ESSAY ON STUDY.

Study the exercise of acquiring ideas, and Recitation—the exercise of expressing them, constitute the business of school. To manage this business is the work of the school master, or school mistress-the educator.

In learning the art of educating, the first lessons of the professional student may properly be upon Recitation, since he will have to do with this more directly in his practice. His pupils

must study before they can recite; but he can not directly see or hear them study, or think, but only indirectly, in seeing and hearing them express their thoughts. Yet, before he attempts to superintend their study, even indirectly, he should have as clear an understanding as possible of what study is and of its modifications, object and conditions, how it may be tested, how increased, how it is liable to be hindered, and how the hindrances may be avoided. This knowledge he will acquire, chiefly, by carefully observing his own experience in studying, and, in part also, from what he can learn of the experience of others.

The student of education, in referring to experience to see how one studies, will perceive that he does it by attention, "setting the mind," as Webster expresses it in his etymology of the word study. Cicero says, "Studium est animi assidua et vehemens ad aliquam rem applicata magna cum voluntate occupatio," -literally, "study is the assiduous and vehement occupation of the mind, applied with great will to any subject." Attention is the foundation, and almost the sum, of mental discipline and greatness. Sir Isaac Newton says, "If in anything my mind surpasses that of other men, it is in the faculty of attention." Very similar is the testimony of the first Napoleon; and his was certainly a mind of tremendous power. Attention, soldiers! Let ATTENTION be your watchword for discipline, safety and victory. And when the student captain says to the line of youthful comrades drawn up before him for mental drill, "Attention," let it not mean to him or them, simply make a bow, but let it remind them of Newton, the student hero, and be spoken and re

ceived as the talisman which can open the secret doors and reveal "hid treasures" of knowledge and power.

There are different degrees of attention, from zero to hard study. When it is only one degree above zero, we attend to things almost unconsciously, as in the case of those things which, by custom, have become second nature, or those which strike the senses when the mind is pre-occupied. When it is sufficient to cause emotion, emotion and attention combine and we are interested, either entertained or annoyed. Increasing emotion may produce rapt attention, yet it may not be study. A bird in the

bush is not a bird in the hand, though you may rejoice that you have discovered it, and be perfectly charmed with its beauty. Show me the fish that you caught, my boy. I do not ask how many you saw, or how many "good bites" you had. Study is acquiring ideas, not simply looking at them and being excited. It is getting the lesson, not merely understanding it. Here lies the secret of true study, I think,--that what we attend to when we study, we intend to use; but when we attend to anything merely for amusement, or only from a sense of obligation, ideas may pass directly before the mind's eye, yet we do not stay them and make them ready for use. Thus, we read a book or hear a sermon with interest, but the thoughts go with the subsiding emotion, or before it; when, if the sermon were a message that we were anxious to carry to a third person, or if the book contained directions for our day's work, we should succeed much better, although neither the message nor the directions might cause us any strong emotion.

It is the substitution of this lower degree of attention for real study that ruins the minds of so many who might be successful students. The human mind is an excellent grasping instrument, but when we pretend to use it for this purpose, we must set it like a vise; for, if we take hold carelessly, so as to let it occasionally slip off, it will gradually wear so smooth that everything will slide right through it, and it can not be made to hold anything firmly, even by the greatest exertion. E. P. S.

WHY THE DIFFERENCE?

In an agricultural town in this State, a farmer who is agent for the manufacturers of the Buckeye Mowing Machine, gave notice that, on a certain day, he would exhibit and test the machine. At the appointed time, no less than fifty farmers and mechanics assembled to witness the performance. The mowing commenced, and an acre or more of grass was handsomely cut. All present were much interested, and gave a hearty approval of the machine's ability for business, and pronounced it the best mower they ever saw. All this is well, just as it should be, for it is commendable in the citizens of any town to manifest an interest in the improvements of the day, and all classes should embrace every opportunity to inform themselves in regard to laborsaving machines, and, as soon as they are satisfied in respect to their utility, they should adopt them, so that they may secure immediately the profit arising from their use.

