object of this should be, of course, to train them gradually for the steady industry and application which every healthy adult should possess; but in order to make young people understand this or willingly consent to it, the teacher must convince them by degrees that concentration and continuance of effort produce maximum results in all kinds of labor, while recreation now may consist partly in change of work and partly in rest. The purpose of the whole public instruction should be to develop and train each faculty of body and mind and soul in their natural order of importance for the time being. Instruction should become more suggestive as time passes on, but with this the pupil should be required to work more specifically and precisely within the suggested limits, so as to train him for personal exactness and for intelligent subordination at the same time.

The brief schedule of graded school instruction here given is introduced for the sole purpose of showing how much and what kind of singing can be taught in public schools without interfering materially with other studies, and indeed with positive benefit to these. The late Walter Bagehot, commenting on Cardinal Newman's sermon on "Personal Influence the Means of Propagating the Truth," remarks that the gist of the great preacher's sermon "is but this-that men are guided by type, not by argument; that some winning instance must be set up before them, or the same will be vain, and the doctrine will not spread." This is even more true of children than of adults; and it is for the purpose of selecting a natural and entirely comprehensible type of innocent and refreshing pleasure-activity, if I may call it so, that I have considered the subject of this paper.

The effects of Song on the mind, temper, behavior, bodily habits, and health of growing children and young people must of course be great, and, if not judiciously conducted, may be productive of harm in some cases: as where conspicuous success at some "school-exhibition" prodaces vanity; or where galling inferiority produces envy; or where foolish excess of effort produces strains of the vocal chords. It is not intended here to recite in full the general benefits of singing in any of these directions. But it is well to remember in general, and as a résumé of well-known facts, that singing, when well and gradually done during the whole of school-life, affects favorably distinctness of hearing, the health of the throat and the lungs, the stature and carriage of the body, and the development and shape of the thorax; that by judicious alternation with other works and studies it preserves the beautiful childish capacity of quick perception and retentive memory, while it does not interfere with the acquirement of that tenacity and continuity in all effort which will be found useful in later life; and that of all arts it is among the most social, natural, humanistic, and permanent in all the occupations and responsibilities of maturer life and culture.

1 Physics and Politics, p. 90, New York, 1873.

The preparation of persons for the profession of Music is no part of free common school instruction, any more than is preparation for cob bling or theology. This should be distinctly understood as a general rule; but if any school system requires teachers of singing, or requires that all its teachers shall be qualified to teach the rudiments of the art, that system may, without wrong-doing or inconsistency, spend a desig nated part of its money for the pay or the training of such teachers. The public normal school and the teachers' institute are particularly ap propriate agencies for the instruction of teachers in the art and the de light of Song.

THE NECESSITY OF MUSIC IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

BY CHARLES W. LANDON,
Director of Music in Claverack College.

Music is God's best gift to man, the only art of heaven given to earth, the only art of earth that we take to heaven. But music, like all our gifts, is given us in the germ. It is for us to unfold and develop it by instruction and cultivation.

But what practical benefit is there in its study? Is it as important a study as the other branches that are more commonly taught in our public schools? The State teaches its children to read, write, and cipher, that they may possess the arts necessary to their progress and to their preparation for their several stations in life, and especially those essential to their appreciation of the institutions of a free government and to the discharge of their duties under it.

But the question recurs, Why should the state teach its children Vocal music?

The security and stability of a government depend upon the happiness and contentment of its people. I believe that whatever increases their happiness tends to their moral elevation; and herein we have a strong reason why vocal music should be one of the studies pursued in our common schools. The Family is the foundation-stone of the State; the moral tone of the family sets the keynote for the moral harmony of the State.

It is well known to all professional music teachers and to many other persons that the habitual use of vocal music by a family is an almost unfailing sign of good moral and refined tastes. The wealthy cannot monopolize this natural and beautiful means of culture. The public schools, which now teach the usual rudiments for the improvement of the mind, should also, for the culture of the heart, teach the principles and practice of vocal music. The emotion aroused by inactive contemplation is faint compared with that caused by active participation in producing a beautiful result.

Immoral character and criminal conduct necessitate the maintenance of courts and jails, the most disagreeable, and almost the most expensive, part of civil government. Prevention here, as elsewhere, is less costly than cure. It is well to remember what Luther said about music: "The youth must always be accustomed to this art, for it makes good and virtuous citizens.

