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LARKIN DUNTON 
 

 
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SERVICE IN MEMORY OF 
 
 LARKIN DUNTON 
 
 [1828.- 1899] 
 
 HELD AT THE 
 
 BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL 
 
 APRIL 28, 1 900 
 
 Boston 
 
 Printed for Private Circulation 
 
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Introduction 
 
 THOSE of us whose great privilege it 
 was to attend the service recorded in this 
 little volume will rejoice that others are, in a 
 sense, to share the memory of that service with 
 us. We wish that it were possible to perpetu- 
 ate, not merely the words that were spoken, but 
 the complete beauty of that touching memo- 
 rial. As we entered the old school hall, where 
 we had so often sat at the feet of our dear mas- 
 ter, we were greeted by the grave, kind eyes of 
 the noble portrait which it had been our privi- 
 lege to secure in the days when his strength 
 was as yet unimpaired. The portrait had been 
 placed upon the platform where he had sat to 
 teach us ; and all around it in great profusion 
 bloomed the flowers that he had loved. The 
 room was sweet with their fragrance and 
 hushed by the solemn notes of Handel's " Lar- 
 go." Those of us who were there can hardly 
 read the pages that follow without seeming to 
 see again the beloved face with the flowers 
 about it, and to hear again the deep tones of 
 the 'cello, the sweet voice of the young singer, 
 and the strains of the dear, familiar hymns. 
 Almost all who took part in the service, and 
 almost all who share in it for the first time 
 through these pages, remember Dr. Dunton's 
 love for " Fountain of Light." Year after 
 
year at graduations and reunions we have sung 
 that hymn because he loved it. And all will 
 care to know that Mendelssohn's " Consola- 
 tion," played by the 'cello, was also very dear 
 to Dr. Dunton ; night after night during the 
 last months of his life he asked for it and lis- 
 tened to it before he fell asleep. 
 Those of us who knew him best had often 
 occasion to mark that although he had not 
 received especial training in music and art and 
 literature, and never made any pretension to a 
 large knowledge of those subjects, it was al- 
 ways the best they had to offer that he most 
 cared for. It was characteristic that the noble 
 measures of " Fountain of Light " — adapted 
 from a great Haydn symphony — should have 
 appealed to him so strongly. His old pupils 
 will never forget the deep feeling with which 
 he always spoke of Raphael's Sistine Madonna 
 and of the hours that he had spent in Dresden 
 sitting reverently before it. It was my especial 
 privilege to spend many hours in reading poetry 
 with him, because of some work for children 
 which we were planning together. I would 
 pass one poem after another to him and wait 
 for his decision as to its value to " the little 
 folks," as he so loved to call them. His 
 pleasure in what he read was beautiful to see ; 
 sometimes it was positive delight. When the 
 melody of the poem especially pleased him, or 
 when the glimpses of nature brought back the 
 dear experiences of his own boyhood, he would 
 
 6 
 
read aloud with an almost boyish joy. I shall 
 never forget submitting to him a little poem 
 of William Blake's called « Infant Joy." He 
 read it aloud, exclaiming, with that never-to- 
 be-forgotten light in his eyes, " Beautiful, 
 beautiful ! " I once heard him say that in his 
 boyhood, attracted by its wonderful splendor 
 and dignity, he had committed to memory 
 chapter after chapter of the book of the Reve- 
 lation. This quiet but profound love of the 
 beautiful balanced the keen, logical quality of 
 his mind and gave a proportion to his whole 
 nature which we all recognized and which 
 was one of his greatest sources of strength. 
 Indeed, the balance and proportion of Dr. 
 Dunton's nature impressed very deeply those 
 who knew him best. To those who knew him 
 but slightly it may have seemed that some one 
 phase of his character — because of its con- 
 spicuous strength — was disproportionate to 
 the rest. Those who discussed educational 
 problems with him felt his intellectual grasp 
 and the force of his relentless logic ; those who 
 opposed him and those who toiled in sympathy 
 with him for the realization of some great pro- 
 fessional reform — such as tenure of office for 
 teachers — recognized his strong will, uncon- 
 querable by difficulty or defeat ; those who 
 came to him in trouble found him as tender- 
 hearted as a woman. The clear intellect, the 
 tender heart, the indomitable will, — these 
 made the complete man. 
 
