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177 d 
 
 (i 
 
 THE TEACHEK IN THE STDDY 
 
 AND 
 
 IN THE CL4SS ROOM. 
 
 -» ♦- 
 
 AN ADDRESS DETJVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 QUEBEC TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION, 
 
 AT QUEBEC, Oct. 17, 1879, 
 
 HY TME 
 
 Rev. D. H. MacVicar, LLD., 
 
 PRINCIPAL PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE, MONTREAL, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE TEACHERS' PROVINCIAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 
 witness" printing house, bonaventure street. 
 
 1880. 
 
THE TEACHER IN THE STUDY AND XS THE 
 CLASS ROOM. 
 
 BV THE REV. D. 11. MACVICAR, LL.n., PRINCIPAL PKESRVTfRlAW 
 
 COLI.ECIE, MONTREAL, 
 
 frmdent of the Ti-achers^ rttr.nndal Association. 
 
 I do not propose U» read a formal essay or lecture, l)ut only to talk 
 a litt' ; about the teaclier in the study and in the class room. ^ 
 
 It may occur to some to ask, wiiy speak of the teacher's work in 
 the study ? We can understand how the hawycr, the doctor nnd the 
 divine may have very much to do in the study, very many dull and dif* 
 ficult volumes to read ; hut the teacher— has he not received his diploma 
 from a learned ISoard of Kxaininers or fully eciuipped Normal School? 
 Is he not licensed to teach, and is this not enough ? Or is he not P.. A., 
 M.A,, I'h.D., F.K.S., or LL.I)., or something of tliat i-ort ? What 
 more can be desired ? If more is called for, is he not from Ci'.sgovv, 
 or Edinburgh, or Oxford, or Cambridge, and not from the i:.asteru 
 Townships? And who can resist the potency of these nauies when 
 pronounced with proper euphony among plain colonial people ! True, 
 Imt may we not venture to think that l>oanls, and Normal Schools, 
 and admirable instituticms in Britain and Canada do not certify men and 
 women to be released from mental H)il and private study the moment 
 they receive their parchments. They grant no license for mdolence, 
 even after the highest academic honors and distinctions have been gain- 
 ed. Besides, our age is wonderfully practical. It refuses to value a 
 person by the number of letters appended to his name, or the place 
 Irom which he hails, and persists in estimating his worth by his real at* 
 tainments, his peisonal character, and what he can do. 
 , Granting, therefore, that a man is duly certified as qualified to 
 teach, I am prepared still to lay out for him a consi(lerable programme 
 of professional work which requires to be overtaken in the study. Let 
 me mention a few items. 
 
 first. — The whole science of teaching demands his attention. If he 
 is not a born teacher — for there are such— he requires to devote him- 
 self with all the more earnestness to this science, which is now speedily 
 rising into the position of importance and influence which it deserves. 
 Essays and volumes in illustration of its principles and methods are 
 being issued by the ablest minds of our day, and the true teacher can- 
 not aflord to remain ignorant of these. It is ruinous conceit on the 
 part of any man to ignore the experience and observ;it!»)n of others. 
 Happily for the interests of education teachers are becoming more and 
 more oi')servers of facts connectetl with their own profession. They are- 
 betjinning to organize in different countries for this purpose, and their 
 observations are being recorded and rendered available for comparison 
 and further investigation. The materials are thus being collected from 
 which, by and by, the principles anil rules of the science of teaching 
 may be accurately formulated. But a very great work is yet to be over- 
 
