ed to entrust the education or instruction of their offspring to those who have degraded humanity by the indulgence of the most brutish appetites! Alas! how often has the teacher of the district or village school come into the presence of his pupils in the morning, bearing the evidences of the previous night's dissipation; yea, even yet so wretchedly intoxicated as to be obliged to dismiss the school for the day, in order to get time to recover from his cups!! Blessed are our eyes that they see the dawn of a brighter day!

But the drinking of intoxicating liquors is not the only vulgarity to be avoided by the teacher, as interfering with the moral dignity of his office. Will it fit our children well for the proper decorum and duties of life, to see their instructer given to the use of so filthy and poisonous a weed as tobacco? Can it promote the respectability of his office, for the teacher of youth thus to defile himself, and often his school-room and his matron's floor or carpet? And must our children be so exposed to temptation, in respect to this to say the least of it—ungenteel practice, as to be subjected daily to all the influence of a teacher's example? A guide of youth should be in all things an example worthy of imitation by his pupils; for he is not only their instructer, but greatly their educator and that by his example much more than his precepts. And he, who does not conduct himself decorously at all times and in all places, is detracting from the dignity of the elevated office he is called to fill. He should be an example to his flock, in all purity, sobriety, consistency, truth, uprightness, gentility and meekness. Let there be nothing of trick, of deceit, of insincerity, of partiality, of unholy anger,

of revenge, or of any thing indecorous or debasing. Then will he fill his post with honor; children and parents will respect him, and his memory will be blessed! Locke says: "Besides being well bred, the tutor should know the world well; the ways, the humors, the follies, the cheats, the faults of the age he has fallen into, and particularly of the country he lives in. These he should be able to show to his pupil, as he finds him capable, and teach him skill in men and manners. These things, with proper self-respect, good discipline, high aims and suitable appreciation of the exalted powers of his pupils and the magnitude of his charge, permanency, and a deep, abiding interest in his work, on the part of the teacher, will go far towards impressing the public mind with suitable views of the moral dignity of his office.

"A man of letters, manners, morals, parts;
In him thy well appointed proxy see,
Armed for a work too difficult for thee;
Prepared by taste, by learning and true worth,
To form thy son, to strike his genius forth;

To double all thy pleasure in thy child,
His mind informed, his morals undefiled,

Safe under such a wing, the boy shall show
No spots contracted among grooms below,
Nor taint his speech with meannesses, designed,
By footman Tom for witty and refined."

But there is something to be done, also, by the community in supporting the dignity of this profession.

1. Suitable attention to the wants of teachers.-How lamentable is it that, until recently, every where, and still in many parts of our country, the only provision

thought to be necessary for the comfort of a teacher and his school, was to pile up a number of logs in the shape of a house, but which might easily be mistaken for a sheep-cote or even a pig-stye. In winter the wind was invited in through the wide crevices, and in summer the hot beams of a burning sun. Some barren rock or sand-bank was usually selected as the site of this temple of science. A shade tree would have been thought luxurious quite, and anything like blinds at the windows, a sure indication of the influx of that depravation of manners which must issue in the downfall of the republic. For the winter, some cracked, cast-off stove, with pipe, hole-ly enough to prevent all draught, that would be sure to smoke and occasion weeping all round; and, lest it should fail of this intent, the greenest, knottiest, or rottenest logs of wood that could be furnished, thrown down outside, to be cut and split, if they could be, by the teacher himself. The other internal arrangements were altogether homogeneous. Some half dozen long benches set up on feet that were sure occasionally to give way, and finished in a style admirably adapted to tempt the young philosophers to try mechanical experiments in the use of the knife. As for the master, it was thought it would do him good to exercise himself in walking the floor from morning till noon and from noon till night. How comfortable! What wise, considerate arrangements! What splendid inducements to enter the profession! Who that thought himself qualified, and regarded ease, comfort and honor, could resist the temptation? No wonder these "people's colleges" were filled with men of the first water. No wonder these seats and centres of learning were the resort of men of great emi

nence, often, in all but the great essentials for occupying their post with honor.

Many teachers now, indeed, can rejoice in the wisdom and liberality of a community which has erected fit buildings for their convenience and comfortable accommodation. The public begin to see and to feel, that the education of the young is a subject of the utmost importance, and that those who consecrate themselves to this work, merit at least some regard for their wants and wishes. Yet, in how many places in our land, are the provisions for the school little, if any, better than those just portrayed. How then can the office be appropriately magnified? These things ought not so to be; and teachers, as they regard their own honor and the dignity of their office, should refuse to be thrust into such holes. and dens of the earth. Self-denial, to be sure, is a virtue, but it may degenerate into meanness !

There is another topic connected with a due regard for the wants of the teacher, which must claim a passing notice; I mean their pecuniary compensation. This falls far below what even-handed justice would demand in all departments of instruction, the highest as well as the lowest. Our professors in colleges are by no means rewarded for their labors, in this behalf, as they should be; and the teachers of our common schools even more parsimoniously. Now, until the public shall take a proper view of this subject, there is no possibility of elevating the rank of teachers and making education what it ought to be. Can we expect men of learning and polish, qualified to move in the most refined circles of society, and with talents, which would elsewhere command respect and pecuniary reward, to spend their lives in pov

erty and devote their talents and their time to an object that shall yield them no adequate remuneration of any kind? It is a vain expectation. Although a large income is no necessary stepping stone to a respectable standing, yet most men will feel themselves authorized to look somewhat at the salary, and will be apt to be attracted to those positions, which offer, at the same time, reputation and sustentation. And, if we think it no hardship to pay the shoe-maker for his shoes, or the tailor for his clothes; if we do not hesitate to compensate the physician for healing our maladies, the lawyer for settling our claims of property, and our public officers for managing our political affairs, shall we clench our covetous fist, with even the miser's grip, when payment is demanded for the teacher; for him who does more than all others for our welfare and happiness, both as individuals and communities; for him, who educates the mind intellectually and morally, and fits us for performing well our parts on the great stage of life?

Never will the office of the teacher rise up before the public vision in all that dignity and glory which properly attach to it; never will the training of our youth be intrusted to men qualified for their office; never will the magnificent cause of public education secure its proper results and attract the admiration of the world; never will the temples of learning rise in Ionic grace and beauty and become monuments of enduring grandeur and glory to coming ages; until suitable provision has been made for public instructers. Until this be done, the teacher's office will not become a permanent one, will not awaken his energies nor fix his affections, nor tend to elevate him in public estimation and give him the proper dignity of a professional man.