In the pages that follow we shall find again 
 and again that what we would have said has 
 been said for us. Here we shall find the pro- 
 found gratitude which so many of us feel 
 expressed by one of the younger graduates, 
 Miss Clark, of the class of '92 ; and the closer 
 relation, natural and possible between teacher 
 and pupils when the school was small, recalled 
 by Mrs. Rand, of the class of '74. Here, too, 
 we have in Mr. Boyden's address a glimpse 
 of Dr. Dunton's earlier life — a glimpse so 
 touching and inspiring that we wish it were 
 possible to know more of those early, signifi- 
 cant years. Here, too, we may see what Dr. 
 Dunton was to the men and women with 
 whom he was associated in the larger educa- 
 tional interests. Mr. Seaver, as superintend- 
 ent of schools, Mr. Martin, as supervisor of 
 the Normal School, Dr. Courtney, as chair- 
 man of the special committee on the school, 
 Dr. Tetlow and Mr. Lincoln, representing the 
 high schools from which the Normal School 
 draws its pupils, Mr. Owen, representing the 
 grammar schools, and Miss Moses the corps 
 of teachers in the Normal School itself, here 
 speak of the many qualities which made his 
 life and work so strong and beautiful. The 
 voice that could have spoken most adequately 
 of Dr. Dunton's own inner life has long been 
 silent. The friendship between Dr. Dunton 
 and Delwin A. Hamlin was peculiarly close 
 and beautiful. Trained in the same arduous 
 
school of life ; graduates of the same college ; 
 associated in the same daily work; neighbors; 
 constant companions in reading, study, and 
 thought ; agreeing, and differing, and always 
 respecting each other's opinion ; they were 
 bound together as few men are. 
 Beautiful and complete as is the expression of 
 respect and gratitude and love found in these 
 pages, I doubt not that many will think of 
 some phase of Dr. Dunton's character or of 
 some especial cause for grateful memories that 
 has not found utterance here. It is good to 
 have it so; it is sweet to think that although 
 these spoke for all, each of us has her own 
 peculiar share of sorrow at his death, of grati- 
 tude for the strength and beauty of his life. 
 To some of us the first conception of what 
 teaching really is came through him ; for some 
 of us the meaning and duty of intellectual 
 honesty was first made clear by him ; to some 
 of us came, as we listened and learned, a truer 
 philosophy of life. It is for this last, I am 
 sure, that not a few of us would most ear- 
 nestly thank him. Life never seemed so full 
 of large responsibility, so crowded with great 
 opportunity, as when he spoke to us of it ; his 
 profound belief in the freedom of the will, the 
 absolute democracy of his point of view, and 
 his great faith in the possibilities of human 
 nature made us feel that we were in very truth 
 building our own lives. But his entire lack 
 of any morbid quality, his sanity, and his 
 
humor saved many an over-sensitive girl from 
 being crushed by the very sense of responsi- 
 bility which his own words had aroused. Aswe 
 talked and thought and worked with him, the 
 responsibility and the joy of living filled our 
 hearts. And they filled his heart as well. 
 Life, indeed, meant labor and struggle and oc- 
 casional defeat j but above all, it meant con- 
 stantly enlarging opportunity and ever-deep- 
 ening joy. 
 
 In the hymns which formed a part of the ser- 
 vice we may find — in words that he loved 
 — a confession of Dr. Dunton's own faith. 
 It was not merely the music of these hymns 
 that endeared them to him ; here a soul, hum- 
 ble, reverent, religious in the truest sense, 
 found expression for its faith. You will see, as 
 you read, that each of these hymns, although 
 in varying degree, recognizes the doubts, the 
 " long shadows," that are the portion of many 
 great and honest souls here. But behind the 
 shadow the light shone ; and as death drew 
 near, that "light that hath no shade" illu- 
 mined his soul and shone out in his face 
 
 As we recall the years of our friendship 
 with him, many memories come, over which 
 we love to linger. We see him in the class- 
 room, keen, earnest, almost severe, and then 
 suddenly transformed by some touch of sym- 
 pathy or flash of humor. We recall him with 
 some little child on his knee, brought perhaps 
 by its proud mother to be shown to her old 
 
 10 
 
teacher, his face all alive with delighted ap- 
 preciation and friendliness. Some of us knew 
 his fatherly sympathy when we ourselves were 
 in the glow of some new happiness or the 
 shadow of some great sorrow. We shall never 
 forget him in his own home, surrounded by 
 happy girl graduates, to whom year after year 
 he and his wife offered this charming hospi- 
 tality, which gave the crowning touch to a day 
 already full of sweet significance to a girl's 
 heart. We remember him, too, silent under 
 some sorrow of his own ; broken with grief, 
 but never embittered by it. Let us think of 
 him most often as we saw him after some long 
 separation, his hand outstretched to grasp ours, 
 his eyes smiling in welcome. 
 
 Katharine H. Shute. 
 
 i i 
 
Service 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Violoncello Solo. "Largo " Handel 
 
 Mr. Wulf Fries 
 
 Hymn "Fountain of Light" 
 
 Fountain of light and living breathy 
 Whose mercies never fail nor fade, 
 
 Fill us with life that hath no death. 
 Fill us with light that hath no shade ; 
 
 Appoint the remnant of our days 
 
 To see Thy power and sing Thy praise. 
 
