separate schools. But would you compel children to hear instruction to which their parents object? Yes, unless parents indemnify the State from their children becoming paupers or criminals. There is danger of children being left to moral ignorance and degradation.

After an animated discussion of some length on the address of Dr. Peabody, and upon the following resolution, offered by W. C. Collar, of Boston Highlands, the resolution was adopted almost unanimously:

"Resolved, That, in the opinion of this association, the public safety and the highest interests of education demand that the Bible should not be excluded from the public schools."

The evening session was occupied by a lecture by Dr. George B. Loring, on "the higher education of women."

The first paper on Thursday, the third day of the meeting, was by Professor W. P. Atkinson, of Cambridge, on "a general course of study," in which he showed the relation that education bears to the Government, and claimed that this should be provided for all by the States rather than the General Government, and that the very best is not too much to be demanded. The use of scientific knowledge in the future development of this country was dwelt upon; and in addition to teaching in science and English literature-the latter being important to make our boys and girls brave, earnest, and true-there should be much more of instruction in beauty, as seen in poetry and art.

After a full discussion of this paper the report of the treasurer was read, showing the receipts of the year to have been $776 29, and the expenditures $494 83.

COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

In the afternoon this subject was taken up, to allow Hon. Joseph White, secretary of the Massachusetts State board of education, to address the institute. He said that the questions of school attendance and school supervision were among the most important for their consideration. It would not be denied that it was the duty of the State to provide the means of education, or the duty of parents to avail themselves of these privileges; and, to go even further, it was the duty of the State to compel parents and guardians to avail themselves of the privileges. The law punishing parents who, in good circumstances, fail to provide children with food and clothes, was a good law, and there should be the same provision for intellectual food. Mr. White read the compulsory law passed in 1642 relative to children and apprentices, making it the duty of all to see that the children in the families of their neighbors had sufficient learning to enable them to read the English language perfectly, with other acquirements. Today we recognize the same principle in the law requiring children between the ages of eight and twelve years to attend school six months in the year, and children from twelve to fifteen years of age, three months. When a law was made compelling attendance at school and enforcing it, "to let" would be inscribed on the door of the State prison, and we should live in an age of prosperity such as we have not known since the days of the Puritan fathers.

Some minor topics were discussed in the afternoon by gentlemen from various parts of the country.

Mr. Fordice Allen, of Pennsylvania, spoke of the progress of education in his State, and invited the institute to visit the State and hold an annual meeting there.

Abner J. Phipps, agent of the Massachusetts board of education, was elected president for the ensuing year, D. W. Jones, Boston, secretary, and George A. Walton, of Westfield, treasurer.

CENTRAL COLLEGE ASSOCIATION.

More than thirty college presidents met at Oberlin, Ohio, Tuesday, August 23, to attend the second meeting of the Central College Association, an organization for the advancement of collegiate and higher education, designed to operate in the Mississippi Valley.

Vice-President Tappan, of Kenyon College, occupied the chair. In his opening address he urged strongly the establishment of some kind of national union in the higher education of the people, and advocated the acceptance of the proposition from the National Teachers' Association to organize under the department of "higher instruction."

Wednesday morning was occupied by a report of the executive committee, followed by the reading of a paper upon the history of the Greek language, by Professor Anagnostopoulos, a native Greek, who also included in his subject the methods of teaching the classics. He insisted that the modern and ancient Greek languages are identical, with due allowances for corruptions and unimportant changes.

In the afternoon a discussion on classical academies was continued; also the subject of the "marking system, examination, and degrees." A committee previously appointed, consisting of Professors Ellis, Martyn, Cobleigh, Olney, and Vincent, reported a resolution approving the organization of a department of higher education, as pro

vided for in the action of the National Teachers' Association, "and that we will coöperate with that department;" and the report was adopted. In the evening Professor Gulliver gave an address on "Christian colleges and Christian churches."

