comprise chiefly standard works of an elevating and instructive character, such as Sparks's biographies, Hume's History of England, Annual of Scientific Discovery, and Prescott's lives and histories.

The exercises of the dedication were commenced by Mayor Ritchie, who made an appropriate address, which was listened to with deep attention. After announcing the purpose for which the congregation of people had assembled there, he spoke of the completeness of the building and of the important purpose for which it was to be used. He said that upon the educational interests of a city were based its highest hopes. He was proud of the efficiency of the Roxbury schools, and he hoped that at some future day they would be even more efficient than at present. He trusted that a time would come when educational interests would be so cared for that no child in the city would grow up uninstructed. Acting in behalf of the city Mr. Ritchie said that it was now his duty to transfer the building to the School Committee, to be used as a grammar school for girls; and, as he gave the keys of the house to the Hon. Bradford K. Pierce, the chairman of the Committee, he expressed a hope that they might always give entrance to a glorious temple where good learning might be sought and found, and pure and holy influences ever reign.

The Lord's Prayer was sung by the scholars, after which Mr. Pierce, the chairman of the School Committee, replied in suitable terms to the address of Mr. Ritchie. After an allusion to the interest which gathered around the occasion, he observed that the pecuniary cost of the building had been very great, and he was glad to say that the repeated calls of the School Committee for money had been cheerfully met by the Mayor and other members of the government and by the citizens generally. He remarked that the character of this school was such as to make it an interesting experiment. It was peculiar, inasmuch as a lady was to preside over it and to take the entire superintendence of the pupils. If the experiment was successful, and he doubted not that it would be so, the result would do more to advance the position of woman than a score of public meetings could do.

The Rev. William H. Ryder offered a prayer of dedication and a song was sung by the children.

The Hon. Linus B. Comins was then introduced, and made a brief address. He spoke of the paramount importance of, and influence exerted by the common schools of Massachusetts, and of the dependence of many persons upon them for all the school education which they receive. He spoke of the responsibilities of teachers, and expressed a hope that no rules would ever be introduced into this school which would have a tendency to infringe upon the rights of conscience and religious belief. He

regarded education as the corner-stone of the great social and political fabric.

Another song was sung, and Dr. Barnas Sears, the Secretary of the State Board of Education, next made a very interesting speech, in the course of which he alluded to the great improvement which had taken place in the character of school buildings, as well as of schools of Massachusetts, within comparatively a few years past. He spoke of the high character sustained by the schools of Massachusetts, in general, and those of Roxbury in particular-touched upon the superior facilities for female education which this age presented over the past, and drew a comparison between our schools and those of Europe, which was highly favorable to our own educational system. The schools for the peasantry of Europe, indeed, were well conducted in some countries, but there the pupils were taught rather physical than mental labor. The aim was more to give them a means of supporting themselves through life, than to confer upon them an intellectual education. In connection with the fact that this school was to have a lady superintendent, he remarked upon the recent discovery among us that the sphere of teaching is peculiarly adapted to woman. There were now several thousand teachers in the State, and of these about five thousand were females. Massachusetts and some of the other New England States had more female teachers, in proportion to the whole number of teachers, than any other country in the world.

At the conclusion of Mr. Sears's remarks, there were successively introduced, the Rev. Mr. Anderson of Roxbury, Hon. Mr. Dawley of Fall River, Hon. Mr. Warren of Boston, Rev. Mr. Ryder of Roxbury, and James M. Keith, Esq., the City Attorney of Roxbury, who was presented by Mr. Pierce as a rare specimen of the species human-an honest lawyer. All of these gentlemen made excellent speeches, short and to the point.

Mr. Pierce then introduced Miss Cushing, the future teacher of the school, to the pupils, and publicly delivered to her the keys of the house; and the ceremonies of dedication were closed with a prayer by the Rev. Mr. Twombly of Jamaica Plain.-Boston Journal, March 22d.

NORFOLK COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

THE Fifteenth Semi-annual Meeting of the Norfolk County Teachers' Association will be held in Wrentham Centre, on Monday and Tuesday, the 4th and 5th of June next.

Lectures will be delivered by Rev. Thomas Hill, of Waltham. Prof. B. F. Tweed, of Tufts College, Somerville, and Robert Bickford, Esq.,Principal of the Young Ladies' High School, Roxbury.

"The Proper Selection of School Studies,"-" Defects in Reading, and their Remedies,""Management of Primary Schools," are the subjects selected for discussion.

ALL have noticed with pleasure the growth of the feeling, which is now becoming so prevalent, with regard to the late Dr. Thomas Arnold. While he was the Head-Master at Rugby, he was one of the marked characters of England. His strong political animosities, his continued opposition to the Oxford theology, his vehement animadversions against the evils of the day, and the zeal with which he labored to effect the changes which his own judgment approved of, made him not only a marked man, but also roused a spirit of bitter hostility to him, which, as Arnold remarked, has perhaps never been paralleled in the history of schools. In the school-room, his influence was ever great; yet, as his biographer tells us, it was to a large extent bounded by the walls of Rugby. Four years he labored to establish himself in the confidence and affection of the young men there; and when at the end of that time he felt that this object was attained, began his powerful sway over the succeeding classes. It was not till his death, however, that his influence began widely to be felt; the number of his pupils had then become very large: they were to be found, not only at the Universities, but scattered, as Arnold beautifully foretold that they would be, through England and her colonies; and then when his pupil Stanley gave the seal to his life by sending forth his modest and elegant biography, in which his teacher's character speaks on every page, Arnold began to be recognized, not only as the great instructor of this age, but also as the thoroughly devoted Christian man.

