The Poems, Addresses, Odes, &c. appeared in the December number of the District School Journal.

Is published monthly, and is devoted exclusively to the promo- In the evening a crowded levee was held at the rooms tion of Popular Education.

of the teachers; and the "feast of reason and the flow of soul" was kept up until a late hour. This gathering of the former pupils of the School was in all respects a rich, moral and intellectual treat; and will long be remembered by those who had the pleasure of participating in it, as a most agreeable and delightful era in the history of the Instituton.

The closing exercises of the School took place in the Lecture Room at half-past 3 o'clock, on Thursday the 27th. They were opened by an impressive prayer by the Rev. Dr. KENNEDY, after which a well-written and admirable Poem by Miss PRATT, of Chemung, was read by Mr. LYNCH of the graduating class. This was followed by an address to the Students of the Institution, by S. S. RANDALL, after which Mr E. C. SEYMOUR of Oneida, delivered an eloquent and touching Valedictory Address. The Diploma of the Institution was then conferred upon the graduates, whose names are given below, by the PRINCIPAL. Several beautiful original Odes after a Benediction by Dr. KENNEDY, the immense were interspered among the exercises of the day; and audience in attendance were dismissed. Among those Present, we observed the Secretary of State and the gentlemen composing the Executive Committee of the School; Mr. A. G. JOHNSON, the Deputy Superintendent of Common Schools; Messrs. H. B. HASWELL and JOHN O COLE of the City Board of Education; the Rev. Dr. POHLMAN, Messrs. BULKLEY, ADAMS, and HUGHES, and others of the Teachers of our Public Schools.

F The exercises at this Institution at the close of the term ending on the 27th of September last, were of an unusually interesting and attractive character. The examination of the Experimental Department, under the charge of WILLIAM F. PHELPS, took place on Saturday the 22d, and reflected the utmost credit on the teachers and pupils. In the afternoon the public exercises of the several societies took place in the Lecture Room of the Institution. On Monday the 24th, the examination of the several classes in the Normal School, was commenced and continued during the whole of that and the succeeding day, including the classes in Algebra and Physiology, under the charge of Mr. EATON; that in Chemistry and Natural Philosophy under the charge of Mr. CLARK; those in Surveying, under the charge of the PRINCIPAL; those in Grammar under the charge of Mr. T. H. BOWEN; those in Arithmetic under the chargeable and efficient corps of Teachers, to say, that never of Mr. WEBB; those in Geometry under the charge of Mr. S. T. BowEN, and those in Music under the charge Mr. T. H. BowEN. The beautiful specimens of Drawing, which adorned the walls of the rooms, together with the numerous Outline Maps on the Black Boards, sufficiently attested the proficiency made in these branches by the classes under the charge of Miss OsTHOM. The absence of Miss HANCE, from illness, was LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL:felt as a serious disappointment by all who have here- The expiration of the term of five years for which this tofore been accustomed to listen to the admirable exer- Institution was originally chartered, and the auspicious cises in Reading and Elocution, over which that accom- circumstances under which we have now assembled, plished teacher usually presides. The afternoon of in this new and beautiful structure, erected by the enMonday was principally devoted to the reading of Com-lightened liberality of the State, for the education and positions.

It being the Fifth Anniversary of the organization of the School, it was deemed a fitting occasion for a gene ral meeting of the Graduates and former pupils; and between one and two hundred of these accordingly assembled on the morning of the 26th, and formed themselves into a permanent Association, to meet once in two years. In the afternoon a beautiful poem on the Spirit of Beauty," by Miss SARAH A. SHERMAN, of Saratoga, was read before the Association and a crowded audience in the spacious Lecture Room of the Institution, by the President, Mr. F. D. BARKER. and listened to with the most marked interest and gratification. An able and eloquent address by Mr. STETSON, of the class of 1845 followed;, and the exercises were interspersed by the singing, in admirable style, of several origina Odes, written by graduates of the Institution for the oc

It is due to Prof. PERKINS, the Principal, and to his has the Institution under their charge, been in a more flourishing and prosperous condition, or better entitled to the continued confidence and regard of the people of the State, and of the friends of our excellent system of Common School instruction.

