profitable to the hearers, and was illustrated from the speaker's own cabinet. Some of the points brought out in the address were extensively discussed; and a project, suggested by the lecturer, of establishing a cabinet in every school district, was pretty thoroughly examined. Much animation was displayed in this discussion, and many valuable thoughts were thrown out, but at 12 o'clock it was terminated by the arrival of the hour for adjournment.

In the afternoon, the Association assembled at 1 1-2 o'clock, and after the report of the critics, which was somewhat extensive, the following resolutions were presented by Mr. Sturtevant, of Halifax :

Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be tendered to N. Tillinghast, Esq., the retiring President, for his efficient and courteous superintendence of the meetings.

Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be tendered to the Secretary, for his faithful and interesting reports of its transactions at this meeting, and at previous meetings.

Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be tendered to the lecturers and others, who have enhanced the interest of the meetings by their communications.

Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be tendered to the inhabitants of this village and its vicinity, for the hospitality which they have extended to its members, and to the other friends of education who have attended this meeting.

Mr. Tillinghast replied in a very appropriate manner to the resolution referring to himself, and concluded by expressing the hope that the prosperity of the Association would be continued so long, that when every member has in his turn served as President, he might be again elected to the post he was leaving.

Mr. Sanford resumed the subject of teaching as a profession. He spoke of the necessity of professional schools, corresponding to those of medicine, law, and theology. A college education does not fit a man for teaching any more than for the practice of law or medicine. Colleges, academies, high schools, grammar schools, &c., help to make men, generally, not teachers, specifically. As professional schools for teachers, the State has established Normal schools, and therefore, to educate teachers is their specific function.

The whole of the afternoon until 4 o'clock was occupied in vigorous discussion, much to the edification of the secretary, and apparently of every one present. After prayer by Rev. Mr. Putnam, and singing, the Association adjourned, to meet at N. Bridgewater, on the second Friday and Saturday of June, 1851. Messrs. Hunt, of Plymouth, and Sanford, of Bridgewater, were announced as lecturers for that occasion. Subjects for discussion at that time, Music and Drawing, and the best method of teaching Geography.

Every thing passed off pleasantly, and, as we have reason to hope, profitably, to those assembled. The best feeling pervaded the discussions, and all came away satisfied of the utility of Teachers' Associations.

RICHARD EDWARDS, JR., Sec'y.

RESIDENT EDITORS' TABLE.

OBITUARY.

DIED of Typhoid Fever, at Charlestown, Nov. 20th, William Chamberlain Bradlee, in the 28th year of his age.

He was the son of Nehemiah Bradlee, Esq., and grandson of the late Hon. William Chamberlain, of Peacham, Vermont.

In 1845, he was graduated with high rank in his class, at Dartmouth College, where the excellence of his scholarship, the urbanity of his manners, and the generosity of his affections won the respect and love, both of his instructors and his fellow-students.

At the close of his collegiate course, he was appointed Preceptor of the Caledonia County Grammar School, in Peacham, where he labored two years with eminent success, and laid the foundation of his reputation as a teacher. But the immediate vicinity of the metropolis of New England seemed to open a wider field for usefulness in his chosen profession, and at the same time to afford superior advantages for the prosecution of those literary and scientific pursuits which he ardently loved. He, accordingly, resigned his situation at Peacham, and was appointed Principal of the Winthrop Grammar School, in Charlestown, whence he was soon transferred, at his own request, to the second place in the High School, in that city. Here he performed his part with marked ability for two years and a half, when the Principal having resigned his office for a post in Boston, he was appointed to the responsible and honorable situation thus vacated, which, had death spared him, he would, doubtless, have adorned, as he did every place he had previously occupied. At the time of his decease, he was Secretary of the Massachusetts Teachers' Association, and one of the editors of this Journal. The columns of the newspaper press were not unfrequently enriched with the productions of his pen, on the subject of education.

Though young, he had already accomplished much, and those who were acquainted with his aims and habits, had anticipated for him a career of great usefulness and eminence. But death has suddenly snatched him from the "elevated sphere he had just begun to move in." He is no more; he is dead, dead ere his prime," and I think I may almost venture to say, he hath not left his peer" amongst us. His departure has left

a void in the ranks of the friends of education.

But though his mortal remains have been consigned to the tomb, and heaven has opened to receive his spirit, in his example he still lives in our midst. "Though dead he yet speaketh." He has furnished to the profession a good illustration of the characteristics of the true teacher. This is his peculiar merit, and it justly entitled him to particular notice in these pages.

He was devoted to the profession. He always held himself ready for for every word and work which tended to bring it into esteem, and to place it upon the eminence where it belongs. He magnified his office and honored it, and so helped to make it honorable. "Never allowing

himself to hesitate or waver in defending its interests, he was ever as true to it as the dial to the sun."

He possessed a large share of the spirit of improvement and progress. He regarded nothing as done while anything remained to be done. Thoroughly convinced, that in order to become a true teacher, it is necessary to be something more than a mere teacher, besides performing the ordinary duties of the school-room, he labored assiduously to store his mind with the treasures of knowledge, and to develop his powers by thorough discipline and systematic culture. Consequently, each day found him an abler and better teacher than the preceding, or he would feel that he had lost a day.

The turn of his mind was eminently philosophical, which constituted an important element in his success as a teacher. He was no empiric, steering a doubtful course by the uncertain light of traditionary precepts. He did his own thinking, and could give a reason for his opinions. Facts and characters and processes with which he had to deal, were subjected to a rigid analysis, and their real nature and essence and relations detected. With such a preparation he could proceed intelligently, as in the light of day, on solid ground.

