time an all-absorbing interest in every word. This difference is seen in every grade of public speakers, and in all descriptions of writers; but perhaps more strikingly than anywhere else it is observable among teachers. Enter one school, and you may notice that the scholars are dull and listless; indifference sits undisturbed upon their brows; or perhaps they are driven by the activity of their own natures to some expedient to interest themselves, while the teacher is with very commendable spirit, laboriously—perhaps learnedly— explaining some principle or fact designed for their edification. The secret is, he has not yet learned to

A contrast.-Not always a natural gift.

awaken their attention; he fails to excite their inter est.

Pass to another school. A breathless silence per vades the room; the countenances of the childrer., upturned towards the teacher, beam with delight. As he kindles into earnestness and eloquence, they kindle into responsive enthusiasm. Whenever his eye meets theirs, he sees—he feels the glow radiated by the fire he is lighting in their souls, and his own gathers new warmth and enthusiasm in return. Such a man is apt to teach; and you could scarcely break the spell by which he holds his class, "though you should give them for playthings, shining fragments broken from off the sun."

He who possesses this gift naturally, has very great advantage as a teacher to begin with. The ability to tell well what he knows, is of more consequence to the teacher, than the greatest attainments without the power to communicate them. Combine high attainments with the ability to tell, and you have the accomplished

teacher.

But this power to communicate is not necessarily a natural gift; it comes not always by intuition. It can be acquired. It is founded in philosophy; and he who can understand any thing of the workings of his own mind, who can revert to the mental processes he went through in order to comprehend a principle, who can go back to that state of mind he was in before he comprehended it, and then by one step more can put himself in the place of the child he is teaching, realizing

How acquired.-Natural order.-Science of teaching.

exactly his perplexities and feeling his precise wants, can become the apt teacher. Those who fail in this are usually those who have forgotten the steps they took to acquire their own knowledge, or perhaps who never noticed what steps they did take.

To acquire this rare qualification should be the constant study of the teacher. To this end he should recall, as far as possible, the operations of his own mind in childhood. By studying his own mind, he learns, often most effectually, what he needs to know of others. Whenever he is preparing to teach any principle or fact to others, let him ask himself questions like the following:-What was the dark point in this, when I studied it? Where did my mind labor most? What point did my teacher fail to explain? Such questions will frequently suggest the very difficulty which perplexes every mind in the same process Again, the following inquiries may be very useful :— In studying this, what was the first point which appeared clear to me? After this, what was the second step, and how did that follow the first? The next in order? And the next? Was this the natural order? If not, what is the natural order? The right answers to these questions will suggest the course to be pursued in the instruction of a class.

The teacher can scarcely ask a more important question than this:-What is the natural order of presenting a given subject? The ability to determine this, is what constitutes in a great degree the science of teaching. This inquiry should occupy much thought