orn
under government, and we are educated under it. We are under it at
home, in school, and in after life. Law and order are everywhere
necessary to the peace, safety, liberty, and' happiness of the people.
True liberty and true enlightenment can not exist unless regulated by
law.

DEFINITION AND PURPOSES.--A school district or sub-district is a
certain portion of the town or county laid off and set apart for the
purpose of establishing and maintaining a public school. It exists for
educational reasons only, and is the unit of educational work. The
public schools are supported by funds raised partly by the State, and
partly by the county or the township. They are frequently called
common schools or free schools. It is the duty of the State to provide
all children with the means of acquiring a plain English education, and
the State discharges this duty by dividing the county into districts of
such size that a school-house and a public school arc within reach of
every child.

FORMATION.--The limits of the school district are usually fixed by the
chief school officer of the county, by the town, by the school board,
or by the people living in the neighborhood. In most of the States
districts vary greatly in size and shape; but in some of the States
they have a regular form, each being about two miles square.

FUNCTIONS.--The functions, or work, of the school are solely
educational. The State supports a system of public schools in order
that the masses of the people may be educated. The country needs good
citizens: to be good citizens the people must be intelligent, and to be
intelligent they must attend School.

MEMBERS.

The members of the school district are the people living in it. All
are interested, one way or another, in the success of the school. In
most States the legal voters elect the school board, or trustees, and
in some States levy the district school taxes. Those who are neither
voters nor within the school age are interested in the intelligence and
good name of the community, and are therefore interested in the public
school.

CHILDREN.--The children within the-school age are the members of the
school, and they are the most important members of the school district.
It is for their good that the school exists. The State has provided
schools in order that its children may be educated, and thus become
useful men and women and good citizens.

RIGHTS.--Children, as members of the school,