every grade, and that it shall become a center
and reservoir from which reading books and language lessons draw their
supplies. These biographies, stories, and historical episodes must be
the best which our history and classic literature can furnish, and
whatever is of like virtue in the life of other kindred peoples, of
England, Germany, Greece, etc.

If history in this sense can be made a strong auxiliary to moral
education in common schools, the whole body of earnest teachers will be
gratified. For there is no theme among them of such perennial interest
and depth of meaning as _moral culture_ in schools. It is useless to
talk of confining our teachers to the intellectual exercises outlined
in text books. They are conscious of dealing with children of moral
susceptibility. In our meetings, discussions on the means of moral
influence are more frequent and earnest than on any other topic; and in
their daily work hundreds of our teachers are aiming at moral character
in children more than at anything else. As they free themselves from
mechanical requirements and begin to recognize their true function,
they discover the transcendent importance of moral education, that it
underlies and gives meaning to all the other work of the teacher.

But teachers heretofore have taken a narrow view of the moral
influences at their disposal. Their ever-recurring emphatic refrain
has been "_the example of the teacher_," and, to tell the truth, there
is no better means of instilling moral ideas than the presence and
inspiration of a high-toned teacher. We know, however, that teachers
need moral stimulus and encouragement as much as anybody. It will not
do to suppose that they have reached the pinnacle of moral excellence
and can stand as all-sufficient exemplars to children. The teacher
himself must have food as well as the children. He must partake of the
loaf he distributes to them. The clergyman also should be an example
of Christian virtue, but he preaches the gospel as illustrated in the
life of Christ, of St. Paul, and of others. In pressing home moral and
religious truths his appeal is to great sources of inspiration which
lie outside of himself. Why should the teacher rely upon his own
unaided example more than the preacher? No teacher can feel that he
embodies in himself, except in an imperfect way, the strong moral ideas
that have made the history of good men worth reading. No matter what
resources he may have