History of the public school system of California.

122 INSTITUTE ADDRESSES.
cruits, drilled in the public schools, will push their way across the"
continent, as the Saxons set out from their northern hives, a vast
army of occupation, cultivating the "National Homestead," and fortifying the whole line of communication by a cordon of schoolhouses
that shall hold it forever as the heritage of free labor, free men and
a free nation.
"So shall the Northern pioneer go joyful on his way,
To wed Penobscot's waters to San Francisco's Bay
To make the rugged places smooth, to sow the vales with grain,
And bear, with Liberty and Law, the Bible in his train;
The mighty West shall bless the East, and sea shall answer sea,
And mountain unto mountain call, PRAISE GOD, FOR WE ARE FREE!
3. METHODS OF TEACHING.*
The common schools are established by law, for the purpose of
affording to all the children in the State the means of obtaining a
good education, at the public expense. Their design is to have
knowledge as common among the people, as are water, air, and the
sunlight. They are planted deep in the affections of the people.
Their importance cannot be overstated. Any attempt to improve
them, or to render them more useful, deserves the encouragement
of every good citizen. I understand that the object of this Institute, composed of teachers from various parts of the State, is to
interchange views in relation to the great cause of education, in
order to assist one another in the practice of their profession.
So much has been written upon the subject of education, that it
would seem to have been exhausted long ago. Yet it is, in fact, as
inexhaustible as human nature. It comprehends and applies to all
men, from the cradle to the grave, under all circumstances, and
with all their varieties and peculiarities of character. It endeavors
to ascertain the true and philosophical system of human culture, to
point out the best methods of teaching, of maintaining good order,
of preserving the health, and of developing all the faculties in the
natural order, so as to produce the best results for the individual
and the community.
The object of the present meeting is more specifically to improve,
in every possible manner, the condition of the common schools of
this State. We wish to render these fountains, at which the great
mass of the people drink, as pure and invigorating as possible.
My purpose is then to take some of the ordinary branches taught
in the common schools, and to state what I think the best methods
of giving instruction in them. Before doing so, however, let me
present a few general considerations.
Although the practice of teaching must have begun in Paradise (indeed, according to the pious legends of the Rabbins, Adam
was not only the first man, but also the first schoolmaster, aided by
Enoch, I suppose, as his first assistant), yet it is nearly certain that
no great improvements were generally effected in the art of teaching, and that there never was known such a thing as the philosophy
of teaching, until the institution of common schools, and. in point
* Read before the St.te Teachers' Institute, 1861, by George W. Minns.