and application, and throw him where you will into the ocean of life, he will rise to the surface.

I see, sir, (turning to Mr. Goodman,) that you and the other masters of the school have carefully instilled those qualities which it becomes, therefore, almost superfluous in me to enforce-I speak the sense of all present in expressing our admiration of the skill and ability of the masters; but the masters in turn will bear me out when I say, that at a good school, it is not only the masters who teach. Boys teach each other; and that not in the school-room alone-not alone in the help which the quick give to the slow, the more advanced to the more backward-but in the play-ground as well as the school-room. Let me suppose what happens in some schools, but which is apparently a bold supposition, applied, young gentlemen, to you—that some of you are occasionally lazy and stupid over your books-more the shame certainly-but then in the play-ground, are you not learning some of these lessons which help to form the great English character? Do you not there learn-boys did in my school, and I am sure you will tell me yours do-do you not learn to prize honor and courage-learn to despise both the coward and the bully; learn how hateful is malice, and how contemptible is every specie of falsehood, shabbiness and meanness? And if boys learn only those matters, they go forth into life, as I hope you will go, with the ground work already formed of that manly English character which makes kind, brave, and honorable men. Boys, from this day I shall feel an interest in the career of all of you. Years hence I shall hear of some distinction obtained, or some praiseworthy action done, by one or more of those whom I now address. I shall be told, "Why that was one of the boys you addressed at Bishop's Stortford in 1856." Would you make this school the pride of the county? Well, then, let your reputation hereafter make yourselves the pride of the school. You who have this day received prizes justly due to you, continue to cultivate the qualities which will equally insure prizes in the world. You who have tried for prizes, and this time failed, be consoled when I tell you from my experience, that a failure in the first instance often ensures the greater triumph in the end, because it tests ones' pluck, stirs up ones' metal, and makes it a point of honor to succeed at last. And if-which I can scarcely suppose there be some of you who would not even try for prizes, well, let those boys look well into their own breasts, and if they see there no sullen jealousy, no mean envy of those who have received distinction, but, on the contrary, pleasure and pride in the credit reflected on the school that they belong to; why, then, they are brave and generous fellows, and, some day or other, bravery and generosity of themselves will obtain a prize in the world. Still, there is a wide difference between envy and emulation. And though you do not grudge others the honors they have wonstill, seeing now how those honors are regarded-turn it well in your own minds, if you will not, when school re-opens, try yourselves for honors, which no one will then grudge to you. Do not think, that when we give a prize to a boy who has distinguished himself, it is only his cleverness in some special branch of study that we reward. Perhaps he was not, in that branch of study, so peculiarly clever; perhaps many other boys might have beaten him if they had tried as hard. No! how many noble qualities may have spurred on that boy to try for the prize! Perhaps he had parents whom he loved-some indulgent father, some anxious mother-and he knew that the prize would make them so proud. Perhaps he had already conceived the manly wish for independence; he looked on to the future, saw that he had his own way to make in life, that it must be

made by merit, and that every credit he won at school would be a help to him in the world. Or, perhaps, he was only animated by that desire of distinction which is, after all, one of the most elevated sentiments in the human breast; it is that sentiment which inspires the poet and nerves the hero; it was that sentiment which made Nelson see not death but immortality in the terrors of the battle, and cry-" Victory or Westminster Abbey !" it was that sentiment which led the rank and file of the English soldiers up the heights of Alma. They did not hear the roar of the cannon, to whose very jaws they marched on with unflinching tread; they only heard the whisper at their hearts, "And if we do our duty this day, what will they say of us in England?" Ay, and when a boy sits down resolutely to his desk-puts aside all idle pleasures, faces every tedious obstacle-firmly bent upon honorable distinction, it is the same elevating sentiment which whispers to him-"If I succeed, what will they say of me at school?" or a dearer motive still-" What will they say of me at home?" Boys, when I look at your young faces, I could fancy myself a boy once more! I go back to the day when I, too, tried for prizes, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. I was once as fond of play as any of you, and, in this summer weather, I fear my head might have been more full of cricket than of Terence or even Homer; but still I can remember that, whether at work or play, I had always a deep, though a quiet determination, that, sooner or later, I would be a somebody or do a something. That determination continues with me to this day; it keeps one hope of my boyhood fresh, when other hopes have long since faded away And now that we separate, let it be with that hope upon both sides-on my side, upon yours,-that, before we die, we will do something to serve our country, may they make us prouder of each other—and, if we fail there, that at least we will never wilfully and consciously do anything to make us ashamed of each other. But even in this we must not rely on ourselves alone; we must look for aid to Him who reads every heart and strengthens us in every trial.