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"Music is a discipline, a mistress of order and good manners. makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable." In reform schools, industrial schools, and the like, singing is one of the principal means employed for the softening and controlling of the inmates, and it is of similar value in some of our public schools.

The education of the people is not complete when the mind and the hand have been trained. Man is a social, not a solitary being; and to fit him for healthy association with his kind it is needful to educate his sympathies and his tastes. The lack of this social training often is as marked in the scholar as in the rudest artisan, though, from the greater number of artisans, the deficiency in them is more commonly observed. For all, whether students or workers, the practice of vocal music will be found the most potent agent for the promotion of social pleasure and the cultivation of a human spirit.

Good music wields a power for good over the heart. The song learned in childhood holds a restraining and ennobling influence over one for life, making him a better, happier, and a safer and more profitable citi

zen.

Music is a universal art. Nature has given the human voice, which is the standard of perfection for all makers of musical instruments. Good vocal music is, for most people, the highest form of art. Join to your songs words pleasing and elevating in sentiment, and you are placing singer and listener under the best of influences. Those who love good songs with pure words will cease singing the ranting and ribald songs of the street.

No one denies that our schools should furnish good moral training, and the world is fast waking up to the fact that music, wedded to good and pure words, is a powerful means to this end. Music appeals directly to our moral nature, through our hearts and sentiments. The words of school songs should be good poetry, and should adorn such subjects as Love of Country, Home-loving, the Golden Rule, etc. Songs containing moral precepts and lessons, and songs of the affections generally, will surely develop like sentiments in the children who sing them. In no better way can a code of morals be taught, or the sensibilities and emotions be so trained and developed into their better and higher uses, as through the instrumentality of song.

It is not to be overlooked that singing imparts to the speaking and reading voice a smoother and sweeter quality of tone. This, too, is a matter of practical importance; for a sweet, smooth, and well-modulated voice imparts to the possessor's conversation in society, at home, or in the sick room, a rare and desirable charm. The enthusiastic David S. White says, "In the future the culture of the singing and speaking voice, and so of the ear, will be the means of moral culture, and music will be considered the most important subject taught in the schools, the basis of all true education." We all can feel the soothing and persuasive power of the smooth and well trained voice, and we

know its value in the business and social relations of life; but it is of still greater worth to the teacher; it has been said that "a teacher with a pleasant voice, expressing high moral quality, will cultivate the moral character of her pupils by the mere tones of her voice, without saying a word about morals, more than would a teacher with an unpleasant voice who should teach them all the moral maxims in the world. Mental culture comes chiefly through the eye; moral culture through the ear and voice. The culture of the voice and the ear, then, is of primary importance. The best means of culture is singing."

If a young man leaving home and going into a strange community can sing well, he at once gains an entrance into the higher grade of society, and may thus be saved from degrading influences. The musical accomplishments of Beethoven, while but a lad, attracted and retained the powerful friendship of the Breunings, whose refining and elevating moral influences saved to the world its greatest composer and musician. A song, heard in the street, so touched a good woman's heart that she made a home for the boy-singer in her house, and saved to the world Luther, whose life's work was so great that it has been said that "no person lives in Christendom whose life is not different because Luther lived and worked four hundred years ago."

A person may have sterling virtues; he may be honest and truthful, patriotic and brave, energetic and industrious, without knowing music; but if he can also sing, he will be a better citizen, a more valuable member of the community and the state, because of his refining and elevating influences. Yes, and his own refinements will have a superior quality and flavor not possessed otherwise.

But there are other than moral reasons why singing should be a part of our school education. Music has its own disciplinary advantages; it promotes quickness and precision in mental activity; and the study of its principles (often profound, often subtle, and always stimulating the judgment) has commanded the attention of some men eminent in other departments of science. Moreover, it is an acknowledged fact that the mind makes its best effort when delighted and enthusiastic in its work. This is the fundamental idea of the kindergarten method. All musicians and singers know that the delight of singing spurs one on to the keenest and acutest perception and thinking.

A school-room full of fatigued children can be effectually refreshed by the singing of a hearty song, so that they return to their studies with a new zest and interest. Even at the end of the school day, when every other exercise is wearisome, children will express intense delight in their singing. This is an every day experience of thousands of teachers. It is too often thought that the time of childhood and youth is of but little worth, when in truth no period of life is more valuable; for in childhood are laid the foundations of whatever we attain in the mental and moral culture and graces of the matured lady or gentleman.