It destroys the dread of an "examination,"—that period often regarded with a "fearful looking for," both by teachers and pupils. They thus become accustomed to examinations, the very things they constantly need; and the effect is to excite, and give self-possession and confidence to all concerned. So far from hindering the operations of a school, they relieve it of a tedious monotony, and prevent many irregularities which might otherwise occur;-stimulate the scholars to constant well-appearing, and strengthen the teacher's authority. Are you a parent, then,- —or a school committee-man,—or an individual not interested directly by either of these relations in the educational advancement of the rising generation,-call often and unceremoniously at the school-room of your district, and those of others. Say not, that you have not time. Most have time, and to spare, which they can certainly devote to this important subject,-moments and hours which they are often at a loss to employ otherwise,--hours of non-employment, idleness and heaviness, to dispose of which, they have to resort to various expedients of "time killing." Does a cessation of labor or business allow,-does a foul day intervene,-does a slight indisposition disqualify you for work,-are you passing the school-house, "in no particular hurry,"-ie your horse at the post, and spend a half hour among the smiling faces of happy child ren. Say not, that you feel no interest in these things. You should feel an interest, and you can beget it. Make four visits to a well conducted school-room, and my word for it, you will feel an inclination for a fifth. Say not, thot you are not qualified by education to judge discriminately of the work of the school-room. You may not in all cases be qualified to judge of grammatical exercises, &c., but there is much of which all can form an opinion rightly. You can judge of quiet and orderly deportment, of ready and cheerful obedience, of prompt answers, and of cheerful and happy countenances. Pass round the school-room,—address a word of caution, of reprehension, or of commendation and incitement, where your eye will with much certainty see that these appliances are needed. It will raise you in your own esteem, and in the estimation of the young,-excite and inspirit the pupils, and strengthen the hands, and give dignity and influence to the master. You could find time,—and the interest of curiosity, at least, would prompt you to drop into a factory to witness its operations, even if you had not the interest of a stockholder. Can you find no interest, then, in the operations of those mental factories, —in every one of which you are a stockholder? Are the operations upon dead matter of more general consequence and curiosity than those upon mind? confines of the highway,-no good enclosure,-weather-beaten and weather-colored, glass broken,-&c. &c. all in keeping;-I wish not to make farther observation-no inquiry as to the character of the people. I am sure to find near, bushy farms, broken fences, wretched farm-buildings, miserable, and misery-making grog-shops, a dirty, filthy country tavern, with ragged loungers in and about it, &c. &c. all in keeping." 2. PARENTS SHOULD SEE THAT A GOOD TEACHER IS EMPLOYED. A poor teacher, and they can always be found, at your own price -is undeniably worse, often, than no teacher at all. There are existing difficulties, I know, in the circumstances of the case, in obtaining the necessary number of well educated and experienced teachers for the winter schools of our towns. Preparation at a good normal school will do much to qualify for teaching; yet, after all, experience seems almost indispensable. Pay teachers well for their services, and you hold out an inducement to direct and thorough preparation. Pay well, and, in this matter, as in others in life, the supply will come up to the demand. Not only should parents take all wise, precautionary measures to obtain the services of a good instructor,-but after his services are secured, they have much to do to keep him a good teacher,--to make him a better one. 3. PARENTS SHOULD VISIT OFTEN THE SCHOOL WHERE THEIR CHILDREN ATTEND. It is a prevalent, but mistaken opinion, that teachers, generally, are averse to such visits. Were they very general and frequent, they would subserve the very best purposes. Let a school get accustomed to frequent, informal visits from parents, and all interested in their success, and they will be looked for and desired. It manifests an interest to which they are not generally accustomed, but which is grateful and stimulating. It divests the school-room of that exclusive, isolated, secreted character, which, to its disadvantage, is too generally attached to it. It dissipates that reserve, timidity and shyness which almost necessarily show themselves upon the appearance of a new, unaccustomed face in a school unused to the visits of parents and others. It banishes that trepidation and fear, that consternation and panic, even, which will sometimes seize upon the teacher as well as scholars, when visits from those without, are "few and far between," -regarded not as "angels' visits," but rather those of arch enemies and spies. Teachers who have thought much upon the subject, and have had experience in the matter, I believe, with one voice, will de clare that they would like to have calls of this nature, every hour in the day;-even not object to the constant presence of interested per sons. It destroys the dread of an "examination," that period often regarded with a "fearful looking for," both by teachers and pupils.They thus become accustomed to examinations, the very things they constantly need; and the effect is to excite, and give self-possession and confidence to all concerned. So far from hindering the operations of a school, they relieve it of a tedious monotony, and prevent many irregularities which might otherwise occur;-stimulate the scholars to constant well-appearing, and strengthen the teacher's authority. Are you a parent, then,-or a school committee-man,- —or an individual not interested directly by either of these relations in the educational advancement of the rising generation,-call often and unceremoniously at the school-room of your district, and those of others. Say not, that you have not time. Most have time, and to spare, which they can certainly devote to this important subject,-moments and hours which they are often at a loss to employ otherwise,-hours of non-employment, idleness and heaviness, to dispose of which, they have to resort to various expedients of "time killing." Does a cessation of labor or business allow,-does a foul day intervene,-does a slight indisposition disqualify you for work,-are you passing the school-house, "in no particular hurry,"-tie your horse at the post, and spend a half hour among the smiling faces of happy child ren. Pass Say not, that you feel no interest in these things. You should feel an interest, and you can beget it. Make four visits to a well conducted school-room, and my word for it, you will feel an inclination for a fifth. Say not, thot you are not qualified by education to judge discriminately of the work of the school-room. You