ORGANIZATION OF AN INSTITUTE.

TIME FOR HOLDING THE INSTITUTE.-The most ap propriate time for an Institute is that immediately preceding the opening of the schools for the season, or in the early part of the school-term. The teachers, at this time, will display greater anxiety to learn, and will be enabled immediately to make a practical use of what they have gained. In cities and villages, where the schools are kept open during a greater portion of the year, the time of holding it is immaterial, provided it is convenient for the people, and will be favorable for a general attendance. Election and holidays should be avoided. It is the teacher's week of jubilee in itself, and should not be interfered with by festivals or public days. in sections where the traveling is bad, a time should be preferred when the roads will be settled, and that time in the month when there are moonlight evenings.

NOTICE OF MEETING.-Notice should be given of the time and place of meeting through the newspapers, and, so far as practicable, should include a schedule of the exercises, and the names of Instructors and Lecturers. It ought to be inserted in the

papers as an editorial, where it will attract attention; and there are few publishers in the country who will refuse to give it such a position. When notice can not be efficiently given through the newspapers, it should be done by hand-bills and circulars. A full notice should be secured at all hazards, and every facility for a full attendance should be extended. The precise hour in the day at which the Instituto will be organized, and the exercises will commence, should be distinctly stated, so that the members may be punctually present, and not, as is too often the case, be a day or two in getting together. Not a moment of time or a single remark should be lost.

HOW LONG CONTINUE.-An Institute should not convene for a less time than one week, when suitable Instructors can be secured for conducting it; nor is it advisable to have it continue longer than a week or ten days. Experience has taught, that an Institute of a week's continuance has met with far better success than those of either longer or shorter dura-tion. It is hardly worth while for a general assembling of teachers, from all parts of a county, for a less time than a week; and it is often not convenient for them to stay longer, and in some instances might become burdensome for the people to furnish entertainment longer, especially in places where hotel accommodations are limited. Besides, the exercises sometimes become dull and monotonous, when continued; and Instructors may, if the matter of their

discourses is properly digested, present it with more vigor and effect in one, than in two weeks, and may succeed in creating more enthusiasm, and do greater good, than if more extended and diffuse. When it is kept in session two, four, or six weeks, the nature of the instruction must necessarily be similar to that adopted in normal classes, and is hence changed to normal school, and should be known by that name.

PLACE OF MEETING. This should not always be where it is sure of the most cordial reception, and the largest and most enthusiastic audiences. The Institute should sometimes perform the offices of a missionary. A section where there is indifference, will never fail to be aroused and warmed by the presence of a good Institute in its midst. It is not judicious, however, to select such a place, unless there is some good active teacher or citizen in it who desires it held there, will labor for it, and will form a connecting link between people and Institute. Some enterprising village will often do more than the large towns and cities. It ought not to be confined to any one locality. Its influence should be given to each section in turn, always selecting that place where the best prospect of success and the greatest need seem to be most strongly united. A joint Institute be tween two counties, at some convenient point, is attended with many good results. The teachers in the outskirts of the counties are thus accommodated. The sympathies of a portion of people are enlisted,

who would not otherwise be reached, and the leading teachers of the two counties, with their Superintendents, can thus render each other mutual assistance. COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.-When the time and place of holding the Institute have been fixed, it is desirable that citizens or school-officers of the locality chosen, should designate some persons to act as a committee of arrangements. It is proper for this committee to secure a place for meeting, and to extend an invitation to such citizens as are disposed to entertain teachers coming from a distance. They should make a list of such families, and the number each can accommodate, for use at the opening of the session. It may seem like a burden, at first, for families to furnish such entertainment; but if the deportment of teachers is judicious, the hearts of such are always opened, and a feeling of satisfaction and pride is felt in the end. Aside from the aid and encouragement which is thus afforded teachers, the interest which is thereby excited in the feelings of the people, and the personal responsibility and co-operation which is engendered, furnishes the strongest motive for encouraging it. It should not be forgotten, that one of the objects of the Institute is the formation of such a bond of sympathy, and this is one of the means to be employed for establishing it.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.-The executive committee are charged with making provision, some time previous to the meeting, for all the literary exercises.

The chairman of this committee should be the County Superintendent, or some person who is well ac quainted with the teachers of the county, and who will make it his business, in conjunction with his associates, to secure the Lecturers,* make arrangements for their coming and going, fix the time on which cach is to speak, and attend to their reception-engage Instructors who shall give daily lessons in each of the branches to be taught-correspond with teachers to have essays written and ready to be delivered -and to have vocal and instrumental music prepared. All these arrangements should be made a sufficient time previous to the meeting to allow of all necessary preparations.

ORGANIZATION. Too much time is frequently squandered in organizing. If the Institute has had a previous existence, and is provided with a constitution, the only detention from the regular order is the choice of officers. But if an original organization is to be made, it is best to choose a temporary chair man, and appoint a committee on permanent organ ization, and another on the formation of a constitu tion. Then let the instructors commence immediate ly upon their regular business, and the constitution and list of permanent officers can be reported and

* The term Lecturer, when used in these pages, is employed to designate the man who delivers the formal lecture for the evening session; the term Instructor, to indicate the person who gives the reg ular daily lessons in one of the school branches; and Teacher, to refer to the members of the Institute.