In the proceedings of this day nothing so touched and moved me-nothing made me so confident of your future-as the circumstance connected with the gift of the Holy Scriptures, which you so feelingly desired me to receive at the hands of your instructor, and the reverence with which the gift was accepted. It would be presumptuous in me to add to what your master has said, with the authority of his sacred calling and the eloquence of his earnest affection. Only one word would I say upon the habit of private, unwitnessed prayer. All of you have been taught to address your Creator in private as well as in public. Continue that habit throughout life-listen to no excuses to lay it aside-you can not yet conceive its uses in the sharp trials of manhood. All of us must meet temptations, none of us can escape errors; but he who prays in private never loses the redeeming link between human infirmity and divine mercy. To borrow an image from one of the great authorities of our English church, prayer is like the ladder which the patriarch saw in his dream, the foot of it set upon the earth, but the top of it reaching heaven, and angels ascending and descending; ascending to bear on high our sorrows, our confessions, our thanksgivings; descending to bear back to us consolation, pardon, and the daily blessings that call forth new thanksgivings. And now nothing remains for me but to thank you for the credit you reflect on this country, and to wish you happy homes and merry holidays.

UNITED ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLMASTERS.-This Association originated in a meeting of persons professionally engaged in education, held in London, on the 31st of December, 1853. The plan of the Association was to be more comprehensive than any existing society of the same kind. Its object is to increase the efficiency of elementary education, and advance the interest of the profes sion of teaching generally. The means resorted to, are general meetings for discussion, and lectures, and the publication of these proceedings, together with the formation of an educational cabinet of books, maps, diagrams, and apparatus for the inspection and examination of members.

LIST OF LECTURES.

1. On School Registers, for recording the results of different methods of Instruction. By Mr. T. Tate, F.R.A.S., President.

2. The Bible the basis of true Education. By Mr. E. C. Daintree, of Highbury Training College, Vice-President.

3. The Schoolmaster's Mission. By the Rev. C. H. Bromby, M. A., Vice-President.

4. The Teaching of Geography. By Mr. R. Dunning, of the Home and Colonial School Society, Vice-President.

5. On Teaching Botany in Schools. By Mr. A. Irvine, Member of the Botanical Society of London.

6. On Teaching Reading. By Mr. W. McLeod, F.R.G.S., of the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, Vice-President.

7. The Teaching of Common Things. By Mr. T. Crampton, Master of the Brentford Public School.

8. The method of Teaching Grammar. By Mr. J. Tilleard, F.R.G.S., Corresponding Secretary.

9 The Tonic Sol-Fa Method of Teaching Singing. By Mr. Sarll, for the Rev. J. Curwen, Plaistow.

10. On the Cultivation of Common Sense. By Mr. T. Tate.

11. On the Harmony between Science and Religion. By Mr. J. A. Shepherd, Master of the Scottish Central School, Swallow Street.

12. The Past and Future of English Education. By Mr. W. Knighton, M.A., Lecturer on Education in the Whitelands Training Institution.

13. On Teaching Reading. By Mr. W. McLeod.

14. On Teaching Social Economy in Schools. By. Mr. W. A. Shields, Master of the Peckham Birkbeck Schools.

15. On Rational Gymnastics, as a branch of Education. By Mr. M. Roth, M. D. 16. On the Method of Teaching History. By Mr. E. C. Daintree.

