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son with the gilded rays of the sun, which illumes the western sky at an evening hour, which we all have an equal share in. Not so with music. It dazzles the mind and enters into the soul. It becomes a part and parcel of the intellectual being, and can be reproduced at all times and under all circumstances. But the voice, which is the vehicle for conveyance to the external world of those thoughts which originate in each peculiarity of the mind, telling of joys and sorrows, at the same time modulating itself and giving force to each expression by its peculiar tone, is left as nature gave it. All are influenced by its rich combinations, which are only to be acquired by diligent study. But very few try to improve its quality or volume. Those rich cadences are not the gift of nature without cultivation, but are acquired by diligent study of proper rules, which will improve every species of tone, from the grave to the acute. To make it subservient to the will, we have to study combina tions. The vocal chord, by its vibrations as the column of air passes over it, creates the pitch and power of tone. This alone would give a harsh, reedy quality, but by giving a proper position to each part of the tongue, with the right separation of the teeth and peculiar form of the lips, the tones are modified and give those desirable qualities that we love to hear. We must study combinations, to give expression to each grade of thought. What I say with reference to the voice in speaking, applies with equal force to tones while singing. Every word should be articulated distinctly, the lips, teeth and tongue doing the same labor during the singing as in the speaking tones. There is no rule that is applicable to all, for there are no two mouths formed alike internally; the roof or sounding board to some will form a deep arch, while others will be flat and low Some will be flat and long, while others will be broad and short. There is as much difference in the internal form of mouths, as there is in the external appearance of the face, of different individuals; therefore each mouth must necessarily conform to its natural peculiarities. when speaking or singing. It is only by studying these differences of form, and judging from the vibratory power of the vocal chord, that proper instruction can be given for the vocal organs. The natural qualities are often improved by trying to imitate others who have the desirable qualities. Tell me of the magnificent vocalization of a Lablache or a Malibran, and I will try to imitate them; while doing so, I feel that I am educating myself for a higher sphere than the most of mankind aspire after. I can assure the ladies here present, that their musical organization is inimitable, for no feathered warbler can produce as beautiful tones as you. There is not an instrument in existence, under the hand of the most skilful performer, that can give the thrill of pleasure to the soul that you can, with the instrument that your Creator has given as a free gift. Show your thankfulness by improvement; let it not be dormant, but use it for your own and others' satisfaction. Make it manifest to the world that you are grateful to your Benefactor, by improving it by combinations of its different parts, thereby developing its full beauty and proportions.

Whenever the voice is heard, it shall act because of your superior skill in those tones expression when conveying ideas to others. one of which shall be in the improvement of when you come in contact with the beautiful. will then be in accordance with the lovely and have been in times past.

as a stimulant for others, which give that beautiful Other rewards await you, your appreciative talents, Your vision of happiness sublime, more than they

Cultivate your vocal organs for singing and they will give their desirable qualities when used in usual conversation. I ask you not to study the simple rules of music, because they are too plain to require any special effort; but when you take up a piece of music, look at its theme, see what the composer's ideas were from which he drew his inspiration, and from that study to carry them out. If a song, you have to comprehend the music and the poetry, and then you will be successful in its performance. Equalize the tones of the voice, and never sing above your register; that is, above where you can preserve the tone pure in quality and quantity. At all times have the lungs well inflated. Don't let them get empty. Never make a sound, while singing, without the proper combinations. Learn to speak all your words within the prescribed limits for vocal sounds. A perseverance in these rules will soon place many of you in the first ranks as vocalists.

I will close by admonishing all here present, that they are culpable if they do not improve the talents intrusted to their care; and that this, the power of creating musical tones, is one of the most beautiful gifts of the Divine Being to mankind.

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.

ABSTRACT OF A LECTURE BEFORE THE STATE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.

BY EZRA S. Carr, M. D.

Mr. President and Teachers: During the past few weeks the world has been watching the sudden, and to the unobservant eye, almost miraculous transfer of power and prestige from one of the great leading European States to another. A quiet, home-loving, practical people have suddenly developed a vast amount of latent force, which it puzzles us to name. Is it brains versus bullets, science versus sentiment, that awaits the arbitrament of war, or a territorial question only? Somehow or other, ideas and education have gone up in the scale as they never did before in any ten weeks of human history.

We are all foolish enough to fix our eyes upon the two central figures of the strife; but neither Teuton fox nor Gallic wolf have had very much to do with the results which so astonish and appal the world.

If Prussia, so far victorious, has been busy rearing a nation of soldiers, she has done it openly, in the face of the world. She has made every soldier a fortification by the completeness of an educational system which makes the most of whatever a man is born with. That system is on exhibition, not only of its value for defence, but its moral power, its temperance and self-control. Whatever the final political result may be, it is certain that not one Prussian who has fallen has felt himself a tool or a dupe, played upon by superior cunning and selfishness.