Thursday the following officers were chosen: President, J. H. Fairchild, of Oberlin; first vice-president, J. P. Gulliver, of Knox College; second vice-president, Professor Ed. Olney, of Michigan University; corresponding secretary, President E. T. Tappan, of Kenyon College; recording secretary, Professor B. S. Potter, of Illinois Wesleyan University; treasurer, E. Whipple, of Wheaton College.

President Fairchild, of Oberlin, read a paper on the question, "How far the college shall control the religious instruction of pupils?" The main points presented in answer to the question were that the pupil specially needed religious instruction, for he is at that period of life when he is immature, unsettled, and grasping after the foundations of those teachings which he had in youth accepted from the authority of parents. His intelligence could not be trusted without religious instruction. Government provides religious instruction for the inmates of its prisons and hospitals. Character cannot be formed except under the pressure of religion. In history and life the Christian religion is one of the most prominent facts, and cannot be left out of studies. Order in colleges cannot be maintained without religious teaching. Colleges are held responsible for this work by the religious element of society. He thought that if the practice prevailed which had been adopted in Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin, of not requiring religious studies or observances, it would be ruinous to the colleges and the State. To what extent religion should be taught, could not be answered, but students must accept the regulations as those of a well-ordered household. Narrow peculiarities of creeds should not be enforced or criticised, for the college is not the arena for sectarian discussions.

The venerable ex-president, Finney, of Oberlin, having been invited through a special committee to address the convention, made some pungent remarks as to what he thought colleges ought to be. 1. The faculty should be Christian, for what establishes, supports, and endows colleges but the Christian religion? 2. They should be men well posted in their special departments, and labor with enthusiasm. They might teach a quarter of a century without enthusiasm, and not develop a thorough scholar. 3. The faculty must be sufficiently radical and judiciously progressive, so as not to lose the confidence of the students and earn the title of old fogy. 4. The college must be in sympathy with the people. He attributed the success of Oberlin to that. 5. Faculties must have settled and well-defined opinions. Some people thought college men should not have opinions, but they should; though there is a kind of popularity in which everybody speaks well of men and nobody cares much for them; they are well liked, but have no students. 6. Religion must be taught. The highest judicial authority had decided the Christian religion to be the law of the land. 7. Faculties should be men of good sense, and, if they would have the respect of pupils, they should know enough to come into the recitation rooms out of the rain.

The following resolutions were adopted at the close of the session:

Resolved, That we note with pleasure the evidences of increasing interest in the literary, scientific, and especially the religious education of the youth of our land; believing, as we do, that education not based upon Christian truth is of questionable

value.

2. That the executive committee be instructed to correspond with General Eaton, Commissioner of Education, and express their willingness and desire to coöperate with him in promoting the interests of education.

3. That we commend these interests to the sympathies, prayers, and liberality of Christian people and congregations; that our schools may be increasingly useful as fountains not only of sound instruction, but also of earnest, elevated piety.

A social entertainment in the ladies' hall of the college at 5 p. m. closed the meetings of the association.

KANSAS STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of this association was held June 29 and 30, and July 1, 1870. The opening address was by the president, I. J. Banister, of Paola. Lectures or papers were read by Professor H. D. McCarty and Professor P. J. Williams, of Leavenworth; Miss Brewer, of Paola; Professor Kellogg, of Emporia; Hon. T. A. Parker, State superintendent of Missouri; R. B. Taylor, of Wyandott; Professor Chapman, of Irving; Hon. P. McVicar, Kansas State superintendent; Professor R. B. Dilworth, Leavenworth; Professor P. Fales, of Ottawa, and Miss Morris, of Leavenworth.