ADDRESS OF S. S. RANDALI.

preparation of teachers, affords a proper opportunity for a brief review of the past history and a glance at the future prospects of the Institution. Having participated to some extent, in the movement which originated this policy; and having been familiar with the early history of the school, the reminiscences thus called up, though not unmingled with painful ingredients, are full of interest, and the labor imposed upon me, on the present occasion, is emphatically a "labor of love." Well remembered forms of friends and associates, whose earthly remains have long since mouldered in premature graves, pass before my vision. The beaming countenances of the young, the fair and the gifted, who, in life's early morning, and aid the highest hopes and brightest prospects of future usefulness, were summoned from yonder halls to the mansions of Eternity, are fresh in the inner chambers of the heart.

But the memory of these revered and loved ones is consecrated and hallowed by the blessed influences of their pure lives and self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of human improvement. The spirit which animated them, and for which they were at all times ready to be offered up," is the same which, in every age of the world, has set its seal upon every noble and divine soul; the impress of its maker's siguet; the assurance to mankind of the presence among them of those "veiled travellers" whose immortal nature we know not until the day of their disappearance, and who on quitting this world become transfigured and say to us, as the messenger of heaven did to Tobias, "I am one of the seven which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One."

in council; and it was determined that, backed by the strong and decided recommendation of the head of the Common School Department, immediate measures should be forthwith adopted for the establishment of a STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. The men who thus gave the first decided impetus to the great enterprise, whose gratifying results are now before us, were SAMUEL YOUNG, CALVIN T. HULBURD, FRANCIS DWIGHT and ALONZO POTTER.

Mr. Hulburd, the able and enlightened Chairman of the Committee on Colleges, Academies and Common Schools of the Assembly, visited the Normal Schools of Massachusetts, and after a thorough examination of their merits and practical operations, submitted an elaborate and eloquent report to the House, in favor For several years prior to 1844, the attention of the of the immediate adoption of this principle in our sysfriends of Common School education in this State had tem of public instruction. The bill introduced by him, been strongly directed to the inadequacy of the exist and sustained in all its stages by his powerful influence ing agencies for the preparation of duly qualified and indefatigable exertions, and the co-operation of the teachers for our elementary institutions of learning most zealous friends of education throughout the State, Liberal endowments had, from time to time, during a became a law, and appropriated the sum cf $10,000 long series of years, been bestowed upon the Acade-annually for five successive years, for the purpose of mies in different sections of the State, with a view to establishing and maintaining a State Normal School in the attainment of this object; but the practical inabi- this city. The general control of the Institution was lity of these institutions to supply the demand thus committed to the Regents of the University, by whom made upon them with all the resources at their coman Executive Committee, consisting of five persons, mand, soon became obvious and undeniable. The establishment of Normal Schools for this special and Schools, was to be appointed, upon whom the direct one of whom was to be the Superintendent of Common exclusive purpose in various portions of Europe, where management, discipline and course of instruction of popular education was most flourishing, and in the the school should devolve. adjoining State of Massachusetts, long and honorably distinguished for her superior public and private sohools-and the manifest tendency of these institutions to elevate and improve the qualifications and character of teachers, had begun to attract the regard of many of our most distinguished statesmen.