 Great God, whose kingdom hath no end, 
 Into whose secrets none can dive, 
 
 Whose mercies none can apprehend, 
 Whose justice none can feel, and live ; 
 
 What our dull hearts cannot aspire 
 
 To know — Lord, teach us to admire. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 
 MR. WALLACE C. BOYDEN 
 
 We meet here to-day, not simply to mourn 
 the loss of our dear friend and teacher, Dr. 
 Dunton, but to recall once more his strong 
 manhood, his wise counsel and leadership, his 
 large-hearted and sympathetic love, his self- 
 
sacrificing devotion ; to congratulate ourselves 
 that our lives were brought into such close 
 contact with his noble life; and to reconse- 
 crate ourselves to the profession which he so 
 honored and loved, and which he often char- 
 acterized as doing the noblest work given 
 by God to man to do. He was our beloved 
 teacher and friend ; this will he continue to 
 be, and his memory will serve as an inspira- 
 tion to noble thought, kindly act, and earnest 
 endeavor. 
 
 A number of his friends and co-laborers will 
 speak to us this afternoon of the different 
 phases of his character which have been pre- 
 sented in this rich and well-rounded life. It 
 is my privilege to sketch very briefly the 
 story of his life. 
 
 Larkin Dunton was born in Concord, Maine, 
 July 22, 1828, in a log cabin back in the 
 woods twelve miles from the end of the stage 
 route. In accordance with the custom in 
 frontier life, as soon as he was able to use a 
 tool he took his place regularly with the other 
 workers on the farm, and continued to con- 
 tribute his full share to the support of the 
 family until he was nineteen years of age. 
 Time will not permit of even the simple 
 enumeration of the different sorts of manual 
 exercise which he performed as a boy ; but I 
 am sure that could you read such a list, you 
 would be surprised at the number and variety 
 of the things which he did during these years. 
 
 H 
 
He says himself, " I did not assist in making 
 the log cabin in which I was born ; I found 
 that ready for my occupancy on my first en- 
 trance into society. Almost every other lux- 
 ury that I enjoyed for the nineteen years that 
 I spent on the farm I assisted in producing." 
 Endowed by nature with a strong physique 
 and robust health, this severe enforced labor 
 in the exhilarating air of the Maine woods 
 laid a foundation of physical vigor sufficient to 
 meet the demands of a long life filled with un- 
 remitting hard work — it did more : it taught 
 him the value of careful preparation, and the 
 necessity of clearly seeing the end to be ac- 
 complished before one enters upon any under- 
 taking ; it trained him into habits of rapid and 
 exact action, into habits of frugality and in- 
 dustry. 
 
 But there was another side to this life. He 
 early showed an intense love for books and 
 study ; every book which he could obtain he 
 read and reread by the light of the open fire, 
 and longed for more. The few days on which 
 he could attend school were to him what holi- 
 days are to the children of to-day. 
 The story of the first book which he owned 
 is full of pathos, and gives us a glimpse of 
 the home conditions. After the mowing was 
 finished in the summer there were left a few 
 spears of grass here and there around the 
 stumps, rocks, and fences; from these he 
 carefully culled the seeds into a cup; this seed 
 
 J 5 
 
he could sell for two cents a pint. By this 
 laborious process he finally secured enough 
 money to buy the book, which cost, if I re- 
 member rightly, one dollar and forty cents; 
 and as he told me the story there was in his 
 voice the echo of the pride which he felt as 
 a boy as he walked home with the book un- 
 der his arm. 
 
 There was a definite understanding in those 
 days that a son's time belonged to his father 
 till he was twenty-one. Dr. Dunton could not 
 wait till that time, so strong had his desire for 
 learning become. He entered a school in Far- 
 mington at the age of nineteen, subsequently 
 paying his father in money for the two years 
 which he had taken to himself. He fitted for 
 college at Hallowell Academy, where he was 
 assistant teacher much of this time. Through- 
 out his life he spoke with the greatest affection 
 and interest of his old Hallowell teacher, Mr. 
 Withington, — " He was not a great scholar, 
 but I never knew a man who could so inspire 
 his pupils with a love for study. 'Is n't it beauti- 
 ful?' he would exclaim when we had mastered 
 a difficult subject, and we all agreed that it 
 was." May we not believe that right here were 
 firmly established in his life those character- 
 istic qualities of the Doctor, love for truth, * 
 admiration for true manhood, and delight in 
 mastering difficulties ? He was graduated in 
 1855 from Waterville College, now Colby 
 College, where he paid his way by teaching, 
 