OHIO STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

The twenty-second annual meeting of this association was held at Columbus, July 5, 6, and 7, and the members were welcomed to the city by F. Fieser, esq., president of the city board of education. John Hancock, esq., of Cincinnati, responded in behalf

of the association. The president of the association, R. W. Stevenson, esq., of Norwalk, then gave his inaugural address, in the course of which he referred to the efforts which have been made by the teachers of the State, for many years, to secure normal schools and county supervision. He said they had begged for these two measures at the doors of their legislative halls, but had been refused. But the pupils would. by and by be the law-makers, and then these two things would surely come. They had secured the passage of a law creating a State board of examiners, and also one which had greatly improved the institute system. In concluding his address, he said:

What ten years more will bring forth in the history of education in Ohio, no teacher, not even a veteran in the service, would dare attempt to foretell. But the progress of the past surely leaves us not hopeless and faithless, but full of encouragement. It will do us no harm to indulge, at least, in the vision of not less than six well-established, munificently-endowed State normal schools, with two thousand young men and women in course of training for the profession, one master mind controlling the educational affairs of each county, with the township, and not the sub-district, as the unit in the grand system of the common schools of the State."

A report on "primary instruction" was read by Rev. J. F. Reinmund, of Springfield, and the subject was discussed at length; and then the general doctrines of the report were commended to the attention of the teachers of the State.

A report on "moral culture in common schools" was read by President Eli T. Tappan, of Kenyon College, a discussion following, in which a large number of members participated. Mr. W. H. Venable, of Cincinnati, gave the evening address of the second day, on "the utility of the ideal." Thursday, the third day, J. C. Hartzler, esq., presented a report on "the best methods of conducting county examinations of teachers," which was discussed very fully, and an appropriate resolution on the subject was adopted. The exercises of this association consisted, in a great degree, of discussions on important local questions; and among others the following resolutions were adopted:

Resolved, That this association deeply regrets the failure of the general assembly of Ohio to pass the bill creating the office of county school superintendent, and its members hereby pledge themselves to keep the value and importance of this great measure before the people until its incorporation into the school system of the State is secured.

THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Resolved, That the right moral instruction and training of its pupils are the highest function and the most imperative duty of the public school.

Resolved, That both reason and history attest the insufficiency of the natural virtues as a basis of moral duty and action, and hence effective moral instruction and training must be based upon and vitalized by religion.

Resolved, That while effective moral instruction and training in our schools do not require the teaching of sectarian dogmas, creeds, or catechisms, the complete secularization of our public schools would be a public and national calamity.

Resolved, That, in the language of Justice Story in the Girard will case, "The Bible is a religious but not a sectarian book," and we are opposed to its exclusion from the public schools by the action of boards of education, or by statutory enactment.

The following officers were chosen: President, A. C. Deuel, Urbana, with three male and two female vice-presidents; recording secretary, J. F. Lukens, Kent; corresponding secretary, U. T. Curran, Cincinnati.

MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS. .

This association met at Grand Rapids, at 8 o'clock p. m., August 8, 1870. In addition to the county superintendents there were present at the opening, Hon. O. Horsford, State superintendent, and ex-superintendents Gregory and Pierce.

The address of the evening was by the State superintendent, on "the relation of the National Government to education."

The necessity of government of some sort was first explained; the inherent powers of government were stated, embracing the right of making internal improvements, of making war in cases of emergency, and generally of protecting and advancing the great interests of its citizens.

The question was then argued whether the Government has the right, and if so, whether it is its duty, to take part in matters relating to the education of its citizens, which is of especial importance to our success and ultimate greatness. It was maintained that there could be no doubt whatever of the wisdom of the Government's taking measures for the general education of its masses, and that instruction, such as is imparted in schools of high order, develops not only invincible armies, but also enlightened and loyal citizens, men who appreciate and will maintain, in all emergencies, free institutions. The result of such education, as compared with the want of an educational system, was never more forcibly demonstrated than during the civil war.

