FREE TEXT-BOOKS. In the state of Maine, 1869-70, the leg islature, refusing to grant a State uniformity of text-books, gave to towns and cities authority to furnish to their schools free text-books. Two cities, Bath and Lewiston, have availed themselves of it much to the advantage of their schools, and to the satisfaction of their citizens. The school board of Lewiston has for more than a year furnished the schools with text-books, stationery, and all other needed appliances. Bath did the same for a longer period. A writer in the Maine Journal of Education, Mr. Thomas Tash, of Lewiston, enumerates some of the advantages resulting from the supply of free text-books. Books are ready at the proper time. Every child is supplied with all the books, etc., needed. There is uniformity in books. Considerable latitude, especially in cities, can be allowed in the selection of books, without increasing the expense of them. Books are more entirely under the control of the teacher. Books are more carefully used, and better kept than when owned by the children. It leads parents to procure reference books, useful both to themselves and their children. Convenience in making transfers. The free supply of books increases school time. In regard to cost, it has been found, in Bath, that the cost per scholar for books averages annually about one dollar. In Lewiston, it will be somewhat less for a series of years. Mr. Kiddle, superintendent of schools at New York, says that the whole cost of books, slates, maps, pencils, stationery, etc., including janitor's supplies, (not full) is only about $1.75 per scholar on the average in school. Hon. Nelson Dingley, jr., until recently President of the school board of Lewiston, and now Governor-elect of the state of Maine, after alluding to some of the benefits to which attention has already been called, thus closes: In cur the expense of books, will, under the that experience will demonstrate that the Mr. Tash closes an able paper upon this subject with the following observations: "We will only add that the measure, where adopted, has been found to be a popular one. It relieves from expense, anxiety, and trouble, and could not be otherwise than popular. The leading, wealthiest, and most intelligent citizens, are its most earnest advocates. We are confident also that should other towns and cities adopt the same plan, and proceed with it judiciously, it would be found equally satisfactory."-Minnesota Teacher. EMOTIONAL LANGUAGE.-The fact that many of our emotions now betray themselves only through the incompleteness of the effort of will to disguise them is not a little curious, and offers several lines of interesting inquiry. It at once suggests how very little play for emotional expression the conditions of modern society appear to allow. For it seems tolerably certain that the voluntary hiding of feeling is a late attainment in human development, and is forced on us simply by the needs of advancing civilization. Savages, for the most part, know little of concealing their passions, and this makes them so good a psychological study. Children, too, who may be supposed to represent the earlier acquirements of the race, are proverbially unfettered in the expression of their sentiments. In like manner, in the various ranks of our civilized society, we see that, while a cultivated lady appears to all distant onlookers to have a mind dis- all the youths of the country, but also for passionate and undisturbed by agitating BY DR. J. W. HOYT, OF MADISON. Mr. PRESIDENT: As correct opinions are essential to right action, it is a happy omen for our country that the sentiment of this toast is fast becoming the faith of the American people. the most thorough culture of all who should aspire to the higher walks of learning. Hence the thousands of stately structures that wear upon their generous fronts the title of "Public School" and are the pride of so many of our cities and larger towns. Hence the multiplied thousands and hundreds of thousands of less imposing, but comfortable and neatly furnished schools that dot our hills and vallies on every side and nestle in the midst of our rural homes. Hence the multitude of our academies and colleges, mainly the fruit of private benefaction,and the increasing number of our so-called state universities and schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts, which, for the most part, are based on grants of government lands. Hence our constitutional and legislative provisions for school - superintendence, town, county and State. Hence the creation of a national bureau for the collection and diffusion of educational facts, as well as for guidance and stimulation. Hence the respectful consideration now given by congress to recent propositions for the consecration of the net proceeds of all the public lands, hereafter sold, "to the education of the people,” and finally, for the founding of a great and true university, as the crown and completement of the government's general provision for the educational wants of the nation. That these prospective acts of the gov ernment are destined to follow appears to be almost certain; for the sad experiences of the late civil war, the sudden enfranchisement of millions of slaves, and the increasing immigration from foreign lands have strongly stamped their necessity upon That a government of the people, for the public mind. But until they are acthe people, and by the people, cannot per-complished, until every youth in the land manently prosper, except the people be intelligent, is too evident to require demonstration. Hence the solicitude of our forefathers that ample provisions be made, not only for the elementary education of *Speech on the "Fifteenth Regular Toast," at the celebration of the Ninety-Seventh Anniversary of American Independence at the "Blumen Saele," in Vienna, Austria, July 4, 1873, by American Commissioners and Exhibitors in attendance upon the Universal Exhibition. cation as is essential to qualify him for can be made the recipient of so much eduthe ordinary duties and relations of social and political life; and until the means of the highest possible culture are afforded to all who crave and are prepared to enjoy them, we shall have fallen so far short of our duty and have reason to tremble for our national