and what are the special adaptations of each school superior to doubt, disdainful of ease, and delighting in study to particular necessities and faculties of the labor and achievement. No power is more susceptible javetile mind? The teacher should employ each textbook specifically as the fit instrument of training some particular mental power. Sixthly, we find an answer in this science to the question, what is the true order and succession of studies? All these questions have a practical bearing upon the profession of Teaching. Philosophy will aid the teacher in understanding himself. It is properly called the science of self reflection, and its facts are those which chiefly lie under the eye of consciousness. It will show us the noblest themes of study in the mechanism and movements of car own minds. of discipline, none more needs to be trained and energized; and yet how seldom do our educational processes avowedly aim at all to invigorate the will? How many things are done or permitted by the teacher which tend to impair its vitality and power? The teacher wills for the child. Every child that you can train to firmness of purpose, wil! excel in every calling in lite. To develope this power the child must use it. He must will and do and achieve. He must task and test his powers. He must enter the field of life alone and self-poised. He must grapple with difficulties and trials until he learns to turn every struggle into strength, and every contest into courage. SATURDAY MORNING. A knowledge of mental philosophy will aid the teacher in school government. The value of any given result of school subordination depends very much upon The exercises this morning were held in the vestry of the motive which produces it. The stillest school is the Central Congregational Church, on Benefit street, not always the most studious. Pupils may be control- and were opened at ten o'clock by the singing of severled for a time by motives which will ultimately debase al exhilarating songs by a choir of nearly a hundred the character and enfeeble the will; or they may be well-trained juvenile voices selected from the scholars stimulated to the highest efforts by incentives which of the grammar schools of this city. These exercises will be healthful, invigorating, and permanent in their pleasantly enlivened the meeting, and evinced the influence upon their minds and hearts. thorough training of that excellent instructor in music, Mr. Seth Sumner.. Sagacity in the discernment of character is one of the secrets of success Loth in the government and the instruction of children. The intimate knowledge of pupils, of their good points, and still more of their evil inclination, wil greatly facilitate the adaptation of motives to individual necessities. The philosophy of motive should be carefully studied, Our aflections are the springs of all disinterested action, of all cheerful and happy obedience. Compulsory tasks are naturally repulsive, but fit appeals to the affections make study a delight and work a play. The natural desires, it is true, may be perverted, but they should not therefore be repressed as essentially and radically evil. Of these natural desires the earliest and the strongest in its manife tations is the love of knowledge, or the the principle of curiosity. But the impatience of parents and teachers at the child's ever recurring what, and why, and when, and how, so commonly represses his craving curiosity that it is supposed to decrease with years. The most bountiful supplies of fit nutriment only sharpen his appetite Prayer was then offered by Rev. B. G. Northrup, Agent of the Massachusetts Board of Education. The records of the meetings of the Institute for the past year were then read by the Secretary, F. B. Snow, Esq., and were approved. The report of the Treasurer of the Institute, C. T. Keith, Esq., for the past year, was then read and accepted, and referred to Messrs. Godding and Gamwell as a committee to audit the same. Mr. De Munn, in behalf of the Committee on the Rhode Island Schoolmaster, made a verbal report, recommending that that journal be continued as it has been since the last annual meeting of this Institute Mr. Mowry, in behalf of the Nominating Committee, reported the following list of officers for the next year, all of whom were elected by the adoption of the report: President-Jno. J. Ladd, of Providence. Vice Presidents-Joshua Kendall, of Bristol; A. A. Gamwell, of Providence; Samuel Austin, of Providence; I. F. Cady, of Warren; II. B. Pierce, of Woonsocket; Rev. Geo. A. Willard, of Warwick; B. V. Gallup, of Coventry; N. W. De Munn, of Providence. Corresponding Secretary-A. W. Godding, of Prov idence The love of power is a strong motive, early developed, and yet too seldom distinctly appealed to. The child becomes a new being when he once really awakes to the consciousness of his own strength. Some early achievement becomes the pledze o a series of triumphs The prestige of success is as needful and inspiring in Recording Secretary-F. B. Snow, of Providence. study as in war. I saw in one of our schools a noble Treasurer-T. r. Keith, of Providence. motto of Kossuth, which had ever cheered him in the Directors-Rev. E. M. Stone, of Providence; A J. midst of appalling difficulties, and which seems to in- Manchester, of