 16 
 
and by such other work as he could obtain. 
 He taught one term each in Windsor, Solon, 
 and Damariscotta, two terms in Rumford, and 
 three terms in the outlying districts of Bath, 
 before completing his college course. 
 Although he had left his home and was now 
 thrown entirely on his own resources, yet at 
 regular intervals all through his academy and 
 college course he turned his steps toward home 
 and mother, riding in the stage as far as it 
 would carry him, and then walking the remain- 
 ing twelve miles. As he mounted to the crest 
 of the last hill, he has often told me, and 
 looked ahead, he could always see his mother 
 standing in front of the little house on the 
 lookout for him. For more than thirty years, 
 till the day of her death, he never failed to 
 make his annual visit to her in that humble 
 home. His strong principle, upright life, and 
 ready sympathy for the feeble and needy were 
 but the natural expression of a deeply tender 
 and affectionate nature. 
 
 After leaving college he studied law, was ad- 
 mitted to the Kennebec bar at Augusta, and 
 served as trial justice in Waterville. He also 
 taught one term as principal of the Hallowell 
 High School, two terms as assistant in the 
 Bath High School, two years as principal of 
 the Lincoln Academy, and seven and a half 
 years as principal of the Bath High School. 
 " Soon after I was elected principal of the 
 Bath High School," he once said, " I found 
 
 17 
 
teaching so very delightful that I decided to 
 abandon law and make teaching my life-work." 
 In 1867 he came to Boston as sub-master 
 of the Lawrence School, and was appointed 
 master of the school in the spring of 1868. 
 In 1872, when the Normal School was made 
 a separate institution, he was appointed its first 
 head master, which position he has held for 
 twenty-seven years, till September 1, 1899. 
 This school has been his real life-work, and it 
 stands to-day as his fitting monument. The 
 story of these years is familiar to you. You 
 know how he has constantly raised the stand- 
 ard of work in the school, always keeping it 
 in the forefront of progress ; how he has had 
 to defend its very life, which he did with signal 
 ability ; how he has taken an active interest 
 and part in the various educational associa- 
 tions, both national and local, and in whatever 
 tended to elevate the educational ideals and 
 improve the conditions of the teaching pro- 
 fession. These and many more things which 
 time will not permit me to mention have en- 
 tered into this rich, active, and successful life. 
 An earnest student and clear thinker, an affec- 
 tionate husband and father, a good citizen and 
 successful business man, a genial companion 
 and wise counsellor, an inspiring teacher and 
 loyal friend, Dr. Dunton will always stand as 
 a stalwart and leading figure in the history of 
 this school, and in the educational life of the 
 city of Boston. 
 
 18 
 
LETTER FROM 
 
 DR. JOHN TETLOW 
 
 My dear Mr. Boy den : 
 
 I deeply regret that a previous imperative en- 
 gagement has made it impossible for me to be 
 present at the service to be held in memory of 
 Dr. Dunton; and I gladly avail myself of your 
 kind invitation to send a few words in writing 
 as an expression of the high regard in which I 
 held him. 
 
 One of the earliest and best-remembered ex- 
 periences connected with my appointment to 
 the head-mastership of the Girls' High School 
 was a conference that I had with Dr. Dunton, 
 at his request, on the practical interpretation 
 to be put on that provision in the regulations 
 of the School Board which makes the recom- 
 mendation of the head masters of the high 
 schools necessary for the admission of their 
 graduates to the Normal School. I learned at 
 that conference how solicitous he was that 
 those who were to be trained to become teach- 
 ers in the primary and grammar schools of the 
 city should have,as a foundation for such train- 
 ing, the best possible equipment, in character, 
 aptitude, and scholarship, for their future work. 
 During our subsequent acquaintance there 
 were at least two occasions, separated by con- 
 siderable intervals of time, on which the exist- 
 ence of the Boston Normal School was im- 
 periled, not counting the comparatively recent 
 
movement for its absorption in a metropolitan 
 normal school. On these occasions I was 
 merely an interested observer and not an active 
 participant in the struggle to which the hostile 
 legislation that was threatened gave rise ; and 
 perhaps I give the strongest testimony that I 
 can offer to Dr. Dunton's fitness for educa- 
 tional leadership when I say that his masterly 
 presentation of the arguments which demon- 
 strate that the Normal School is an integral, 
 and therefore an indispensable, part of the city 
 school system, saved the school. 
 It is no disparagement to the teachers asso- 
 ciated with Dr. Dunton, many of whom he 
 trained, and most, if not all, of whom he se- 
 lected, or to the school authorities under whose 
 direction he worked, to say that the Boston 
 Normal School, as it now exists, is largely his 
 creation, as it is also his most fitting monu- 
 ment. Much as he owed to the loyal, intelli- 
 gent, and efficient co-operation, and doubtless, 
 too, to the wise original suggestions, of his 
 teachers, and greatly as he was aided by the 
 hearty support of the school authorities, I be- 
 lieve that both these classes of his helpers 
 would be among the foremost to acknowledge 
 his rightful claim to leadership. 
 I do not know what changes in organization, 
 in conditions of admission, in curriculum, or 
 in ideals, may take place in the Normal School 
 under your administration, which has begun 
 under the influence of the best traditions of 
 
 20 
 
the past. Doubtless there will be suchchanges. 
 But I am sure you will believe with me that, 
 in initiating in your own behalf, or in accept- 
 ing at the suggestion of others, such changes 
 as sound progress in educational thought and 
 practice may make desirable, you will be mak- 
 ing no break with the past, but will be follow- 
 ing the example and acting in the spirit of your 
 honored predecessor. 
 