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It was further maintained that education is necessary to the well-being of this country, as tending to elevate and instruct all classes of citizens, who must be educated because the genius of our institutions demands not a restricted ballot, but a universal one of enlightened men. It was argued that the only practical question was how far the Government should go in this direction, what means it is authorized to take, and to what extent it can properly adopt legislation. The beneficial results of the general systems of education adopted in several states of Europe, as Switzerland and Prussia, were dwelt upon and shown to have practically changed the doctrines of those nations. The course now being taken by Austria, in the same direction, was also commended, and authorities were cited to prove that the late triumphs of the Prussian soldiers over the Austrians (perhaps also over the French) were due to the superior national education of the Prussians, which is now being widely followed throughout the Austrian dominions. It was argued that a high degree of education is absolutely essential to the success of republics, and that the development of it in Europe is swiftly working the downfall of all despotic one-man powers, and establishing constitutional monarchies or republics in their stead.

The previous course of our own Government, in this direction, was noticed, and it was shown that before 1866 it had practically done nothing save to vote certain lands for the benefit of schools in the country. In that year, through the efforts of the leading educators of the country, a measure was carried through Congress for collecting statistics of the educational interests of the country. A Bureau was founded, consisting of a Department of Education, for gathering statistics, and for disseminating information of this nature throughout the country. A Commissioner of the Bureau was appointed, at a salary of $4,000 per annum, with authority to appoint the necessary number of subordinates, and with instructions to present an annual report to Congress concerning this question. The act also instructs the Commissioner to investigate and report concerning the present condition of the various funds appropriated by the Government for educational purposes.

He urged that a full Department of Education should be created, equal to any by the Government, the secretary of which should be a member of the cabinet, and possessed of equal power with the other cabinet ministers; and that the educational interests of the country should rank fully as high as those of finance, of state, or of war. He would not have the national system conflict with the State systems, but coöperate, so as to render them more wide-spread and effective. There was, in his opinion, no difficulty in establishing such a system, and there should no delay in adopting it.

SUPERINTENDENTS' RECORDS.

Tuesday morning a report was made by Superintendent Bennett on the subject of "superintendents' records," which was followed by a discussion, Hon. J. D. Pierce, of Ypsilanti, recommending the simplest form as the best, in which opinion there was a general concurrence.

SCHOOL DISCIPLINE.

Superintendent Antisdale read the next paper, devoted chiefly to the proper and best means of enforcing order and discipline in schools.

In the discussion which followed, Superintendents Hill, Latta, Fancher, Ford, Mudge, and Hon. J. D. Pierce took part, when Superintendent Mudge introduced the following resolution, which was subsequently adopted, after a full discussion, by about two to

one:

"Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention that, while the utmost effort of the teacher should be to build up, within the mind of the child, a moral principle producing self-government, until such principle is developed, resort to means of compulsory restraint, after persuasive instrumentalities are exhausted, is proper, legal, and necessary to the success of our primary schools."

COUNTY TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.

This topic was presented by Superintendent Follas, setting forth the work that institutes should aim to accomplish. "They should not be conducted by means of lectures alone. The teachers themselves should take part in them. Professor John M. Gregory, president of the Industrial University of Illinois, being present, he was introduced as a gentleman who had conducted the educational interests of the State for a long series of years successfully. He was in favor of teachers' institutes. He inferred that those present would prefer to hear Pestalozzi (if he could be present) lecture rather than see him drill a class. If Horace Mann could appear we would listen with more pleasure to his theory and philosophy of education rather than observe his methods. If a teacher of less acknowledged eminence and lack of original ideas were to hold forth, we should say, "Let us see your class exercise; let your speech go." So institutes should be conducted. The instructors should be assigned to the positions they were

best calculated to fill. If those seeking public notoriety can be kept by some means in the back ground, institutes will be successful.

Among the other matters discussed during the afternoon sessions were "Term reports by teachers to county superintendents;" "Compulsory attendance;" "Examinations;" "A State journal;" "School legislation," &c.