17. On Teaching Geography. By Mr. W. Hughes, F.R.G.S., Lecturer at Highbury Training College.

18. On the Infant Garden System. By Mr. H. Hoffman.

19. On the Schoolmaster's Relations with the Government. By Mr. E. Simpson. 20. On Music and Musical Instruction in Schools. By Mr. T. Murby, Teacher of singing in the Borough Road Normal Institution.

21. On the Character of the Teaching of Our Lord. By the Rev. C. R. Alford, M. A., Principal of Highbury Training College.

22. On the Government of Pupil Teachers. By Mr. F. R. Crampton, Master of the St. John's National school, St. John's Wood.

23. On a System of Graduated Simultaneous Religious Instruction. By Mr. R. Mimpriss.

24. On Gymnastics as a branch of Education. By Mr. G. Reinicke.

25. Competitive Examination as an educational stimulus. By Rev. J. Booth, LL.D., Treasurer of the Society of Arts.

26. The Influence of the Teacher in promoting civilization. By Rev. G. R. Greig, Inspector General of Military Schools.

27. Teaching Physiology in Schools. By William McLeod, F.R.G.S., Principal of Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea.

The last annual meeting was held on the 28th and 29th of December, 1856, at which lectures, (numbered above, 25, 26 and 27,) were read, and the subjects of the same were discussed. We abridge from a report in The Literarium, a discussion which appears to have occupied the afternoon session-to show that "constitution making and mending" is one of standing orders of the day among the school-masters of England, as well as of this country, and that “the religious question" is a bone of contention out of as well as in parliament.

MR. TURNER, in introducing a resolution, rescinding a rule of the Association by which membership was restricted to teachers “who acknowledge the essential doctrines of Christianity," and ordaining "that all who are professionally engaged in education shall be eligible to become members"-remarked.

The object of the society was stated to be to systematize the profession of teaching, and thereby to improve and extend elementary education; the aim of the Association was also said to be nothing less than the advancement of national education. In the second rule the Association was said to embrace "all teachers both of public and private schools," but then came the limitation "who acknowledge the essential doctrines of Christianity, and hold the Bible to be the rule of faith and practice, and the only sure basis of true education," a limitation not at all in harmony with the general objects. Every limitation to a gen eral principle should be just, well-defined, and practical. First, it should be just. If persons associated together, calling themselves by a given name, there ought to be nothing, in the rules established for their guidance which would shut out any one who fairly came under that name, unless he was in some way morally incapable of being received. The only qualification in a society of schoolmasters ought to be the circumstance of being a schoolmaster; and if a schoolmaster was not a member of such an association, that ought to argue either that he was an indifferent or an unworthy member of his profession. Then the limit should be well-defined; the line should be easily drawn, and there should be no hesitation or doubt as to whether persons could legitimately offer themselves as candidates for membership. If these two qualifications were adopted, any exclusive rule would be impracticable, and it was idle to say that any particular thing excluded a man when such ground of exclusion was never practically brought forward. If there were a ground of exclusion, it ought to be one that was acted upon, otherwise it was needless and mischievous. Comparing the second rule of the society with the principles he had mentioned, he felt bound to say that it was manifestly and flagrantly unjust, most ambiguous, and perfectly impracticable. The injustice was too obvious to need many words. The members of the society cooperated to do a certain work-the work, as stated in the prospectus, of national education; any one, therefore, who was worthily engaged in that work should be allowed to become a member of the Association; and if he were excluded on any other ground than that of professional incapacity-anything which unfitted him to fulfill worthily the duties of his profession-a great injustice was inflicted upon him. If the society professed to be limited to any particular class of teachers, then there would be no injustice; the doors might be opened as widely or as narrowly as the members might choose; but when a national object was professed, without limitation, an injustice was done to any worthy member who was stopped at the very threshold by a restrictive rule. The rule, as he had said, was ambiguous. It might be divided into two parts, the first stating what should give admission, and the second what should cause exclusion. The excluding clause was tolerably clear. It was evident that a certain class of men were positively excluded; but he could not tell, for the life of him, who was included. Jews and Catholics were clearly excluded by the rule as it stood, and those only were included who believed in "the essential doctrines of Christianity." But what considerable number of men ever had determined what were the essential doctrines of Christianity? Such a decision was utterly impracticable.