taken in this direction. The true methods ot the cul'ivattoii of the 
 senses, and of physical e.hicr.tion generally, are yet (»pen for discussion 
 and discovery. The natural order of the development of the mental 
 fiiculties is to he more fully and accurately ascerlaineil. We h.xve yet 
 to learn many things as to tiie sort of training which is a]»propriale,an(l 
 the extent to which it should be carried at different stages of physical 
 and mental growth. How are we to do justice to the crusii of sulijects 
 now pressing for attention, nnd yet save pupils from literal martyrdom? 
 Do we discriminate with sufficient clearness and constancy between 
 education and the mere common-place work of }:;ivi)is'. information, or 
 cramming the pupil's head with facts ? And do we no^ deal with his iiead 
 almost exclusively and to the neglect of his moral nature? Tl>e whole 
 field of Ethics in relation to school work has yet to he much more 
 fully considered. The very mention of the subject at present in 
 certain fpiarters excites feelings of alarm, and the thought of introducinff 
 the Hi'ole in any sense as a text-book is deemed almost a crime, as if 
 the teaching of (Jod's truth would be certain to d<i mischief. And yet 
 it cn.nnct be denied that something is refpiired in our schools and ed- 
 ucational establishments to elevate the standard of truthfulness and 
 common honesty among the people. Without expatiating further in this 
 connection, I venture to think lint the earnest, progressive teacher may 
 find in what has been suggested themes to occupy his sjiare hours in 
 the study. 
 
 Second. —Wit should in the study fdl his own mind wiiii the lessons 
 of the dav. Why so? Is he not I'naster of all these subjects? They 
 are simple and easy to him - Didy geography, grammar, arithmetic, 
 i\:c., and the pupils are profoundly ignorani of tliem. Ciranl it. All 
 the move need that he should kindle in his own mind a flame of en- 
 thusiasm over these very lessons. Here is the secret of his power to a 
 great extent— enthusiasm -and the moment he fails in this res|)ect his 
 Teaching power is diminished or gone. Let the teacher feel little or no 
 interest in his lessons, and the pu])il is sure to hi of the same mind with 
 him. Let the teacher be in a listless, yawning, indifferent, lifeless state, 
 and it will be so with his pupil. Am' I right ? Is it not so> Let the 
 teacher, on the other hand, be enthusia.stic, energetic, full of life— his 
 whole soul thrown into the lesson, however small and simple thn les- 
 son may be —and then the pupil is thrown into a similar mental state, 
 and is really taught. Half an hour of such teaching is *vorth a week 
 or month of dulC di-owsy trifling with the child. And the re.a.son is 
 oinious. It depends upon a well-known principle of our nature, viz. ; 
 that we produce in others, with more or less vividness, the mental con- 
 dition which is dominant in ourselves. By this means one man moves 
 and rules a multitude. F.,r example, let a cry of agony bur>t from the 
 lips of any one among us at this moment, and we are all instantly 
 thrown into a somewhat similar state. Let a shont of joy, a merry 
 peal of laughter ring out from tlie lips of some one, and we all laugh 
 with him. ' He carries us all to some extent into h's own dominant 
 mental state. We can undoubtedly propagate our own thoughts and 
 feelings among others. We reproduce in ihem what is in ourselves : 
 and our power of teaching is regulated very much by our ability to do 
 .so with rapidity and vividness. ' Vou are all familiar with this princijMe 
 and have acted upon it in the school-room. I have observed its in- 
 fluence acting both favourably and u-ifavourabIy. A few months ago 1 
 entered a school hundreds of miles from here, and saw <it once that the 
 dull, sleepy, sickly, gloomy state of the teacher's mind spread itself 
 
i 
 
 all the pupits. It seemed us if tfiey liad been buried, and had 
 risen from the dead in their f^ravf clothes. Thi'ir asi^ect was sepulchral, 
 tJieir tones w;;rc sepulchral, and tiiey appeared incapable of beinjj 
 routed to activity, and I could nol help feeling; that tiie parents paid 
 tlie master to ruin their education, lie asked nie to address the pupils, 
 l)Ut 1 felt that he had far more need of being addressed himself, and 
 lieing plainly tohl to l)estir himself, and to throw life ani tinergy into 
 liis responsilde task. 
 