 With best wishes for the school, yourself, and 
 the teachers associated with you, I am 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 John Tetlow. 
 Boston, April 23, 1900. 
 
 POEM BY 
 
 PHEBE ANGELIQUE DeLANDE 
 
 CLASS OF 1890 
 
 We cull the flowers of memory, 
 Love's dewy offering sweet, 
 
 And lay them in humility, 
 Dear Master, at thy feet. 
 
 Not lapse of time, nor change of place, 
 Nor care's corroding strife, 
 
 Can ever from our souls efface 
 The lessons of thy life. 
 
 And though thy steps have turned aside 
 More glorious paths to seek, 
 
 21 
 
Still doth thine influence abide, 
 O spirit strong and meek ! 
 
 An influence that hath no end, 
 
 Like ripples on the sea, 
 Whose widening circles shall extend 
 
 On to eternity. 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Solo. "To the Angels" Zardo 
 
 Qwith Violoncello obligato) 
 
 Miss Gertrude Newman 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 
 MR. EDWIN P. SEAVER 
 
 The life-work of Larkin Dunton has left traces 
 broad and deep upon the public schools of this 
 city. 
 
 The first head master of the Boston Normal 
 School ; holding this great office for more than 
 a quarter of a century \ inspiring and guiding 
 hundreds of young women in their preparation 
 for teaching and in their early practice of that 
 profession; expounding and defending the prin- 
 ciples that underlie normal instruction and 
 justify the existence of normal schools \ begin- 
 ning with his particular normal school when it 
 was but a feeble and unfavored offshoot of the 
 Girls' High School ; step by step establishing 
 
 22 
 
it in the confidence of the School Committee 
 and of the community ; protecting it on criti- 
 cal occasions against the assaults of powerful 
 adversaries ; fostering its growth ; enlarging 
 the scope of its work ; and raising the profes- 
 sional character of its graduates to a high 
 standard; — he has left this school, now, as 
 we hope, firmly established as an indispensable 
 part of our school system, a fitting monu- 
 ment to his memory as an educator. The man 
 and the institution are most intimately asso- 
 ciated. We do not think of the Boston Nor- 
 mal School without at once remembering Dr. 
 Dunton, nor of him often without reference 
 to the school he lived for and loved so well. 
 This is neither the time nor place for me to 
 attempt a full analysis and estimate of Dr. 
 Dunton's character as a man and as a teacher. 
 I can only speak briefly of two qualities in the 
 man which have impressed me most and have 
 long held my personal regard for him, — his 
 steadfastness and his sincerity. 
 His steadfastness was manifested both in 
 thought and in action. When he had once 
 carefully reasoned his way to a conviction and 
 had taken his stand upon it as a basis for action 
 no ordinary considerations could move him. 
 He stood as one who had looked the ground 
 all over and had chosen the best position from 
 which to act ; and his associates could depend 
 on finding him constantly there. Whether he 
 was acting with you or against you, you al- 
 
 23 
 
ways knew just where and how you would 
 find him. 
 
 In the realm of thought and philosophical 
 speculation this steadfastness of his made him 
 by nature a conservative. I once heard him 
 publicly describe himself as a conservative, 
 frankly opposed to much of the new and crude 
 educational thought of the day. Opinions with 
 him were serious matters, not to be adopted 
 lightly, nor lightly set aside. New opinions 
 must exhibit credentials, justify themselves in 
 reason, and recommend themselves in action. 
 Conclusions based on careful reasoning were 
 not to be upset save by reasoning more care- 
 ful and more cogent. 
 
