the exercises he imposes on them, and to unfold to them all the advantages which may accrue from the particular information at which they aim, or from the particular tasks which they are desired to perform,-thereby supplying them with powerful motives of study. In public instruction there are few qualifications more necessary than the power of extemporaneous delivery. This happy talent brings the mind of the professor into closer contact with that of his pupils, than the reading of written lectures; it enables him to repeat what has not been fully understood, to introduce illustrations as they are required, and to diversify his manner or language according to the impression made on his young auditory as perceived in their countenances. But extemporaneous lectures, to be really useful, must be founded upon a practical knowledge of the dispositions and advancement of the students; and there is no better means by which this knowledge may be acquired than by an intercourse with them in the way of examination and conversation. The delivering of lectures to a class would not be sufficient to create intellectual habits in learners, if unaccompanied by examinations. Skill in conducting these is, therefore, essentially necessary to qualify the professor for the successful discharge of his public duty. A person teaching his native tongue abroad, should know critically that of his pupils, as well as his own; for he must be able, when a difficulty occurs in a foreign author, to render readily, accurately, and perspicuously the original thought, both to make it clear to his pupils, and to set them the example of correct and elegant expression; he must also have it in his power to correct the many errors which young persons are liable to commit, when translating from a foreign idiom either orally or in writing, and thus to assist them in making that language instrumental to improvement in their own. He should be a thorough grammarian and philologist, so as to be able to adduce rules in support of his correction, and to explain the mechanism, formation, and derivation of language.

Linear drawing, which supplies the deficiencies of descriptive language, is another acquirement indispensable to the instructor. It may be made a most useful instrument of teaching, even in the humblest school. In the exact, the natural, and the experimental sciences, especially, he who has a command of this art is never at a loss how to render the most intricate details clear, intelligible, and interesting to his auditory. One of the great difficulties which are met with in understanding a lecture on

science, arises often from the false notions to which incorrect diagrams lead. To the professor of languages linear drawing would prove equally useful, as it would enable him readily to present to his pupils just notions of many objects, the foreign names of which have either no corresponding terms in their own language, or are translated by words not familiar to them, and consequently conveying to them no clear idea of what is meant. Skill in drawing is a powerful auxiliary in oral instruction; for visible illustrations, by bringing the perceptive powers in aid of the intellect, fix the attention of the hearers more intensely, and disclose the thought of the lecturer more forcibly, than could be done by the most minute verbal details. The celebrated Cuvier used, in his lectures, to resort to the chalk and the black board, whenever he perceived that he was not fully understood by his numerous auditory; and their approbation generally testified the success of his illustrations. Sir Charles Bell offers another striking example of the importance of drawing to a scientific teacher; for his admirable lectures would have lost half their effect, had he not constantly illustrated his ideas by means of his skill as a draughtsman.

Not only should the educator's acquirements, capacity, and moral character be of a high order, but he should aim at professional skill; he should understand thoroughly the art of instructing, of educating the young. The possession of a good education, or of much information, does not necessarily imply the power of transmitting either: a man may be an accomplished scholar or an adept in science, and, yet, be an indifferent teacher. To stoop from the pride of superior attainment; to conceive even the embarrassments that entangle the beginner; to become identified with the feelings and faculties of children; to anticipate and remove the obstacles in their way to knowledge; to curb and regulate their tempers, and, what is still more difficult, one's own; to awaken and sustain attention, and know when to stop, so as to avoid fatigue; to lead by easy steps, through a path which to them is a rugged one, and strewing it with flowers instead of thorns; to slacken one's own steps, in order to keep pace with the pupil, instead of expecting or insisting on gigantic strides; all this is the result of long and careful training; it demands a rare assemblage of qualities, and can be effected only by a person of superior abilities.*

The educator should make himself perfect master of physi

* See James Pillan's Principles of Elementary Teaching.

ology, moral science, and mental philosophy; the instructor, especially, should study mental philosophy, which contains the fundamental principles of the art of teaching. Education is, in fact, the most useful part of the science of the mind. It may be considered as a science in itself: it has its fixed laws, and the principles on which it is founded are drawn, by inductive reasoning, from the physical and intellectual organisation of man, as also from his social condition; it demands, in order to be well understood and properly applied, the deepest thought and the most patient investigation. Now, if this be so, we would ask how a man could know this science any more than that of mathematics or astronomy, without having studied it, or having even thought about it? If there be any such art as the art of teaching, we ask how it comes to pass that a man is considered fully qualified to exercise it without a day's study, when a similar attempt in any other art would expose him to ridicule. The profession on which all other professions depend demands a more severe apprenticeship than any, because it is the most important in its effects, the most comprehensive in its objects, and the most intricate in its details. It must be acquired in normal schools, or by practising under eminent professors, and by studying the most important works which have been written and are daily published on the subject of education.

