XXIV. MINUTES. EXTRACTS FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Agreeably to a resolution of the College directing the Executive Committee to take into consideration the propriety of establishing a periodical, the subject was introduced at a meeting of the Executive held on December 22, by the adoption of the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That D. L. Talbott and S. H. Montgomery be a committee to inquire into and report upon the feasibility of establishing a periodical, devoted to education and science, and that they report a plan of operation, if practicable, to this Committee, on Tuesday next. At 5 o'clock on Tuesday, December 27, the Committee met, when the following Report was submitted by the chairman: The Committee to whom was referred the subject of a periodical under the resolution adopted at the last meeting of the Executive Committee, have had the subject under consideration, and respectfully submit the following REPORT. THE first subject that would seem naturally to suggest itself to the attention of the Executive Committee, as one upon which all their future legislation upon this subject must rest, viz: the advantages that would result to the College, to the community, and, consequently, to the cause of education, from the establishment of a well conducted paper, is, in itself, so self-evident, that your Committee have thought their duties demanded, rather an investigation of the difficulties attendant upon the efficient operation of a work of the kind contemplated by the College, and, if practicable, to point out the means by which those difficulties may be successfully met. Until within a very short period, the College of Teachers has existed in obscurity just that kind of obscurity fortunately, however, which has tended to foster, strengthen and invigorate it. Thrown upon their own resources, those who have heretofore conducted its operations have been compelled to proceed with cautious steps; and to the wise policy which has hitherto been pursued, is to be attributed, in a great measure, its present unexampled prosperity. The public are but just - Its most dubious state of beginning to appreciate its usefulness. existence is past,- and it now stands forth, the harbinger of good, if rightly conducted, for the millions, that are ere long to people this vast territory, Assuming the character which your Committee believe the College now possesses, or at least that it is destined soon to possess, we should be exceedingly cautious, lest, in attempting to effect too much, we fail to merit and to secure a continuance of that good feeling, which at this time, is believed so universally to exist. Your committee think, that, as much, nay all may depend on an auspicious commencement, no steps should be taken by the Executive, that may fail to fulfil the expectations which will be raised in the minds of the community by such an effort. With the success of the proposed publication, the existence of the College is, to some extent, intimately connected. It may either be made the instrument of much good, or of incalculable injury to the cause. If it succeed, we will be able to increase the usefulness and operations of the College to an infinite extent. If it fail, confidence in the College will, to some extent inevitably expire with it; and years may be requisite to reestablish that confidence it now possesses, and which is indispensible to the successful operations of the institution. A work published by the College, to be useful, must be conducted on the most enlarged and liberal principles. It must be made equal, both in point of mechanical execution and in the character of the matter, to the first literary works in the country. We should aim, if possible, at superiority. The difficulties that naturally present themselves in the establishment of such a work are, 1st. That of securing an efficient and experienced publisher and 2d. In fixing and defining the precise connexion and relation, which the College shall sustain to the work itself. The work, it cannot be supposed, will much more than defray its expenses during the first twelve months, even with all the influence the College may be able to exert, and consequently none but a man of experience, and one whose habits of attention fit him for prosecuting, with the utmost vigor, the undertaking, can be expected to succeed. Should the proper efforts be made, success must be certain. Should we fail to secure such an individual, the project must die in our hands, à source of mortification to the Committee, and of serious injury to the College. Having secured an individual of the right kind, and your Committee believe such an one can be found, it will only remain for us to consider the mode of conducting the work, and its general character and form. Your Committee think, that the usual form of monthlies, is that, best adapted to the tastes and conveniencies of the reading community48 or 64 pages, monthly, of the size of our present publication, would contain in addition to the matter now published by the College, from four to five hundred and fifty pages of miscellaneous matter annually. Should the page be enlarged, and long primer, instead of small pica, used, the work would contain nearly five times the amount of matter now published in our annual volume. The work should contain nothing but matter of a high literary character, such as would commend it to the most enlightened part of the reading community, and should be devoted to the advancement of education, literature and science, -thus, while it is prominently an educational journal, it should embrace such literary and scientific subjects as would render it useful, valuable and generally interesting to the reading community. Experience has shown, that, with but few exceptions, no paper can long be sustained, that is devoted to one object alone. Hence, a paper published by the College, if for no other reason, should embrace a wider field, than that, merely, of education. But were it even practicable to sustain a paper devoted alone, to this subject, still, there are many reasons, why literary and scientific subjects should be included in this work. Education, in the abstract, is, with many persons, a dry and uninteresting subject; and as the circulation of a work devoted to that object, would be limited, although it might receive a patronage sufficient to carry it on, we would fail to circulate it among, and to hold up prominently before, the great body of the people, this important subject, unless it were made somewhat |