 Hut it may l)e said that some persons are natuially or constitu- 
 tionally incnpal)le of enthusiasm. If so, they are very seriously dis- 
 «|ualified lo teach, even if they should be dungeons of learning and 
 walking encyclopedias of all sorts of knowledge. Dr. J. (1. Holland 
 ilivides preachers into two classes ; the poetic and the non-poetic, or 
 those of keen and (piick sympathies and those who are dull and im- 
 passive. The former he ajiproves ; the latter he condemns. He would 
 silence or depose every non-poetic jireacher. If a man is non-poetic 
 he may plough, or fell trees, or attend to some prosaic business, but let 
 him not presume to preach ! And so I say of teachers. If a man or 
 woman can get up aDsolutely fto t'nt/titsicisin over the lesson to be 
 taught, let hinr and let hei* not presmne to teach. Success in the class- 
 room depends very much upon the personal weight of the te ^ cher, and 
 this again upon the confidence which hi pupils repose in him, and 
 he can only secure their full confidence and admiration by siiowing no 
 weakness, embarrassment, uncertainty, or want of moral eaniCNtness in 
 his lessons. For these purposes it is ol)vious that he must devote some 
 time to i)reparation in the study. 
 
 Third. — The teacher re()uires to dcvt)te time in the study to the con- 
 sideration of the jieculiarities of his i)ui)ils, I know that through want 
 of this it is too common to treat them all alike ; l)ut lliis is manifestly 
 absurd — as unreasonable as to treat all plants alike and to hope that 
 they may survive such treatment and grow up to maturity and Iruitful- 
 iiess. On the contrary, the temperament, the habits, the idiosyncrasies, 
 and even the surroundings of each ])upil should be studied and und er» 
 stood. I know that the child is often pronounced a (Unice who cannot 
 be successfully taught in the same way precisely as every other child in 
 a class of thirty or forty, while in truth the one who 'hinks so is the 
 dunce, and \w\. the child. The fact is that we have dunce-making es- 
 taldishments in the form of class-rooms and whole schools through 
 lack of thf enthusiasm of which 1 have spoken and the want of diligent 
 and philosopliic study of the inii^ils by those who teach them. I know 
 that the great panacea in many instances for what are called dullness, 
 stupidity, and vant of success on the part of the pupils is to give them 
 home work and to <,^\\<\ word to their parents that they must see that ii 
 is ilone. As if, forsooth, teachers were simply employed to apjiear in 
 iheir places at stated hours and see that the work of teaching is well 
 done at home, especially in the case of pupils who need more teaching 
 and more skilful teaching than otliers. Now, instead of this comfortable 
 method of laying burdens upon jiupils and ]iarcnts, and larning the latter 
 intf) unpaid school masters, what I propose is a little more home work 
 for the teacher in studying his pupils and his methods of <lealing with 
 them. 
 
 Fonii/i. — Th.e teacher m the study should prepare speci.^.l illustra- 
 tions of his lessons. It is true, as I have already said, that he may 
 know the lesson, that it may l)e thoKmghly plain to himself, out can he 
 make it plain to others? We often understand ourselves, or at least 
 
e 
 
 think we do, when no one else unilerstantfs \n. I'heie is a wide A\U 
 ference between understanding a subject yourself and making other* 
 foniprchend it. It is for the latter purpose that illustrations are de- 
 manded. They serve three special ends in the teacher's work, viz. ! to 
 make truth plain, impirssnv ami fitcinorahle. Hence the truth to h« 
 taught must l)e carefully selected and defined, and then illustration 
 should be used to exhibit it with additional clearness and force, and to lix it 
 permaneiuly in the pupil's memory. 'J"he truth is the gem, the illuslr.i* 
 tion is the setting of wrought gold, by which it is held up to view. The 
 most perfect instances of this sort are furnished in the lessons of the 
 C J real Teacher of Judea. When asked, for example, the then difficult 
 (|uestion of international law, "Is it lawful to give trilnite to Gesar?" 
 you remember his illus' ration. He said, *'Show me a penny ; whose 
 image and superscription hath it ? They answered and said, Casar')*. 
 And he said unto them. Render, therefore, unto C;vsar the things 
 which be C;vesar's, and unto (lod the things which be (iod's'." How 
 simple, and beautiful, and effective. When a lesson is thus made i)Iaiii, 
 it is necessarily impressive and memorable ; it is, in fact, properly 
 "taught, and l)ecomfcs the enduring meni.tl property of the pujiil, because 
 he has been brought into very much the same mental sta'.e in relation 
 to that subject as the teacher himself. 
 
