Governors and ex-governors, judges and senators, lawyers, doctors, clergymen (and none did better service than Drs. Bushnell and Burgess), editors, bankers, mechanics, representatives of all occupations, shared in the discussions; but owing to the political connection of some of the prominent advocates and opponents of the scheme, the vote actually given, especially in the South District, where the vote was adverse to the union, was not always on the merits of the question actually discussed.

With the apparent failure of all my plans, in the reactionary legislation of 1842, I did not despair, either of the commonwealth or of the city, and much less of the cause of a broad and liberal system of common schools for the whole country-and I shall be pardoned for citing here the closing passages of a speech made by me at a little earlier period (1839), in view of the probable failure of a proposition (the earliest legislative measure in this direction proposed in this country) to establish Teachers' Institutes in this State:

The appropriation thus applied, so as to improve the teachers now in the school, and create in them a thirst for something higher and better than can be given in any temporary course of instruction, will lead to the establishment of an institution for the professional education and training of teachers, the great agency by which the cause of education is to be carried upward and onward in this State. Though the prospect is dark enough, I think I can see the dawning of a better day on the mountain-tops, and the youngest members of this House, if they live to reach the age of the oldest, will see a change pass over the public mind, and over public action, not only in respect to the professional education of teachers, but the whole subject of common schools. Old, dilapidated, inconvenient school-houses will give place to new, attractive, and commodious structures. Young children will be placed universally under the care of accomplished female teachers; female teachers will be employed in every grade of schools as assistants, and in most of our country districts as sole principals: a school of a "higher order" than the district school will receive the older boys and girls, not only of a district, but of a society, and the common school will no longer be regarded as common, because it is cheap, inferior, and patronized only by the poor, and those who are indifferent to the education of their children, but common as the light and the air, because its blessings are open to all, and enjoyed by all. The passage of this resolution will hasten on that day; but whether the resolution is passed or not, that day will assuredly come, and it will bring along a train of rich blessings which will be felt in the field and in the workshop, and convert many a home into a circle of unfading smiles. For one, I mean to enjoy the satisfaction of the labor, let who will enter into the harvest.

Others have entered into the harvest; but it has been my highest happiness for thirty years to work on in the same direction, with or without coöperation, in or out of office, here and elsewhere, as opportunity offered or circumstances compelled, until I have seen every provision drafted by me which was stricken from the statute-book of Connecticut in 1842, restored, and many more recommended by me, not only placed in the school-law, but become part of the school habits of this people; and more than this, I have lived long enough to see nearly all the cardinal features of city and State school organization advocated in this city from 1838 to 1842, and denounced "as the impracticable schemes of an enthusiast," ingrafted into the constitutions of fifteen States and the school systems of thirty-five States, and upwards of one hundred cities, including all having over 40,000 inhabitants, and many more with a smaller population.

The credit of reviving the discussions of a Public High School for this community, after the failure of the plan submitted in the Annual Report of the School Visitors, and of the Special Report of the sub-committee in 1841, and

of carrying it through to a triumphant consummation, is due, more than to any one man, to James M. Bunce, who in this matter acted in pursuance of the suggestions, substantially in the direction, and with the cooperation of the originators and advocates of the former plan.

In the summer of 1845, the American Institute of Instruction, at the earnest solicitation of myself, one of the directors, held its regular annual meeting in this city, and in the entertainment of the lecturers and members from abroad, and local expenses of the meetings, Mr. Bunce took a liberal share. Among the subjects introduced in the sessions, which occupied three days, was the gradation of public schools in cities, in the discussion of which Mr. Nathan Bishop, Superintendent of Public Schools in Providence, G. F. Thayer and W. B. Fowle of Boston, and myself, took part. In this discussion, the importance of primary schools planted in every neighborhood, so as to be within reach of all the youngest children; and of one or more schools of the highest grade, so as to meet the wishes of a class of parents, who would otherwise provide for their own children in other schools, which would be inaccessible to children equally deserving, but too poor to pay the expense of residence, if abroad, or the tuition, if in the city.

On these discussions, which had special reference to the condition of schools in this city, and the exercises generally of the Institute, Mr. Bunce, who had taken no active part, and manifested no special interest, in the subject of school improvement, either local or general so far as I can now recollect,* was a regular attendant, and expressed himself highly pleased and interested, and felt mortified that such lectures should have an attendance so small. "This ought not to be, and shall not be, if I can help it, on another occasion of the same kind;" and it was not, as those who can recollect the large and enthusiastic attendance of our citizens on the School Convention or Teachers' Institute held here November 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, 1846-the preparation for which was made mainly at his expense, and by the personal visits of Rev. Merril Richardson to teachers in different parts of the county. That Convention, and his previous offer of $100 for the best "Practical Essay on the necessity and mode of improving the Public Schools of Connecticut, and of adding to the schools in cities a department of instruction in the higher branches of education," and his efforts afterwards to establish a High School in Hartford, as he often remarked to me, I always supposed was due, in part at least, to a letter addressed by me to him in the autumn of 1845, in reply to an invitation addressed to me (then Commissioner of Public Schools in Rhode Island), to resume my educational labors in Connecticut under the pledge of pecuniary and personal coöperation from himself and others: and in case I could not accept, "to tell us what to do and how to do it, to revive the interest which had begun to manifest itself all over the State, and which the disastrous legislation of 1842 has almost extinguished. I should like to do something practical for Hartford, and for Connecticut, and I should like to do under your direction, and if possible with your personal cooperation. Come out of the wilderness, I mean no disrespect to our brave little neighbor-and help your own birthplace and State, at least by your advice."

