daigua, and entered the law office of the late Walter Hubbell, Esq., and became an assistant of Mr. Howe in the academy in the instruction of the "study boys,' for a small compensation, including board. He remained thus employed till the fall of 1842, when, by the resignation of the teacher of the elementary department, he was appointed by the trustees to the place thus made vacant. This employment was only for the winter, and was considered a favorable opportunity, as his exchequer was within visible balance. The winter soon ended, but not the engagement, as the years rolled around and found him still in the same old "No 1," till the spring of 1845, when, to fill a vacancy, he was advanced to the charge of the department of the Higher Mathematics and Natural Sciences, in which position he remained until the spring of 1853. In 1849, when the academy was under the charge of Mr. Marcius Willson, Mr. Clarke obtained leave of absence for three months, which he spent in special chemical study at the laboratory of Harvard College, under the instruction of Professor E. N. Horsford. 1853, upon the resignation of Mr. Willson, he was elected principal of the academy, which position he has held for twenty-nine years without scarcely the interruption of a month for any and all causes put together. His resignation of this position dates July 5th, 1882.

In

His whole life as a teacher, therefore, extends from 1834 to 1882, a period of 48 years, and his continuous work in Canandaigua Academy extends from 1841 to 1882, or more than 41 years. In 18-, he received the degree of A. M. from the corporation of Hamilton College, and in 1869 the degree of Ph.D. from the Regents of the University of the State of New York. To the excellency of his teaching and the potency of his genial companionship, as well as the benignant influence of his life and example, thousands of young men, including the editor of these records, will bear witness.

THE THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

of the Association was held at Watkins, July 25th, 26th and 27th, 1876. Hon. L. M. Gano said :

'To ine has been assigned the pleasant duty of bidding your honorable body welcome to our village.' His concluding remarks were :

"It is, we trust, with pardonable pride that we refer to our wonderful glens and beautiful lake, whose scenic charms have already been immortalized in song and story. Percival, Willis and Street have found inscription for the poet's muse in the delightful scenery of our lake and glen. Grace Greenwood and Harriet Beecher Stowe have borne enthusiastic testimony to the attractions of this valley; and the lamented Agassiz, whose life was a marvel of scientific industry, found time to make a special pilgrimage to this region, that he might read in yonder gorge the rocky tablets upon which nature has inscribed the history of a thousand centuries. Without being charged with vanity, therefore, we may express the hope that you will find the natural attractions of our village not unworthy your attention. As a relaxation from your labors in convention, we shall take pleasure in conducting you to the cool grottoes of the glen, and shall invite you to sail with us upon the crystal waters of the lake. To these natural attractions, and to the hearts and hospitalities of our citizens, I bid you a most cordial and hearty welcome."

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In the course of President Clarke's response he måde the following allusion: The great exposition now in progress at Fairmount Park is one of the most stupendous facts in the history of the world. Such a display even half a century ago would have been an impossibility, and now it is possible only as a result largely growing out of the power and skill of the American mind. I do not mean to say that we excel all others in that exhibition, for there are other nations not a whit behind our own in nearly all that relates to the practical or the useful arts, and in the realm of the beautiful greatly our superiors. Yet it is

doubtless due in a large measure to the impulses given to the other nations by the enterprise, energy and progress of our American people, that such strides in the practical and useful arts have been made; and we stand out to-day, therefore, as the great educator among the nations, and that, too, in spite of all the embarrassments growing out of the higher cost of material and labor. While the citizen of every nation represented at Philadelphia has just cause for a true national pride in view of the display made by his people, the American citizen is especially thankful that he is one of that people which has led the civilization of the last century and which has taught the other nations the secrets of material prosperity. I say this without boasting, and especially without any disparagement of the other nations, but the prophetic words of Berkeley have been verified. Westward the star of empire has taken its way,' and of that empire we are citizens, in full possession of all the rights and privileges it vouchsafes, with all the mighty responsibilities it brings; and it becomes us to examine seriously to-day our true relation to it and to the future claims it has upon us in the particular work to which we are called."

In the absence of Principal Samuel Thurber, of the Syracuse High School, chairman, the report of the Committee on the Condition of Education, prepared by him, was admirably read by Principal A. C. Winters, of Havana.

The report regarded our education as related to the public civil service as pitiful.

The sectarian question of secondary importance. The vexed question of the Bible in the school is probably to be regarded as no more than superficial disturbance of the educational progress of the day. The undoubted tendency is toward the exclusion of the Bible from the schools. As in all our national concerns, so prominently in our school system, the American dread of centralized power has led to an extreme dissipation of energies. In our divisions of territory and population for government purposes, the last and least subdivision is the school district. To this almost infinitesimal fraction of population is assigned the ultimate responsibility for the schools.