In the practical talent, or common sense, which readily adapts means to ends, judiciously, and despatches business with ease and skill, he had few superiors. This, combined with the analytic faculty, enabled him to work to great advantage.

In manners and feelings he was a gentleman. Grace and dignity were mingled in all his words and acts. A proper self-respect, tempered with modesty, secured the respect of others, while a nice sense of honor and a genial flow of kind feeling inspired confidence and affection. These qualities were reflected in his pupils, being inculcated much more effectually by example than by precept.

But the crowning trait of his character, and that which governed and pervaded all others, was the spirit of religion. Some of the fruits of this spirit were seen in the honesty and truthfulness which adorned his life, and in his earnestness to know what was right, and his fearlessness in following the dictates of conscience. He had lived for several years in the enjoyment of the Christian's hope. At the time of his death, he was contemplating a public profession of religion, and though the nature of his last illness prevented extended expressions of his sentiments, there is full evidence that he was ready to depart.

By this stroke an only son has been taken from his aged parents. "How is the strong staff broken and the beautiful rod." His early and sudden call from the midst of his useful labors, reads a solemn lesson to those of his society "to be also ready," and forcibly reminds us "what shadows we are and what shadows we pursue."

SCHOOL LAWS. IMPORTANT DECISION. At the law term of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, during the present week, a decision was promulgated in a case which shows that the School Committees of Massachusetts are not mere machines, as some who hold the purse strings would gladly make them. The case was that of James P. Batchelder, vs. City of Salem. It is an action brought to recover of the City the sum of $100, claimed by plaintiff as due on his salary as teacher in one of our Public Schools. The circumstances of the case are as follows:- The Committee voted to pay $800 a year to the Principals of the Grammar Schools, the plaintiff being one of them. The City Council refused to appropriate more than enough to pay $700 a year. This suit was brought to recover the extra $100. Chief Justice stated that the Court had decided that the plaintiff was entitled to recover. Reasons to be stated at length by Judge Fletcher. Salem Observer, 9th Nov.

THE

MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER.

Vol. IV. No. 2.] JOSHUA BATES, JR., EDITOR OF THIS NUMBER.

[February, 1851.

THE NECESSITY OF RESTRAINT.

BOTH matter and mind need a governor. Neither can be safely left without superintendency and restraint.

Matter is destitute of intelligence. It possesses in itself no governing principle; no inherent efficacy to uphold its existence, or to control its motions. It is subject to a variety of modifications and changes. The material universe is in motion. Three prominent elements of the natural world, air, fire, and water, contain in themselves powers that require extraneous control. There are tendencies to evil in matter, and antagonistic powers in nature, that demand foreign restraint.

Mind, the mental universe, also needs restriction. It is, indeed, superior to matter. The human mind has counterbalancing faculties and tendencies, which give men the power of exercising a degree of self-control. But mind cannot be safely left without a superintending agency. Hence arises the necessity of law, with its prohibitions and penalties. The human mind is endowed with moral freedom. Man is responsible, but not independent. His moral freedom creates the necessity for his dependence. Of all beings in the universe, man most needs restraint; for while he is a free agent, he possesses strong passions and propensities to evil, and is ever surrounded by objective allurements and temptations to wrong doing.

The actions and desires of children need restriction. They act from impulse. They think only of the present. They have not formed the habit of shaping their present course with reference to the future. They have not learned that present selfdenial is the price at which future good is often to be obtained, and that present suffering and toil are rewarded by subsequent enjoyment. These lessons the child must learn, if he would be

prepared for future happiness or usefulness. And he can learn them only through the imposed restrictions of affection and authority. Parents and teachers must impose these needful checks, or the child will never acquire either the power of selfcontrol or the ability to govern others.

The child needs restraint and guardianship also, in consequence of his exposure and inexperience. Left to himself, the child would often bring upon himself physical evil: left to the unchecked indulgence of his impulsive wishes, he would become the victim of passion, and having no rule over his own spirits, he would be exposed to fearful moral dangers. How much of wisdom and goodness is there in that arrangement of Providence, by which children are placed in such circumstances' of dependence, and in such relations to parents and teachers, that they are by affection and authority kept back from courses of indulgence, and protected from moral dangers into which their unchecked thoughtlessness and ardor might lead them!

To how many youth have the restraints of home and of the school proved an inestimable moral advantage in protecting them from early dangers, physical, intellectual, and moral, and thus better preparing them for the temptations and duties of riper years!

Restraint is also needful for the right development of character. Self-indulgence is a foe to intellectual and moral culture. Restraints, either self-imposed or enforced by the authority of another, are indispensable to mental improvement. No man ever attained to, the highest order of mental culture, without curbing his passions, without subjecting himself to rule, without placing himself under law and yielding obedience to it. A habit of cheerful obedience to rightful authority is an essential element of a good character. The child who has not learned to obey his parents and teachers with a cheerful promptness, has not taken the first step in the formation of a correct character. Submission to rightful authority is the beginning of moral culture. Without this, a youth, whatever may be his intellectual endowments, or however great may be his attainments, can never develop a symmetrical and attractive character can never reach the highest order of either intellectual or moral cultivation.

Restraint being thus needful, Providence has made provision for it. The Creator has not only imposed checks and counterbalancing influences upon the forces in nature, but he has instituted restraints upon human passion.

These are of two kinds, objective and subjective. Among the external checks, civil law, parental authority, school government, and the influences of religion, are the most efficient and useful.