 Let me advise that illusiiations should l>e addressed as far as possible 
 to the eye. I strongly believe in object teach'n:^, and have no sym- 
 pathy with the notion that it is good to make subjects tangled, obscure 
 and incomprehensible to the pui)il, that he may waste his time rnd 
 strength amiii clouds and fog. The eye is our be>t bodily organ; it 
 corrects and enlarges the knowledge we get through our other senses. 
 For example, I read much about London and Paris before I visited 
 them. I knew their general features in this way, but when I looked at 
 them with my own eyes my knowledge was corrected and eidarged. 
 Not only so, but the eye affords the best facilities for imparting know- 
 ledge sp/eedily and accurately. Try, for example, to give a child five 
 years old correct notions of a lion. You may do so in three way*. 
 First, you .^lay describe the lion in words — you may speak of his mane, 
 his lail, his square head, his small ears, and his terrible roar. Thi; '«» 
 one way, and the most ineffective way of teaching. Second, you may .'^;»- 
 peal to the eye — you may shoiv the child a picture of the lion, and join 
 your sjieech to this picture, and now you have ten-fold more success in 
 giving a true and abiding conception of the lion than by your first 
 method. lUit third, and best of all, you may take the child by the 
 hand and bring him to the lion's cage and let him stand and look in 
 through the iron bars with his own eyes, and let him hear the terrific 
 roar with his own ears, and he has a truer conception of a lion in a few 
 moments than you can give him in a hundred descriptions, and the cer- 
 tainty is tha. your home will l)e full of roaring lions for weeks and 
 months to come. 
 
 You see the application of this in every department of teaching. 
 Appeal to the eye whenever you can do so. But skill and success in 
 this respect imply diligent home preparation. So much for the work 
 of the teacher in the study. If he is to guide, instruct' and inspire 
 students he must continue to be a student himself. If he is to prescribe 
 home work to others he must have the same vde for himself. But let 
 us look at him now 
 
 In the Scmool-Room, 
 
 Here his general maxim should be not tu teach too much nor too little. 
 
 n 
 
to empty the pupil of 
 
 e tliought that we know 
 
 While a pupil remains 
 
 ichieve little success 
 
 ice him of his ignor- 
 
 ■(■ than by arf;uments 
 
 enlightened by your 
 
 Botl are evils to be iivoi(!e(!. By teaching too much, «e may relieve 
 the pupil of burdens which it may be good for him to l)L..r, by bearing 
 which his mental health and development may be promoted ; or wc 
 may crowd upon his mind more information than he can assimilate and 
 thus inflict grievous injury. On the other hand, by teaching too little 
 we may leave the jiupil to struggle with difficulties which should be at 
 once removed, or we may waste his time by not sufficiently occupying 
 his energies. To escape both these evils, I recommend the teacher : 
 
 1. To begin by (juestioning the \nip\\. This will serve two 
 very essential purposes, (a) Tn find out the extent of his knowledge 
 and hence where ignorance begins. At this )ioint the work of teaching 
 begins. It consists not in going over what the inipil knows already, 
 and has thoioughly mastere<l ; this is mere recitation and not teaching. 
 To send the pupil' home from school at night with a prescribed task ; 
 to enjoin him to commit it to memory and to hear him repeat it in the 
 morning may l)e very useful and very indispensable ; but it is not 
 leaching in the true sense of the term, in<'ch less the highest function 
 of the teacher. (/>) (J|uestions sho- 
 conceit. Nothing is so hostile to k . 
 a subject of which we are profound 
 intlate 1 with a feeling of self-suTir 
 in teaching him. Kmptyhim ofvai 
 ance — and you may do this by (|uestic ., 
 — and then he is in a receptive state anu 
 lessons. 
 