Providence; M. S. Greene, of Westerspire him still-"There is no difficulty to him that ly; Amos Perry, of Providence; W. A. Eastman, of wills." In the conflicts of life and the contests of E. Greenwich; W. A. Mowry, of Providence. mind, one must continually conquer or be conquered. He must exist progressively, or, as a genuine teacher or learner he no longer exists at all. The question of a re-election of a Board of Editors of the R. I. SCHOOLMASTER, was referred to the Nominating Committee, with instructions to nominate a The science of mind teaches us that all study should committee of twelve who should take charge of the Feek to impart firmness to the will. Upon the will all Schoolmaster and continue or discontinue that journal motives terminate. This is the central, regal principle as they may deem best; provided, that if it be continof te mind, and more than anything else determines ued, no expense shall be incurred by the Rhode Island and constitutes the man, controlling alike the move- Institute of Instruction. ments of the body and the mind. The teacher should Mr. Mowry, from the Nominating Committee, recarefully inquire how the will may be trained to assert ported the names of the following gentlemen for Ediand maintain its rightful supremacy, loyal to duty, yet tors of the R. I. Schoolmaster for the ensuing year, all of whom were elected in the adoption of the report:- they were told that there was a river above the clouds Messrs. John J. Ladd, F. B. Snow, H. R. Pierce, N. mightier than the Missisippi or the Amazon, drawn up W. DeMunn, A. J. Manchester, I. F. Cady, Amos out of the sea, to the height of more than a mile, alPerry, A. W. Godding, W. A. Mowry, Hon. J. B ways full of water, more than twenty-five thousand Chapin, Joshua Kendall, Rev Geo. A Willard. miles in length, and reaching clear round the globe, The business assigned or the morning session being they would call it a very extravagant assertion. But disposed of, the Fresident announced that the regular all this, and very much more than this, is substantially question for debate before the Institute was, Should true. If all the waters in the sky were brought into pupils be permitted to perform t'e mechanical o, erations in Arithmetic without understanding the principles on which those operations are Lased?" 1 he discussion of this question was opened by Profe-sor S. S. Greene, and continued till the hour assigned for the morning's lecture At 11 o'clock a lecture was delivered before the Instifute by Rev. Leonard Swain, DD, of this city, which was listened to with the most profound attention and interest. one channel they would make a stream forty times as Of this eloquent address we present an imperfect ab- sending up as much as it receives from the rivers, it stract: REY. DR. SWAIN'S LECTURE ON "THE SEA." I would say that, having recently crossed and recrossed the ocean, I have taken occasion, since my return, to speak to my own people something in reference to that element, which your committee have requested me to repeat before the Institute. It is very natural, in looking at the ocean and travelling over its enormous breadth, to wonder why such an immense mass of water should have been created. When we think that three-fourths of the entire surface of the globe are covered by its waves, it seems to us like a vast disproportion. It is a common thing, in speaking of the sea, to call it a waste of waters. It seems as if it were a mere desert, incapable of being turned to any profitable use, which had better have been filled up w th solid land, covered with forests and cities, resounding with the busy life of man. But this is a mistake. There is no such disproportion. The earth needs to have all this breadth of water gird ed around it. The space it occupies could be put to no better use. Instead of being an incumbrance it is an essential for the life of the world. Instead of being a waste and a desert, it keeps the earth from becoming a waste and a desert. It is the world's fountain of life health and beauty; and if taken away the continents would become one vast Sahara of frost and fire, and the solid globe, itself scarred and bles ed on every side, would swing in heaven as silent and dead as on the first would finally rise on its shores and overflow all lands. The ocean, too, as a vast fountain of fruitfulness. deserves to be called the mother of all living. Out of its mighty breasts comes the food of all the population of the world. Its blessings are felt as truly in the cen tre of continents, where the rude inhabitant never heard of the ocean, as on the shore. He is surrounded by the presence and bounty of the sea. It looks out upon him from the violet of the garden and every spire of grass that drips with morning dew; from the rustling ranks of the golden corn and the shining gain that fills the arms of the reaper; from his bursting presses and his barns that are filled with plenty. The sea makes wealth for him and his 'i'dren, though, living a thousand leagues from the shore, he may never have locked on its crested beauty, or heard its eternal anthem. Though it bears no harvest on its owr bo om, it sustains all the harvest of the world. Though a desert, it makes al. the other wi dernesses to bud and blesson as the rose In the second