MEMORIAL EXERCISES 423 



that they were departing from the ordinary course of procedure; but they 

 desired especially to emphasize that clause in the legislative action of this 

 State, which, in instituting a Normal School for the preparation of teach- 

 ers, required that the State Board of Education should also provide for 

 the instruction of its pupils 'in the fundamental laws of the United 

 States, aud in what regards the rights and duties of citizens.' With 

 this in view, no one seemed to the board to combine, as Mr. Willits does, 

 so many of the requisites necessary to' lead the Normal School on to that 

 great future which its founders confidently expected for it. * * * For 

 full twenty years he was a leading member of the local board of educa- 

 tion of Monroe; for twelve years (from June 1, 1861, to December 31, 

 1872) he served as a member of the State Board of Education, in which 

 position he became familiar with the affairs of the State Normal School; 

 in the State Constitutional Commission of 1873 he served as chairman 

 of the committee on education. His scholarship and scholarly tastes, 

 his large experience, his acquaintance with men and affairs, coupled with 

 his thorough knowledge of the subjects assigned to him to teach, justify, 

 in the opinion of the board, their going outside of the profession of teach- 

 ing in selecting a man for the responsible position of lU'incipal of the 

 State Normal School." 



HIS TEACHING WAS FOR BROADER AND BETTER CITIZENSHIP. 



In entering upon his duties in the school Mr. Willits kept in mind the 

 department of labor which the board, in etfect, had marked out for him. 

 He gave instruction in civil government, in constitutional law, in the 

 forms of congressional procedure, and in other subjects which touched 

 upon social relations and upon the rights, duties, and obligations of citi- 

 zens. He brought into the institution somewhat more of the tone and 

 spirit of practical and political life than had been in it before. He em- 

 phasized the fact that the teacher is also a. citizen, and, in common with 

 his fellow citizens, should be concerned in the management of public 

 affairs, — should be, in the highest and best sense of the word, a politician 

 and a *'man of affairs." There was some room and some occasion for 

 teaching in this direction, for affirming that one does not forfeit his 

 rights as a freeman and a citizen when he enters the school room as a 

 teacher; that freedom of speech and freedom of political action still 

 remain to him; and that with this freedom there remain also the re- 

 sponsibilities which rest upon men in other positions and in other em- 

 ployments. These responsibilities the teacher is not at liberty to refuse 

 or to evade. His manhood is concerned in cheerfully assuming them 

 and conscientiously discharging them. 



While thus emphasizing the- ])oliiical and social aspect of education 

 Mr. Willits recognized fully the transcendent importance of the moral 

 element in the curriculum aud instruction of the school. 



IN HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS HE SAID, 



"The time is coming when we must choose between the policeman and 

 the moral sense. In all ages the best policeman has been a well-regulated 

 conscience — and this implies intelligence combined with moral sense. 

 It is cheaper in the long run for men to govern themselves. In a republic, 

 its citizens must govern themselves, must be their own restraint; if not, 