While witnessing the interest manifested at the above-named exhibition, the inquiry arose in our mind whether there is a town in Vermont in which fifty or sixty men can be found, who, on a' day appointed for the examination of teachers, would assemble to ascertain for themselves the ability and qualifications of those who are soon to be employed as instructors in their schools. Are we right in saying that no such town can be found in this State? No doubt, in nearly all the towns the experiment has been tried, and the result might be ascertained. Now, why the difference? Is it because a mowing machine is of more value than the services of their teachers? This cannot be, if we take into the account the dollars and cents paid for each. Is it because the machine is destined to exert a greater influence on the intellectual and moral character of the people? This cannot be, for the influence of the one is passive, and that of the others is active, and not simply to be seen and felt while they are performing their daily duties in their schools, but years hence will tell, in living characters, of how much value the influence of a consistent and devoted teacher should be estimated. He is making impressions upon the very soul of society. He is not only shaping the char

acter of, and giving value to, the present generation, but his impress is being stamped on the future.

There is much truth in the remark of the ancient Philosopher to a father who was making arrangements for the education of his son, but, thinking the philosopher's tuition rather exorbitant, declared he could buy a slave for that amount of money. "Buy one," said the wise man, "and you will have two." The idea couched in this laconic expression is, that an ignorant son is no better than a slave; a mere machine not simply adapted to one. but to all kinds of manual labor to which he may be applied. When we neglect schools and cease to be interested in the education of children, we are imposing on society a burden that is unnatural, an incubus that is exhausting its energies, and tends to retard the progress of improvement. We should remember that every labor-saving machine is the product of a mind trained for thought, and, inasmuch as this is the professed business of the teacher, no one should be so indifferent to the progress of society as to neglect entirely the interests of education. We should all. by our personal attendance at the examination of teachers, encourage our agents to procure the best teachers, as well as to secure for us the best mowers.

If the people of this State were as wise in securing teachers as they are in obtaining labor-saving machines, and if they should exhibit as much interest in the improvement of their teachers and schools as they manifest in the improvement of stock and the implements of husbandry, Vermont might as easily excel all her sister States in the qualification of her teachers and the character of her schools, as she does now in the superiority of her horses and the quality of her cattle.

If, then, we are true to the welfare of our State, we shall awaken in our own minds a lively interest for the improvement of her teachers, and do all we can for its extension, that others may feel that, "All provisions," as Guizot says, "hitherto described, would be of none effect, if we took no pains to procure for the public school thus constituted. an able master, and worthy of the high vocation of instructing the people. It can not be too often repeated, that it is the master that makes the school." S.

LETTER FROM A TEACHER.

Friend and Sister Teacher:-Your last missive was read with much interest; for I learned, thereby, that you were again instructing the young. But what sent you to W to teach? Wasn't the field of sufficient magnitude at P? I am sure you must enjoy life, even in that rude hut bearing the name of school-house. When will our Vermont provide for the children, to say nothing of the teacher, an attractive, tasteful and comfortable place, in which to acquire the most important part of their education? Are not these first few years of schooling of the greatest importance? I verily believe they are of far greater importance than the academical years of study. Perhaps I am in error upon this point. But what is to be compared with the instruction and training of childhood? Nothing. Next to a parent's responsibility, stands the common-school teacher's! and that responsibility, that example, that influence, we are to meet, and for all give an account.

Did I feel this as I should, I often think I would never again presume to take that most honorable title-" school ma'am." But it is a glorious work. I have heard some I have heard some teachers say, they considered teaching as mere menial service,-serving many masters every father and mother in the district But it is not so. Although there is labor, yes, arduous labor, for the school-teacher, is not there enjoyment sufficient to counterbalance the severity of the task? Why; is not the school-room a little republic, of which the teacher is the head? Why need we feel we are to serve this, that, or the other, father, mother, or guardian? None, save one Master, are we to fear. But with whole-heartedness must we work, earnestly, faithfully, prayerfully!

The longer I continue in the work, and the more I hear J. S. Adams, the Secretary, speak upon the subject, the more I feel my nothingness, and the less capable of retaining this important station.

But I will not prolong my letter. However, I must just mention one amusing incident, among the many that have taken