States of the South it has been the policy to keep out the light of knowledge from the masses of the people, and to educate only the aristocratic fer. And it is there that darkness, and ignorance, and stagnation have brooded over the community-that religion has been bound hand and foot, and basely subordinated to, and made supportive of, the worst of all human crimes-that those sacred institutions, free speech, a free press, and a free ballot, have ever been held a terror of violence—that loyalty has been a mere caprice and whim-there that the basest treason and rebellion the world ever saw are to-day in open and bloody defiance of the most just and equal laws and the most benign Government ever devised. But a few years since a governor of the "Old Dominion" thanked God that there were no free schools, and but few newspapers in Virginia. To-day we behold the fruits of that policy of which he then made his shameless boast. The conflict now so fiercely raging between the two sections of our beloved country is really a conflict between intelligence and virtue and the demon of ignorance. I cannot believe that the whole body of our brethren of the South are literally devils incarnate! Nay, my charity prompts me to believe that the masses err through blindness and a fierce prejudice born of ignorance. The stars of that glorious old flag of the Union, which has for eighty-six years been the pride of Americans and the admiration of the world, as an emblem of unparalleled progress in all material things, and of the intellectual and social advancement of a new and wonderful people, have not shed their radiant light upon the dark and prejudiced South as they have shined into the open heart and mind of the free North. This is the explanation of how they have been led on by wicked and traitorous leaders to defy its authority; nay, even to assault and trail it in the dust. And this is why I am sure that the rebellion and the establishment of the so-called "Southern Confederacy" cannot succeed. For if it be true that " no truly enlighted people can be enslaved," so it is equally true that no gov. ernment originating in ignorance, fraud, and cruelty, and choosing the "sum of all villainies" for its "chief corner stone," may rationally hope for even temporary prosperity, much less for stability and permanency of existence.

I cannot believe, therefore, that the sham government which these traitorous leaders and blinded people proposed for themselves could last fifty years, if once established to their liking. Its very foundation being in defiance of the sentiment of the whole Christian world, nay, an attempted constitutional abrogation of a primary law of the Almighty, it is utterly impossible that any superstructure which they might attempt to rear upon that worse than rotten foundation should have any sort of perpetuity. I say again, it is for these reasons, or, in other words, be

AMERICA AND AMERICAN SCHOOLS UPHELD IN ENGLAND.

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cause I believe in God and in the omnipotence of Right, that I have a strong and abiding faith in the future of the American Republic and of the American Union. There is but one thing which this moment stands in the way of harmony and absolute union, and that I have already said, is as surely doomed as if God had visibly sealed its death-warrant. There is nothing in the Southern Rebellion which should be thought to cast a shadow of doubt upon the soundness of the Republican Idea; nothing whatever. The monarchists of Europe affect to see something

of this sort, and wisely shake their heads at the "failure of the great American experiment;" but they do not themselves believe it, and only seek, by a creation of their own fancy, to frighten the restive, thinking people into quiet submission to the old-established government of the one or the few. I believe as firmly to-day as I did five years ago that the year 1900 will find us one people—our population increased to nearly an hundred millions-many new stars added to the old Flag, thrice glorious and thrice loved for the precious blood it will have cost and the victories won-our agriculture vastly more productive than now-our workshops comparing in number, as now in the character of their products, with the first nations in the world—our commerce the peaceful and beneficent mistress of the seas; and instead of lamenting, as do some, to whom life is of more worth than liberty and country, that the Government did not yield up everything and permit the unimpeded separation of the Southern States, I, on the contrary, most earnestly thank God that there was virtue enough in the Government and in the intelligent people of the North to resist the demands and to punish the aggressions of the Slave power. In the light of this philosophy American Liberty has seemed to me

"Never so fair

As now, from east to western main,

Lighting her camp-fires everywhere,
Her ancient glories to regain."

But there will come yet other trials of the Government-trials which may be real tests of the Republican Principle. Some of these we had already begun to feel, ere the crisis into which the madness of the South has plunged our country. I refer to the dangers which grow out of a rapid increase in material prosperity and political power. Private reckless extravagance and public corruption are the natural fruit of successes such as we have had in the past, and there is nothing but the conservative influence of a universally-diffused intelligence and genuine morality, that can possibly save us from the sad wreck, of which other attempting republics are a solemn warning. Let us then cherish with a jealous care this inestimable, elevating, ennobling, conservative power, the free schools

of our country, and so make the American Republic a sure and blessed beacon to all the struggling nations of the earth for all time to

come.

NEW YORK-COUNTY SUPTS.-INSTITUTES.

Under the administration of Hon. John C. Spencer, W. H. Seward the Georgia Schoolmaster, being Governor, and by the earnest exertions of Hon. Jabez D. Hammond, Rev. Dr. Whitehouse of your city, [Rochester] Rt. Rev. Bishop Potter, Francis Dwight, and James Wadsworth, the system of county supervision was inaugurated-a system that has been fruitful of most salutary results, and that, more than any other public measure, has infused life and vigor into the common school interest. So essential to its well-being indeed, that its temporary suspension turned back our prosperity more than 15 degrees upon the dial," and the friends of education rested not till it was restored. The general adoption of county supervision in the northern states is evidence of a universal conviction of its value.

