"
He must know and he must love to teach his pupils not the meager
elements of knowledge, but the secret and the use of their own
intellectual strength, exciting and enabling them hereafter to raise for
themselves the veil which covers the majestic form of Truth. He must
feel deeply the reverence due to the youthful mind fraught with mighty
though undeveloped energies and affections, and mysterious and eternal
destinies. Thence he must have learned to reverence himself and his
profession, and to look upon its otherwise ill-requited toils as their
own exceeding great reward.
If such are the difficulties and the discouragements, such the duties,
the motives, and the consolations of teachers who are worthy of that
name and trust, how imperious then the obligation upon every enlightened
citizen who knows and feels the value of such men to aid them, to cheer
them, and to honor them.
But let us not be content with barren honor to buried merit. Let us
prove our gratitude to the dead by faithfully endeavoring to elevate the
station, to enlarge the usefulness, and to raise the character of the
schoolmaster amongst us. Thus shall we best testify our gratitude to the
teachers and guides of our own youth, thus best serve our country,
and thus most effectually diffuse over our land light, and truth, and
virtue.
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