with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy." But this is digression.

In enforcing authority, especially over numbers, attention must be paid to the tones of the voice. A horse, it has been shrewdly observed, soon perceives the timidity of his rider by the shaking of his legs, and no sooner does he suspect fear than he refuses to obey. Children, in like manner, instinctively discover by the tones of the voice when a teacher is unable to enforce obedience; and the moment that discovery is made, his power is gone. He may implore, or he may be imperious; he will only excite their scorn. You will see that what I refer to, has little to do with what is termed a good or bad voice; it is not a question of high or low notes, and still less of loudness and vociferation. It is only as an index to the mind, as indicating the determination within, that the tones of the voice become important; and this kind of demonstration you will at once perceive, may be conveyed as well in a whisper as in a shout. Only let it be a living voice, expressing the calm and quiet determination of a mind conscious of its strength, and it will rarely be resisted.

Bear in mind, then, that the first step you have to take, in moral, as well as in intellectual education, is, TO ESTABLISH YOUR AUTHORITY. There never was a more absurd notion than that which is becoming popular in some quarters, that children

may be governed without authority, by moral suasion alone; that is to say, that they may be brought to love duty, without any intervention of arbitrary command. Do not listen to this mischievous trash for a moment. To what extent it

may be possible to substitute explanations and reasons for commands, I do not pretend to say; but this I am sure of, no good will be done unless the child knows that authority is at hand if reason should fail; and let me add, I account that moral discipline of little worth, which does not teach a child to submit to authority, simply as authority. "There are moments in the course of education, and even of life, when the delay which reasoning demands, would expose us to danger which it is intended to avert, and where we must learn to yield to authority without a question."* Mr. Abbott, in a paper published in the American Annals of Education, illustrates this principle in his usual happy manner. He says, "Power is not useless because it lies dormant. The government of the United States employs its hundreds of workmen at Springfield, and at Harper's Ferry, in the manufacture of muskets. The inspector examines every one as it is finished, with great care. adjusts the flint, and tries it again and again, until its emitted shower of sparks is of proper brilliancy; and when satisfied that all is right, he

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packs it away with its thousand companions, to sleep probably in their boxes in quiet obscurity for ever. A hundred thousand of these deadly instruments form a volcano of slumbering power which never has been awakened, and which we hope never will be. The government never makes use of them. · One of its agents, a custom-house officer, waits upon you for the payment of a bond. He brings no musket. He keeps no troops. He comes

with the gentleness and civility of a social visit. But you know, that if compliance with the just demands of your government is refused, and the resistance is sustained, force after force would be brought to bear upon you, until the whole hundred thousand muskets should speak with their united and tremendous energy. Such ought to be the character of all government. The teacher of a school, especially, must act upon these principles. He will be mild and gentle in his manners; in his intercourse with his pupils he will use the language and assume the air, not of stern authority, but, of request and persuasion. But there must be authority at the bottom to sustain him, or he can do nothing successfully, especially in attempting to reach the hearts of his pupils. The reason why it is necessary is this. First, the man who has not the full, unqualified, complete control of his scholars, must spend his time and wear out his spirits in preserving any tolerable order in his dominions; and, secondly, he who has not author

ity will be so constantly vexed and fretted by the occurrences which will take place around him, that all his moral power will be neutralized by the withering influence of his clouded brow. To do good to our pupils, our own spirits must be composed and at rest; and especially, if we wish to influence favorably the hearts of others, our own must rise above the troubled waters of irritation and anxious care."

Authority once established, obedience will be prompt, and very soon become habitual. No obedience, indeed, is worth the name, which is not prompt, habitual, and, I might add, cheerful. A languid and dilatory yielding to repeated commands is rank disobedience. "Not as in my presence only, but also in my absence," must be the requirement; and nothing short of this is worthy of commendation. I know that it is attainable. I have again and again seen a school of five hundred boys proceeding for a whole day, with the most perfect order and regularity, in the absence of every adult person capable of exercising even a shadow of authority. The moral influence of the absent teacher, aided only by subordinate arrangements among the boys, was governing hundreds who would have gloried in defying any exhibition of mere force.

But it is not enough to assert for a time, even successfully, your claim to unqualified submission; authority must be maintained through a long

course of years, under every diversity of circumstance, and with a constant succession of new scholars. Now this cannot be done by the mere exercise of WILL, however strong that will may be. You must now, therefore, endeavor to ascertain by what means you can gain a habitual ascendancy over the minds of the young. Every one must have noticed the different degrees of influence exerted by different individuals in the same circumstances. I shall now enumerate some directions in relation to this subject, which have been suggested to me by the remarks of practical

men.

First,-Endeavor to convince your scholars that you are their friend,—that you aim at their improvement, and desire their good. It will not take long to satisfy them of this, if you are so in reality. Remember, however, that a mere declaration of being their friend will be very far from proving you to be such, or convincing them of it. You must prove it to them by showing a greater regard for their welfare than for your own ease. In brief, LOVE them, and that will go a long way towards governing them.

Secondly,-Never give a command which you are not resolved to see obeyed. To give commands which you have not time, or ability, or perhaps intention, to enforce, is to inculcate disobedience. If, therefore, you make a promise, keep it. If you say that neglect of duty shall be followed by punish