In pursuance of this provision, the Board of Regents, in June, 1846, appointed a committee comprising the Hon. SAMUEL YOUNG, then Superintendent of Common Schools, the Rev. ALONZO POTTER, Rev. WILLIAM H. CAMPBELL, Hon. GIDEON HAWLEY and FRANCIS DWIGHT, On a winter's afternoon, early in the year 1844, in cution of their responsible duties; procured on very Esq. This committee forthwith entered upon the exea retired apartment of one of the public buildings in liberal and favorable terms from the City of Albany this city, might have been seen, in earnest and pro- the lease for five years of the spacious building in longed consultation, several eminent individuals whose State-street recently occupied by the Institution; prenames and services in the cause of education are now scribed the necessary rules and regulations for the inuniversally acknowledged. The elder of them was a struction, government and discipline of the school, the man of striking and venerable appearance-of comcourse of study to be pursued, the apportionment and manding intellect and benignant mien. By his side selection of the pupils, &c., and procured the services sat one in the prime and vigor of manhood, whose of the late lamented and distinguished Principal, then mental faculties had long been disciplined in the school of Newburyport, Massachusetts, together with his colof virtuous activity, and in every lineament of whose league, the present Principal, as teachers. On the 18th countenance appeared that resolute determination and day of December, 1844, the school was opened in the moral power, which seldom fails to exert a wide influ-presence of a large concourse of citizens and strangers, ence upon the opinions and actions of men. The third by an eloquent address from Col. YOUNG, and by other in the group was a young man of slight frame and pale appropriate and suitable exercises. Twenty-nine puthoughtful visage; upon whose delicate and slender pils, 13 males and 16 females, representing fourteen form premature debility had palpably set its seal: yet counties only, of both sexes, were in attendance, who whose opinions seemed to be listened to by his asso-after listening to a brief but clear and explicit declaraciates, with the utmost deference and regard. The remaining figure was that of a well known scholar and divine, whose potent and beneficent influence had long been felt in every department of the cause of popular education; and whose energy, activity and zeal had already accomplished many salutary and much needed reforms in our system of public instruction.

The subject of their consultation was the expediency and practicability of incorporating upon the Common School system of this State an efficient instrumentality for the education of teachers. The utility of such a measure, and its importauce to the present and prospective interests of education, admitted, in the minds of these distinguished men, of no doubt. The sole question was whether the public mind was sufficiently prepared for its reception and adoption: whether an innovation so great and striking, and involving as it necesarily must, a heavy and continued expenditure of the public money, might not be strenuously and successfully resisted; and whether a premature and unsuccessful attempt then to carry into execution a measure of such vital importance, might not be attended with a disastrous influence upon the future prospects of the cause of education. These considerations after being duly weighed, were unanimously set aside by the intrepid sprits then

tion from Mr. PAGE, of his objects, views and wishes in the management and direction of the high duties devolved upon him, entered at once upon the course of studies prescribed for the school. Before the close of the first term on the 11th of March, 1845, the number of pupils had increased to 98, comprising about an equal number of each sex, and representing forty of the fifty-nine counties of the State. During this term the musical department of the school was placed under the charge of Prof. ILSLEY of this city, and instruction in drawing was imparted by Prof. J. B. HOWARD of Rensselaer.

On the commencement of the second term, on the 9th of April, 1845, 170 pupils were in attendance, comprising a nearly equal proportion of males and females, and representing every county in the State, with a single exception. Of these pupils, about nine-tenths had been previously engaged in teaching during a longer or shorter period. The term closed on the 27th of August, with a public examination and other suitable exercises, and thirty-four of the students received the certificate of the Executive Committee and Board of Instruction, as in their judgment well qualified in all essential respects, to teach any of the Common Schools of the State.

