10. Natural History. 11. The principles of piety and morality common to all sects of Christians. 12. The science and art of teaching, with reference to all the above named studies. It was enjoined that a portion of the Scriptures should be read daily in every Normal School. The first Normal School was opened at Lexington, in July, 1839; the second at Barre, in September of the same year. The first continued at Lexington until September last, when, on account of the inadequacy of accommodation, it was removed to West Newton. It has been under the immediate charge of Mr. May and Mr. Pierce, the latter of whom is now at its head. The second was kept at Barre for nearly two years, when it was suspended on account of the death of the principal, Mr. Newman. Owing to the difficulty of finding a suitable successor, and the supposed expediency of removing the location of the school, it was suspended until last September, when it was removed and re-opened at Westfield, under the care of the Reverend Emerson Davis, who had been for fourteen years the principal of the academy at the last-named place. The third Normal School was opened at Bridgewater, in September, 1840, under the care of Mr. Tillinghast, who has had charge of it ever since. The whole number admitted to the school in Lexington, 243 273 At Barre and Westfield, there have been admitted rather more than 200 There have been connected with the three schools more than seven hundred pupils. About one hundred and fifty of these still remain in the schools, leaving between five or six hundred who have left them. Some of these have died; a few have married; some, owing to a change of circumstances in their families, or in their own affairs, have never taught, and a few have abandoned their purpose of teaching. A few also have exonerated themselves from the obligation to keep school in Massachusetts, by paying their tuition, and have gone out of the State to teach. Probably, therefore, about five hundred pupils, who have resided for one or more terms at the Normal Schools, have taught in Massachusetts. But the value of these schools, and the extent of their usefulness are not to be measured by the number of teachers who have gone out from them. The principle upon which these schools rest can scarcely be controverted by those who have any practical knowledge of our school system. Teaching is itself a science, which should be studied with the same diligence, and taught with the same care, as any other science; and the more this principle is received and acted upon, the higher will the standard of teachers, and consequently of the common schools, be raised. But the utility of these schools does not rest upon theory alone; it is made out by the clearest testimony. And upon this point the Committee beg leave to refer to the statements of various school committees, as printed in the abstracts of school returns for 1841-1842, pages 56, 85, 155, 174, 179, 181, 186 and 187. Also in the abstracts for 1843-1844, pages 2, 4, 32, 38, 66, 104, 148, 233, 242, 245, 255 and 263. In 1842-1843 no abstracts were prepared, owing to the absence from the country of the Secretary of the Board. It should be recollected that but very few pupils went out from the Normal Schools sufficiently early to be reported upon before the year 1841, and that the last official reports we have from them were written in the spring of 1844. In the last annual report of the Board of Education, page 15, it is stated that "from all the reports of the school committees for the last two years, it appears that the committee of one town only have declared themselves opposed to the Normal Schools." In New York, as the Committee are informed, they adopted, as early as 1831, the system of teachers' departments in academies. It was tried for ten years, under the most favorable auspices, with the encouragement and supervision of the ablest men. The State appropriated a liberal amount of money to defray the expenses of the departments, but after a trial of ten years it was abandoned as a failure. Last winter an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars was made, being ten thousand dollars a year for five years, for the support of a State Normal School. This was opened at Albany on the 18th of December last. Tuition is not only free, but for one hundred and twentyeight State beneficiaries the State allows one dollar and a quarter per week to females, and one dollar to males, towards board. The first grant of the Legislature of Massachusetts in behalf of Normal Schools, was ten thousand dollars. In 1842 a further grant of six thousand dollars a year, for three years, was made. Only about one half of this sum has been expended. As at present arranged, and with the corps of teachers now employed, the annual cost of each school will not vary much from two thousand dollars,-probably falling a little below rather than exceeding that sum. The State has never had any place of its own in which to keep the Normal Schools. From the first they have rented such buildings as they could get,-always very unsuitable,or lived upon charity. At Lexington the school, for the last year or two, had not more than half space enough to accommodate the pupils, and of course suffered severely. At West Newton it has an ample and beautiful building, which, however, has been wholly furnished by charity, and it is not yet entirely paid for. The school-room at Bridgewater is represented to be small, badly constructed, and inconvenient. The model school-room is very inadequate, and is in a separate building. The specific object of the memorial, referred to the Committee, is to provide a suitable place for the Normal Schools, so that they need not be longer dependent on chance or charity. Should anything be left of the appropriation, after securing proper buildings, it will be needed for library and apparatus. The Committee do not deem it necessary to add more upon the subject. They consider it sufficient to give a plain statement of facts, in connection with the Normal Schools of Massachusetts, to show the propriety and justice of ample appro priations by the Legislature of the State, for their permanent support. In relation to our public schools,-always the pride and glory of the State,-a great and important change has taken place in the public sentiment within a few years. Until the establishment of the Board of Education, the Committee believe that not a dollar had been given to the great cause of common school education, as a State institution. Money had been given to districts or towns, but to the State, for the benefit of all the schools, nothing. Mr. Edmund Dwight commenced with a donation of ten thousand dollars. Afterwards Mr. Martin Brimmer gave a copy of an excellent work on education to each school district, and to each board of superintending school committee in the State. And now the memorialists propose to be responsible for the sum of five thousand dollars. The Committee are of the opinion that the private munificence, thus turned towards our common schools, ought to be encouraged; that if such offers of liberal men, are neglected, the interest now felt on the subject will be diminished, and the strong current of popular feeling, now running towards these noble institutions of our fathers, will be dried up, or turned in another direction. In conclusion, the Committee recommend the passage of the following resolves. For the Committee, PELEG W. CHANDLER. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Five. RESOLVES Respecting Normal Schools. Whereas Charles Sumner, R. C. Waterston, G. F. Thayer, Charles Brooks and William Brigham, a committee of friends of education, have presented their memorial to the Legislature, praying that the sum of five thousand dollars may be placed in the hands of the Board of Education, on condition that the said memorialists will place an equal sum in the hands of the said Board, to be appropriated for defraying the expenses of providing suitable buildings for the Normal Schools, and for purchasing apparatus and libraries for the same; therefore Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, be, and he hereby is, authorized and requested to draw his warrant upon the Treasurer of the Commonwealth, in favor of the Board of Education, for the sum of five thousand dollars, at such time as the Board shall request: provided, that the said Board, in their request, shall certify that the abovenamed memorialists have placed at their disposal the sum of five thousand dollars; and the said sums shall then be appropriated by the said Board for |