ly discharge the important trust committed to his care. other In the language of an "Let him daily enter, with fresh preparation, with interest, with energy, with the spirit of love, and a sound mind, upon his labors. Let him at all times feel that principle of love and that sincere devotion to his profession which are to be regarded as the sign and measure of high souls, and which, wisely directed, will accomplish much. His calling is honorable, and his labors will be felt and appreciated if he is faithful. Let him not be satisfied with his past success, nor with his present attainments. Let his motto be ever onward and upward.' Let him also be impressed with the vast importance of his office. He deals with mind. He is called to educate immortal beings. He is stamping upon their souls impressions that will endure when the sun shall be blotted out and the moon and stars withdraw their shining.' ་ At twelve, M. the Institute adjourned. STATE EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION. The Convention was called to order at a quarter past one, P. M. by President Moulder. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. School Apparatus. G. W. Minns, Esq. of the San Francisco High School, exhibited a portion of Holbrook's Boston School Apparatus, and explained the manner of illustrating the elements of Mathematical Geography and Astronomy to pupils, by means of the above. Reports of Standing Committees. All the committees present reported progress, and at their request, further time was allowed them. Vice-Presidents. On motion, Mr. J. C. Pelton, of Yuba, and Mr. Bush, of Tuolumne, were added to the list of Vice-Presidents. Unfinished Business. The report of the Committee on Natural Sciences was taken from the table and adopted. Mr. Anderson offered the following preamble and resolutions which were referred to a Special Committee of five, to be appointed by the Chair. WHEREAS, We consider the standard of our profession so low as scarcely to justify us in ranking it as a profession; and, whereas, we deem that the tone thereof can only be elevated through the instrumentality of such organizations as this, our Convention, in the dissemination of the knowledge of the theory and practice of teaching, and the general interchange of ideas thereto pertaining; therefore, be it Resolved, That the State Superintendent, in conjunction with four such County Superintendents as he may select, shall act as a Board for the examination of applicants for membership in the California State Institute. 2d. That said Board shall hold a session for the examination of Teachers, upon the first two days of each session of the Institute, and all applicants for membership shall be required to undergo an examination in the different studies of the Primary, Intermediate, and Grammar, School Departments, as the case may be, in which they desire to teach. 3d. That all applicants proving themselves entitled by proficiency to act as Teachers, shall be by said Board reported to this Institute in Convention assembled, and said report being approved, the Institute shall authorize the issuance to them of a diploma, stating the grade, or department, for which said applicant is qualified. Said diploma shall be signed by the President and Secretary of the Institute, and shall have the seal thereof attached. 4th. The person failing to obtain such certificate, shall not, in any case, be permitted to exercise the privilege of voting on any matter brought before said Institute for consideration, but may be permitted to take part in the discussion thereon. 5th. That the members of this Institute pledge themselves to use all honorable endeavors to prevent persons other than members thereof, from being employed as Teachers in our Public Schools. Mr. Sparrow A. Smith proposed the following in regard to the establishment of a State Teachers' Journal. Resolved, That a committee of three Teachers be appointed by the Chair, to take into consideration the establishment of a State Teachers' Journal, to report at an early day, with some plan of operation for the furtherance of this object. Sparrow A. Smith, Freeman Gates, and George W. Minns, were appointed such committee. Division of School Fund, etc. Mr. F. Gates, of Santa Clara, offered the following resolutions, which were considered separately, and disposed of as stated below: Resolved, That we hail with delight the advancement and development of our State School system, and hereby pledge ourselves to the establishment of an educational economy that shall rank among the first in the Union. Adopted. Resolved, That we look with unfeigned pride upon our Public Schools in San Francisco, regarding them as unequaled in the history of Common Schools, for the time they have been in existence, and in every way worthy of the great metropolis of the Pacific coast. Stricken out. Resolved, That the efforts of the accomplished and efficient Teachers, and the enactments and