MR. BITHELL. The rule as it stood, was either inoperative, or, if operative, unjust. He, himself, had very decided views upon religious subjects, and for that reason he thought that persons who also had decided views, though opposed to his own, should be treated with liberality.

MR. DAINTREE. He would not remain a member of the Association an hour if such a rule were to be established.

MR. SHIELDS. He happened to know a schoolmaster whose character was such, that ordinarily decent persons would not associate with him: would the Committee admit such a man, though he professed to believe the essential doctrines of Christianity?

There was a great deal of hopeful education going on, not immediately connected with the great Church or Dissenting bodies. He did not know any set

of men, who, considering how much they were obliged to depend upon themselves, were doing more to improve their schools than the Jews of the metropolis. The largest free school in London was the Jewish free school in Fryingpan-alley, having at its head a scholar and a gentleman, and one who was treated as such by the Committee with which he was connected. Any member of the Association would gladly spend an evening with such a man, in the discus. sion of educational subjects; and was there anything so offensive in Christianity that he must be excluded from an Association of Schoolmasters, whose object was to advance education and further the interest of the profession? He extremely regretted that Mr. Daintree should have threatened to leave the Association, if such a resolution as Mr. Turner's were adopted. Mr. Turner presumed that in an Association of that kind there must be a power of excluding those whose moral character would cast obloquy upon it, or impede the progress of its business. He desired that power to be continued, but not that any one teacher should be able to say. to another, "You shall not come into the Schoolmasters' Association with which I am connected, unless you hold what I take to be the essential doctrines of Christianity." Their object ought to be to incorporate together the most able and worthy schoolmasters, for the promotion of their common objects, without regard to religious differences.

Mr. COGHLAN said that if a Schoolmaster's duty consisted merely in teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, and kindred subjects, there would be no need of such a rule of limitation as at present existed. One part of the Schoolmaster's duty was to teach religion, and whatever formed part of the Schoolmaster's duty should be the subject of discussion in the Schoolmasters' Association. How then could there be anything like a united feeling in such a discussion between men who were not agreed as to the essential doctrines of Christianity.

The Rev. Mr. UNWIN said it was hard to remain silent under groundless charges of bigotry and intolerance. Surely no man was compelled to join an Association whatever the terms of union might be. (Hear, hear.) The law in dispute was intended to express a great truth, that education necessarily involved a religious element, and it was a law upon which every man's conscience must decide. An individual who did not make the word of God the basis of his school-teaching, would hardly be admitted under the rule proposed by Mr. Turner himself.

MR. CRAMPTON. He thought the morality of the Bible was far more essential, and he was prepared to hold out the right hand of fellowship to any man who led an upright life, whatever his religious tenets. Their object as an Association was to improve themselves professionally in the methods of education, and, as such, they had nothing to do with differences of opinion on doctrinal points. We did not hesitate to buy sugar of a grocer simply because he was a Unitarian, and if we wanted money we were not backward in applying to the Jews; why should not the same unsectarian feeling be exhibited in an Association formed for a general object?

MR. BUCKMASTER. For himself, he would entirely abolish the rule and substitute nothing in its place. As the teachers in the Association were under committees, he thought there was every requisite guarantee for their general character. The Association was engaged in a certain work, and he regarded it entirely in a professional point of view. No religious test, therefore, should be required. The days of tests had long since gone by. The rule was entirely behind the times, and the spirit in which it was framed, and which would desire its continuance, was the same spirit that formerly prevented dissenters and others from attaining their political and religious rights.—("No, no.")

MR. SIMPSON. He opposed the second rule as it was originally framed, and succeeded in getting it modified so that at present it excluded none but the Jew.

MR. MARSHALL. He joined the Association because of the rule in dispute, and his conscience would not allow him to continue a member if it were withdrawn. He could not associate professionally with Jews and other persons who taught principles so essentially different from his own, and thus opposed him in his daily work.

MR. TURNER. He had shown his resolution to the Dean of Bristol, who entirely approved of its terms, and was amazed to think that an Association of