room within five minutes after the hour had arrived for opening the school; less than one-half had come in at the close of twenty minutes; and more than thirty minutes of the morning session was virtually lost to the whole school from delays or disturbances incident to tardiness on the part of a portion of the scholars, with some of whom a want of punctuality had already become habitual. I have seldom visited a school during the first half of the morning session, without witnessing the interruption of the order, attention and exercises of the school, caused by the entrance of some delinquent scholar; and although not to the same extent, the same interruption is repeated during the last half of the afternoon session, by the withdrawal of a larger or smaller number of scholars, on the pretence of business to be done, or distance to be traversed.

But great as are these hindrances and interruptions, and the consequent loss of money, time and privileges to individuals, the school, and the public, they are few and small, compared with those which spring from irregularity of attendance. From the want of full and accurate sources of information, in school registers accurately kept for a series of years, the magnitude of this evil cannot be expressed in any statistical statement. A summary of the returns made by school teachers to the school committee of each town, and by them to the Secretary of State, shows that in 1845, out of 22,156 nominally connected with the public schools, the average attendance was only 14,528.

But the results of my own inquiries and observations in more than one hundred schools, are still more unfavorable. In not a single instance, was the number of absentees at the time of my visit, less than one-fourth of the whole number of scholars enrolled; in more than one-half of the schools, it amounted to more than one-third of the whole number, and in the manufacturing villages, it never fell below one-half. Whenever a minute inquiry was instituted, it almost invariably appeared that every scholar had been absent during the term; that a majority, even of those who were most constant in their attendance, were occasionally absent; that about one-third were habitually irregular; and that some who were counted as members of the school, came so seldom that their attendance might be regarded as visits, were it not that such visits prove too serious an annoyance and hindrance, both to scholars and teacher, to be designated by a word, which when used in connection with schools, ought to convey something more frequent and beneficial. I have seldom listened to a class recitation, in which one or more members of the class were not excused from even attempting to recite in their turn, or in which the teacher was not mortified at a balting, blundering

answer from every fourth or fifth scholar, because of their having recently joined the school or been frequently absent. I have never been present at an examination or review of the studies of a term, or even of a previous week, in which it was not evident that whole chapters in text-books, where every chapter was a new step in the development of a subject, had never been studied, that explanations, and even practical illustrations by the teacher, of difficult and important principles had been lost to many scholars, and that even the valuable attainments of some of the best scholars were vitiated, in consequence of occasional or frequent absence, which had been permitted or required by parents or guardians. Nor have I found this evil confined to any particular grade of schools, whether elementary or superior, private or public, although it prevails less in private than in public schools, and in good than in poor schools. The state of the school register, as to attendance, is of itself a pretty sure index of the character of a school.

This irregularity of attendance, including the want of punctuality in commencing, and closing the school term, and each half day's session, at the appointed time, prevents the early and systematic classification of a school, or defeats, in a measure, its object, when made. The difference of proficiency in the same class, between those who are regular in their attendance, and prepared by previous study for perfect recitations, and to comprehend the explanations of teachers, and those who are not thus regular and prepared, becomes as great between members of different classes. The spirit of sympathy which works so powerfully and so happily in a large class, when all are pressing forward together in pursuit of a common object, is lost. The steady advance of the whole is arrested by the halting, lagging recitations of every third or fourth member, who missed a previous lesson, or a still more important explanation by the teacher. A new class must be formed, or the same lesson must be assigned for a second and third time; the same explanation must be repeated; the laggards fall still further in the rear, and the spirit of the whole class is ⚫ broken.

The individual who is thus irregular, loses that systematic training of the several faculties of his mind which a regular course of school instruction should be framed to impart. There can be no continuity in the daily process,-each faculty cannot be exercised in its appropriate study, pursued in its proper order, where there is a loss of every third or fourth recitation. He cannot make himself thoroughly master of any subject, when his knowledge of principles, as presented in text books, and explained by the teacher, is imperfect, in consequence of chasms in lessons,

and gaps in recitations. Degraded gradually from his first position, until he finds himself dragging at the heels of his class,visited with the displeasure and punishment of the teacher, for his repeated failures, he loses that delicacy of feeling,-that sensitiveness to the good opinion of his associates and teacher, which is the motive to much noble conduct and effort in the young, and finally becomes so reckless and hardened to reproof and shame, that he can stand up unabashed, and confess his ignorance, and it may be, glory in it. A disgust to study and the school, follows this loss of self-respect; habits of truancy are acquired, and by and by he is turned out upon society, a pest and a burden,-a prepared victim of idleness, vice and crime. The consequences of irregular and unseasonable attendance, are not always so disastrous, but the business of daily life is constantly arrested and deranged by the bad habits of mental and moral discipline, which it helped to form.

