noble sentiment and every right affection flourish spontaneously under their eye. It is mean to lie to Dr. Arnold,' said the boys of Rugby' school. The open-hearted candor and the generous trustfulness, of their great teacher, shamed them from their habits of falsehood.

"With a weak and selfish, or a passionate and fretful teacher, the very air of the school-room will be haunted with a spirit of evil and misrue, and no amount of Bible reading and public prayers can make the moral influences good. The teacher who would successfully teach morals, must keep in active exercise the kindliest feelings of his heart. Let him aim steadily and honestly to be what he would have his pupils become, and ask no more of goodness in them than he exhibits in himself."

Important as these indirect agencies are, they cannot do away with the necessity of direct and positive moral instruction. I can not better express my idea than to quote the language of the statute of Massachusetts. "It shall be the duty of the Teachers to use their best endeavors to im"press upon the minds of the youth committed to their care and instruc"tion, the principles of piety, justice, and a sacred regard to truth, love "to their country, humanity, and universal benevolence, sobriety, indus"try, frugality, chastity, moderation, temperance, and those other virtues, "which are the ornament of human society, and the basis upon which a "republican constitution is founded; and they shall endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will allow, into a clear understand"ing of the tendency of these virtues, to preserve and perfect a republican constitution, and to secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to pro"mote their own happiness; and they shall point out to them the evil "tendency of the opposite vices."

This rule may be safely followed, since it does not in any wise give countenance to sectarian instruction, which our Constitution properly forbids.

Every means suited to the ends sought may be used by the teacher, provided he does not transcend Constitutional limits.

This positive moral instruction should never be given in the form of set lectures. Every exercise of the school room should be made a lesson in morals and manners. All the incidents gathered by a Teacher who has his eyes and ears open, both in the street and the school room, may be turned to good account. Acts of benevolence, generosity, kindness, forgiveness, patience, meekness, self control, on the part of pupils may be noticed and encouraged. Acts of an opposite nature should not pass unrebuked, but the occasion should be studied, and a proper spirit ever manifested. Examples of virtue may be selected from the good of past times, or the present age. Some noble pattern of virtue should be kept before the eye of the child.

A little work entitled "Moral Lessons," by M. F. Cowdery of Sandusky, Ohio, may be of service to the teacher. Such lessons each Teacher should gather from the field of his observation or experience, and have them at command.

But one point more and I have done for the present. The subject of sports is one that should be carefully studied. The child must have recreation. Teachers sometimes forget that they were once children. Children love sport. It is cruel, it is unnatural to deny them the privil

ege of indulging in some innocent games. At no other time, however, during the child's life, is he so susceptible to evil influences as when at play. He comes more immediately into the presence of those less refined than himself, and with his mental powers for the time being absorbed in the one pursuit, evil habits almost imperceptibly creep upon him. To deny him all play would be a still greater evil. Hear Mr. Wells, Superintendent of the Schools of Chicago, upon this point:

"The teacher who regards his duties as less responsible while the children are assembled on the schocl premises, out of school hours, than while they are in their seats before him, has most unworthy views of his profession. If an improper and protracted intimacy exists between a pupil of correct habits and one whose example and influence are known to be injurious, the teacher has an important duty to discharge. If pupils indulge in the use of profane or vulgar language on the play-ground, it is the teacher's duty to know and correct it. Whatever other duties are left to suffer from neglect, these must not be. The teacher should ever be a welcome observer of the sports and exercises of the children, and his intercourse with them should be such as to inspire the feeling that he is among them as a friend and protector, and not as a spy. It is during these periods of relaxation that teachers are emphatically in loco parentis, to guard the morals and manners of the children committed to their care.' The child in the street and at home will be very much what he is on the school play ground.

When the subject of moral education shall have received its proper share of attention in our schools, then, and not till then, may we expect to realize the full benefits of a noble Free School System.

CONCLUSION.

The times, so fraught with danger, demand an earnest and faithful support of all that contributes to the safety and perpetuity of our Free Institutions.

Nothing is of more importance to this end than the Free School.
I commend it to your careful and intelligent consideration.

Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant,

J. L. PICKARD,

Superintendent of Public Instruction.

APPENDIX.