In the evening Hon. John M. Gregory gave an address on "The motive powers of our educational machinery." This subject was presented in an attractive and earnest manner. "The great driving-wheel of all this machinery," he said, "is the body politic. When public sentiment pronounces education a good thing, it enkindles in the mind of the parent, the teacher, and the child a desire to secure it. To-day," said he, "your high schools stand half-filled, your colleges comparatively empty, because public sentiment thinks that to read a newspaper and keep accounts is all that is required." Adverting to the public-school system of Prussia, and enumerating its universities filled with students, he asked "Why are these so full? Because that in Prussia the university stands in the way of the professions, and young men seek the universities as the only open door to their hopes. Here we have no such motive. We cannot subject our young men to any such compulsion. What there remains to us is to suit education to their felt wants. If the mountain will not come to us, we must go to the mountain. We must make our higher education what the practical sense of the country demands. And this our leading institutions were doing. What has Harvard been compelled by public opinion (instead of leading it) to do? To make her whole course above the sophomore year the optional course; and more, and others will be called upon to do the same. It is true that Latin and Greek are time-honored, but at the risk of being called a heretic, he claimed that they were inadequate to fit a man to battle with the great industries of the earth. The point was not mere rounded development, and not mere indefinite discipline, but education practically directed to the great duties and business of life. If you can so educate it with Latin and Greek, do so; if you can do it by scientific education, do so. He was not a politician, but he felt that the great experiment of the world would have to be made by America, and that was the free exchange of products and manufactures, in short, free trade. Applause. In the competition that must then come for the markets of the world, we can only hold our place by the power of cultivated brains. The great inventions of Americans that had reflected glory and honor on the name, were but a tithe of what they would be, had our people the benefits of a polytechnic education. He congratulated those present on what had been accomplished in Michigan. He felt grateful for the little part he had been enabled to bear in shaping the foundations. He had pointed with pride to the institutions of Michigan, her colleges, her high and union schools, and her university, which had made the name of Michigan honored."

The subject of "Normal classes in the high school" was presented Wednesday by Superintendent Palmer, and a paper on "The relation of Christianity to education" was read by Superintendent Hill. The closing address was by Hon. J. D. Pierce, his theme being, "What and how much ought to be expected from our schools, and are they worth preserving ?"

MICHIGAN STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

This association met at Grand Rapids, August 10, 1870, the opening exercise being at 8 o'clock p. m.; Hon. Duane Doty, of Detroit, president, in the chair. The lecture of the evening was by Rev. C. H. Bingham, of Ann Arbor, on "Words and their uses." Thursday morning an address of welcome was given by Professor Strong, when the first topic of the day was presented by him, also, on "A high school course of study." A lengthy discussion followed. President Doty drew a diagram on the black-board to illustrate the proportion of students in each grade of schools in the State; which, according to his estimate was, for primary schools, 4,000; intermediate, 2,000; grammar, 1,000; high, 200; the complete department of the high school, 20; the university, 2. Mrs. Kate Brearely, of Lansing, read a paper on "The force of human nature," the subject being treated to show how the teacher should replace, if possible, the evil forces by good ones. In the afternoon a paper was read by Captain F. R. Brockway, superintendent of the House of Correction of Detroit, on "The influence of education upon

crime."

Mr. Doty inquired what was to be done with insubordinate boys. Whipping would not reform them; they could not be imprisoned. Should they be expelled from the schools? Mr. Brockway replied, "You must keep them in the schools." He would, if necessary, construct a school expressly for them. To deprive them of education was to thrust them, with great impetus, into a criminal career. In the prolonged discussion which followed, the prevailing opinion expressed was that the best remedy for the cases referred to is to diminish the number of pupils for each teacher. A good teacher, with not more than twenty-five pupils, might do anything he pleased with them; but when sixty or seventy pupils are under the care of a single teacher, it is impossible to restrain them properly. In the evening Professor A. A. Griffith gave a lecture on