Daily Republican., 1880-08-27
THE DELAWARE TEACHE Rs.
rhe First and Beoon d Days Sos.
sion OF the AtAte AssOcia tlOn-
InaareAaing Pan eRa k0Ad.

Special Correspo adeaee Of the Republican.
RBnoBorH, August 25.-The first ses.
sion of the second annual meeting Of
the Teachers Association Of Delaware
was held in the parlors OF the Bright
House on Monday evening. The Asso-
citation was called to order by President
Purnell, and opened with prayer by
Prof. Heath. The Executive Commit.
tee reported program OF exercises for
the ensuing sessions after which the
President delivered an address Of vel
come.
Those who met here one year ago, he
said, are rejoiced at another opportu-
nifty to come in contact with the teach
ers Of the State again, and he heartily
welcomed all, both old aud new friends
In the cause of education. The Associ-
alton purpossd combining with reason
able recreation the improvement Of the
science or art Of teaching. We know,
he continued, that man has not only o
possibility OF infinite elevation, but slso
Of degradation. Educate him and you
generally attain the frst-nsmed result;
keep him in ignorance and you degrade
him. Education was the handmade Of
virtue, and one OF the great mainstays
and bulwarks of the Christian religion.
He believed with Carlyle, that edH-
cation stands upon the basis Of ever
lasting duty, and Is prime necessity
to man. By education he did not mere.
ly mean the education Of knowledge,
but the symmetrical development Of
all the powers given the creature by
his Creator.
Prof. Reynolds spoke for a few min
utes, and said teachers put thoughts IN
boys heads that did not belong to those
particular heads. The capabilities,
the requirements, the temperaments,
etc., OF q child should be first st udied
and found out, and then the child
should be instructed accordingly.
"Know thyself," is good rule to ap-
ply in the school room, for you can not
make Of a child something different
from what God intended.
TUESDAYS SESSION.
The association re-assemblsd on
Tuesday morning, "How to Avoid
Harmful Reading" paper by Rev. J.
N. Williams, President of Wesleyan
College, was presented. The child's
mind, he said, was q clean, uuwritten
tablet, q tabula rara, as Locke calls 1t,
and character, words and ideas are to
be written upon 1t, whether directly by
the instruction Of the teacher and the
study Of the pupil, or more indirectly
by the guidance Of the teacher in the
all important duty Of selecting proper
reading for the pupil. That tablet
must, and will be, covered by some
sort Of characters and ideas.
Between the ages Of eight and twenty
is the plastic, imprsssible and tsacha-
BILE period Of our sohool-going youth,
when habits Of reading ars formed.
That reading will be done Is as GER
tain as that the mind is active. God
has implanted in the human mind
native activities and aspirations that
carry 1t beyond the bread and butter
level, and just as the human heart, un.
guided by the touch of revelation, will
grope in the dark after some divinity to
worship, so the mind ofyouth, indirect
ed by wise and good head, will bow
down and pay homage to the widest
conceptions and the most weird and uR.
naturally wrought out fictitious lives
that ever wrapped about them yellow
covering. The mental mill will grind;
the quality Of the -four will depend
upon the quality Of the wheat poured
in to the hopper. But who shall stand
guardian to select the grsins
The teacher, and, therefore, the duty
of directing the young minds becomes q
positive one. A large responsibility
also rests with parents. 1t is our duty
to recommend both to parents and
children such literature as will promise
to take the place Of harmful reading.
The paper was then discussed in Ave
minute speeches by Prof. Reynolds,
President Purnell, Rev. Mr.. Prettyiuan,
Mr.. Roe, Superintendent Groves and
Professor Heath, all agreeing that con-
slant and determined efforts on the
part Of teachers would finally result in
placing in the hands Of children litera-
ture Of high and beneficial order to
the exclusion OF sensational trash.
"Old English" by Prof. Reynolds,
was review Of the English language
and literature from the time Of the
Conquest of England by William the
Conquerer to Queen Elizabeth's reign.
For 200 years after the Conquest
English literature was dead, but he
thanked God 1t had again asse rted its
supremacy, and he believed that its
zenith had not yet been reached.
DIS. Ellis, in the course Of an es-
say, suggested that frequent changes
of teachers without cause could be OBJ
viated by the teacher learning to love
his work, winning the affections and
respect of scholars and parents, elevat'
ing his profession, and 30 wrapping
himself in his duties and entrenching
himself in the goodwill Of the people Of
his community, that neither he nor
they would desire change.
At the afternoon session Mrs. A. 7.
Groves spoke of the development Of
character in the school room, and main
tliued that was where the child's
character was formed, aAd that 1t was
generally what the teacher made it.
Il. c. Carpenter discussed the subject
The Public Schools as preparation for
citizenship. He argued that the only
way to have good government is to have
good public schools, and intimated that
he was favorable to compulsory educc,
tion and an educational test for voters.
Superintendent Groves read q paper
",Ths Relation Of the Teacher to the
Moral and Religious Culture of the Flu.
ture." After discussing the matter
awb;la IT. G. Carpanter read an essay