We do not wish to fill the pages of this magazine with the details of Arnold's life; they may be found in their own place. In fact, his is not a life, but a character. He accomplished no sounding exploit; he never met a hair-breadth escape; he saved no soul from drowning or shipwreck; he explored no distant

land; he made no brilliant discovery to dazzle the eyes of mankind; he was born, he lived and died; he left nothing but works partially executed, and a fragrant character which has strengthened and inspired many already, and which will prove a continued blessing which shall outlive this age.

Arnold was an eminent teacher, but we are not to suppose that he had not his equal. We have no reason to suppose that in the communication of knowledge, he was not excelled in some departments. Rugby then, as now, was not mentioned first among the public schools of England; young men went thence to the Universities well prepared, but not better than those from Eton and Winchester. For success in stimulating young minds in intellectual pursuits, Dr. Arnold was deservedly celebrated; his biographer tells us that the room where the lessons of the Sixth Form were heard, was probably the " scene of the greatest intellectual ardor in the kingdom." But we must not be led into a false estimate of the relative position which Arnold ought to hold as a teacher. His glory lies in this one word: he had the distinguished honor of being the first who introduced the religious element into the great public schools. That he was the pioneer in this great work, let us never forget; and while we concede to others skill in the communication of knowledge equal to his, let us reserve for Arnold the proud honor of having christianized education.

It was Arnold's crowning excellence as a teacher that he was so thoroughly religious a man. His whole life was the consecration of himself to God, and to his duty. In these days, when there is so much one-sided cant about humanity, and devotion to its interests, it is refreshing to turn to the pages of Stanley's well-told biography, and learn what such devotion is when pure and true. If ever Christian man lived, that man was Thomas Arnold. If there has ever been manifested persistency in the cause of Christ,-resolute opposition to evil, and sympathy with good,-it was shown in his life. In many cases, it is true, he did things which were not expedient; sometimes, too, he opposed evils which were the offspring of his own fancy; but in all that he wrote, said, and did, there lives such a vigorous Christian spirit, that we cannot sufficiently admire and imitate it.

And his religion was wholly without cant. Though on almost every page of his biography there occur expressions which, falling from the pen of a common man and an ordinary Christian, would sicken and disgust, yet we always feel that they are the sincere expressions of one who is not only conscious of the whole meaning of his words, but religiously feels their force. And Arnold was no fanatic; his religion was not of that spasmodic nature which now almost expires, and anon shoots up in dazzling splendor. Arnold's devotion was constant and

well sustained, and whether teaching in the quiet hamlet of Laleham, or uttering his last words, amid the terrible pain of angina pectoris, there ever breathes a strong and unwavering spirit of devotion. If one is ever impressed with the fact, that, aside from all the hollow mockery which religion often assumes, there is a reality which may be shown in the thoughts and actions of a man, he can strengthen that impression by studying this noble character. If one feels that the flame of piety is burning low in his own heart, if the words of Arnold as they are exhibited in his letters and in his recorded observations do not kindle it into greater vigor, there are but few means which will.

We must remember that we, as teachers, generally fail, if we do fail, not in the communication of knowledge, but in the sustaining of a well-balanced mind, and a perfectly consistent character. Here we can take Arnold as a model. He was, it is true, no saint. He was a man of strong passions, easily betrayed into extreme severities of language, lacking in toleration, fiercely independent, but yet so prayerful a man, so watchful of himself, so regardful of his trusts, and so impressed with the present hand of God, and so filled with a reverential spirit, that we reject one of the great means which have been placed in our power, if we do not study his life to attain light for our own feet.

WORDS TO READING TEACHERS.

IF that advice is well founded which would have the reading of romances limited to those which have received the highest praise, there is still more reason that your reading of poems should be more select still. There are not many true judges of poetical merit; not that any are so blinded in taste or so infatuated by patriotism as to rank "Hail Columbia" with the "Lycidas" of John Milton; but there are but few who would claim any infallibility in judging of poems unsanctioned by a well known name. The ladder to poetical fame is the hardest of all to climb. The successful novelist and the accomplished historian are helped upward in their ascent by the encouraging shouts of admirers; the aspiring poet is met with the snarl of unappreciating ignorance, the growl of envious malice, and the bite of unheeding criticism. Sometimes an attempt is made to mount to the top at a single leap, and fortunate is he who resists. with success the rude attempts to thrust him down.

Great poems are to be really studied, not simply read. If Shakspeare committed his glowing thoughts to paper without earnest labor and deep premeditation, he is the only great poet who has done so, unaided by inspiration from an ignoble source. And it is an act of base injustice to give to thoughts thus labored