seed does not spring up immediately, and they at once conclude that it is all choked by the thorns. Because another and distinct agency is employed by God to gather in the harvest, from that which is employed to plough and to sow, they attach inefficiency only to the latter, and forget the promise that "he who soweth and they who reap shall one day rejoice together." Now this temper of mind is as unphilosophic as it is unscriptural. Reflect, I pray you, on the peculiar facilities which are afforded by your particular position, not only for doing good, but for doing it most extensively! Is it no advantage to turn up the yet unbroken soil, and to sow the first seeds? Is it nothing, to hold in your hand a chain of communication, linking your mind, not merely with a hundred other minds, but with all the minds that through all time shall ever be influenced by those who received their earliest impressions from you? Is it no special honor to be the servant of the feeblest, the most inexperienced, and the most helpless?-to stand at the portico, as it were, of the temple of God, keeping the house, and guarding it from pollution? And is all this arrangement of Providence subservient to no end? Is it productive of no good result? If you have brought yourself to believe this, depend upon it, my friend, the error has more to do with the heart than with the head. There is but one radical cure for this distemper of the mind, and that is, calm and

prayerful meditation on the word, the ways, and the promises of God. Bring your weariness and distrust "to the light," and it cannot fail "to be reproved." So long as it is cherished and indulged, it is impossible that you can be happy in your work.

Subordinate, indeed, to these essential elements of happiness, yet still materially affecting the degree of comfort which a teacher will enjoy in his school, are two other qualifications, which may just be hinted at. The first is, the ABILITY TO INTEREST children; not only to make them happy, but happy in the performance of duty; a capability which mainly depends on the attention paid by a teacher to what the Germans call "didaktik," or the art of communicating instruction: but as this will form the subject of a distinct letter, it need not now be further adverted to. The second is, COMPETENT INFORMATION; by which I mean, not merely the possession of just sufficient knowledge to conduct the school, but such a complete and accurate acquaintance on the part of the teacher, with the elements of that which he has to teach, as shall give him the perfect mastery of all its parts, and unlimited confidence in the correctness of his instructions. Any branch of science which is not thus known, is not our own; it must be ranked among the lands that are yet to be possessed. No man can clearly and simply explain to a child, any thing with which he is not himself perfectly

acquainted. To illustrate successfully much more is necessary; a considerable share of information on many subjects is essential to success in this department. A good teacher knows and feels this, and since all knowledge is congruous, he is always on the look-out for materials of instruction. It is thus he learns his own ignorance. The further he advances, the more he finds how necessary it is, that he who undertakes to teach others, should take time to prepare himself.

Still, in order to be successful as a teacher, it is not necessary to be a proficient in every thing, nor is it either wise or honest to make any such pretensions. A man brings a great deal of unnecessary anxiety, irritation, and consequent misery upon himself, when he is afraid to confess ignorance. "I remember well (says professor Jardine) the striking effect produced on the minds of the students, by an instance of great simplicity and candor, on the part of the late venerable Dr. Reid, when he was professor of moral philosophy in this university (Glasgow). During the hour of examination they were reading to him a portion of Cicero de Finibus; when at one of those mutilated and involved passages which occasionally occur in that work, the student who was reading stopped, and was unable to proceed. The doctor attempted to explain the difficulty; but the meaning of the sentence did not immediately present itself. Instead, however, of slurring it over,

as many would have done, Gentlemen,' said he, 'I thought I had the meaning of this passage, but it has escaped me: I shall, therefore, be obliged to any one of you who will translate it.' A student thereupon instantly stood up in his place, and translated it to the doctor's satisfaction. He politely thanked him for it, and farther commended the young man for his spirited attempt. This incident had a powerful effect upon the minds of the other students, while all admired the candor of that eminent professor; nor was there a single difficult passage, which was not afterwards studied with more than usual care, that the next precious opportunity for distinction might be seized." Act in this spirit, and you will lose nothing by renouncing all claim to infallibility.

The interest which strangers will take in visiting your school,-the notion they will have of the pleasantness of teaching, (and this is a matter of no trifling importance,) will depend very much upon your skill in exhibiting that which is most likely to be generally interesting to your visitors. You ought not to complain of the inattention and indifference of influential persons in your neighborhood, if you take no pains to interest them. Only ensure good order; a clean and well-ventilated school-room; and happy faces: and human nature must be strangely changed, if you do not find your full share of persons anxious to witness

your intelligent and well-directed experiments on the youthful mind. After all, however, you must not expect that strangers will ever properly estimate the value and efficiency of your labors. They can only do so, when they know what the children were at the time of their entrance.

One other observation will conclude this letter. No man can be happy as a teacher, who is not prepared to devote all his powers to the performance of its duties. Fellenberg does not ask too much, in demanding for this office, "a vigilance that never sleeps, a perseverance that never tires." Nothing short of this will suffice. How strange, then, is the delusion of those who rush towards it, as the elysium of indolence! That such should be unhappy in the employment, is a source of gratification rather than of regret. Let them flee to some other occupation, for here they will find no resting place for the soles of their feet. The motto of Luther, "Work on earth, and rest in heaven," must be the motto of every faithful school-master; and he who is not prepared to live and act in this spirit, had better leave the service to warmer hearts and nobler minds. Such a man will never know any thing of the elevated delights which associate themselves with the employment; he may have the drudgery, but he will not find the pleasures of the exercise; he belongs to that class, of whom Fenelon beautifully says, in relation to