 2. In order to success in the class-room, the teacher should make 
 »nre that he has the undivided attention of all his ]nipils. This is most 
 essential. Hut, what is attention ? For my present purpose it may be 
 defined as the opposite of distraction. lUU, what is distraction ? It is 
 the state of mind produced by attempting to attend to several things at 
 once. It consists in an. improper distribution of mental force. This 
 occurs, for example, when the pupil attempts to count the buttons on 
 his coat, to manage his pea-shooter and his gum to torn>ent his neigh- 
 l)or, and to follow the master's lesson all at the same time. How is 
 such a state of things as this to be prevented ? and how is attention to 
 be secured ? I answer : 
 
 V'/V-.fA — Py establishing the ])roper local relation between teacher 
 and pupils, and between the pupils themselves ; in securing this, you 
 will require to introduce the principle of isolation among pujiils. 
 Separate those between whom there is a deep sympathy in mischief. 
 Break up centres of inattention by scattering them. A boy may be 
 inattentive anc' a bad boy at the one end of a bench, because his 
 surroundings favor this sort of conduct, anc' as sober arxl attentive as a 
 judge at the other end of it, because he has different associates. Hence 
 you should arran"e your class properly before beg'nning the lesson. 
 
 Sirofii/. —Tht teacher should secure attention by the use of the eye. 
 It is quite possible to look at pupils silently till they co.ne to ] erfect 
 order, and begin to think you see into their jjockets and into all their 
 little premeditated plans and tricks by which th-y propose to disturb 
 your work ; but to do this your eyes must be open and not fixed on the 
 text-book, or note-book in which you have recorded the lesson of the 
 hour. That lesson, if you expect to make it the mental property of 
 every pupil, should be so thoroughly written in your brain that you are 
 free to use your eyes for the discii)line of the class, free to move about 
 in the room for the same purpose. 
 
8 
 
 mrii.—Thc leAoficr shnutd seciire attcntton fiy tfic ttsc of tfie 
 voice. It is an iiistruiuciit of iimi velioiis power. It can express, nn<l 
 soothe, and rouse al! the pussions of tlie soul —pity, joy, sorrow, iiuliij* 
 inlion, itc. It.i ^;reat variety of tones— soft, hiud, snarp, abrupt, shoul't 
 all be used in j^ivinj; instruction, and, at the sanii? lime, stcurin;^ atten- 
 tion. It niav he tliat the want of a niusicnl and skilful use of the v<»i'.:e 
 nccounls for more than a little of lla- irritation and disorder that often 
 prevail in class-rooms. 
 
 /v//rM.--'l'he teaclur may sec re attenlion l)y fiuestions. They 
 j)ossess a wonderful educalinj: power and should he freely used on thin 
 account ; but they are al-o a most elll'Ltlve instrument of discipline. 
 Von may shoot them vijjorously and rti)eaijdly at the inattentive and 
 disorderly pupil until he l)ecomes the best behaved mendjcr of ycyr 
 class. He cannot but behave if you look him in the face and procee 1 
 eneri^etically, with this mode of chastisement ; and the rest will be 
 attentive because of their natural rivalry to sur|)ass the one who is bein^ 
 ijuestioned, and their secret delit^h: in seeint; him thus punished anil 
 his ij^norance exposed. 
 
 /')'////. — Attention may Ik- secured l)y the use of illustrations. 'These 
 should bt thrown in at the rij;ht lime, when tlu-y are needed for thixi 
 purpose and for the other i)ur|ioses already named. Hence they should 
 be i)repared by diligent work in the slmly, and l>e thoroughly in hand, 
 ready for use at any moment. 
 