There is not a soldier of that grand army who has had less than ten years' schooling (most of them have had from fifteen to eighteen years); their bodies have been as carefully trained as their minds, and by teachers who make this their life business.

What would you expect from a country that has an army of three million children at school, whether they wish to go or not, and whether their parents wish them to go or not, and for a Government that provides for this largely by devoting to it the heaviest outlay of its resources? Would you expect Prussia to be beaten, when you know that until the year eighteen hundred and thirty-one, France had made no provision for the instruction of her millions, had no public elementary schools when Guizot sent Victor Cousin to study the school system of Prussia, with a view to its adoption?

Power is cumulative, and although Napoleon III has nobly fostered education and science, he started at a disadvantage. Poor, beleaguered Paris trembles to-day in greater terror of the ignorant and therefore brutalized rabble, shut in to watch and wait with her her deliverance or her doom, than the foe outside her gates.

I confess I am anxious that our own Government should keep on the best of terms with those Germans. I should dread a tyranny like that of Wurtemburg, which permits no child to learn a trade, enter any occupation, or receive any pay for any service whatsoever, until he has answered the demands of the school law. Imagine the consternation which the sudden enforcement of such a regulation would cause in America, in low and high places! As an offset to this terror, imagine what it would be for you, teachers, to be enrolled among the "high mightinesses," to be ranked and considered as the most valuable civil servitors of the State, with honorable compensation and just promotions for your terms of service, and a comfortable pension when you are old. Do not think I am praising overmuch, and covertly keeping back a part of the truth. Germany has outdone the world in education, and we have outdone Germany in just one respect! We have discovered and put in practice a great natural law of education, viz: that women are better teachers than men. And they only need the higher education from which they have been so long excluded to make their superiority manifest.

The educational creed of Prussia does not take long in the reading. Article one declares the sacred right of every individual to the best means of development.

Article two, the value to the State, to her wealth, power and civilization, of universal education.

Article three declares the realization of this impossible without the agency of a great profession, acting concertedly, wisely and zealously together, and that the members of this profession must be made to feel their position honorable, secure and independent.

Unless you are dissenters, I ask you to listen patiently to something I have to say about industrial education, for your help is very much needed in creating a desire for it.

On this new field of California, where we have only begun our work, and where there is only a glimmering apprehension on the part of the public of what this business of education is, and what it is worth, the informing and propelling influence must go out from the body of teachers themselves. Let us get a clear idea of the scope and value of our work, and of the wants of the people; let us, with firm and strong convictions of what is essential to the growth and prosperity of the State, be prepared to meet the most uninformed with some practical, tangible knowledge of the things with which they have to deal, and we shall create a public opinion, a demand for education, that will advance quite as fast as we can keep up with it. Our political system is of such a kind as to require this kind of effort And our public school system, from the university to the primary school, must be a unit in motive and in method, in this respect.

The question has become one of vital importance to the nation, "How shall we educate our youth so that there shall be more farmers and mechanics in the land, and how shall we raise these pursuits to the rank they deserve in the hierarchy of industries?" It is in vain to eulogize a calling whose votaries forsake it with every opportunity, and whose children turn from it with disgust. Congress might give every acre of

the public domain to found Agricultural Colleges, making them not only free, but giving a bonus of land as a reward for attendance, and still their halls will remain empty, until the relations of agriculture to human welfare and to human nature are understood and carried into practiceuntil the farmer, out of his sense of privation, loss, failure and one-sidedness, shall resolve that his children be as carefully cultured as his fields; that they shall grow up in pleasant homes, and lay up, if not dollars and cents, capital for after pleasures of thought and memory.

Let us consider for a little wherein this business of agriculture fails to meet the higher demands of human nature; and why, in California, we are looking to the lower classes of foreigners for the permanent tillers of the soil?

The educational world has been aroused within the last few years to find a remedy for the growing aversion of American youth for pursuits most vital to the public welfare. What are the influences tending to the demoralization of young men by leading them to look to speculative enterprises, instead of steady industry, as a means of support? Is it the monotony of country life, or a want of the right kind of education?

How shall we create in this country, as there is in Europe, a higher attachment to the land than springs from a sordid self-interest, and make our paternal acres represent here, as they do in older lands, social standing, intelligence, leisure and culture?

By educating our youth, boys and girls, into a respect for these pursuits, and by multiplying in every possible way the social enjoyments and embellishments of country life.

The disadvantages of agricultural pursuits were clearly stated, and the remedies by which they can be overcome; social and isolated industries and their results were contrasted, and the methods of uniting the abstract and practical sides of industrial education fully presented. In a rapid survey of European progress, we were shown to what the immense recent development of Prussian power is mainly due.

A concise report of what has been done in America by Michigan and other States, what has been done by Congress, and what California will be able to accomplish for industrial education, if her people appreciate in any just degree the value of that system of free instruction which, from the common school to the University, guarantees to every child the general culture and special training necessary to energize and economize, to lighten and enlighten all labor, until the measure of usefulness shall come to be the measure of greatness.

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