What men most need for the labor of life is mental aptitude and power. The prime want in getting a living is brains. Mental power is the alchemy which is turning all things into gold. But the prime question to determine the work of knowledge is not what bears direct upon man's labor, but rather will it fit him as a man for complete and successful living. Our schools and colleges should have for their first aim the development and culture of man as man, and, secondly, should furnish him with knowledge necessary for guidance in the activities of life. The speaker objected to any criterion of education in this country that subordinates man to labor, but would have that education which seeks to perfect man in nature, the idea of which is not mind only, but man; an education which prepares the mind to think of truth, and the heart to enjoy it, the will to propose and the hand to perform.

SECOND DAY-MORNING SESSION.

The second day's proceedings of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction were held at Music Hall. The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Kinsley Twining, after which Rev. H. W. Rugg, of the school committee, cordially extended a welcome to the teachers of the State and all interested in the advancement of education.

Merrick Lyon, Esq., President, responded to Mr. Rugg's graceful address as follows:

Reverend Sir-It gives me great pleasure, in behalf of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, to thank you for the kind and cordial words of welcome with which you, as a member of the School Committee of Providence, have been pleased to address us.

We have met here, as earnest and sincere workers, to discuss such questions as will tend to fit us the better for our respective positions. We seek, by interchange of thought and experience, to awaken hope and courage that we may return to our accustomed toil, prepared for higher achievements and strengthened to overcome every difficulty. Cherishing such desires and purposes, your impressive utterances are most grateful and will gladden our hearts during all the hours we shall continue our sessions.

Permit me, sir, again to thank you for your fraternal welcome,

and also to invite you and the other gentlemen of the School Committee of Providence, to participate in our discussions.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction-I am happy to meet you at this our annual meeting which you have eagerly anticipated, hoping from it to catch new inspiration for your high and noble calling. Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, once said, "The teacher ought always to hope to succeed, but never to think he had succeeded."

From the printed programme you perceive that the morning is crowded with exercises, and that I, therefore, ought to occupy but a few moments in remarks, preliminary to the work that is before you. The fact that Local Institutes are held in different parts of the State by our efficient Commissioner of Public Schools, in which all the details of the teacher's daily routine are discussed and illustrated, and also that our Normal School and all the public schools of this city were to be open to your inspection yesterday, has been kept in mind by the Committee of Arrangements, and caused them to present themes of a more general character, and to invite discussions upon the principles that underlie all our duties. We hope this course will meet your approval and its results be profitable.

You are all invited to participate freely in the discussions, so far as there shall be opportunity, and should time fail, the thoughts awakened will stimulate professional zeal and kindle that enthusiasm which is so essential to successful teaching.

The following committees were then appointed:

On Nomination of Officers-Messrs. Daniel Leach, Providence; A. D. Small, Newport; R. S. Andrews, Bristol; E. H. Parker, Coventry; Miss Mary A. Riley, Westerly.

On Resolutions-Messrs. O. H. Kile, Westerly; E. M. Stone, Providence; I. F. Cady, Barrington; D. W. Hoyt, Providence; N. W. Littlefield, Newport; Misses S. E. Doyle, Providence; S. C. Bancroft, Providence.

On The Rhode Island Schoolmaster- Messrs. W. A. Mowry, L. W. Russell, J. M. Hall; all of Providence.

Professor S. S. Greene, of Brown University, was then introduced and read a paper on "Thought and Expression." Thought was placed first, because it was really first in time and importance; ex

pression second in time and the necessary instrument by which thought is made known. Thought is to be gained by direct effort, expression by indirect, which united gives us language. Every person in common life needs to know how to speak and write his own language with correctness and some degree of elegance. How can our children be taught to do this in our common schools? Not by the study of text-books in the science of grammar alone or chiefly, but by such training as shall stimulate thought and lead to its expression, care being taken to give thought its legitimate place, that of supremacy over expression. A child should not be led to think by unwise criticisms of the style of his penmanship, grammar, spelling, etc., that the expression is first in importance. Tell a child to go and examine or witness something within his comprehension, and then let him tell it in his own way, and give him the impression that his thought is of the most importance. Children should be taught to think and read for a definite object, and when this is accomplished the expression will be acquired. Do not demand of a child an original composition, without preparing his mind by leading him into the right thought. All school exercises should be made a means of teaching correct expression of earnest thought.