 ^'/jr///. — Attention may be secured by recapitulation of what lia-., 
 been taught. Let the ))ipil undertake this work, and thus oblige him 
 to give back all that you have given hin>. This is wise in any case, 
 even when you have no disorder to subdue ; because he is not sufficiently 
 taught until he can render a satifactory accoun* of what you have done. 
 .Select the inattentive pupil for this work, and, on the principle of iso- 
 lation already referred to, pla':e him on the platform. His success will 
 make hin attentive and self-reliant, and his failure will make him 
 attentive and hun^ble ; in either case he will become a wiser and 
 better boy. Hut the teacher himself may give a recapitulation at any 
 point and thus secu.e attention, and, at the same lime, make plaiTi 
 what n>ay have otht-rwise been h-ft in a state of ol)scurity. 
 
 SiT(/if/t. — Try change of })o.>ition and of work to secvire attention. 
 Why should pupils and teachers always sit or always stand at recita- 
 tions ? Why destroy the comfort an<' 'eedom of both by small useless 
 rules in this resi>ect ? Wli.u bad thoughts begin to rise in their minds, 
 and liad gases accumulate in the room, why should ihey not be allowed 
 to rise and shout and sing God save the (^)ueen, or give three cheers to 
 our rulers^ it might heli) these dignitaries in their complicated duties. 
 Or why not let them run out and breathe the fresh air of heaveii and 
 escape the slow poisoning process under wliich liiey so often suffer ? 
 
 Here are my seven methods of securii>g attention and of gettiig 
 pupils into a icichablc mental attitude. Vou will notice that I exclude 
 rewaids for good l>ehavior ; shut out all forms of "bribery and corruj)- 
 tion ; " that 1 exclude flc'gging which used to be esteemed a "short and 
 easy method " of sealing all difficulties, and was made the ready substi- 
 tute for lack of skill, and tact, and energy, and fresh air, and. I had almost 
 said, common sense in the scho'jl-roon). ] exclude all puerile coaxing 
 and begging pupils to behave with proi)riety. Such a method is sure 
 lo encourage insubordination and to destroy the teacher's influence. 
 Let him, iiT one word, thoroughly deserve attention, and he is ([uite 
 certain to receive it. 
 
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 ' JH 
 
 K^. 
 
 Mr. President, lllere are many other points lonchinK the teacher in 
 the class-room, upon wiiich I should like to touch, did time permit, but 
 I ctintent myself by menti(.:iinj; one tiling more in closini^, what ha» 
 alrendv been hinted at, vi/,., the ii'.-ed of far clearer and fuller mora! 
 culturt ihaii is usually undertaken, the need of making; moral tiainintjau 
 essential factor in jiuhlic education. I low this is to lie arc()mplished i* 
 IKluestion which we ha\e no time to discuss, and which is not easily 
 answered. We m.'V altemj)' the task with or without a text book, but 
 success in it must depend \\:ry larj;ely upon the personal example anil 
 activity of the tencher. 
 
 Wlial I am incerned just now to emi)hasi/.e is not the meihot. of 
 dointJ the work, but the cryiny need of its bein^' tlone. It is one of the 
 great wants of mir country. And I cannot do l>ett- .«; 'his moment 
 than repeat in sui)stance what I said lately on this •. tltr, before the 
 teachers of Ontario. It seems manifest that what wt need 1,1 order t<» 
 greater national strength and progress, are certain things in the moral 
 category. Shall I say a liighei sense of honor among all classes, it** 
 eluding our i)ubl:c men, and a supreme regard for truililiil:ie--s? It t> 
 easily seen that defects in these resj^^cls must touch and deteriorate our 
 national life at every point ; . .y will intluencc domestic relations ancl 
 public transactions, affect nir buying and selling, i lie entire tra<ie or traf- 
 tic of the country ; they musl taint our judicial proccssesaiid pervert the 
 decision («'"the courts ; they will pervade our daily literalu-'e and render 
 almost worthless and even pernicious the utterances of our press. And 
 is it not a lamciilable fact, as recently declared by a leading statesman, 
 that, in order to gel an approximately correct view of the (h'lngs and 
 utterances of any public man. you must read the accounts given by ih<* 
 papers which favor him and the papers s\hic!i opp )se him, and even 
 then you may fail to reach the Iruih? 
 
