my neighbor shall be compelled to subscribe to my creed, or that the religious sentiments of his children shall be subject to my control. I would make as large and liberal concessions on this subject as reasonable men can desire; and yet I would insist, earnestly and immoveably, that religion should have its appropriate place in our systems of public instruction.

The teacher's office is one of honor and dignity, involving at the same time great responsibilities. The subject on which he expends his efforts is nothing less than the imperishable mind, and every impression he makes thereon may be lasting as eternity. To unfold its powers, to develop and nurture its susceptibilities, to give strength, proportion and harmony to its various and sometimes distorted faculties, and to fit it for the rational enjoyments of life and for its social and civil duties, demands industry, care and wisdom; it is a work second only in dignity and importance to that of him who aims to prepare the soul for its eternal rest above. As American teachers, we have peculiar duties to perform, and our responsibilities seem to be increased by the direct bearing which our labors have upon the public welfare. It is from no desire to magnify the office, nor is it mere professional vanity which leads me to say, that the happiness, the character and the destinies of this great people depend very much upon the ability, fidelity, and success of the instructors in our schools, academies and colleges. Let them be true to their high trusts, and endeavor to train up a class of citizens of comprehensive views; men who will look upon the whole country in all its political and moral interests;

who will regard the Republic as a multiplicity in unity, having local interests apparently incompatible, yet capable of reconciliation by fair and honorable compromise; who will be manly and generous in all their movements, scorning to overreach or outmaneuvre our opponent by resorting to the arts of the practised gambler; who can look to the past, and take lessons of wisdom from history; who will penetrate the future with an intelligent sagacity, and perceive the probable effects of our institutions upon ages yet to come; who can contemplate the changes and professed improvements of the age with a clear and philosophic eye, accurately discriminating between the good and the bad, wisely encouraging the one and as firmly resisting the other; who will stedfastly determine to do what is right, in spite of the favors or the frowns of friends or foes, sect or party, and who will respect and sustain the great principles of Christianity as the foundation, the sheetanchor of our liberties. Let our instructors prepare and present to their country in successive generations men of such character, qualifications and principles, and with what joyful confidence could we inscribe upon the foundation and the pillars, the walls and entablature, the door-posts and the lintels of this great Republic, "ESTO PERPETUA.”

LECTURE III.

EARNESTNESS.

BY ROGER S. HOWARD,

OF THETFOrd, vt.

A FINE English poet has said,

"LIFE is not measured by the time we live."

In this line the word, LIFE, is full of meaning. It means something more than a sleepy, dreamy state of existence. It means something more than a mere lazy round of getting up and lying down,-something more than

"To eat, and drink, and sleep, and then
To eat, and drink, and sleep again."

It means action, earnest, well-directed action. It means work done, influence exerted, good accomplished.

The amount of work done, or good accomplished by an individual, is not measured by the number of days, or months, or years he may have lived. Some men accomplish much in a short time. They are burning and shining lights. There is a point and

power in all that they think, and say, and do. They may not have lived many years. They may have passed away quickly from the earth. But they have finished their work. They have left their

" Foot-prints on the sands of time.” “ Their bodies sleep in peace, but their names live evermore." They have lived long, because they have lived to some good purpose. They have lived long, because they have accomplished the true ends of life, by living wisely and well. And

“ That life is long, which answers life's great end.” It will be my chief design, on this occasion, to present to your consideration as distinctly as I may be able, a single trait of character or quality of mind, which has always marked the class of individuals above alluded to: - to show you what I conceive to be one of the essential elements of success in every great undertaking, and of course what is essential in the great educational enterprise, which calls us together to-day.

The idea which I wish mainly to illustrate and enforce, is expressed by a single word. But it is a burning word, and it contains a burning thought. That word is EARNESTNESS. And it contains, if I mistake not, the true secret of nearly all the wonderful successes which have astonished the world. It solves the problem of nearly all the heroes, whose achievements are recorded on the pages of history and whose names will live forever in the remembrance of mankind. In all past time, how few individuals do we find-how very few-who have risen to any considerable distinction, and gained an enduring reputation and become truly great, and have left their mark upon the age in which they lived, who were not earnest men. One of the most prolific of living writers, whose books astonish us by the vast research and varied learning which they display, was once asked, how, in the midst of the duties of a laborious profession, he had been able to accomplish so much? He replied, " by being a whole man to one thing at a time,"-in other words, by being an earnest man.

The celebrated Charles James Fox once said, (I quote from memory, and may therefore not use his precise language,) that “no man ever went successfully through with any great enterprise, whose earnestness did not amount almost to enthusiasm.” There are so many obstacles in the way of any great achievement, that none but the earnest and enthusiastic will persevere and hold on to its accomplishment. The irresolute, the timid, the phlegmatic, after a few faint efforts, will give up in despair.

Had I time, I might furnish you examples of the practical power of earnestness almost indefinitely. The world is full of thein. Look at Christopher Columbus. Consider the disheartening difficulties and vexatious delays he had to encounter,-the doubts of the skeptical, the sneers of the learned, the cavils of the cautious, and the opposition-or, at least, indifference of nearly all. And then the dangers of an untried, unexplored ocean. Do you think that he would

ave persevered, had he not possessed that, earnest enthusiasm, which Washington Irving describes as a marked characteristic of the great discoverer ? What