 He has been criticised as an opponent of the 
 new psychology, as it is called. Perhaps it 
 would be more just to represent him not as 
 an opponent, but as a doubter or inquirer ask- 
 ing for proofs. He stood by the older intro- 
 spective psychology, while exploring the newer 
 to learn if it possessed superior claims to ac- 
 ceptance. He was unwilling to leave one step- 
 ping-stone of thought until he was sure of his 
 footing on the next. No theory, however fas- 
 cinating, could tempt him to brush aside in an 
 hour the accumulated thought of centuries. 
 I have coupled with Dr. Dunton's steadfast- 
 ness of character his sincerity. This especially 
 it was which made personal relations with him 
 so satisfactory. Of this I could bring many 
 illustrations out of a personal acquaintance and 
 
warm friendship which lasted between us un- 
 disturbed for twenty-five years. Often have 
 we been obliged to take opposing views of the 
 same policy ; often have we been placed in 
 relations that might, with some men, easily 
 have passed into mutual distrust or hostility ; 
 and on one supreme occasion, long ago, a se- 
 vere test was put upon the sincerity of our 
 mutual personal regard ; but I can now thank- 
 fully bear my testimony to the undoubted sin- 
 cerity of his friendship through all vicissitudes 
 from the beginning to the end. 
 On his characteristics as an educator or on 
 his opinions as a thinker our judgments may 
 perhaps differ; but of his noble sincerity as a 
 man no one who knew him well could have 
 any question. The " Fountain of Light " 
 flowed in his soul a clear, unsullied stream 
 throughout his sojourn here. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 MISS LOTTA Jff. C 
 
 This occasion, with its sad significance, car- 
 ries me back in memory to far-away Germany. 
 There, in the little town of Weimar, in a room 
 below a small chapel, lies all that remains on 
 this earth of the great poets Goethe and Schil- 
 ler. They rest there side by side, in large 
 wooden caskets, and these are hid with laurel 
 wreaths and flowers, tributes of loving rever- 
 
 25 
 
ence brought there by their admiring coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 It seems to me that to-day we are bringing 
 wreaths of remembrance to a shrine no less 
 honored and beloved. Some may bring them 
 in memory of friendship, comradeship, co- 
 workmanship. I, for the young women who 
 have graduated from this school, bring awreath 
 of gratitude — of heartfelt gratitude. Words 
 fail to express what it is for which we are to 
 be thankful to Dr. Dunton. We came to 
 him children ; we left him young women, each 
 prepared as well as she might be for her work 
 in life. We little guessed what a treasure it 
 was that he had given us ; but each year shows 
 us more and more clearly what a rich harvest 
 we may gather from the seed which he sowed, 
 the far-reaching power of the truths which he 
 taught us. 
 
 How can we express our thanks for such a 
 gift as this ? I lay down my wreath of grati- 
 tude in silence. 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Violoncello, (a) "Consolation" Mendelssohn 
 (£) "Adagio " Beethoven 
 
 Mr. Wulf Fries 
 
 26 
 
ADDRESS BY 
 
 MR. CHARLES J. LINCOLN 
 
 It seems to me more fitting that those who are 
 of the inner circle of this building should 
 be the ones whose tributes to our friend 
 we ought to hear ; for they knew him in that 
 intimacy in which a man most fully reveals, 
 because unconsciously, his real self, — some- 
 times, it would seem to me, even more fully 
 than he does in his own home. And yet I am 
 glad to lay my little wreath upon the memory 
 of Dr. Dunton. 
 
 While I say a few words as a representative 
 of the high schools, there is not much to be 
 said of the relationship of these schools with 
 the Normal School ; for the conditions of our 
 system and of the work of the Normal School 
 have been such that Dr. Dunton's intimate 
 relations have been with the grammar schools. 
 The dawning of a new day in this respect, 
 through the admission of college graduates to 
 the Normal School, begins to appear. But 
 our points of contact came largely at the 
 monthly meetings of the masters, and I 
 shall always carry with me, as I believe most 
 of us will, that picture of our friend sitting 
 at the end of the room at the superintendent's 
 left, in his accustomed chair. There were 
 older and perhaps more venerable men, men of 
 whiter heads and greater age, who sat adown 
 the line ; and yet he always produced on me 
 
 27 
 
the impression of the father of us all sitting 
 at the head of his family. This impression 
 came, I believe, not simply from the striking 
 form, but from the wisdom and breadth of 
 view which often made one feel that he had 
 said the last word. So in accord with the ap- 
 propriateness of things was it that he who was 
 at the culminating point of our whole corps, 
 who was the head of our highest institution, 
 should also have been one whose wisdom and 
 insight made all to understand that it was the 
 right man in the right place ! I believe that 
 this city has been peculiarly fortunate that such 
 a first head master of its Normal School should 
 have been granted these thirty years of service, 
 in order not simply that his own high nature 
 might take root in the institution, but so that 
 it could be said that the Normal School is the 
 incarnation of the spirit of Dr. Dunton. 
 I have another recollection of our friend, a 
 recollection which is both my admiration and 
 my despair. It is a growth from more than 
 one interview when in search of teachers. 
 The perfect transparency with which he would 
 lay bare a personality before one ! When I 
 have risen from an interview with him I have 
 wondered whether there was anything in the 
 inner life of a candidate which he had not 
 known. It was a most useful lesson in prac- 
 tical psychology, an admirable soul analysis. 
 Did he know all the pupils of his school in 
 that way ? Has he followed them so minutely 
 
