Mr. Edwin P. Seaver, superintendent of the Boston public schools, spoke in Seaver 11 last night on "Teaching as a Profession."

Mr. Seaver said that one of the first qualifications of a teacher should be control. He could scarcely imagine a more unhappy man than one who chose teaching as his vocation without possessing this qualification. Each man must solve the problems for him self which arise in the profession. The men who is in doubt as to the choice of teaching for his vocation should get employment in some school and decide the question in the light of a few years' experience. Formerly it was the custom of college men to acquire experience by teaching the district schools, but these are no longer open to them.

There is a marked tendency among employers to choose men who intend to make teaching their life work. Teaching and studying to perfect one's self in some other profession at the same time, can be done, but the cases are rare in which both tasks are done justice. For beginners in teaching the, position of assistant in a high school offers large advantages for acquiring experience in school government, or, better still, the principalship of a small school. The best course is to assume the latter first and then to advance to a larger school.

The city of Boston has annual examinations for candidates for teachers. But to be qualified to enter the examinations a man must have graduated from a normal school or have taught one year. A certificate of having passed satisfactorily in these examinations is necessary for obtaining employment as a teacher in Boston public schools. Larger cities can demand that all male teachers at least should have had some experience, but smaller ones cannot always do this.

The tendency of men from colleges, especially from Harvard, is away from elementary instruction. Indeed, to enter this requires some special preparation and knowledge. The principles of good teaching remain the same from the kindergarten to the college. The difference is in the application of them. The ideal preparation for teaching would be a thorough college course, and then a year in a normal school. Every teacher should have some pursuit with which he may employ his outside time. The narrowing tendency of teaching is very great.

The money rewards of teaching are small. Its greatest and most delightful return is the many deep and lasting friendships formed between the teacher and his pupils. The teacher should remember his relation to his pupils, that on his side there are strong moral obligations which he must observe. He should try to be what he would have his pupils to be.