 Now, it is in tiie power of our schools and institutions ot learning to 
 brand with deserved infiniy this deleslable vice of lying, iiii''. to siain|» 
 with suitable opprobrium it, if not out »)f existence, at least by calling 
 it by its right name and making it bear its proper burden of di-honor 
 and disgrace, and by holding up before our youlli a right standard ol 
 truthfulness and integrity. This is what is needed to purify our coin- 
 merce and bring bnck business to a safe and healthy slate, and the omy 
 sort of " National 1' >licy " that can ensure |)ermanent prosjierily. We 
 siifTer muc!; from, and we !iear a great deal about, hard times, but we 
 are slow to take in the thought that hard dealings must Ivring on liard 
 times in tlie most productive and highly favored countries under heaven. 
 If men will have (loulile prices for their goods and force their clerks t" 
 lie in selling them ; if tliey will jjusli on ir.ide by unlawful competition, 
 and buy and sell on credit with no rational prospects of meeting their 
 engagements ; if young men ail! rush into business and set up doisicstic 
 estal;'i-,hmeiits, the very first year e(iu;illing. if not surpassing in extra- 
 vagance those of [leisons who have made their fortunes ; if weal. hy men, 
 eager to become mori so, will found superiluous baiiKs, and then press 
 hard uiion one another, while ,'iicouraging reckless adventurers ; if men 
 will make up their minds to over-reach and cheat and lie in business, 
 there is no diftlcully in seeing how hard limes must inevitably overtake 
 them. And the remedy is to be sought in persistent, universal, thoiougli 
 moral culture. The vices hinled at are not, in so far as they affect u>. 
 to be cured in a few years. They grow >,K)wly and they die hard. 
 Cjreat. tall, ran'; plants 01 inicpiity do not grow up like Jonah's gourd 
 in a single night. Oianl swindlers up.dergo a long and hard i>r.)cess of 
 
10 
 
 education, in secret and in public, and when a multitude oT them infest 
 a country it may requite a generation or even more to drive them out, 
 and there must be many a crash ami exposure in business and in public 
 life before they take their leave. It is mariifest that the true way of 
 dealing with these evils is to teach, and speak, and preach, and work 
 against them. They will not disappear by being left alone. Silence 
 respecting them is criminal. Froude, the historian, justly complains 
 that, during thirty years of church-going, he never heard a sermon on 
 common honesty, on those primitive commandments, " Thou shalt not 
 lie," and " Thou shalt not steal." l'erha|)s his experience is not unique. 
 Judging from the numl)er of rogues still at large it cannot be so. Hut 
 we nee(l more than sermons on these questions. We neetl to permeate 
 our whole educational system with ethical training. We need ten 
 thousand daily lessons in our school-rooms and in our homes on the 
 elements of morals, and morals based upon the truth of God and not 
 upon pagan philosophy, le.ssons on the principles of truth, and right, 
 and law, and purity, and frugality, and self-control, and general govern- 
 ment. These are the principles with wiiich to pervade our whole 
 system of education and our whole country. Let reverence for trutli 
 and right reign supreme, and then 
 
 " Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control. 
 These three alone lead life to sovereign power ; 
 Vet not for power (i)ower of herself 
 Would come uncalled for) but to live by law. 
 Acting the law we live by, without fear ; 
 And because right is right, tu follow right 
 Were wisdom, in scorn of consequences." 
 
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