When a knowledge of the elements is secured, then the
languages, mathematics, and all science, may be pursued with enthusiasm
and success by a class of men well educated in every department. Public
sentiment must allow the teacher to give careful instruction in reading
and spelling, for example, in the most comprehensive meaning of those
terms--in the sound and power of letters, in the composition and use of
words, and in the natural construction of sentences. This, of course,
includes a knowledge of grammar, not as a dry, philological study, but
as a science; not as composed of arbitrary rules, merely, but as the
common and best judgment of men concerning the use and power of
language, of which rules and definitions are but an imperfect
expression.
Nor do we herein assign the teacher to neglect or obscurity. He, as well
as others, must have faith in the future. His reward may be distant, but
it is certain.
It is, however, likely that the labors of a faithful elementary teacher
will be appreciated immediately, and upon the scene of his toil. But, if
they are not, his pupils, advancing in age and increasing in knowledge,
will remember with gratitude and in words the self-sacrificing labors of
their master.
We are not so constituted as to labor without motive. With some the
motive is high, with others it is low and grovelling. The teacher must
be himself elevated, or he cannot elevate others.
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