teacher on his downward career helped only by Amy Kelly and finally saved by Mr. Bright. In it you can see the truth of the poet's words: "No change in childhood's early day, No storm that raged, no thought that ran Dodd's first teacher was Miss Stone; her name was significant. She was beautiful, trained in a normal, but was soulless, artificial, possessed no originality and wore an everlasting smile. Dodd learned to hate school-that was all. Dodd's next teacher was Amos Waughhops (Wops). He had no education, but he could "argy"— and got the school in "Deestrict" No. 4. Amos had a grudge against Dodd's father and to satisfy it began with Dodd who bore the slings and arrows with a good deal of fortitude and seemed to avoid the clash, but one day matters came to a climax-Dodd left school and resolved never to return. After some time Dodd was induced to give school another trial. This time Amy Kelly taught him. Amy was not so well trained as Miss Stone, but she was not afraid of work, she had good sense and used it freely; she was a girl of resources. Before the first day was over the evolution in Dodd's soul was a measurable quantity. Dodd's next teacher was Miss Spinacher. She had a hobby of keeping her pupils perpetually face front, and of having them sit up straight all the time, with folded arms, so that the school had the appearance of a deal board stuck full of stiff pegs, all in rows. Dodd did not do well under such a teacher. Who could? Under Mr. Sliman, Dodd's next teacher, Dodd learned much of the wisdom of the world. Before long he could look Mr. Sliman squarely in the eye and say "perfect" even when he had whispered all day. Mr. Sliman wanted a good record to show visitors. Then Dodd went to Mr. Sharp. From seeing him manipulate the "attendance" record Dodd learned that there were two records-a real one and a "show" one. The latter was the foundation of much of Mr. Sharp's glory; it was the one the School Board saw! Dodd saw it, too, and, in the words of the author, W. H. Smith, "Mr. Sharp watered what Mr. Sliman planted," and Dodd's unformed character suffered the effect. Then Dodd went to Miss Slack and Miss Trotter; then to Mr. Skimhole, later to Mr. Loosely, Mr. Rattler, Striker, Bluffer and Smiley; all of these-and their names are indicative of their conduct-had a hand in forming Dodd's character. Then Dodd went to Mrs. Highton who was poor but proud; she taught school because she had to do something; she hated her pupils and they returned the compliment with interest. She resorted to all kinds of punishments. There was rebellion of which Dodd seemed to be the leader; and Mrs. Highton decided to have him suspended. He was. It was during winter when skating was good; it hurt him awfully to be suspended at such a time. He returned at the end of the suspension, was suspended again and finally expelled. Mrs. Highton drew her salary of $55 a month just the same. Dodd was now a stout, awkward boy, reckless and defiant. There are more like him. Who will extend to them a helping hand? At the age of seventeen Dodd was a swaggering, profane, vulgar fellow who ate his meals at home and slept there, but further than that lived apart from his parents who every day regretted that he had ever been born. His father feared him; he was the terror of his brothers and sisters. There seemed no hope for him. Finally Dodd went to school again; his career in Mr. Bright's school is well worth reading but it is too long to relate here. Through almost infinite patience but with great firmness, hard work and relentless skill; with tact, courage and perseverance Mr. Bright succeeded in undoing the evil work done by his former teachers-finally succeeded in leading Dodd to make a respectable man of himself. Dodd is only a type and the teachers are types-happily now disappearing. Compare Dodd under the leadership of Amy Kelly and Mr. Bright on one hand, and the Messrs. Sliman, Sharp and the rest of them on the other before pronouncing on the importance of the conduct of the teacher in the classroom. July 13, '11. SISTER M. GENEROSE. THE SCHOOL SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME IN AMERICA The Congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame is a community of Sisters who devote themselves mainly to the education of youth in the parochial schools. This Congregation was founded in the early part of the seventeenth century by St. Peter Fourier, regular canon of the Order of St. Augustine. The Order spread rapidly and Mother Alexia, the first superioress, saw it extend over France before her holy death, which occurred in January, 1622. It shared the fate, however, of other religious orders during the horrors of the revolution; its houses were either destroyed or confiscated and the community was disbanded. In 1833, the Order was re-established in Europe, and fourteen years after its re-establishment the Redemptorist Fathers obtained permission from the Rt. Rev. Michael O'Connor, the first bishop of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to secure School Sisters of Notre Dame for St. Mary's, Elk County, Pennsylvania. In July, 1847, the first colony of School Sisters arrived in New York. Among the Sisters who composed the little band that landed on the shores of the New World on that memorable July day was Mother Caroline, of sainted memory. This holy religious taught the school at St. Mary's, and was, therefore, the first School Sister to take charge of an American school. The Sisters remained at St. Mary's but a short time, as they were called to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1847, where a permanent foundation was laid, which is the present seat of the Motherhouse of the eastern province. In 1850 the first and chief Motherhouse of the order in this country was established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Mother Mary Caroline was appointed Superior of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in America. How poor, helpless, and insignificant does she not appear when in 1850 she arrives in Milwaukee with her little band and settles on the bleak hill, with its wide outlook over the waters of Lake Michigan. What had she, but a clear mind, a brave heart, a pure conscience and implicit trust in God? But the great wonder workers of days apostolic have been no better equipped; she began to labor and to suffer, and in a few years a convent arose on the brow of St. Mary's Hill to which thousands of tender, loving souls continue to flock, like birds that turn from wintry climes to seek fairer lands. For forty years this generous and heroic soul labored in the cause of Christian education, making the Congregation of Notre Dame cosmopolitan in its kind and a stronghold of educational power. In its ranks are daughters of America, Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Poland, Bohemia, Holland, Italy and Spain, all animated by the same apostolic spirit, by which they become "all to all." According to the latest statistics the School Sisters of Notre Dame number 3,500 Sisters distributed among 256 mission houses in eighteen States and Canada, teaching more than 100,000 pupils. Of this number 92,000 attend their parochial schools, 5,000 their academies and other institutions of higher education, while 2,347 orphans find house and home and parental care at their hands. The parable of the mustard seed has rarely been more beautifully illustrated than in the rapid growth of the Congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. For humble as had been the beginning of this great teaching order beyond the sea, it soon became apparent that Providence had assigned to it a special work, not merely in the Old but also in the New World, where the current of immigration and the consequent, rapid development of |