untiring energy of the Board of Education, have done more to elevate the standard of teaching and promote the cause of education in our State, than all other influences combined. Stricken out. Resolved, That we regard all appropriations to sustain the cause of Common Schools, as advancing the honor and glory of our Golden State, and a reciprocal diminution of crime, with all its blasting and desolating effects. Adopted. Resolved, That we regard as consummately selfish and bigoted, any and every effort to impair the unity of our School Fund, and divert the parts to the promotion of sectarian interests. Laid on the table. Resolved, That one of the first and noblest lessons instilled into the mind of the rising generation ought to be the love of our country, with all the fervor that can fire the soul of a steadfast, unswerving, patriot, and regard the Stars and Stripes as the ægis for our protection, and the palladium of our liberties. Laid on the table. Rev. Mr. Hill, of Sacramento, spoke on the resolutions, recommending caution on the part of the Convention. He indulged in some strictures on the efforts of politicians, both in our State Legislature and elsewhere, to weaken the efficiency of our Public Schools. Amendments to School Law. The Committee on Amendments submitted the following report: The committee would report that they have had under consideration the resolution, recommending that- 1st. The State Board of Education be composed of a State Superintendent, with two qualified Public School Teachers, to be chosen by the State Convention of Teachers and Trustees, and two citizens, to be chosen by the Legislature; and state, in their opinion, at this time, the proposed change is inexpedient. The principal duties and responsibilities of the Board should rest with the State Superintendent. The position in which he is placed, and his whole time and attention being devoted to it, affords him ample opportunity to form a correct opinion of the practical wants and working of the Common School system, throughout the State, and although the experience and opinion of others might be of much benefit to him, still the possibility of being, at times, obliged to act in opposition to his own views, in reference to the duties of his office, may be the cause of much difficulty in the practical working of our Common School system. 2d. The age at which children shall be entitled to admission into the Public Schools be limited to the period between six and twenty-one. Recommend its adoption. 3d. County Superintendents be authorized to examine and grant certificates of qualification to Teachers; such certificates to hold good only until the first regular meeting thereafter of the Board of Examiners in the county where such certificate is given. Recommend its adoption. 4th. That the Committee upon Amendments to the School Law recommend that the law be so amended as to provide-in case a district is subdivided in the interval between one apportionment and another-that the fund to its credit be distributed among the new districts, in proportion to the number of children between four and eighteen years of age residing in each. Without recommendation. 5th. That the Legislature be requested to empower the Board of Education to appoint agents, at the expense of the State, to address the people in various parts of the State in behalf of Public Schools, and to assist in their organization and estab lishment in such districts as are destitute of schools, and where the number of children renders them necessary. Without recommendation. J. M. HAMILTON, On motion, the report was taken up seriatim. The question presented by the first resolution was, "Who should constitute a State Board of Education ?" Rev. Mr. Hill and Mr. T. J. Nevins agreed with the committee in rejecting the resolution, being in favor of concentrating the duties and powers of the Board of Education in one person. The recommendation of the committee, to indefinitely postpone, was sustained. The second resolution was adopted, as recommended. The third resolution offered by the committee was adopted. The fourth resolution was amended by substituting "six and twenty-one years," for "four and eighteen years." The amend ment was adopted by a vote of sixty-five against fifty. The resolution was then adopted as amended. The fifth resolution was indefinitely postponed. Mr. Anderson moved that the report, as amended, be referred back to the committee, with instructions to engross it anew, and in connection with the State Superintendent, bring it before our next Legislature, and endeavor to have the amendments recommended in it adopted by that body. Uniform System of Text-Books. Mr. B. C. Westfall, of Sonoma, introduced the following resolution : Resolved, That the Convention deeply regret the repeal of the Act regulating TextBooks for Public Schools, and we earnestly entreat our Legislature to enact a similar law at as early a day as possible. Laid