* Mr. Flavius Brown thinks that Mr. Bunce's interest in the subject of a High School originated in a visit to the Center District School, while that excellent teacher, Mr. Gallup, was principal (1845), and that the germ of the High School was in the advanced classes of this school.

To this invitation the following are among the suggestions returned, as published in the History of Teachers' Institutes in Connecticut:

I cannot leave my present field-my hand is on the plough, which is deep in an almost unbroken prairie turf, but I expect to see what you call a “wilderness," blossom as the rose. I shall here work out my plan of school improvement by educating the public mind up to the appreciation of the necessary conditions of a successful system of public schools, cheap enough for the poorest, and good enough for the best citizen, and at the same time train the agents in the administration of such a system-teachers, officers and parents. It will take time and work-but I have schooled myself "to labor and to wait." The work to be done here is substantially the work which has to be done in Connecticut and every other state-the public mind must be enlightened as to all the details of the system, the indispensable features of a school law, the requisites of a good school house, the necessity of regular and punctual attendance, the proper distribution of studies and children into schools of different grades, and the classification of every school of any grade, and above all as to the qualities and qualifications of good teachers, and how to select, train and improve them, and especially how to make the most out of such young men and young women as will, until public opinion is made right as to the requirements, rush into the business without the requisite knowledge, and especially without any training, or apprenticeship in organizing a school, and communicating instruction, and governing and stimulating children by the highest motives. Now in reply to your inquiry-out of all this field of work, what you should select to do first, and at once, for Hartford, and Connecticut. I should advise, for Hartford, the establishment of a Public High School with, or without the consolidation of all the city districts into one, and all the schools subjected to a Board of Education acting through a Superintendent. The great work for the State is the enlightenment of the entire population, who are ignorant as to the conditions of a good school, full of conceit as to the superiority of their own schools, which were once in advance of those of other states, but which no longer meet the requirements of the age, and in consequence, are no longer attended by the children of those parents who are themselves well educated, or who know what a good education is. But the system itself-its legal organization, is radically defective in reference to the changed condition of society, and especially in respect to the mode of supporting schools, and the employment, training, inspec tion and payment of teachers. My advice is to bring up these subjects, including the right and duty of taxation for school purposes, subordinate to the methods and the demonstration of the proper qualifications of teachers, in a series of evening meetings, held as part of a Teachers' Institute, substantially like those established in Hartford in 1839. The leading features should be the same, but I would advise sessions of not more than a week,-no longer than you can keep up the enthusiastic interest and attention of the members, who should be distributed through the families. This is an essential feature of my ideal of a Teachers' Institute, held in reference not only to the professional training of its members and their knowledge of society, but to the developement of parental interest and appreciation of their work, as well as to local school improvement. I never have seen a gathering of parents of any class, who could not be interested in the subject of schools and education, if discussed in a practical way, and especially in reference to their own children and schools. If I am correct in this observation, you had better discuss the establishment of a City High School, when the public mind is interested and the parental heart is warmed by the protracted discussions and addresses of a rousing Teachers' Institute. You will thus benefit directly a large number of teachers, who will directly benefit as many school districts, and the improvement thus begun, will be perpetuated by attendance on other Institutes in all the cities and large villages of the state; -and in any place where your meetings are held, (provided they are wisely managed.) great local improvements in reference to school-houses, attendance, gradation, classification, books, apparatus, instruction, discipline, parental coöperation, supervision, &c., will be begun, advanced, or perfected. Begin, therefore, with arresting the attention of the Legislature and the people by the voice and the press-get at, and get together as often and as many teachers as you can, specially the young--get parents in to listen to the discussions of education'

al questions, and the exhibition of good methods, and the exposure of bad methods both of instruction and discipline,-and in due time, longer or shorter, just in proportion to the number of meetings of the right kind you hold in the places which need the quickening influence of discussion and light, a revolution will be achieved in the school habits, and the school law of Connecticut.

The preparation of a lecture, to be delivered in different parts of the State, on the topics discussed in the Essay, was first proposed to me by Mr. Bunce, and was declined, not only on account of existing engagements, but from a conviction that the sum which he proposed to pay for the composition, if offered in the form of a premium, would arrest the attention of many persons, and might call new laborers into the field. The subject of the Essay, as originally written, did not contain the second clause (respecting a Public High School in cities), which was added on my suggestion. Prof. Porter of Yale College, then a resident clergyman in Springfield, and familiar with the schools in Connecticut from having acted as School Visitor in New Milford, where we had frequently talked over the whole subject in his house on my annual school circuits as Secretary of the School Board in 1838-42, was induced to prepare an essay for this competition at my earnest solicitation, satisfied that his experience and residence in Massachusetts would bring fresh views and facts into the discussion. The award was made in favor of his Essay by the executive committee, consisting of Rev. George Burgess and Dr. Gallaudet.