future. Nothing else than this will enable us to correct the downward tendency of our local and national politics merce of the world;-and France, no less and insure to the United States of America remarkable for the extent of her resources, that high and honorable position which the genius of her people, or the ever-methey have seemed destined to hold among morable generosity with which she came the great nations of the earth. to our help in the struggle for our national independence, than for the persistency and courage with which she still holds up her ideal of self-government and strives to make it a permanent reality;-and Spain, But, Mr. President, my own convictions far transcend the limitations of the sentiment to which I have consented to respond. I believe education to be the sine qua non of true national greatness, what-so long a fountain of learning to other ever the form of the government. Intelli- nations, the patron of science and pioneer gence is the only security against false conclusions, and hence the surest safeguard against ultra radicalism and popular violence, on the one hand, and a blind and self-defeating conservatism on the other. It being, then, the purpose of a government to rule wisely and justly, what greater wisdom than to make sure that the people are themselves able to appreciate what is wise, and what is just? - If I mistake not, this broader truth is also fast becoming the faith of all people and governments. They are learning this great lesson - that the self-imposed restraints of an enlightened reason are a thousand times more effective than force from without, when opposed to blind pas sion. Indeed, my fellow countrymen, if we but lift our eyes and look around us, we shall see that we only bear a humble part in a grand movement which has already enlisted a score of nations and quickened them to unprecedented activity in efforts that look towards universal education. If, therefore, as Americans on this honored day, and in the presence of these distinguished guests from many lands, we recount the early wisdom of the founders of the republic, and the successive steps of State and national governments in the fulfilment of their plans, is it not fitting that we also recognize this progress of the other nations and offer them our most hearty congratulations? Among them we find at last Old England, home of our forefathers, source of our language and so much of our science, literature and law: whose energy and enterprise have made her so eminent in the mechanic arts, and sent forth her ships like countless shuttles to weave the com in discovery, and now, in these last days, seeking to rehabilitate herself and begin a new and grander career of progress; and Italy, original source of science, art and jurisprudence to many of the western nations, at last reunited and, in great measure, redeemed and disenthralled; — and Austria-and-Hungary, this beautiful land of our temporary sojourn, by the magic wand of whose enlightened and progressive sovereign there has sprung up, in this queenliest city of Europe, so marvelous a display of the products of human industry and genius;—and Germany, home of science, letters, philosophy and art, again, as in the past, grand in the unity of her many States as well as in the material and intellectual resources of her people;—and glorious little Switzerland, sturdy, intelligent, heroic, free;-and Belgium, whose fields are gardens, and the sound of whose hammers is heard round the world; — and Netherlands, at the mention of whose name troops of glorious memories marshal themselves in grand review and challenge our admiration;—and the Scandinavian States, which, whether as pioneers upon the new continent, or as sources of so large a proportion of our best foreign-born citizens, will ever command the respect and gratitude of America;- and Russia, greater than the greatest in vastness of empire and in the multitude of her hardy and vig. orous people, great also in the variety and extent of her resources and in the promise of her future;—and, finally, the marvelous nations of the Orient, with whom exclusiveness has been a cardinal virtue from time immemorial, but which of late have opened the doors of hospitality and sent their gleaners into the harvests of all civilized lands. To all these, and even to some of the nations beyond the equator, is Universal Education itself, and it only, that can guarantee the Brotherhood of the Race, and bring all the nations into the shining pathway of Universal Peace!" there has come in these latter days, as it were a revelation from Heaven, a new recognition of this fundamental truth, that the real greatness of every nation must depend on the intelligence of its people. But even the foremost of the nations have not yet wholly emerged into the clear light of a true civilization; else the fitful reign of Force and Violence had ended, and the steady and peaceful reign of Reason been established. We still stand in the twilight of the early morning. But the dawn is breaking. The finger of Aurora is even now on the tops of the mountains. The day is at hand! When it comes both rulers and people will have juster views than now of what constitutes national prosperity. They will then know that it involves vastly more than mere material wealth and material power-that, in the highest sense, it is indeed but a comprehensive synonym for that unem. barrassed and intelligent play of the in. dustrial, intellectual and moral forces of a people which comes of a common obedience to divine and human law; that in. tellectual culture of the people which qualifies them for the most refined and elevated pleasures of which man is capable, as well as for the conquests of science and the triumphs of creative genius; and that moral culture of the whole people so absolutely essential to a discharge of the duties and responsibilities of life, and without which no people may hope to dwell together in permanent happiness and become a guiding light to other nations. Nay, more, when that day is fully come, patriotism will find it easier than now to expand beyond the narrow boundaries of country and merge itself in that yet broader and nobler sentiment whose province is the whole earth, and whose godlike aim is the highest good of all Absent-Mindedness and