A scholium. in the pupil; and I may venture to add, as a scholium to what has already been said, that the teacher who has not yet learned to call into exercise these higher motives, and to rely for success mainly upon them, and who dares not abandon the system of exciting stimulants for fear of a failure, has yet much to learn as a true educator of the young. Order necessary in school.-Self-government in the teacher. CHAPTER IX. SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. It is not necessary that any space in this work should be occupied in speaking of the importance of order in our schools. Everybody who has written or spoken on this subject, has conceded the necessity of obedience on the part of the pupil. "ORDER IS HEAVEN'S FIRST LAW;" and it is scarcely more essential to the harmony of heaven, than it is to the happiness and success of the school. If such be the necessity of order in the school, then the ability to secure and maintain it is no mean part of the qualification of the good teacher. It is lamentable that so many fail in this particular; and yet this frequent failure can in most cases be traced to some defect in the constitutional temperament, or some deficiency in the mental or moral culture of the teacher himself. It shall be my first object, then, to point out some of the SECTION I.-REQUISITES IN THE TEACHER FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. I. SELF-GOVERNMENT. It has frequently been said that no man can govern others till he has learned to Angry passions.-Manner.-Levity and moroseness. govern himself. I have no doubt of the truth of this. If an individual is not perfectly self-possessed, his decisions must fail to command respect. The selfgovernment of the teacher should be complete, in the following particulars : 1. As to the passion of anger. The exhibition of inger always detracts from the weight of authority. A man under its influence is not capable of doing strict justice to his pupils. Before entering upon teaching, therefore, a man should somehow obtain the mastery over his temper, so that under any provocation he car control it. He should consider that in school his pa tience will often be severely tried. He should not expect, indeed, that the current of affairs in school will for a single day run perfectly smooth. He should, therefore, prepare for the worst, and firmly resolve that, whatever unpleasant thing shall occur, it shall not take him entirely by surprise. Such forethought will give him self-command. If, however, from his past experience, and from the nature of his temperament, he is satisfied he cannot exercise this self-control, he may be assured he is the wrong man to engage in teaching. A man who has not acquired thorough ascendancy over his own passions, is an unsafe man to be intrusted with the government of children. Either 2. As to levity and moroseness of manner. extreme is to be avoided. There are some teachers who exhibit such a frivolity in all their intercourse with their pupils, that they can never command them with authority, or gain their cordial respect. This is a Ridiculous assumption of smartness.-Mr. Abbot's case. grievous fault; and the teacher should at once find an antidote for it, by serious reflection upon the responsibility of his position. If this will not cure it, nothing else can. There are others who are characterized by a per petual peevishness, so that a pleasant word from them is indeed a strange thing. They can never expect to gain the affections of their pupils; and without securing the love of children, the government of them will never be of the right kind. This habit of snappishness should.be broken up at once. There are some very young teachers, who sometimes assume one or the other of these peculiar modes of address, or perhaps both, to be used alternately,— fancying that they will gain popularity by the one, or give themselves greater authority by the other. This is a very mistaken notion; for children have more discernment than most men give them credit for, and they usually see directly through such a flimsy dis guise, and the teacher becomes ridiculous rather than great in their estimation, whenever he takes any such false position. Mr. Abbot, in his "Teacher," states a fact which well illustrates this point. "Many years ago," says he, "when I was a child, the teacher of the school where my early studies were performed, closed his connection with the establishment, and, after a short vacation, another was expected. On the appointed day the boys began to collect, some from curiosity, at an early hour, and many speculations were started as "Take off your hats."-Treatment of peculiar pupils. We were to the character of the new instructor. standing near a table with our hats on,-and our position, and the exact appearance of the group is indelibly fixed on my memory,-when a small and youthfullooking man entered the room and walked up towards us. Supposing him to be some stranger, or rather, not making any supposition at all, we stood looking at him as he approached, and were thunder-struck at hearing him accost us with a stern voice, and sterner brow :— 'Take off your hats! Take off your hats, and go to your seats.' The conviction immediately rushed upon our minds that this must be the new teacher. The first emotion was that of surprise, and the second was that of the ludicrous; though I believe we contrived to smother the laugh until we got out into the open air." The true rule is to act the part which is agreeable to nature. The teacher having gained the self-command just insisted upon, and having in him the spirit of kindness and a desire to be useful, should assume nothing unnatural for effect. His manner should be truly dignified, but courteous. 3. As to his treatment of those pupils that are marked by some peculiarity. There will usually be some pu pils who are very backward, and perhaps very dull,— or who may have some physical defect, or some mental eccentricity. The teacher should be able to govern himself in all his remarks concerning such pupils. He should avoid all allusion to such singularities before the school; and it is the height of injustice-I was |