On the 15th of October succeeding, the school re- and desolate January day, at the commencement of the opened with 180 pupils, which was increased during year 1848, to pay the last sad obsequies to the remains the progress of the term to 198, from every county in of their departed Principal. In the prime and vigor the State but one. The death of Mr. DWIGHT, which of his high faculties-in the meridian brightness of his took place on the 15th of December, and the transfer lofty and noble career-in the maturity of his wellof the Rev. Dr. POTTER to the Episcopal Diocese of earned fame as first among the foremost" of the Pennsylvania, created vacancies in the Executive Com- teachers of America, he passed away from among us, mittee, which were supplied by the appointment of and sought his eternal reward in that better land where the Hon. HARMANUS BLEECKER, and the Hon. SAMUEL the ills and the obstructions of mortality are forever YOUNG, the latter gentleman having been succeeded in unknown; where the emancipated spirit freed from the office of Superintendent of Common Schools by the the clogs which here fetter its highest action and reHon. N. S. BENTON of Herkimer. The sudden death tard its noblest development, expands its illimitable of Mr. Dwight, who had taken a deep interest in the energies in the congenial atmosphere of infinite knowlprosperity and success of the Institution, and had given edge and infinite love. It is not for me, on the present to its minutest details the benefits of his personal super- occasion, to pronounce his eulogy, although knew vision and constant attention, cast a deep gloom upon the and loved him well. That has already been done by inmates; and the peculiar circumstances under which it an abler hand, and it only remains to say that the imtook place were strikingly indicative of the vain and press which his masterly and well trained mind left illusory nature of all human expectations. For several upon this Institution, the child of his most sanguine weeks previous to his death, Mr. Dwight had mani- hopes and earnest efforts, and upon the interests of fested much interest in devising appropriate means for education generally throughout the State, of which he the celebration of the anniversary of the opening of was the indefatigable promoter, has been of the most the school, on the 18th of December. Alas! how lit-marked character, and will long consecrate his name tle could he imagine that the long line of Normal and memory. pupils, with the children of the various public schools of the city, to whom also he had been a signal benefactor, and hundreds of his fellow-citizens should, on that day, follow his lifeless remains to their long home!

At the close of the third term, March 18, 1846, a public examination was held which continued during four successive days, and convinced all who felt an interest in the Institution, that the work of preparation for the teacher's life was, in all respects, thorough and complete. The diploma of the Institution was conferred on 47 graduates.

"And still as on his funeral day

Men stand his cold earth couch around,
With the mute homage that we pay
To consecrated ground.

"And consecrated ground it is,

The last, the hallowed home of one
Who lives upon all memories,

Though with the buried gone.

"Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines,
Shrines to no code or creed confined,
The Delphian vales, the Palestines
The Mecca's of the mind!"

During this and the preceding term a valuable addition had been made to the Board of Instruction, by Since this period the progress of the Institution, unpromoting to the charge of several of the principal de- der the auspices of its present enlightened Principal, partments, those graduates of the Institution who now and his devoted corps of assistants has been uniformly o ably and successfully preside over these departments. onward and upward. At the close of the seventh term The Experimental School, organized at the commence- 50 pupils were graduated, and the eighth term opened ment of the second term, was placed under the gene- with 208, of whom 46 received their diploma at its ral supervision of its present teacher, and has proved close. The ninth term opened on the first day of Noan exceedingly valuable auxiliary in the practical pre-vember last with 175 pupils, and at its close 43 were paration of the pupils of the principal school for the discharge of their duty as teachers.

graduated, and the tenth term which has now just closed, opened with upwards of 200 pupils, of whom 36 are now about to graduate.

Two hundred and five pupils were in attendance at the commencement of the fourth term, on the first Mon- During the session of the Legislature of 1848, a bill day of May, 1846, of whom 63 received a diploma at was introduced in the Senate, providing the requisite its close in September following During the fifth funds for the erection of a new and suitable building term, commencing on the 2d of November, 178 pupils in the city of Albany, for the permanent use of the only appeared, 46 of whom graduated in March, 1847. Normal School, and rendering the annual appropria At the commencement however of the sixth term in tion for its support permanent. Through the active May subsequently, 221 pupils were in attendance, of and unremitted exertions of the present Principal this whom 64 received the diploma of the Institution in bill became a law, and under its provisions the noble September; and at the re-opening of the school in No- and spacious edifice in which we are now assembled has vember 205 pupils appeared. Up to this period the been erected. A few weeks only have elapsed since number of names entered on the Register of the school the school was transferred to its new location; and notas pupils, including those in attendance at the com- withstanding the prevalence of a most gloomy and unmencement of the seventh term was 737. Of these healthy season, the attendance of nearly 200 pupils of 254 had received their diploma as graduates, of which both sexes, upon the regular exercises of the Institu number 222 were actually engaged in teaching in the tion, during the whole of the term now about to close, common schools of the State; and the residue, with indicates the firm hold which it possesses upon the affew exceptions, in the different Academies or in pri- fections and regard of its inmates. Through the mervate schools. Of those who had left the school with-ciful permission of a superintending power, one only out graduating, nearly all were engaged during a longer or shorter period in teaching in the several common schools.