on the table, pro tem. Reports of Committees. The Committee on Arithmetic reported as follows: The committee to select Text-Books on Arithmetic would respectfully report, that in their opinion, the most suitable work for first lessons to primary beginners is "Emerson's First Part." It is intended to be performed orally, and without slate, or pencil. It is chiefly a pictorial, the objects and numbers of which it speaks being represented and explained by pictures. Its theory is object-teaching on paper. In intellectual and written arithmetic, a large field for selection has been furnished in the works of Adams, Davies, Ray, Greenleaf, Thompson, Emerson, Colburn, and Robinson. All of the above have their merits, but the best of them are not without defects. A series by the same author has been preferred. Preference has also been given to authors which are most teachable, and which would not be too difficult of comprehension by the pupil. In selecting written arithmetic, particular regard has been paid to such works as have a most satisfactory analysis in connection with rules. Of written arithmetic, we have found three classes: Those deficient in analysis; those abounding in analysis and rules; and those deficient in rules. The endeavor has been to select a mean, as also an author whose analysis, and rules to correspond, are most clear, logical, and simple. This has been attended with no little difficulty, as several beside that recommended by the committee have especial merits. In analysis, Greenleaf and Ray, though sufficient for the understanding, did not, in our opinion, present as logical a system as Davies, Thompson, Colburn, or Robinson. Colburn, in analysis, has no superior, but is deficient in rules; further, its examples are without answers. It has no key, and the Teacher must spend much time and labor in working out the examples. A key would save this; besides, it would show the shortest and clearest methods for solution. These, and other causes, would require so much attention for its use, as would, in our belief, make it unsuitable for a large proportion of Teachers, who as yet have not the advantage of continued Normal School instruction. The above reasons, therefore, would forbid its preference for "Colburn's Grammar School Arithmetic," as a text-book for pupils in the State at large. However, we would earnestly recommend it as a valuable work of reference for the Teacher. The committee in making a selection, have laid stress upon rules as well as upon analysis. Formerly, it used to be all rules; analysis was an inferior consideration. The tendency of the present day, however, is to the other extreme, leaving rules to grow of themselves. The drift of adult minds is to principles, and from principles to deduce rules. Such, it has occurred to us very naturally, reason only to themselves, and for minds which have the same level, instead of the forming intellects of youth. The latter require principles to illustrate rules, and a knowledge of rules so as the better to retain a memory of principles. Form and sound, have too large a share in assisting memory, to be lightly discarded. A pupil who is habituated to a certain form of words and sounds, which he acquires with a rule, has a landmark which will greatly assist him in tracing back to and in recalling the analysis. Analysis is the legitimate process of tracing cause to consequence. Analysis and rules, then, should be learned in connection. In after years a remembrance of the latter will recall a remembrance of the former. Cause and effect will act and react upon and resurrect each other. "Thompson's Practical" is a very able work. In very many instances, it has two methods of analysis for the same rule. Its rules are in the simplest language, and its subjects and examples are abundantly varied and adapted to practical pursuits. Much practical and general information, illustrative of the context, is embodied in liberal foot-notes. Thompson, however, in the opinion of your committee, is frequently not so lucid, or logical, in analysis, or so concise in rules, as Robinson. Each analysis in Robinson is followed by a concise and well-fitted rule. The mechanical and typographical style of the work is excellent. Its arrangement is progressive. The definitions are concise and clear. The subjects, and a very large number of examples, refer to practical utility, and are well adapted to the real business of active life. Answers to its examples are occasionally omitted. We would disclaim the idea that Robinson is perfect. We think it has fewer negative objections than the majority of text-books. Further, in our opinion, this work is preferable as a choice of the middle class-between an imperfect, or unsatisfactory, analysis, and one which may be lacking in rules. For the foregoing reasons, we would recommend for arithmetic text-books, Robinson's Series, as follows: "Progressive Primary, and Progressive Intellectual" (men E |