 28 
 
in their later careers and known them in all 
 their successes and their failures ? But what 
 a contrast to the usual generalities which one 
 receives when in search of such information ! 
 He has all the data for a decision, and if one 
 knows his own conditions he knows whether 
 to accept or reject, and the responsibility is 
 his own. I do not recall an instance where 
 there was not the broadest spirit of helpful- 
 ness, the fairest discrimination, and no inclina- 
 tion to urge the claims of his own proteges. 
 But I said this was my despair and my admira- 
 tion. I should like to know my own pupils as 
 he knew his, that I might be of greater ser- 
 vice ; but I cannot. Again I say it was the 
 ordering of a good providence, — one of those 
 great good fortunes, the right man in the right 
 place. 
 
 Asking some who, in years gone by, had been 
 under his hand to give me some of their im- 
 pressions of our friend, quickly came from one 
 the reply : 
 
 " First of all, the ability to make one see one's 
 own self. He would bring to the surface and 
 hold up to the light one's little weaknesses, 
 of which there was only a half consciousness; 
 or little sins or neglects, the possession of 
 which one hardly wished to acknowledge and 
 it was supposed no one else knew." 
 Another, wise and strong, said : 
 " He stands a power at a crisis in my life. I 
 had evaded a plain duty in one way or another 
 
 29 
 
until I finally ran up against his strong nature, 
 and I attempted the same evasion with him ; 
 and the reply came simply, ' It is high time 
 you did it.' And all the excusing which had 
 satisfied myself and others failed. There was 
 no discussion with him. ' It is your duty, do 
 it.'" 
 
 Another says : " He had a power to make one 
 ashamed of unworthy work." 
 u His interest in the development of individual 
 character was intense." 
 
 "He made one feel the demand for thorough, 
 independent work." 
 
 There was with him a "constant demand for 
 earnestness, fidelity, enthusiasm, refinement." 
 And she speaks of his "just, discriminating 
 criticism of individual pupils." On these I 
 am not competent, and in this presence should 
 not presume, to enlarge. But to the care of 
 this man and his associates there has been no 
 hesitation or fear in committing the graduates 
 of our high schools, with the assurance that 
 every influence would be uplifting and that 
 our own work would meet with a discrimina- 
 ting estimate. 
 
 Some of us, too, carry another picture of our 
 friend, as he sat at the social board. Now, 
 not the schoolmaster, but the man, is upper- 
 most. Here he is with a group of twenty or 
 twenty-five kindred spirits, from which in his 
 years of strength he is rarely absent. He en- 
 ters as heartily into the jesting and the fun as 
 
 30 
 
into the higher themes. He again occupies an, 
 end of the table, and becomes one of the cen- 
 tres around which interest gathers. He is full 
 of anecdote and story when the drift is to fun, 
 and he is the man of wisdom when the thought 
 turns to superior things. And yet I cannot 
 recall an occasion when there was one jot of 
 abatement from the high dignity of his profes- 
 sion. I have been accustomed to read him as 
 an excellent admixture of the Puritan and the 
 man of the world. That strenuous youth of 
 which he has so admirably told us, which has 
 been spoken of to-day, and the account of 
 which I would advise any one to read who 
 would know what a boy of the Maine fron- 
 tier could do and had to do, and the difficulties 
 he had to contend against, left an abiding in- 
 fluence throughout his whole nature ; and this, 
 with those sterner views of life and religion, 
 was as a kind of ballast which he carried with 
 him to the end ; but they were mellowed by 
 the easier conditions of his later life, by the 
 broader outlook which seems to alter the per- 
 spective of things both of life and religion. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 
 MR. LINCOLN OWEN 
 
 For six years and more it was my unspeakable 
 privilege to live and labor with Dr. Dunton 
 under terms of the closest intimacy. I wish 
 at the very outset, in this presence, to express 
 
 3i 
 
my profound gratitude to Dr. Dunton for all 
 the blessed experiences of those years, which 
 have so abundantly enriched my own life. 
 I came to know Dr. Dunton intimately, first 
 of all, as the master of this large and impor- 
 tant professional school. I very soon found 
 that he was the head of the school, that his in- 
 fluence pervaded every department of it, that 
 he was thoroughly acquainted with all the de- 
 tails of the work ; and yet understanding his 
 intimate acquaintance with the details of the 
 work and the appropriate methods for all de- 
 partments of work, and understanding his 
 clear insight into the philosophy of teaching, 
 I found that he was big enough and discrimi- 
 nating enough to allow the beginner full free- 
 dom to express his own individuality in his 
 class-room instruction. 
 
