The Teacher and the State 



lions of men swept by all the strenuous fierceness of hu- 

 man greed, human ambition, human passions; she reads 

 the fate of the republics of the past, and in justifiable 

 alarm she summons her wise men ; what shall I do ? How 

 shall I control a multitude so diverse, so fierce, so heed- 

 less, that I may live and not die? And the wise men 

 give answer, " Teach the children; make men intelligent 

 and righteous, and you shall live and not die. ' ' And the 

 great Republic and each commonwealth answers "Lo, 

 here are my treasures ; spend and spare not ; do your ut- 

 most that my citizens may be intelligent and wise, and I 

 shall never reckon the cost, that the Republic may live 

 and not die." And the wise men go forth, and the 

 school houses rise on every hill-top, and in every valley, 

 on every plain, in every wood, from ocean to ocean ; and 

 the teachers enter in! Was there ever such a spectacle 

 in the history of this world recorded in the book of time ; 

 a great people rising to educate themselves! Nobody 

 counts the money, nobody mentions the cost ; the laborer 

 gives his penny, the millionaire his thousands, his mil- 

 lions; everybody votes "aye," that the Republic, the 

 commonwealth, may live and not die ! The school house 

 stands with open door, and the teacher enters in! 



And now the children begin to gather: you may see 

 them marching, young men and maidens, little children, 

 the boys and the girls ; it is autumn ; the cool air of morn- 

 ing freshens their youthful faces, and the tinted leaves 

 are rustling about their willing feet. 



The school room doors stand open wide and the hosts 

 of the Republic enter in! The doors are shut, and the 

 teacher stands in presence of her duty. She is set to 