may not in all cases be qualified to judge of grammatical exercises, &c., but there is much of which all can form an opinion rightly. You can judge of quiet and orderly deportment, of ready and cheerful obedience, of prompt answers, and of cheerful and happy countenances. round the school-room,—address a word of caution, of reprehension, or of commendation and incitement, where your eye will with much certainty see that these appliances are needed. It will raise you in your own esteem, and in the estimation of the young,-excite and inspirit the pupils, and strengthen the hands, and give dignity and influence to the master. You could find time,-and the interest of curiosity, at least, would prompt you to drop into a factory to witness its operations, even if you had not the interest of a stockholder. Can you find no interest, then, in the operations of those mental factories, -in every one of which you are a stockholder? Are the operations upon dead matter of more general consequence and curiosity than those upon mind? 4. PARENTS SHOULD SUSTAIN THE AUTHORITY OF THE TEACHER. The successful government of a school of children coming from fifty, or more, families, each with some peculiarity of management, good or bad,-with all those shades and complexity of temper and disposition usually found in a hundred different children, is no easy task. It is attended with more difficulties, and more perplexing turns, than the untried in the way are at all aware of. When your child comes home with a complaint from school,—a real or imaginary grievance,-listen to him,-if these things come not too often, for they should not be encouraged—but decide not hastily, and upon his partial testimony. The law, very wisely, allows no man to bear testimony in his own case. How cau we safely trust it in children? From the very constitution of human nature, it is next to impossible that a person can be an unbiased evidence for himself, and an impartial judge in his own cause. The God of nature has wisely implanted in the breasts of parents, a strong passion of tenderness, a quick feeling of defence and protection, towards their offspring. It is all necessary, in the relation they stand; but, at the same time, it is apt to lead them into excess and error. A great proportion of the troubles of the school-master's course springs from this source. The home-indulged, and, may be, the home-spoiled child, appeals instinctively to that full source of tenderness, of partiality, or of prejudice, in every case of grievance, to reverse the decisions of the school-room. With all those quick sensibilities acutely awake, which were placed in the parent's heart for the best purposes, but which are often perverted, the father or mother decides hastily, solely upon the words of the child, prompted by the strongly swaying feelings of vindication. The teacher is not heard in the case,-and judgment is hastily pronounced against him! No course is more certain to lead the judgment astray, result in wrong to the teacher, and in a most pernicious influence upon the child. No, if a complaint be brought from school for home decision,and it seem worthy of consideration,-hear the child's representation; but decide not the case with him. Be careful, in the mean time, not to have the ear too open to complaints, or they will come too fast and frequent. If one, I say, seem worthy of serious consideration, have a full statement on the other side, and with the teacher settle the point. If, from false testimony, or misapprehension, he has erred, convinced of his error, he will make concession, and due reparation, or he is not worthy of his trust. If he has been led into n.isgovernment from a mistaken insight into the child's disposition or temper, upon being set right in the matter, he will alter his course, or he has not the qualities which fit him for his important post. The most disastrous consequences I believe have often resulted from errors that have come from the joint relation in which parents and teachers stand to children. An old teacher has informed me, that he has made it a matter of record, and that, in his experience of many years, in no case where the parent has violently and unreasonably interfered between his rightful authority and the child, and persisted in an unjust decision against him, has it passed long, without the iniquity being signally visited upon the heads of the offenders. Boys thus oncouraged and supported in disobedience, and thus screened from a just penalty, have, almost without one exception "turned out badly" in life. Two cases he cited, strongly marked by the turpitude of the offenders, and followed by the violent abuse which he received from the parents. They were visited by a signal retribution,-no less than the public conviction of the two boys, for theft, within two weeks of the school's disaster." 5. PARENTS SHOULD SEE THAT THEIR CHILDREN ARE PUNCTUAL AND REGULAR IN THEIR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL. Pupils cannot be taught unless the teacher has their presence.The partial and irregular attendance of children at school must necessarily result in their irregular, partial and imperfect instruc tion. Those school-books have the sanction of the best judges, as being the best, in which the principles are very gradually unfolded, connected by a golden chain of little links, no one of which can be safely spared, or skipped over, without making more or less defective the work of instruction. The best and most successful teachers are those who proceed minutely and carefully on this plan. But how can they so proceed, and how use such books, with scholars who are, half the time, it may be, absent, and their attendance marked by the worst features of irregularity? All things of domestic arrangement should be ordered with reference to the importance of regular and interested attendance of children at school, The, first morning duty of a parent, after that to his God, is to his children,-to see that their feet are directed in the daily path of duty, that every thing which stands in the way of their regular attendance, that can be removed, is made to give way to this. How very frequent is the case,-how common is the defection, that parents give little or no attention to this weighty matter,--that it is almost wholly uncared for, and their attendance or non-attendance left to mere chance, or to the whim and caprice of the child? How often it is, that the most flimsy excuse of the child, or some slight, domestic convenience determines the question whether he shall be in his schoolseat for the day, or his attention and habits estranged and weaned from his studies by staying at home. Arrange your business, then,—and it can easily be done, so that occasions of interruption in this important matter will not be likely frequently to occur. Arrange your business so, that compliance in this thing shall take precedence of all others. Does the state of the weather interpose obstacles? Make a little extra exertion,-take your carriage, if you have one, and carry your children to school;-if you have no carriage for this purpose, take them by the hand, and teach them manfully to breast a little buf |