Mental Power. It is worthy of notice that the growth of the mind is often accompanied by an apparent loss of power in particular respects; and this fact is exceedingly important, especially to all who desire to estimate the condition of their own mind. The mental phenomenon called (not very correctly) absence of mind is cf.en regarded by the person experiencing it, and still more by those who observe it in him, as a proof of failing powers. But it often, if not generally, accompanies the increase of mental power. Newton displayed absence of mind much more frequently and to a much more marked degree when his powers were at their highest than in his youth, and not only did instances become much less frequent when he was at an advanced age, but the opposite quality, sensitiveness to small annoyances, began then to be dis played. Even an apparent impairment of the memory is not necessarily indicative of failing mental powers, since it is often the result of an increased concentration of the attention on subjects specially calling for the exercise of the highest forms of mental power-as analysis, comparison, generalization and judgment. I have already noted that profound thinkers often refrain from exercising the memory, simply to avoid the distraction of their thoughts from the main subject of their study. But this statement may be extended into the general remark that the most profound students, whether of physi cal science, mathematics, history, politics, or, in fine, of any difficult subject of research, are apt to give the memory less exercise than shallower thinkers. course, the memory is exerted to a considerable degree, even in the mere mar An advancing industry, rapidly increas- shaling of thoughts before theories can ed facilities for commercial relations, and be formed or weighed. But the greater that comity of nations which is the har- part of the mental action devoted to the binger of a permanent international amity, formation or discussion of theories is only are among the glorious fruits of a growing indirectly dependent upon the exercise of intelligence. But they are only fruits. It memory.—Popular Science Monthly for Jan. mankind. Of THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVER ITY. BY A MEMBER OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE Who is the next president of the University, and what manner of man is he? have become quite common questions. Having once felt the same anxiety of mind, and having found very agreeable relief from the same in the relation of pupil and instructor, it is possible that I may be able to throw some light upon the subject which will not be wholly unacceptable. in due time. Visions of "divorced justice" visited our slumbers that night, and thereafter no sentiments from the chapel stage were sufficiently approved to provoke from us that kind of applause. He was a terror-to evil-doers at least, and it was very easy to see how those wicked Sophs came by their opinion. A closer acquaintance revealed the real kindness of his heart. To be sure, a careless failure met with a coolness not encouraging to a repetition, and praise, it seemed to some of us, was quite sparingly bestowed. He was a man to be envied who really received words of commendation from Professor Bascom. We knew they were not meaningless or undeserved. If we asked his opinion of our own efforts or other matters, we were sure to receive it whether it was the most agreeable or not. During our freshman year Dr. Bascom was traveling abroad. After the difficulties incident to the first year in college had gradually melted away, as freshman troubles always do, and it seemed that we should really survive, the Sophs, with characteristic naughtiness, used to harass our credulous minds with the hardships In senior year we came to know him in store for us when he should return. more intimately and to apprehend his Did we imagine we had seen any real methods and vigor of thought more fully trouble? "Wait till Prof. Bascom comes than before. The respect we already felt home!" He was pictured to our imagi- for his powers of mind grew into esteem nation as the incarnation of cold disci- when we saw intellectual strength coupled pline; a man who, without faults him- with the highest integrity of purpose; self, could not properly sympathize with with a love of truth for its own sake and the unavoidable waywardness of college a readiness to accept it at whatever sacriboys. In college parlance, he had "no fice. Perhaps what impressed us most bowels" (of compassion). We remem- was the inborn sincerity of his character. bered to have heard in connection with He could not be narrow or sectarian in theological subjects of "Justice divorced his opinions, his mind was too broad. from Mercy." The personation of that He would not deny to others the utmost abstraction was just our idea of the ab- freedom of thought; he loved liberty and sent professor. During his absence, the consistency too well himself. If the subchair of Rhetoric and Literature was oc-ject of class-room discussion was Literacupied by a man who found no little trouble in restraining the natural play fulness of under-classmen, and on rhetorical days the presence of the venerable president was necessary to insure the desired decorum. We remember, with considerable distinctness, the first rhetorical after the Doctor's return. Our method of applause was not the most approved kind. While it might not have disturbed an audience of deaf mutes it was too hearty for persons of sound hearing. The first sound met an unmistakable admonition. But who ever knew underclassmen to act upon the maxim "a word to the wise, &c." The second round came ture, his acquaintance with the authors themselves would indicate that this had been his special line of investigation; but his knowledge of cotemporary events and their causes, of the political and religious thought of the time, showed that his study had been broader and deeper, and not only historical but philosophical. In Aesthetics, his familiarity with the subject, his fund of illustrations, the result of observation at home and abroad, gave proof that this side of his nature had not been neglected. A very pleasant feature of the year was the social gatherings at his house. He invited all of the class who chose, to |