of the pupils of the school has fallen before the devastating pestilence which has swept over our land. And while we bow in humble submission to the stroke which thus solemnly reminded us of our habitual dependence upon Him in whom we "live and move and have our being"- -we may, without presumption, offer up our grateful thanksgiving for the preservation of so many lives, thus fearfully exposed to the ravages of the destroyer.

And now came that dark and gloomy period when the hitherto brilliant prospects of the Institution were overcast with deep clouds of melancholy and despondency-when that noble form and towering intellect which, from the commencement of the great experiment in progress, had assiduously presided over and watched its developement, was suddenly struck down For all substantial purposes, therefore, the Normal by the relentless hand of the great destroyer-when School may now be regarded as permanently engrafted the bereaved and stricken flock, deprived of their re- upon the settled policy of the State, as a portion of its vered and beloved guide, teacher, friend, mournfully noble system of public instruction, In this country, assembled in their accustomed halls on that dreary | however, and in the present enlightened age, no insti

tution, however supported, sustained and fenced round by legislative enactments, can be regarded as permanent, unless it fulfil the objects and accomplish the end for which it was established. Ours is a government of public opinion; and the various instrumentali-ral character and moral influence of the teacher must ties which, from time to time, the representatives of the people may see fit to put in requisition for the attainment of the great objects of civil and social polity, must successively be abandoned as they fall short of the ability or the disposition to perform the functions with which they are charged. What then are the objects to be accomplished, the end to be attained, the functions to be performed by this institution? What have the people of the state a right to expect, and what do the intelligent friends of education throughout the community expect, from those who annually go forth from these walls, with the certificate of the official guardians of the School, that they have received all the benefits it has to afford? These are questions well worthy of our most attentive and deliberate consideration; and perhaps the brief period of time remaining at our disposal on this occasion can not better be improved than by their discussion.

In the first place, it is expected of this Institution, that its graduates should be in all respects, well qualified, intellectually and morally to educate and instruct the young. And what a responsibility is here! Nearly a century since, it was announced by the great English lexicographer, with his wonted dogmatism and positive assurance, that nothing remained to be attained in the science of education; and that no further improvement could be expected in the modes of elementary instruction then prevalent. Modern civilization has, however, assured us, that the true conception of the teacher's functions is but beginning to dawn upon our view; that the capacities of the human mind, and its susceptibility to instruction and improvement, are even yet but dimly discerned and imperfectly understood; and that the responsibility, for good or for evil, of those who assume the task of developing its faculties and directing its energies and its growth, is rarely appreciated either by parents or teachers. The true teacher is not one whose mind is merely well stored with the treasures of science, or whose intellect is simply capable of grasping and retaining the various fundamental principles and specific details of the several branches of study he may have pursued, He must be able to transfer to other minds, and to every variety of minds, precise and accurate conceptions of the ideas and principles he has thus mastered; and there is no more fatal practical error in the whole range of education than to imagine, as many contend with much show of plausible reasoning, that the possession of a | clear and accurate knowledge of any branch of learning is necessarily accompanied with the ability clearly to communicate it to others. In perhaps the great majority of cases, the attainment of the requisite ability to teach, is not only wholly independent of, but far more difficult to secure, than the complete intellectual mastery of the most complicated science. It is only where both are united in the same individual, that the requisite qualifications of the teacher in this respect are found. The infinite diversity of mind requires, also, that the communication of knowledge, or its elements, should be specifically adapted to the peculiar wants and condition of the recipient. A magic word, like the fabled spear of Ithuriel, is sometimes sufficient to arouse into efficient activity, the intellectual and moral energies of the child of genius; while "line upon line and precept upon precept-here a little and there a little" may be requisite to convey the faintest dawn of light upon the mental horizon of another. Illustrations, reasonings and arguments which bring perfect demonstration to one mind, may fall utterly powerless upon another; and that mode of instruction and discipline which applied to one class of intellects, produces the most gratifying results, often proves utterly barren of improvement when transferred to a less susceptible and less fertile soil. The teacher, then,

