ancient and cherished prejudices. It admitted of no compromise; it imperatively demanded that the opinion of men should be set at nought; that contempt, calumny, injustice,-all the penalties of rebellion against established usages, should be met and borne without repining, by the strength of that love for the erring children of the same common Father, which triumphed on the cross. The model of this high morality remains and will remain—ages may pass before society shall answer its lofty requirements; but unless we fling it aside and convert its shrine to some meaner worship, we can not deliberately disobey the ordinance to bring "little children" within the sanctuary.

We must, however, use the stimulus of praise in education, and obtain the command of the instrument, or others will seize it to thwart our purposes. We must praise, but praise sparingly, that it may be of value. A very little from those who give with judgment and exact justice will have great power. We should praise affectionately, that the gratification which it gives may be associated with the kind feelings. Our praise should be regulated by the nature of the action that calls it forth, and be always most warm for moral excellence. Here, as in all other treatment, the peculiarities of individual character must guide us; a touch is enough for the quick mettle of one child-much spurring will be required to remove the sluggishness of another. Prizes and distinctions -matters which provoke competition, and set in antagonism those between whom Christianity requires love-are mischievous. The winners and the losers are equally liable to injury. The pride of success may be as unchristian and as unfavorable to happiness, as the burning of envious disappointment.

The working of these various conflicting impulses, which seldom present themselves but in combination, makes soon apparent the presence of feelings to which we give the name of conscience, or the moral sense. Without entering into the controversy respecting their origin, whether they are instinctive impulses, or whether their gradual formation from simpler elements may be traced, it is enough for the present purpose that their existence, at a very early period of life, is admitted. They are real feelings; and, like other feelings, may be greatly modified by education. The contradictory forms in which they appear among different nations and different individuals has led to the denial of the reality of moral distinctions; but if the discrepancies do not warrant this conclusion, they at least establish the power of circumstances over the development of the feelings. We may enlist them in support of empty ceremonies and unintelligible creeds, or give their sanction to the hatreds of sect and party. No animosity-individual, sectarian, or national-should, either by direct precept or casual remark, receive such sanction. The great Christian principle of the brotherhood of men will tolerate no exception. Our aim should be to give depth and clearness to the moral emotions. The mind should be led to regard the moral qualities of actions, and to reason upon them. It should be taught to look back on what it has done; and, for the sake of methodizing its ideas, to record the results of its self-examination. The exercise of the moral sense will give it strength, and will constantly tend to harmonize the impulses with the moral judgments. The blending of the two would give the rectitude and steadiness of moral calculation to impulse; the passionate energy and beauty of impulse to morality. Instead of the unhappy conflict between liking and duty, which, when the passions are matured before the sense of right is awakened, often continues through life, wasting the internal force and producing vacilla

AMERICAN

Journal of Education.

EDITED BY

HENRY BARNARD, LL.D.

VOLUME XVI.

NEW SERIES. VOLUME VI.

HARTFORD:

PUBLISHED BY HENRY BARNARD.

NEW YORK: F. C. BROWNELL. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CU BOSTON: E. P. DUTTON.

LONDON. TRÜBNER & CO., 64 PATERNOSTER ROW.

which it is placed; and possessing seeds which, under a right culture, would burst forth into forms of yet unimagined power and beauty. But education fails, miserably fails-it brings no germ of intellectual or moral greatness to maturity; and for this all-sufficient reason, that those to whom its business is intrusted are incompetent to the task; to the most arduous duties they bring the least qualifications. The highest interests are intrusted to the meanest hands. Society tolerates an unfitness in those who profess to form its young minds, which it would not endure in the lowest menial offices that minister to its material interests or enjoyments. For, if there be any act which, more than another, requires in those who practice it a high union of skill and character, that art, beyond a question, is education. In no department of exertion does success so absolutely depend on the personal qualifications of the workman. "As is the master, so is the school," says the Prussian maxim; a few words saturated, as it were, with truth. The system is indeed truly important; but the main part of a system is, what is in the master's mind. The form the external material adjuncts-of a system are of themselves nothing; its living spirit, that part of it which has got into the thoughts and feelings of him who is to work it, is everything.

The process of education, whether at home or in school, is perpetually going on; the instructor may guide but can not stop it. Whether he is attentive or neglectful, observation is at work, intellect is developing, character is forming, and all under the most powerful influences from him, whether for good or evil. What he says earnestly, and, above all, what he does, is graving itself on the tenacious memory of childhood. His inconsistencies, partialities, ill-temper, tyranny, selfishness, leave lasting traces. If his dispositions are unfavorable, no check from without can remedy the evil. Parents can control him little. They are managed through their prejudices at the expense of their children. A superior authority, with the most perfect machinery of inspection, will fail to get the work of good men performed by bad ones. Its laws will be no restraint on him to whom their execution is intrusted; its best systems fruitless, where they can not insure states of mind according with their spirit. The gov ernment of children must be a despotism, and it must have all the vices of a despotism, if we can not purify the depositaries of supreme power. But, if the instructor be one who is filled with a consciousness of his high duties, how mighty is his influence! He is the fountain of instruction, and the prime source of enjoyment to his pupils. Their little difficulties are brought to him, and in his solution rest. His casual remarks sink into their minds. His opinions on men and things make their way by the double force of authority and affection. His companionship, his sympathy, are above all things delightful. The imitative principle, so powerful in early life, is incessantly in action. The children are daily assimilating parts of his nature-making it one with their What an influence is his over their future destiny!

own.

Education is, in truth, the first concern of society, and it ought to have the energies of society's best minds. The Athenians, who had glimpses of whatever was most glorious, did in this matter leave mankind a great example. Teaching was the honorable occupation of their greatest men. The brightest minds of Athenian Philosophy were the instructors of Athenian youth; so keenly was the truth felt, that the mature intelligence and moral power, acquired in the struggles of a distinguished life, could perform no higher function than that of rearing up the same precious fruits in the rising minds of the community.