The principal measure suggested in my letter in 1845, and among those advocated by Prof. Porter for the State generally in his Prize Essay in 1846, was a Public High School, and, in connection with it, a Teachers' Institute for Hartford County, to be held in Hartford, as a preliminary agency for arousing public attention to the whole subject of school improvement. In this connection I can not better express my appreciation of the efficient labors of Mr. Bunce than by citing the following paragraphs from a chapter in my History of Common Schools in Connecticut, printed some years ago:

Mr. Bunce, having put his hand to the plow, did not look back till he had driven the ploughshare deep into the public mind. In connection with a few other citizens of Hartford, he determined to realize some of the suggestions of improvement set forth in the Prize Essay. A Convention or Institute of Teachers of Hartford County was determined on; and, to perform the preliminary work of a State officer, he employed Rev. Merril Richardson, a gentleman admirably fitted for the purpose, to visit every town in the county, and awaken an interest in the purposed meeting. The Convention was held in November, and two hundred and fifty-four teachers were in session for one week, under the instruction of educators and lectures. This gave a powerful impulse to the public mind. A monthly School Journal, under the name of the Connecticut School Manual, was started, in January, 1847, under the editorial charge of Mr. Richardson. Other Institutes were held in the spring, at Tolland, Winsted, and Meriden.

But the zeal and liberality of Mr. Bunce did not end here. Aided by others, he resolved to do all in his power to bring about the establishment, in Hartford, of a Public High School for the older scholars of the First School Society, and of a Normal School for the State. First in the order of trial, the plan of a Public High School, which we first proposed in 1838, was revived. No pains were spared to inform and interest the public in the enterprise. Public meetings were held, in which elaborate and animated debates were conducted by the most prominent speakers of the city. Individuals were seen and conversed with. The ignorant were informed; the indifferent aroused; the rich were made to see that property would be more secure in a well-educated community; and the poor, to feel that they could not have the advantage of good schools, without these schools were also cheap. The public press was enlisted, and

pamphlets published and distributed, in which the whole subject was fully explained. Seldom has the public mind of Hartford been more deeply interested in any enterprise; and, finally, the plan was carried by an overwhelming vote of the largest town meeting ever held in Hartford. Much of the expense of all these preliminary movements was borne by Mr. Bunce; and to the completion of the building, he contributed $1,000 beyond the amount voted by the society. While this movement was going forward, Mr. Richardson, by his addresses and in the "School Manual," was laboring to prepare the way for the establishment of a Normal School, and to this enterprise Mr. Bunce offered to contribute $5,000.

After the Teachers' Convention was held, and Mr. Richardson was employed in continuing the agitation which was started, or rather revived (for the meas ures resorted to were identical with those inaugurated in 1838) by its proceed ings, Mr. Bunce turned his attention and efforts exclusively to a High School for Hartford.* The legislation of 1842 had taken away all facilities for uniting the city districts, and the only way open (and this it was the intention of the committee in the Legislature in 1842 to close), was through the First School Society. I speak from personal knowledge, confirmed by the assurance of the partner in business at that time of Mr. Bunce, that for more than a year, and after even the High School was in operation, this gentleman gave up his whole time to this enterprise. No political campaign was ever planned with more care, no pecuniary investment with a keener scrutiny of all hazards, and provision for every condition of success. In the last week in December, so many of those who had opposed the consolidation of the districts had pronounced in favor of society action,- -so many who were before indifferent had expressed themselves warmly in favor,—so many of the largest tax-payers had become satisfied, that in their near and far-reaching consequences, liberal expenditures for public schools of every grade was true economy-so many, blessed with children, but with moderate income, saw that the only chance for the best education for their children was in a well organized system of public schools in their own town-so many conductors of the public press had admitted articles or published editorials in favor-so many clergymen in the city had promptly welcomed the new movement-that Mr. Bunce expressed himself confident of a majority of two-thirds for the establishment of a public school of the highest grade, if every vote in the Society was polled.

On the evening of January 5, 1847, on notice in the morning papers (Jan. 1, 1847), a public meeting of citizens favorable to the establishment of a Public High School was held in the Center District School, of which Amos M. Collins was appointed chairman, and which after some discussion as to the precise object for which a meeting of the First School Society should be held, authorized a request in the legal form to the Society's committee to give the requisite notice. Resolutions to this end were offered both by N. H. Morgan and David F. Robinson, both of whom had taken an active interest in the Convention of November, the school movements of Rev. Merril Richardson, and the proceedings which eventuated in the final vote of March following. Mr. Morgan had acted as school visitor, and otherwise labored long and hard for common

*The subject of a High School was not introduced into the lectures and discussions of the Convention, because the members were almost exclusively teachers from the country towns, and the topics were confined to subjects and methods of teaching. During its sessions I was addressing similar meetings in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio, on Graded Schools and Teachers' Institutes.