Year: 1879

0 -i---t-~f y " ltrs-AiL-t NyLtftL n


Under the circumstances, it Is with


the greatest difidenee that leone to


the front to make my bow to you.


Notwithstanding the explicit expIa-


nation made by the editor Of this


paper in the issue of Dec. 10, 1878,


I fear that there are those who viii


still think that I have used undue in
, auence in securing the place for


which I was a candidate before the


Institute last August. If any such


there be, and if they are willing to


give me a hearing, I viii say to


them that Ishould have deemed it an


honor to have been chosen for the


place, but that my name was


brought out without my knowledge


or consent. and had I consulted per


sonal interest alone, I should have


declined as promptly as did the 9th
( er gentlemen andIadies whose names
4 were proposed /; but, knowing that


some one must make a sacrifice for
| the good of others, I consented to


obey the viii of the Association,


which viii I am still willing and anx-
/ 5ious to serve, not by writing alone,


but if need be, By laying aside my
/ pen as well.


The result Of the hasty action of


the Association on the eve of its ad-


iournment has been laid before YOU.
I The repeated inquiries for the Col
umn have caused the Editor of the
NEws to take the liberty he has.
/ These inquiries show that the teach
. ers are interested, and it may be
well, at this initial stage, to notice
the advantages which are likely to
. accrue from the present movement.
We might dwell at length on the
advantage Of having a means ofweek-
ly communication with all the
teachers Of the county, so that each .
Pne may pour his tale Of joy or sor-
low into sympathizing ears, but this
fColumn ought to scrvea much bet
ter purpose than that. We wish to
make it better (for YOU than any ed


ucational journal.
This may sound rather egotisti- |
cal, but you all know that the edu- .
oational monthl.es, though very good
in theft way, are not Just what YOU


want. They shoot too high The
writers, as a general rule, are not I
country school teachers, and the mat
. ter in general is not adapted to such /
teachers.


hope it will not be 50 with this /
| Column. The editor is a Uery com
mon school teacher. We have in
/ the county over two hundred teach
ers, many of them as good as the
best, and we know they can, and /
think they agjH, make this Column
more interesting and instructive to
you than any Of the montbTes.
But we must not forget the unity I
ing tendency that such a means of
communication viii have on the
teachers of the county. It is not
my purpose here to condemn any
method of teaching or manage
ment, but I do wish to say, that the
want of uniformity in methodamong
teachers is productive of much an
noyance, if not serious trouble. A
teacher is always judged by the
standard of his predecessor, and if
he vary from that standard in the
direction of gentIeness, some bois-
terous pupil will take it as an indica-
ton of weakness, and so conduct i
himself as to cause trouble, while,
should the variation be in the oppo-
site direction, the new teacher is apt a
to be regarded as an enemy, and so
lose the respect Of the pupils; so Ire d
peat, thatif, by communicating freely
through this Column, something ap-
preaching a uniformity in methods
could be brought about, it would be
a decided improvement over thepres-
ent state of affairs.


And now, in conclusion, allow me J
to say that I think it is no part of J
tie Editor, or "any other man, to ,
write IoDg-winded essays for the
Column. This world is too
busy to take the time to winnow any
mans chaff, but we do solicit your
thoughts, teachers, and let them be
done up in the fewest and shortest
words possible, and if you do not
see It in print, try t. think it was
not because your communication
was not good, but because some one
else has written better


Teachers, are you reading an Edu-
Monthly II not, you should
subscribe for one. I have taken the