To the teacher, this practice is a source of much additional labor perplexity and disappointment. His best plans for economizing his time and efforts, by acting on masses of scholars, instead of individuals, are defeated. The discipline, attention and order of exercises for the whole school are disturbed, by late attendance. His interest in the daily recitations of his classes, is dampened by the number who are absent or who are not properly prepared; and at the close of the term, and especially if there is a public examination, he is mortified that after all his efforts, he is obliged to apologize for the large number of scholars who have absented themselves from the consciousness of their own deficiencies, and for the repeated failures in those who are present. The committee is disappointed, and parents are disposed to complain; and not unfrequently the loudest complaints come from parents who tolerated, even if they did not require the occasional and frequent absence of their children, whose irregularity in various ways, has occasioned all the disappointment.

To the community, as a district, town and state, this irregu lar school attendance is a loss, great and irreparable, in every aspect in which it can be viewed. It is a loss or a forfeiture of money, of time, of precious privileges, and above all, of that general virtue and intelligence, which is at once the wealth, security and glory of a state. School-houses have been built and furnished at an aggregate cost of not less than two hundred thousand dollars, and the schools are maintained at an annual expense of not less than sixty thousand dollars; and yet one-third of this sum is practically thrown away, and with it a proportionate waste of the precious opportunities of early life. Were the school districts and children of a particular section of the State, to be visited exclusively with this loss, a remonstrance, loud and earnest enough to be heard and heeded, would come

up from every tax-payer and parent, against the continuance of such bad financiering, and the curse of such a withering, intellectual and moral blight. But the loss of money,-of the privi leges of the school, and of the seed time of so many children, is as great and as real, although spread through every school district, and impairing and darkening in advance the aggregate intelligence and virtue of the whole people.

To remedy a state of things, so far removed from the true idea of school attendance,-so adverse to the successful operation of a system of public instruction, and so inwrought into the school habits of society, must be the work of time and of many agencies. Measures must be taken to ascertain and make known the extent of the evil,-its diversified forms and influences,-the causes which produce or aggravate it, and the remedies which have proved elsewhere successful in removing or diminishing it. All the authorities and interests recognized in the organization and administration of the school system, must be enlisted in securing a proper school attendance, without which liberal appropriations, school-houses, teachers and supervision will fail in making public schools universal blessings.

The State has already done something, and prepared the way for still more direct and efficient action on the subject, in the several towns and districts. The school law now provides that the public schools shall be maintained for at least four months in the year; that a register of the daily attendance of every scholar in any public school, shall be kept by the teacher;-that onehalf of the money appropriated by the state, shall be distributed among the school districts, according to the average daily attendance of scholars in each; and that school committees shall make all necessary regulations respecting the admission and attendance of pupils, and submit an annual report on the condition and improvement of the schools, in which so important a feature as school attendance must necessarily be discussed.

If the several towns will act out to the full circumference of the power and duty with which they are clothed, in respect to this and other matters relating to public schools, the evils of irregular and unseasonable attendance can be immediately and largely diminished. They can direct that a census of all the children between the ages of three and fifteen or sixteen years, shall be taken annually, including the name and age of each person, and the name, occupation and residence of the parents and guardians. Such a census will indicate the school wants of the town, and will be useful in determining the arrangement of school districts, the location and size of school-houses,-the grade of school and kind of teachers required, and the proper distribution of the school money of the town. They can make provision for a sufficient number of schools, of different grades,

so as to hold out sufficient inducement for the attendance of the young, as well as the oldest children. They can determine that the schools shall be open both in the summer and winter, so as to allow of the attendance of those who could not attend, if there was but one session in the year. They can increase the inducement to punctual attendance held out in the rule of distribution established by the State, by offering a premium to be divided among the two or three districts which shall secure the largest average attendance for a specified number of months in the year. They can appoint to the office of school committee, persons of experience, intelligence, and interest in the subject, and sustain them in adopting and enforcing such regulations as they may think necessary to secure good school-houses, well-qualified teachers, and a large and punctual school attendance, in the several districts.

School districts can co-operate in this work. They can, in many instances, continue the school through the year, and in all cases vote to have two sessions in the course of the year. They can provide in all cases, healthy and attractive school-houses, so that children need not be necessarily detained from school by sickness, caused by being immersed in an unventilated and overheated atmosphere, or acquire a distaste to study and the school, in consequence of these being associated only with aching bones. and other discomforts of the school-room. They can employ none but well-qualified teachers-and no teacher is well-qualified for a district school who cannot attach children to himself and the school, and interest them in their studies. They can establish a small rate of tuition, payable in advance, and thus bring to bear on parents the motive for continuing their children regularly at school, which operates so happily in most private schools. Should this expedient be adopted, for the purpose of increasing the school funds of the district, and interesting parents in the school, it should be so small as to be within reach of all, and payment should be required in advance for the whole term. They can have public meetings for the consideration of topics relating to the condition and improvement of the schools, and a public examination at the close of each school term, at which the register of attendance can be read. They can sustain the school committee of the town, and the teacher of the school, in carrying out the regulations which may have been adopted by the proper authority.

Among the subjects which should be embraced in a system of town and district regulations, are the following: (Appendix Number xv.)

1. The period of the year when the schools shall be open. This cannot be safely left to the action of school districts, for the children of a large minority are in this way frequently deprived