place, the ocean is essential to moder. ate the temperature of the world. The vertical rays of the sun pour into it a heat like fire. The waters flow off to the right and left of the equator and are gathered into the Gulf-stream, a conducting pipe thir. ty-six thousand miles in length. A double purpose is served by these currents. They bear away that superfluous heat which, if allowed to remain, would rend r the regions of the equator intolerable. They induce the cold currents from the icy latitudes which, moving Water is indispensable to all life, whether vegetable towards the equator, bear immense icebergs to cool ite or animal. This element is supplied only by the sea. fiery waters. Each region gives to the other what it All vapors and fogs, the rain and the snow, springs and has in excess, and receives from the other that in which lakes and rivers, come alike out of the ocean. It is the it i deficient. The poles are warmed by the sun which common impression that it is the flow of the rivers that fills the sea. But on the contrary, it is the ocean that morn of creation. does not reach the poles. The tropics are cooled by the ice which cannot be formed within the tropics. The third important use of the sea is to be a perpetu makes the streams. The sea was full b fore the rivers began their flow. It was only because of the out-al source of health to the world. Without it there pouring of that central fullness that their channels could be no drainage for the land, which would be were first filled with waters. The true statement is, that come one vast mass of corruption. It is as necessary the rivers rise in the sea and pass to the mountains, and for carrying away the feculence of death as for distribtheir passage thence is only their homeward journey uting the positive materials of life. It is the scavenger to the place from which they started. All the water of of the world. Its agency is omnipotent. Its vigilance the rivers has once been in the clouds. The clouds are is omnipresent, day and night, summer and winter, in the condensation of the invisible vapor lifted into the every part of the world, where no sanitary committee air by the heat of the sun playing on the sea. Most could ever come, no police ever penetrate. It has a persons have no impression of the amount of water myriad eyes and a million hands, certainly exploring which the ocean is pouring up into the sky, and the every lurking source of decay. These results are great sky sending down in showers to refresh the earth, If beyond conception. But this is not all, The winds whose wings are heavy with the malaria of the lands ing, and pulverizing i s surface until the various earths over which they have been bo ne, plunge upon the were separated from their rocky prison, assorted, each deep and play with its rol ing billows till their whole after its kind, cemented firmly in their places, and substance is washed and winnowed and sifted. They built 8 ory above story until many thousands of feet in fill their mighty lungs once more with the sweet thickness. And so the grea house of man being built, breath of ocean and return to the fainting hosts that and finished, and furnished beneath the sea with endwait for them in mountain and valley and plin, il less stores of all things needful-coal, iror, marble, whole drooping continents lift up their voice an copper and gold-it felt the uplifting hand of God, and mingle with the sea that has waked them from the arting the waves, rose into the upper world-a house sleep, and poured such tides of morning life through not made with hands, high as the heavens, deep as the all their shrivelled arteries. By its mechanical and its centre, wide as the firmament, bright as the light, a chemical powers is the sea set for the healing of the glorious habitation, waiting for the footstep, the voice nations, feeding their nostrils with the breath of life. and the countenance of its great coming master, man. and repairing the waste and weakness of their growing All the continents of the earth have thus been builded age. by the hand of the sea, and were it not for its agency, the whole surface of the world would be to-day a crust of granite rock. men. The Institute adjourned to .neet in the High School Hall, this afternoon at 2 o'clock. The Institute re-assembled in the afternoon at two 'clock, in the High School Hall. Previous to the transaction of any business, the following re-olution, offered by the Rev. E. M. Stone, was passed unanimously: In the fourth place, the sea is set to furnish the great pathways of the world. One of the first impressions in looking upon the sea is that it is a great barrier, puts the continents much farther a under than they would otherwise be, and acts as an unsocial force hindering the intercourse of the world. Instead of a barrier, the sea is a road across the barrier. Instead of putting the ends of the earth farther apart it brings them nearer together. Instead of an unsocial, al ena ting force among the nations, it is the means of thei Resolved, That the thanks of the Institute be presenta quaintan e. and the eternal bond of their fellowshiped to the Rev. Leonard Swain, D. D., for the eloquent, It does draw a decisive boundary around a nation.mpressive and instructive address delivered by him