The essay was followed by a discussion opened by Mr. Joseph Eastman, who, after speaking of the wonderful powers of language which show the nobility of man, drew attention chiefly to oral language. While there are certain advantages on the side of the written discourse, there is yet in most cases more restraint than in oral discourse. Vital thought, whether expressed in writing or speech, is permanent. Simplicity and directness of expression gained in conversation will be of great advantage in forming a good style of writing. Expression of thought should not be considered a specialty in the school-room, but every recitation should be used as a means of teaching correctness and elegance of language. Improved methods are valuable, but the power behind them, the teacher, is of most importance.

Rev. Mr. Leach, Superintendent of Providence schools, spoke briefly of the best methods, in his view, of teaching expression in the primary schools. Children should first be taught to talk; they should be taught to sum up and express what they have learned during the

week, at the close, both orally and in writing. To this should be added weekly discussions on various topics.

Professor Greene spoke briefly in hearty approval of the above.

Hon. E. E. White was then called upon to say a few words on the question, and gave some statements in regard to school work in Ohio, in this direction. A great defect in the school work has been a lack of ready expression, In his own State they had adopted the plan of discussing some question each day, and requiring the pupils to write out the ideas gained in that way. Only after years of such training are original compositions required. They have in Ohio pushed the technical study of grammar up two years, using the time usually occupied by that study in this daily composition, and find the change to be an improvement.

Commissioner Bicknell spoke of language as the true measure of the man in his thought and his want. The vocabulary is rich or poor in proportion to the intellectual condition of the man, and the education of the higher as well as the lower wants of the nature. Food, clothing, money, tools and machines, the weather, etc., form the leading lines of common thought. The words which cover the common wants of man number less than five hundred.

Central ideas which represent a large group of words should be taught, and those, which lead the pupil to higher planes of expression. Courses of study should be varied to elicit thought on a large number of topics. Our mother tongue is the composite of many languages. Hence, the importance of the study of other languages to understand our own. Daily exercises in sentence writing, and colloquial exercises should be constantly practised. Schools in Switzerland and Germany excel in language instruction. In America we are deficient in this most important department.

There is great need of improvement in speech among all classes, and the great necessity of teaching correctness in language by example and through a judicious stimulation of thought which shall demand natural expression.

Rev. E. M. Stone spoke of the great importance of children's understanding what they recite, and gave several amusing instances of cases where the meaning was totally lost, even in a good recitation. After a short recess, a very pleasing entertainment was given by

some pupils of Thayer street grammar school, an exercise in gymnastics, under the direction of Miss Margaret L. Phillips, of Providence, after which the Institute adjourned until two o'clock, p. m.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

The exercises were opened by singing by five hundred pupils of the city grammar schools, under the direction of B. W. Hood, Esq., consisting of five selections, all of which were rendered in an unusually fine manner. The third selection was particularly noticeable for its beautiful diminuendo passages, showing the very best drill on the part of the teacher, with unusual study on the part of the pupils. A class exercise in reading followed, Professor S. B. Munroe, of Boston, conducting, and pupils from the State Normal School assisting. It was a valuable lesson in methods of teaching the rudiments of reading, the Professor giving many hints in the matter of position, voice and manner, and the breaking up of bad habits in the schoolThe Professor gave instruction in the best methods of reading, and entertained the assemblage for some time, with illustrations of the true and false in the grand art of reading pleasantly and well. The girls, who were called upon to read passages did admirably, and were vigorously applauded.

room.

This was followed by an address from Professor Dimap, of Brown University, who spoke on "Teacher's Culture." He made a distinction between the formal and the vital work of the teacher. The formal is accomplished by routine and has to do with methods. The vital is that personal influence which proceeds from the teacher's character. The one is superficial, the other enters into the life of the pupil. Our personality is something more than what we do or say; it is the atmosphere which emanates from us and is felt by all who come in contact with it. It is here that the teacher's culture has its place and power, and bears fruit in its influence over the pupil. Professor Diman feared that in the great attention we are giving to methods and machinery in our schools, the great fact might be lost sight of, that the amount of cultivated personality which is put into teaching measures its success, rather than any matter of routine connected with it. The contact of mind with mind is what really educates, and in no place in the world is a really refined manhood or