In no country is the work of supervision intrusted to men so little educated, so little endowed with executive capacity, as in ours. No country pays so meanly its officers of instruction and inspection. No country rewards genuine executive ability better when this ability is directed to the management of a railroad or a manufacturing enterprise. Legislators will probably never be found unwilling to amuse the petitioners for temperance laws, anti-bribery laws and compulsory education laws, by readily enacting whatever correct doctrine these may be pleased to formulate. But laws doubling or trebling the salaries of county commissioners and enforcing as a condition of eligibility to a county commissionership the passing of a rigid examination in science, ancient and modern literature, and civic law-such laws, on which, or on the like of which, the bare respectability of our future education depends, no one need at present indulge the hope of seeing passed by any probable State Legislature.

When the report was thrown open for discussion, Principal B. Lewis, of Mount Morris, said it might be inferred from the report that the only danger of denominational interference with school management was from the Catholics. He thought this was unjust. There were boards of education in this State as fully controlled by Methodist, or Presbyterian or Baptist influence, as ever any board was by Catholic influence. He would say to all denominations: "Keep your hands off of our public schools." Mr. Lewis's terse and pointed remarks found favor with the audience. which applauded heartily.

After an extended address by Prof. H. K. Clapp, of Geneva,1 upon Elocution, illustrated by readings, Hon. Charles E. Fitch, editor of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, delivered an address upon Church and State. It was a strong argument against higher education at the expense of the State, and concluded as follows:

1 A sketch of this gentleman will be found in the Appendix.

"I know that all of you will not agree with what I have said. Indeed, it is but recently that I have myself assented to all I have this evening uttered. have attained my views on this vital subject slowly and somewhat painfully. I have had, like some of my educational friends, whom I both admire and esteem, a vision of a magnificent national university, upon which the money of the people was to descend in plenteous showers. In my vision, I have beheld the grandest architecture enshrining the most refined scholarship. It is not pleasant to dismiss the vision as the baseless fabric of a dream which the waking hour must dispel; but I know it is unworthy of American thought. The logic of republicanism compels me to say this. I began my study of this subject with a sentiment. I am thankful that I have reached positive convictions. Cherishing the school system, as a republican, I mean to do all in my power to maintain it in its integrity-the separate integrity of its component parts. I protest against the claims of sectarianism to unite religious training with elementary instruction, and to that end to lay robber hands upon the purse of the people. I protest also against the claims of secularism-falsely so-called-to convert the State into a patron of higher education, and to that end to filch the funds rightfully belonging to other objects. Both ask that which is inconsistent with the genius of democracy; and, if we cannot be faithful to this, as the century unfolds before us, to what can we be faithful? Come, let us now subscribe to a new declaration of independence. Let us proclaim the manhood of the individual. Let freedom from the State be the crowning glory of the freedom of the State. Thus may we round out the affirmations of the fathers, and be true to the republic by being true to ourselves." Considerable discussion followed. A paper was read by Mr. J. W. Barker, of Buffalo, upon the Life and Services of the late Victor M. Rice.

Mrs. A. M. Kelsey, of Aurora, gave a very interesting Talk upon Deaf Mute Articulation, the substance of which afterward appeared in the Illustrated Christian Weekly, of December 9th, 1876.

John J. Anderson, Ph.D., chairman, then read the report of the committee on the Importance of History in our Common Schools, after which Mrs. Mary D. Hicks, teacher of drawing in the public schools of Syracuse, read the report of the Committee on the Educational Value of Drawing.

66 Differences of color are the first differences noticed, differences of form being recognized later. Herbert Spencer would have colors and a brush given to a child among its first playthings, with outlines to be filled in with different colors, thus affording the child pleasure while its hand is trained to use the brush. After perception of color, that of form would come. Attempts to imitate form judiciously directed are the best means of its cultivation. This princi. ple is thoroughly appreciated by the advocates of the Kindergarten system and is never lost sight of by them. Their sticks, their blocks, their paper for pricking, their embroidery, their weaving, their drawing, their modelling furnish constant opportunity for the development of form."

Professor Charles C. Shackford, of Cornell University, presented a paper upon Common Sense as a Regulating Principle in Education and Life.

Following Professor Shackford, a very interesting paper was read by D. J. Pratt, Ph.D., of Albany, being a brief account of the New York City Teachers' Association of eighty years ago. This account consisted of extracts read from an old manuscript volume containing the minutes, reports, etc., of the formation and subsequent meeting of the Teachers of New York City, eighty years ago. An interesting paper on Science in the Public Schools, was presented by Miss Moore, of Cornell University, the following abstract of which is taken from the Weekly Ithacan:

'Science is so humble as to be willing to walk with the most ignorant, and though misunderstood and neglected, accompanies them in their daily avocations, waiting to reveal to them nature's truths, to explain to them her immutable laws, to aid them in subjugating and controlling the elements, and to draw them

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