and keep its population in on every side. Boundaries this morning, and that the Secretary communicate to are necessary to give individuality to nations as to him a copy of this resolution. There must be an outline to their personality The Institute then resumed the discussion of the and the firmer that outline is drawn, the deeper the in-question whether the mechanical operations of Arithtensity of life they are apt to possess. When man cai inetic should be performed by the chiid without his lay the keel, and spread the sail, and poise the needle understanding the principles upon which they are and map the stars, the sea surrenders to him as to it bared. This debate was participated in by Rev. Messrs. lord, unlock the gates of distant continents to his ap Willard, Stone and Leach, Prof Greene. and Messrs. proach and pours the riches of the globe at his feet Mowry, Ladd, Eastman, Pierce, Snow, Manchester, DeThat which was a bar to progress becomes a path o Munn, Austin and Kendali. Tae discussion was a such easy travel as could not have be n construct db ost piquant and animated one, and was well sustainall the arts of man. Had the globe been one vast un d by sharp and close reasoning on both sides, the subbroken continent of land, its inhabitants would have ject being well calculated to exercise the an lytical been as far apart as though they lived on distant plan owers of the disputants as well as to elicit the results ets. All effective communication would have been im of their practical experience as teachers. possible. There is not a single railway across eithe contirent, but the broad path of the sea, that require no building or repairing, has stre ched between an around hem ever since the first creation of man The members of the Institute separated at 5 o'clock, fter passing resolutions of thanks to the citizens of rovidence for their liberal entertainment; to the Rev. 3. G. Northup and Rev. Dr. Swain for their interestng lectures; to Seth Sumner, Esq., and the scholars of the Grammar Schools, for adding to the interest of he exe cises by their appropriate and acceptable usic; to the Beneficent and Central Congregational hurches, for the use of the'r vestreys, and the High school, for the use of its hal, for the meetings of the Institute. The sixth essential office of the ocean is to be a vas store-house of life. What mind of man can form : conception of the infinitude of animal existence wit which the sea is filled. Whole tribes of men are nour's noble act of forbearanceished by it. Even civilized lands levy immense contributions upon it It furnishes a dwelling place for a inconceivable immensity of life. EDUCATION. Education does not commence vith the alphabet. It begins with a mother's ook — with a father's smile of approbation — with sister's gentle pressure of the hand, or a brothwith handfuls of lowers in green and daisy meadows with bird's ests admired but not touched-with creeping ints and almost imperceptible emmets-with humning bees and glass bee-hives-with pleasant valks in shady lanes, and with thoughts directed in sweet and kindly tones, and words to mature to acts of benevolence, to deeds of virtue and to the source The last use of the sea is a geological one. It is th architect of the world. It has quarried its materials brought them to their place and built them layer abov layer. The cooling crust of the globe had become on solid rock whe the waters were let in upon it, ar joined with fire and frost in disintegrating, and grind-'of all good, God himself.-Vermont School Journal. Meeting of the Institute at Centreville. THE RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION held a special meeting at Centreville, Friday and Saturday, January 18th and 19th, 1861. sentation of the cases and some of the remedies proposed excited the risibles of the audience to a healthy degree. The exercises were enlivened by frequent singing from the school choir of Mr. D. R. Adams, The meeting was called to order by Joshua Ken- taught and led by himself, to whom too much dall, principal of the State Normal School. Prayer praise cannot be awarded for the active interest he was offered by the Rev. Mr. Brayton, of Centre- took in promoting the pleasure of the members of the Institute. ville. At the close of the business of the Institute, A lecture was then delivered by Rev. Abel Gardner, on the subject of Education, considered in Mr. DeMunn offered the following resolution, both its past and present phases. The lecturer which was unanimously passed: treated the subject in a very interesting manner, and some of his allusions to the past were very amusing, which the audience did not fail to appreciate. At the close of the lecture the Institute adjourned. SATURDAY MORNING. The Institute was called to order at 9 o'clock, by the President, J. J. Ladd. Prayer was offered by the Rev. Abel Gardner. The President stated the object of the meeting, and what was expected of the members of the Institute, and all others present who were interested in the subject of education and improved methods of instruction. Resolved, That the thanks of the Institute be tendered to Rev. Abel Gardner and Joshua Kendall for their interesting, instructive and practical lectures before the Institute; also, to Mr. D. R. Adams for the warm interest