Normal schools, however, conducted as they usually are in England and France, do not sufficiently take into consideration the primary wants of the pupils. M. Salvandy, minister of public instruction under Louis Philippe, has proposed a reform in this department, which is much needed. In adverting to the subject he says, "Our pedagogical institutions have been calculated to add instruction to instruction; but the science of teaching and, especially, the science of education, are taught nowhere. Our special schools make grammarians, Latin and Greek scholars, mathematicians, and philosophers; nothing shows that they prepare their pupils to be professors and educators.' They, in truth, forward them in every department of knowledge, except the one which is the most useful to them, namely, a knowledge of the human constitution, physical, moral, and intellectual. They are completely silent on the science of education and on the art of teaching. The characteristic feature of the instruction of such establishments ought to be the predominance of pedagogical subjects, consisting chiefly in lectures on the history of

Rapport au Roi, Dec. 6, 1845.

education among the most civilised nations, in the study of the faculties as regards the training of children, in an investigation, explanation, and comparison of the best methods of tuition, and in a minute inquiry into the duties and qualifications of the teacher.

The educator must have a thorough knowledge of the human faculties and propensities; for they are the materials on which he has to operate. He must be able to distinguish the shades of difference which exist in the various dispositions and capacities of children; otherwise he could not discriminate where the blame should end and where the praise should commence; nor can he assign suitable tasks to their different degrees of intellect. He must exercise and bring to maturity their intellectual powers; he must foster and cherish in their hearts noble and generous sentiments; he must devise and prosecute the best modes of sowing and cultivating the seeds of knowledge.

With a view to study more completely the natural laws which govern the physical, moral, and mental constitution of man, the educator ought not perhaps to neglect phrenology. Although all the principles of this science are not generally admitted, an investigation of the doctrines of its most eminent votaries could not fail to produce useful results: already it has drawn forth many interesting facts respecting the functions of the brain and the nervous system. Alchymy, absurd as it was, has led to very important discoveries; it was the parent of chemistry. How widely soever the phrenological theory may differ from received notions, when we consider the number of its advocates, and the eminence of some of them, we cannot refrain from thinking that there must be in it something worthy the attention of those who sincerely and earnestly wish to study the faculties and propensities of childhood.

SECT. III.-IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHER'S OFFICE.

The teacher who is in possession of the qualifications and professional knowledge which we have but feebly sketched, has in his power to accomplish extensive good. His influence on society is incalculable; he is the best promoter of man's prosperity in life, the true apostle of civilisation. His office is, in reality, the most important; for, as Plato remarks, and Barthélémy after him, "On the education of youth depends the fate of

empires." "I will," observes Goldsmith, "be bold enough to say that schoolmasters in a state are more necessary than clergymen, as children stand in more need of instruction than parents."+

The learned professions derive their respectability and consideration from the knowledge which their duties are supposed to require, from the responsibility which they assume, and the liberality with which it is thought they would sacrifice every expectation of profit for the advantage of those who confide their dearest interests to them. Does the profession of the educator yield, in this respect, to any other? Does it assume less responsibility? Does it exhibit less self-denial, less zeal for public good? Surely not.

The physician operates on matter, the teacher on mind; the influence of the physician is confined to the individuals who are under his care; whereas the influence of the teacher extends, through the virtues or vices, through the knowledge or ignorance of his pupils, to the whole community and to succeeding generations. Can there be a doubt which of the two professions is of greater importance to society?

If, for the most part, we yield the direction of our conscience to the care of the clergyman, if we trust our fortune and our good name to the abilities of the lawyer, to the educator we implicitly abandon what is equally dear to us-the direction of the minds and of the hearts of our children,—their success in life, their happiness in this world, and, perhaps, their eternal condition in that which is to come. High as is the position of the legislator, as the guardian of public liberty and happiness, that of the instructor is still higher; for laws, to be efficacious, must already exist in the manners and habits of a nation; and these, if not the creation of the instructor, are much under his influence, and depend no less on his example than on his tuition. He who thoroughly fulfils his task, is more than a parent. It is the teacher who makes the man, the citizen, the living soul.

There is no profession more responsible and more elevated than that which, as Dr. Thomas Brown beautifully expresses it, "has the charge of training the ignorance and imbecility of infancy into all the virtue, and power, and wisdom of maturer manhood, of forming, of a creature the frailest and feeblest, perhaps, which heaven has made, the intelligent and fearless

* Voyages du Jeune Anacharsis.

The Bee. Education.