his destiny, to take the youth and train him up in wisdom's and virtue's ways, was the noblest employment of humanity. And having rested from their labors, do not their works follow them? Yes! Their memory is blessed on earth. Generation after generation has done them reverence: and their instructions have quickened the intellects and enlarged the hearts of multitudes, who have loved to imbibe the rich lessons of their philosophies.

His example as a True, he taught no taught the highest of

And was not Jesus Christ the Great Teacher? He came into the world, not only to die a sacrifice for sin, but to be an instructer of the blind. teacher is worthy of all imitation. system of natural science: but he all,—moral science: not, indeed, in the scientific form of the schools, but in a manner admirably adapted to secure the attention of his disciples and to make the most effective and permanent impression on their hearts. He, surely, dignified the office of a teacher.

The celebrated Dr. South well said :-"I look upon an able, well-principled schoolmaster, as one of the most meritorious subjects in any prince's dominions." As true now as ever, and more true in this day of democratic principles, in this land of republican government, where the man to be educated is not the "subject of a prince," but himself part of the sovereignty itself, the great people. And how, indeed, can any one be more "meritorious," more worthy of all praise and honor than

an

“able, well-principled" teacher? He is laying the foundations of individual and social happiness deep in the recesses of the soul and, in awakening in the child an aspiration after the Beautiful and the True, in cherish

ing in him a love of Goodness, in imparting an iron energy of will which will enable him to repel the Tempter, and in fitting him for the trials and conflicts of this earthly arena, the teacher is doing a work nobler far than that of either warrior or statesman, and is magnifying his office above them all.

A great practical question for this Institute, then, is, How shall the proper dignity of our office be secured and sustained?

1. A resolute purpose on the part of teachers to maintain the dignity of their office, will do much towards securing it. That which is already sincerely and earnestly purposed is well nigh accomplished; and nothing great or good can be hoped for unless there be an inward determination of the spirit, burning like a living coal, that it shall be effected. This deep-seated purpose of the soul will make itself a way through thickets. and rocks, will keep the eye fixed on the object, and, if there be no other means of reaching it, will put invention on the rack until it have made for itself even some aerial car, by which to surmount all obstacles and attain its end. Let teachers, then, resolve to render their offices respected; and it will be done.

2.

Suitable education and instruction of teachers. It is greatly to be regretted that men, so ill qualified for their post, have so often been selected to conduct the education of children and youth. The day has scarcely yet passed, when teaching was supposed to be a calling, which any one could, at any time, take up. The man who failed in business, and knew of nothing else to which he could so readily turn his hand, imagined himself fully qualified to "Teach the young idea how to shoot," if

he could only read a little, write any sort of a hand, cypher as far as the "Rule of Three," and spell correctly, book in hand, so as to be sure not to miss when hearing the class. Even the foreigner coming to our shores, with but a stammering pronunciation of our tongue, was often thought the most worthy candidate for the schoolmaster's chair; and his deficiency in learning and in correct enunciation and emphasis was fully compensated, in the estimation of most, by his dexterous use of the ferule or birch.

When I was a boy in one of the Middle States, our best teachers usually came from New England, and even they were then none of the very best generally adventurers, who, failing to do well at home, set off to do better abroad. No wonder the office was not then possessed of much dignity, as the men who occupied it were too often outcasts and vagabonds upon the face of the earth. Now, indeed, a change has come over us. Our instructers begin to be themselves educated and intelligent men and women, feeling, in some measure, the importance and responsibility of their stations; and hence the honor due unto them begins to be rendered on the part of the people.

But we still need, in every quarter of the land, the same Normal Schools with which this Commonwealth is so highly favored. Men must be expressly trained to be teachers, by a regular and well-devised process of instruction and discipline, before we can expect the community to regard the profession of teaching with that respect which it merits. And why shall we establish our Law Schools, in order to instruct a class of men in our constitutional principles and législative enactments, that

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they may know better how to settle our quarrels than we can ourselves, or how to set us at variance when we are just on the verge of peace? Why shall we require of those, who are to administer to the health of the body, a specific course of professional instruction, and make no provision for the proper, systematic education of a class of men, who are to have the charge of the intellectual, moral and spiritual interests of immortal beings during the most interesting, most impressible, and most formative period of their existence? Let teachers do all in their power to encourage the institution of Normal schools, and let no man be recognized as one of the profession, who is not possessed of aptness to teach.

But even Normal schools will, probably, in themselves fail to secure all that is desirable for the respectability and dignity of the teacher's office. Must we not distinctly recognize teaching as a profession, in the proper sense of the word, not merely a calling? And will it not be necessary to establish in each State or larger district of the country, a "College for Professional Teachers," as we have our Law Schools, Medical Schools, and Theological Schools, for the honorable and distinctive education of those intended for these several professions? Thus we secure a class-not a caste, for all, with the requisite qualifications are at liberty to enter it, with its professional privileges and dignity. "Teaching," said Dewitt Clinton, "ought to be among the learned professions." But we leave this for the present. Better education of teachers is, at all events, greatly needed. No man can be respected as a teacher, by the educated portion of the community, who is not himself well educated. He might be as a farmer or a mechanic,

without much learning, if it were only ascertained that he had served a regular apprenticeship to his trade, and is prepared to execute his work well. But how can we honor the man who undertakes to educate our children, without possessing any of the appropriate qualifications for his great work?

3. A becoming deportment in all the relations of life. It is not meant, of course, that the teacher should be a fop, or a dandy, or a Chesterfield in his manners; but he should be a gentleman, in the true, dignified sense of the word. Politeness is a Christian virtue, and an accomplishment of civilized life. No parent of common sense wishes his children educated in rudeness, vulgarity, or indecorum; and although himself destitute of any great claims to easy, polished manners, his heart is gladdened to see his sons and daughters qualified to move, with unaffected grace, in the politer circles of society. And if every man, in whatever sphere of life, ought to cultivate decorous manners, much more he, whose office it is to train up the rising generation in all that is lovely and of good report. And how can that man hope to secure the respect of pupils or parents, or to maintain the proper dignity of his office, who is utterly regardless of all the proprieties of refined society? What does he care, indeed, that he is a brutal father, a tyrannical husband, or a drunken sot? It may be little to him, in his own estimation, but it is much to the community, much to his profession. Alas! that he, who is pledged to rear immortal minds for noble deeds and the high offices of life, should ever deem it consistent with such a calling, to give himself up to the vulgarities of low life. And double shame! that Christian parents should ever have consent