he has manifested in providing for the entertainment of teachers; and to the M. E. Society for the use of their vestry, and to the citizens of Centreville for the interest they have shown in the objects of this meeting. After uniting in singing the Doxology, the Institute adjourned. This was one of the most interesting meetings we have attended. A greater familiarity and ease The subject of Teaching Arithmetic, its defects was apparent among the members, and a greater and the better way, was announced for discussion. readiness was exhibited to take part in the exerMr. DeMunn, of Providence, opened the discus-cises and occupy the time. Let every teacher atsion, and was followed by Messrs. Kendall and tend these meetings for social improvement as well Manchester. as intellectual and professional. After a recess, Mr. Kendall, of the State Normal School, gave a familiar lecture, interspersed with questions, both from the lecturer and audience, on the education of children under six years of age. It was a novel mode of combined lecture and discussion, but very interesting and profitable. After the lecture the Institute adjourned. SATURDAY AFTERNOON. AN OFFER. THE Publishers of THE RHODE ISLAND SCHOOLMASTER are authorized to make the following offer: A copy of WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY, on fine, sized and calendered paper, in English The Institute was called to order at 1 o'clock, calf binding, as a premium for the best Essay on by the President. the IMPORTANCE OF THE DICTIONARY IN THE The subject, "Are Public Examinations Profit- SCHOOL-ROOM, its more general use, not only as able," was taken up, and a spirited discussion fol lowed, participated in by Messrs. DeMunn, Ladd, indispensable to a correct knowledge and use of Willard, Snow, Kistler, Spaulding, Kendall and language, but in its relation to all the studies of Manchester. Strong grounds were taken on both the school,-grammar, arithmetic, reading, spellsides, while some took a middle course; yet all ing, composition, etc., and the advantage to each admitted that there was an evil attending public examinations. pupil of being possessed of a suitable school dictionary of his own. The essays to be submitted to the Board of Edi After a recess, the subject of THE R. I. SCHOOLMASTER was taken up, and its merits and its needs! were set forth with great clearness snd earnest-tors of this journal-not to exceed three pages of ness, by Messrs. Ladd, Spaulding, DeMunn and Kendall. After the remarks of the above-named gentlemen, a committee was appointed, who secured several new names as subscribers for THE SCHOOLMASTER. the journal-the prize essay to be published in the journal, any others offered at the discretion of the editors, giving or withholding the author's name, at the author's desire, except in the case of Mr. Manchester then, by request, exercised the the prize essay, where the name is to be given. Institute for a short time in gymnastics. Essays to be sent in by the first of March. It is The remaining half hour of the session was spent in an informal consideration of some per- not desired that partisan ground be taken in replexing cases of deportment in school. The pre-gard to any particular dictionary. Multiplying together the last two equations, $2 —— 2x3 + (s − 1)x2 + sx —— —— (s-1)+sy-· 4 $2 From this subtracts multiplied into eq. (2) and| there results W. H. W. [Upon a cursory examination of the above soluy2y3+tions, before going to press, we do not hesitate to pronounce them very ingenious and scholarly productions. We can appreciate the high order of satisfaction our correspondents enjoyed upon their achievement. But we are disappointed in not being able to discover that either of them is a perfectly general solution of the equations. The first y-2y+ solution is designed to present the general method; and indeed it has all the appearance of being such, but, in its present form at least, it does not prove to be, as the formulas do not apply to all cases; e. g., call a = 7, b = 11, the numbers employed in the second solution, and we do not obtain the re13, y3 — x 4 + 2y3 — 2x3 — ( − − 1 ) y2 + ( —-1) 2-sults found by that method. b 19, we find x = =3, or 4, y=4, or 5; the positive roots verify, the negative ones do not. We presume our correspondent did not subject his formulas to this test. 3s 3s 4 4 8 5s 58 ·y+· 4 4 Divide this last by eq. (1) transposed, that is, by 3+x2+y+x-s, and we obtain But calling a = The second solution is very interesting and convenient for particular cases, but we have not yet been able to generalize it; and there is something very peculiar about this solution as well as the other; the second values are not directly obtainable. Our correspondent extended his solution to the 58 getting of these, but the operation not appearing 'perfectly satisfactory, is omitted. Second values may sometimes be merely roots of solution. We think our readers will be satisfied of one thing, however that, at least, "the nut is cracked." This famous problem has been the rounds of the papers and educational journals for years. We 8 •••*+x=—; whence a = [−1±√(3s+2)]. think these are the first solutions that have been 8 Suffield, Ct. P. G. published; and we are proud to present them in the pages of THE SOHOOLMASTER.-J. M. R.] |