Teachers' Journals.

beneficial to you. It will bind you to your profession; it will enlighten your mind; it will cheer your heart; it will prove a valuable medium of intercommunication; and in various ways it will be of service. If you have not sufficient interest in your work to induce you to become a subscriber to one of these works, the sooner you abandon the business of teaching, the better it will be for the community. And what I say to you, I would say to all others. No person should assume the employment of teaching, who does not possess enough of professional interest to cause him to aid in the support of a periodical devoted to the great interests of his profession.

Be a Contributor to some Educational Journal. — Do this for your own good, and for the good of your profession, ever bearing in mind, that whatever you do for your own improvement will result in the good of your profession, and also that whatever you do for the elevation of your chosen calling will result in your personal benefit. The whole is made up of parts, and the several parts are affected by the general tone and condition of the whole. Do you say you cannot write,- that you have not accustomed yourself to it? Then I say you should commence and ascertain whether your inability is real or only imaginary. My impression is, that you will find no difficulties that you will be unable to overcome, no obstacles that will prove insurmountable to a determined spirit. It will do you good to cope with difficulties, strengthen you to

Visiting Schools.

conquer them. You owe it to yourself, no less than to your profession, to contribute something from your own mind and experience for the benefit of those laboring in the same cause.

Visit the Schools of Others. If you will do this with the right spirit, with a desire to learn, it will prove highly beneficial. The watchful and discriminating teacher will gain some useful information, or receive some valuable hint, from every school he may visit. He will profit not only from the excellences, but also from the errors, of others. It may be that errors exist in your school which have been formed so gradually as to have escaped your notice. Your attention is so constantly directed to two particulars, governing and instructing, — that it would not be strange if some deviations should escape your watchful eye. When you visit the school of another, circumstances are different; you go as a spectator; you feel that you have no direct interest in the exercises; you have nothing to do but to listen and observe. You will, very naturally, look for excellences and for defects; and from both you may derive profit, - only do not be captious. It may be that you will, on your return, see your own school in a different light, and learn that you are not above criticism. Perhaps I may be better understood by relating an instance in my own experience; for I have visited many schools, and always with profit. I once visited the school of a friend, who enjoyed a good reputation as a success

Teachers' Meetings.

ful teacher. The school was, in the main, a good one, but I noticed one habit in the spelling exercise which I considered a bad one. As the pupils spelled, they neither pronounced the syllables as they spelled them, nor the words when finished. It appeared to me a little singular, that so good a teacher should allow so bad a habit to prevail; and I rather congratulated myself that I was more careful in my own practice. To my surprise, when I next conducted a spelling exercise in my own school, I found that precisely the same error, in kind, if not in degree, existed somewhat on the part of my pupils. From it I learned a useful lesson. Visits to the schools of others may impart many such lessons.

Teachers' Meetings and Teachers' Institutes.— You will find it much for your interest and professional improvement to attend teachers' meetings as often as opportunity offers. It will do you good to meet with those who are engaged in a similar employment, with those who can sympathize with you. Such meetings, whether large or small, may be productive of much good. Two or three farmers, mechanics, ministers, or physicians would probably derive mutual benefit from an hour's interview and familiar talk. So, particularly, will it be with teachers; they will either obtain new information, or become more fully confirmed in some old plan or method. But, if you would be truly benefited by teachers' conventions, you must exercise the right spirit; and while you aim to receive some

Diligence.

benefit and some new information from every such gathering, do not expect that everything you may hear will be new to you, or precisely adapted to your individual circumstances or wants. Remember, it is only "little by little" that we make advancement or growth in knowledge, whether of a general or professional nature. Strive constantly and in every suitable way to honor and elevate your chosen profession, by adding to your own personal qualifications, and thus proving yourself an intelligent, earnest, and active member. Seek to honor your calling, and not live and act as though you expected that to honor and exalt you.

Be Diligent in Professional Labors. If it is ever true in the material world, that "the hand of the diligent maketh rich," it is emphatically true that the mind is enriched and expanded by diligent application and wholesome exercise. As bodily sloth and idleness lead to destitution, want, and misery, so mental inactivity will lead to mental imbecility and unproductiveness. Persevering diligence in any work will overcome obstacles apparently insurmountable, and secure the accomplishment of the most important and surprising results. It is this that has subdued the wilderness, and caused it to be a fruitful garden. It is this that has furrowed our country with railroads, and made a safe track for the iron horse from the ocean to the mountains and the valleys beyond. It is this that has sprinkled all over the surface of our country beauti

Results of Diligence.

ful and thriving villages. It is this that has brought the luxuries of distant lands and the wealth of the ocean to contribute to our comfort and welfare. The sails that whiten our oceans; the steamers that plough our waters; the locomotives that sweep through our towns and villages, rushing through mountains, over plains, and across rivers and ravines; the wires that extend through the land and under the ocean,-all declare the power of welldirected diligence. Be ever active in all the operations and concerns pertaining to your profession, ever laboring to improve yourself, to aid others, to promote the great interests of education, and the fruits of your efforts will be neither few nor small. Your sincere friend,

C.

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