much for the "march of intellect"- having kept pace in some ratio with other things, the whole body of the people are more advanced. Having in view a standard so low, the parent grudgingly furnishes the books and apparatus which may be needed to carry his son beyond his own level. He sees no beauty or fitness in the plans and measures of the teacher, so unlike those of the instructor of his own early years. He has serious objection to all classification in the school, because, as he says, he studied "single handed"; and he is unwilling that his child should be compelled by any such "machinery" to go beyond the limits prescribed in his own mind.

3. There is often a suspicious spirit on the part of parents. So universally does this operate on the minds of some induced, perhaps, by some failure or deception in a former teacher that for weeks, in many districts, they seem to stand on the opposite side to watch for the appearance of some fault. It would seem to be their motto: "We will believe no good till we see it." The children, always ready imitators and quick of discernment, catch the same spirit, and watch for some imperfection, which they feel encouraged to report at home as soon as they see it or think they see it. Faults, and not excellences, make the first impression, both at school and at home; and the teacher, under such circumstances, must be a wonderful man and wonderfully fortunate if he can ever attain to a good degree of their confidence. If he does gain their confidence, it must be after long trial, patient effort, tried as by fire.

4. There is sometimes a disposition to dictate. In New England, men have often some adroitness in various kinds of business. The farmer, for instance, if he be a true Yankee, may at the same time be a carpenter, a wheelwright, a shoemaker, and a blacksmith - for all his own purposes. If he does not operate in all these departments, he feels perfectly at liberty to direct how the work shall be performed for him. So most parents feel disposed to give les

sons to the schoolmaster. If they call a physician, he may administer to his patient either calomel or lobelia, as he chooses. But the teacher must first hear their direction in his profession. And the most unfortunate part of it is, that the dictation usually comes to the teacher through the pupil, who, by the time he delivers his message, has pretty thoroughly imbibed the spirit of it. What part of it might be yielded by the parent is sure to be insisted on as a matter of right by the child.

5. There is a want of personal acquaintance between the parties. Teachers in many of our schools spend months, and in some instances years, with youths whose parents they have never known. The parents, during this time, have probably formed their opinions of the teacher, perhaps have expressed them freely either for or against him, and yet have never spoken a word with him, and very likely may not even know him by sight. They can understand but little of his character, of his temper, of his interest in his school. All they can know of him is derived through their children a knowledge which, to say the most for it, may be right or may be wrong.

Let us not be understood to place all the causes of these evils at the door of the parents. We say it with sorrow teachers have too often rendered themselves unworthy of the confidence and coöperation of parents. It must be admitted that the office of the teacher has been filled not unfrequently with the personifications of indolence, selfishness, and imbecility. Men have sometimes entered upon the business of teaching from no higher motive than their incapacity to gain a livelihood in any other way. Through the supineness of school committees and the misdirected sympathy of some of their influential friends, there have been not a few men who have gained their situations by the paper qualifications which they carried in their pocketbooks, and who, so far as usefulness in their schools was concerned, might as well have been themselves paper men.

The regular (professional) teacher, too, may have his faults. He may have but little in his character which is attractive or conciliatory. He may be too self-sufficient, pedantic, or haughty. He may announce his plans without any apparent wish to explain them, should he be reasonably requested to do so. He may be an "off-side " man. If the people among whom he resides put the wheel in motion and excite the electric fluid, he may refuse to hold the conductor, and so no spark will be kindled. Should they bow in the street, he may set his face like flint and "let his course be right onward," and thus chill all their good feelings in the bud and seal up by a relentless frost all the fountains of mutual sociality.

Where the foregoing causes exist, they must always produce a most unhappy state of things; and the teacher who attempts to go forward while they operate will most certainly rue the day when he first set out to teach.

How to Avoid these Evils. It is desirable that all should understand the means of avoiding these evils if they do not exist, or of removing them where they have gained a place. In education, as in all other things, prevention is better than cure. The teacher will therefore spare himself many pangs and secure the foundation of much usefulness if he can so conduct matters as to prevent the existence of any cause of difficulty between himself and the parents of his pupils. This business of prevention lies partly with the teacher and partly with the parents themselves.

He should study faithfully and feelingly the relations he sustains to his pupils and to their friends; he should carefully perform every known duty in its time and after its manner, according to the dictates of his own conscience. Let him do this, and he can be happy in his own mind. Yet when he has done all he can do, the question of his success will depend very much upon the parents of his pupils. They must come forward and crown the work, or very much will be wanting after all.

Let us, then, devote a few pages to the consideration of the duties of parents. On entering this part of the subject, we feel an impulse to speak plainly and feelingly. It will be difficult to define all the duties of parents. It will be our object to speak of those which most strongly suggest themselves.

Duties of Parents. -1. Parents should reciprocate the attempts of the teacher toward a mutual understanding. It will discourage the most faithful instructor if, at the outset, he meets with coldness and unconcern. The parents should never forget that the teacher is their appointed coadjutor, for the time being, to educate their children. As they love their children and desire their advantage, so should they be ready to encourage all the advances which he may make towards the better understanding of their wishes and intentions, and the explanation of his plans.

We

2. Parents should listen candidly to the plans of the teacher and, unless they are manifestly wrong, should do all in their power to aid him in the execution of them. say, unless they are manifestly wrong. Many parents suppose that if a teacher's modes and plans are not the bestin their opinion the very best — they are under no obligation to help them forward. But we say that every teacher may not have the wisdom to devise abstractly the best plans, yet most likely such as he will devise will be the best for him. He has taken much time and, after long solicitude and many desires to be useful, he has fixed upon a course one which, under all the circumstances, may seem to him the best. Now, suppose this course shall chance to strike the parents' minds unfavorably; shall they at once abandon the teacher, give up all hopes of benefit from the school, and withdraw their coöperation? Is it not rather their duty either to suggest "a more excellent way' ” — which they may ever do if they have a right spirit—or to give their coöperation in carrying out his plans, such as they are? The teacher, be it remembered, is appointed to conduct the school for a

SCH. INT. & DUT.-2

time; and unless his services and his plans, however inferior they may be, are rendered useful, the youths are, for the time, losers.

Parents may be as particular as they please in the choice of their teacher, and in requiring the highest rate of qualifications; but after they have accepted him as teacher they cannot, without a breach of contract, withhold from him their coöperation. If they have been imposed upon—if the incumbent is found to be absolutely incompetent - they may decently secure his dismissal and the appointment of another; but to continue in office a teacher in whom they have no confidence and whom they refuse to aid is a breach of good faith. It is an illustration of the maxim that "two wrongs can never make a right."

As a general rule (we repeat it), the teacher's own plans will be found decidedly the best for him, and it is not good policy for parents upon slight cause to attempt an obtrusive interference. The right of adopting his own measures, as a general thing, should be conceded to the teacher, and all parents will find their own interests promoted and their children's advancement accelerated in cheerfully aiding him.

3. Parents should thankfully listen to the teacher's faithful account of their children, even if that account be not a flattering one. We have before said that the teacher should be frank, always telling the parents the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This must sometimes be of itself an unpleasant duty. It is self-denying enough for the teacher to make an unfavorable statement demanded by his duty under the best circumstances, and the trial is peculiarly severe when the parent receives it with expressions of displeasure or of undisguised reproach. Nothing should deter the teacher, however, from the faithful discharge of this duty; and he has a just right to expect cordiality and gratitude on the part of the parent for his faithfulness, whether his report be bright or dark. The good and wise parent will always exhibit them.