must render himself intimately acquainted with the mental constitution of each one of his pupils, and adapt his teachings to the peculiar and specific wants of each. But in addition to these essential requisites, the mobe not only unexceptionable, but capable of exerting the most salutary effects upon the expanding character of the inmates of the school room. It is here-in the moral power of the example which the teacher is constantly presenting to those under his charge-in the daily beauty of his life"-in the simple dignity of his demeanor and the unsullied purity of his conduct-in his affectionate and instructive intercourse with his pupils-and in the whole tenor of his ministration in the duties of his calling-that his success in the work of education will be most conspicuous and strongly marked. The moral affections of our nature are the earliest developed: and when properly cultivated and cherished, they form the only durable foundation upon which the superstructure of intellectual greatness and excellence may rest. The teacher who has not impressed upon the minds of his pupils clear and abiding ideas of the supremacy of conscience, the beauty and the indispensable necessity of goodness, virtue, truth and purity, the luxury and nobleness of self-denial, the utility of order, of system and method, and a vivid conception of the intrinsic evil of vice in all its forms, and of the inevitable wretchedness and misery of its perpetrators and victims-has signally failed in the performance of his duty. And if, upon the most rigid and searching self-examination, he find himself cherishing any unhallowed principle of action, any thought or feeling incompatible with the strictest purity of morals or manners-any acerbity of temper, uncongeniality of disposition towards the path of life he has marked out for himself-impatience of the restraints which it must impose, of the sacrifices for which it must call, or of the patient endurance which it incessantly requireslet him at once abandon the undertaking he has rashly assumed, and seek some other and less sacred field for the display of his acquirements and the impress of his influence. Let him not contribute in any degree to the work of debasing the image of the Creator in the persons of "these little ones," who look up to him for lessons of virtue, of purity and goodness. Better, far better would it be for him that poverty and neglect, and contumely and scorn, follow him through life, than that the prospects for time and for eternity of hundreds of innocent and confiding youth committed to his care, should be fatally darkened and clouded by the evil influences of his companionship and example.

Secondly it is expected and demanded, by public opinion, of the teachers who go out from these halls, that they should exert a wide-spread and salutary infinence upon the community, with reference to the interests of education in all its aspects. Their light is not to be "hid under a bushel." They are not contentedly to sit down in some secluded and obscure locality, where profitable employment may, perchance, be had, and circumscribe their exertions and their labors within the narrow boundaries of their district. It is demanded of the faithful teacher "that the spirit within him should wander far and wide"--that he should assiduously "sow by the side of all waters"-and that while he conscientiously and faithfully fulfils the immediate duties devolving upon him in the position in which he is placed, he should diffuse as extensively as possible, a knowledge and an enlightened appreciation of the principles and motives by which he is actuated, and of the means through which he proposes to accomplish the specific objects he has in view. He should place himself in active communication with the most efficient promoters of education; and reciprocally give and receive information, knowledge and the means of practical usefulness. He should mingle frequently and freely with the intelligent, the virtuous and the worthy among his fellow-citizens-be present, whenever practicable, at all assemblages connected with the progress and advancement of educational improve