she sees into the souls of people; nor does she perhaps know herself; but she does it, and that is enough for me. Perhaps her study of Shakespeare may have had something to do with it; for there is no other author who, in his works, affords a better opportunity or a fairer field for learning something of human nature and human character than Shakespeare. They talk about a woman's sphere As though it had a limit; There's not a place in earth or heaven, There's not a whisper, Yes or Nc, CHAPTER XXII. THE TEACHING AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN. HE first thing to be done by one who wishes to become a public-school teacher is to obtain a certificate, or license to teach; for no person can draw a salary as a teacher in a public school unless he or she has obtained a certificate, which guarantees that the applicant has acquired the knowledge necessary to be able to teach. This knowledge may be acquired in any school, or in no school. All that is required of the applicant is that he or she be of good moral character and at least eighteen years of age. Most of our publicschool teachers graduate from the public school, which shows that the knowledge obtained there is sufficient. When I say the public school, I include of course the high-school and the normal school; though many teachers never enter either. But the greatest school of all is the school of self-effort, in which most of those who excel receive their training, and in which one may receive an education that will fit him for any position whatever. Now if you make up your mind to try for a certificate, and wish to know in what branches you will be examined, and the nature of the questions that will be put to you, all you have to do is to address a note to the city or county superintendent, asking him to be so kind as to send you a copy of the last set of examination questions, which are all printed on one sheet, and which he will readily send you. Then you must get the necessary books, and prime yourself for this examination. The best of us must do that; for a great deal is asked that is seldom or never used. If you once pass the examination for the lowest grade, which is not difficult, you will find the next easier; for you gradually get into the way of solving questions and problems as well as of asking and forming them. The Germans say that he who learns A is sure to learn B; and so he who takes the first step is sure to take the second, and with pluck and perseverance, the third also. The teacher who has a first-grade certificate is generally regarded as a superior person, and likely to receive a superior salary. As to a position in a private school, that is another matter. Here any certificate may be useful, though none is absolutely necessary. You are judged here more by your general appearance and apparent fitness to teach than by anything else. A position in a private school is often superior to one in a public school; for in private schools the salaries are generally higher and the classes smaller; fine qualities of conduct, manner, speech, and carriage are more highly esteemed; and there are no ever-recurring examinations to be gone through. Sometimes the principal of a private school puts the applicant through a course of trial lessons be fore a class in his presence, and decides as to his fitness by the manner in which he conducts himself in these. I once heard of a principal who, laying down his silk hat as he entered the class-room, said to the candidate for a position in his school, "Could you teach geography from that hat?" Of course, one who knows how to teach could do this; for he would instantly perceive that attention could be drawn to the material of which the hat is composed, to the manner in which silk is produced, to the worms that produce it, the trees on whose leaves they live, the country in which these trees grow, etc.; and thus would originate a fine lesson on Italy and the Italians. But the candidate in this instance was a novice, who had no idea of such a thing; he thought he must have at least a geography, or a globe; and so he failed to secure the position he sought. When you have passed your examination and secured a certificate, you should address a note of application to each board of education within hailing distance of your residence. In this note you should state where you were educated (if in the school of self-effort, all the better), the date of your certificate, the amount of your experience, if you have any, and any other important fact illustrating your capacity and fitness to teach. This note of application is filed; the name of the applicant is registered; and, when a vacancy occurs the applicant stands a fair chance of being appointed. That is how things are done with us. Of course, personal application and solicitation go a great way; but an honest board will give the preference to the most capable candidate. I should not, however, confine myself to public schools: I should apply to private schools as well, for the reasons I have already stated. One of my teachers, who had only $375 a year, applied for an increase of salary: being refused, she made application to a private school in New York (where she was tested in the manner above described), and immediately received an appointment with $600 a year. When I returned from Germany, I procured the names and addresses of the chief private schools in New York city; and, setting out at eight o'clock in the morning, I visited the principal or proprietor of a dozen schools, and secured two situations in three days, one in a day-school and the other in a night-school. As to the salaries in the public school, they vary according to the locality; the cities pay more than the towns, the towns more than the villages. They range all the way from $200 to $2,000 a year for women, and about twice as much for men. But the men are nearly all principals, the women nearly all class-teachers. Now as to who should become teachers—I mean who, among all those looking for a profession, or who, among all those engaged in other and less satisfactory pursuits, should endeavor to enter this profession-I think that every young woman who has a love for study, for intellectual pursuits, who is fond of reading and enlarging her stock of knowledge, should become a teacher; for the very fact that she is animated by a passion for study and a thirst for knowledge indicates that the Creator meant she should live by spreading knowledge among others, and letting her light shine so as to "give light unto all that are in the house." I do not insist upon her having a fondness for children; if she have no aversion to them, that is sufficient. The |