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Under this regime commenced in earnest the outgrowth and expression of reformatory movements which had long been cherished by the best educators of the age. The system of Teachers' Institutes in our state then had its origin. The first Institute was opened in Tompkins county, under the direction of Mr. J. S. Denman, county superintendent, on the 4th day of April, 1843. It was succeeded by others, until in 1845, no less than 17 counties had put this reform on substantial record, and that, too, before any legislative action had been taken, or any encouragement given by the state.

The abolition of the office of county superintendent was severely felt. They had been for the most part able and efficient men, and the unitary action in the several counties, which their large jurisdiction ensured, was unmistakably working out wholesome progress. Efforts now became distracted and divided, and even the law of 1847, organizing Teachers' Institutes as a part of the school system, and paying a bounty by the state, could not to any considerable extent rally the scattered forces.

There can, at this day, be no longer a doubt as to their utility if properly managed, nor of the wisdom of the state in making liberal provision for their support. The legislature of 1847 inaugurated that wise policy, which has since given such an impetus to our schools in securing a better class of teachers, and especially in furnishing young teachers with practical and enlightened modes of presenting the various sciences and of managing the routine of the school-room. It can not be doubted

that the Normal School, with its full course of study and opportunity for practical work in the model school under an enlightened superintendent, is the very best means of furnishing such teachers as the wants of the age demand; but from the inability of one, or even of several such schools, were they in active operation, to furnish the quota who every year must enter upon the teacher's work, as well as from the pecuniary disability under which most young persons who look forward to the profession, labor, it is manifest that temporary local organizations must supply the needful instruction. During the past year, Institutes have been held in nearly every county in the state, for the aggregate term of two weeks each. The number of persons in attendance upon these "Temporary Normal Schools," is larger than ever before. It will not be pretended that in all cases the course of instruction has been as thorough or the instruction given as systematic as could be desired, for the real needs of teachers are as yet but imperfectly understood, and the art of teaching is in its infancy; but for the amount of money expended by the State, less than $8,000, more has been done for the present and prospective interest of teachers and schools, than could have been accomplished in any other way that has yet been devised.-From Address be fore the N. Y. State Teachers' Association, 1862, by J. Cruikshank, LL. D., Prest.

STATE CERTIFICATES.

[We make the following short extract from the Report of the Secretary of the Examining Board, Mr. J. H. Blodgett, of the examination recently held for State Certificates, in Illinois. It appears that nine gentlemen and three ladies were passed by the Board, making in all, at the three Annual Examinations, about 45 who have received the Diploma :]

Fifteen candidates presented themselves, of whom two withdrew upon being fully informed of the plan and scope of the examination and the time it would occupy. The general plan was the same followed in previous examinations, which may be briefly recapitulated. Each candidate drew a number upon a card, which number he placed upon all papers containing his answers in the written work, and by which number only he was known to the Board till the completion of the written examination, when, opening a sealed envelope prepared by each with his number upon the outside and his name inclosed, the Board ascertained names correspondent to the numbers against which record of scholarship had been kept. After the oral examination, the marking was compared and

the recommendation of the Board made in accordance with the result. Wednesday (August 6th) was occupied by written examinations in Geography, Written Arithmetic, History of the United States, Orthography, Algebra, and Geometry,-each one hour. Thursday (August 7th), written examinations in Mental Arithmetic and Grammar each occupied an hour; oral examinations in Reading, Geography, and Grammar, each an hour; and in Theory and Practice two hours.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction addressed the class at the close of the examination, briefly reviewing the general situation of teaching hitherto; the necessity of even the best teachers' securing separate certificates for every county in which they might wish to teach, and of securing new ones after two years had elapsed, and the efforts of the last five years to secure some professional legal recognition, so that whatever professional skill or knowledge one had gained should not be counted as lost on crossing a county-line or after a brief period; which effort had secured the passage of an act by the legislature authorizing the issue of perpetual State Certificates to those found worthy on due examination. While regretting that some who had been loud in expressing a desire for such professional recognition were uninterested, now that an opportunity was given, he was gratified by the interest shown by others, and at the prospective character and standing of a profession made up of such as had come forward at this and previous examinations. A true professional spirit would suggest higher motives than the exemption from local examination, which teachers in permanent situations under chartered systems had already reached. He urged them to labor for the good of their calling and the elevation of those among whom they taught.

THE HIGH OFFICE OF THE TEACHER.

There is no higher office than that of a teacher of youth; for there is nothing on earth so precious as the mind, soul, and character of a child. No office should be regarded with greater respect. The finest minds in the community should be encouraged to assume it. Parents should do all but impoverish themselves to induce such to become the guardians of their children. They should never have the least anxiety to accumulate property for their children, provided they can be placed under influences which will awaken their faculties, inspire them with higher principles, and fit them to bear a manly, useful, and honorable part in the world. No language can explain the folly of that economy, which, to leave a fortune to a child, starves his intellect and impoverishes his heart.-Dr. Channing.