 Dr. Dunton was intensely loyal to his corps 
 of teachers ; he was strongly devoted to this 
 school. Dr. Dunton was intensely loyal and 
 strongly devoted to the teaching fraternity 
 everywhere. It seems to me, however, that, 
 pre-eminently, he was strongly devoted to that 
 organization known as the Boston Masters' 
 Association. So careful and so considerate 
 was he of the welfare of the individual mem- 
 bers of that association that those of us who 
 knew him best came to say this : In Dr. 
 Dunton's view the Boston master as such can 
 do no wrong. Now, without attempting at all 
 to discuss the perspective of that position, 
 
 3 2 
 
there is in it for us all an important, up-to- 
 date lesson for the twentieth century. There 
 is need to-day in all grades of teachers, a 
 strong need, for greater professional courtesy, 
 greater professional charity, and greater mu- 
 tual helpfulness. 
 
 Dr. Dunton was an earnest and profound stu- 
 dent of his profession. It was my privilege to 
 read with him some ; I talked with him a great 
 deal. In the summer of 1 896 I went with him 
 to the meeting of the National Educational 
 Association at Buffalo. Dr. Harris, the United 
 States Commissioner of Education, was an- 
 nounced to give an important address upon 
 this topic : " How the Will Combines with 
 the Higher Orders of Knowing." Dr. Dunton 
 and I obtained the address in advance of its 
 delivery. He sat down and went through it 
 carefully in detail several times. He transla- 
 ted it into the terms of his psychology. Then 
 we unanimously agreed that every important 
 position that had been taken by Dr. Harris 
 was adequately provided for in Dr. Dunton's 
 scheme of instruction. Into the later debates 
 of the National Council Dr. Dunton entered 
 with great freedom, great courage, and signal 
 ability. It is my mature judgment that he 
 proved himself the peer of Dr. Hinsdale, 
 President DeGarmo, Dr. Harris, and other 
 lights of the National Council. 
 In the spring of 1896 Dr. Dunton prepared 
 an important address upon the science of edu- 
 
 33 
 
cation. This was one of the longest addresses 
 he ever prepared, and, in my judgment, it was 
 the best. It contained the essence of his teach- 
 ings upon the principles of education. I men- 
 tion these two important public services, as 
 late as 1895 and 1896, that I may centre your 
 thought upon the growing quality of his mind. 
 Dr. Dunton was a student ; he was growing, 
 and he continued to grow until that fatal after- 
 noon when he faltered here in- the harness. 
 Dr. Dunton was the most skilful and the most 
 consistent user of the inductive method of in- 
 struction that I have ever known. He was 
 so clear in his own thinking, and so discrimi- 
 nating in his own statements, that he accepted 
 nothing but clearness from his pupils. An un- 
 clear statement was to him evidence of unclear 
 thinking, and the first effort at revision was 
 an effort to revise the thought. 
 Dr. Dunton was visited in his room a great 
 deal as he taught his classes, and it used to be 
 a matter of regret to him that his visitors so 
 imperfectly understood the aim and purpose 
 of his work. I have many times heard him 
 express this regret, butusually his regret would 
 ultimatelv dissolve in some such philosophy 
 as this : " However, the visit is worth while 
 if the visitor has learned that pupils develop 
 just in proportion to their own effort." 
 Dr. Dunton's early training was in that primi- 
 tive and exacting school of experience which 
 seldom crushes a great spirit, but rather brings 
 
 34 
 
it forward molded, pruned, purified, softened, 
 strengthened. Dr. Dunton's ideals of life and 
 conduct were extremely high. His daily living 
 closely approximated his ideal. The type of 
 his life might be characterized as the appro- 
 priate life. He stimulated all who came under 
 his influence to more appropriate living. Long 
 may he continue to inspire us ! Long may he 
 live in our better lives ! 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Hymn "Lead, Kindly Light." 
 
 Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, 
 
 Lead Thou me on ; 
 The night is dark, and I am far from home, 
 
 Lead Thou me on ; 
 Keep Thou my feet ; I do not ask to see 
 The distant scene ; one step enough for me. 
 
 So long Thy power has blest me, sure it still 
 
 Will lead me on 
 O'er moor and fen, o 1 er crag and torrent, till 
 
 The night is gone, 
 And with the morn those angel faces smile 
 Which I have loved long since and lost awhile. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 
 DR. SAMUEL E. COURTNEY 
 
 When Mr. Boyden asked me to say a few 
 words at this meeting, I said to him that there 
 were those on the Board who knew Dr. 
 
 35 
 
Dunton better than I, those on the Board 
 who had associated with him longer than I, 
 but, as chairman of the committee on the 
 Normal School, I said it would be a pleasure 
 to add a few words at this time. 
 I was associated with Dr. Dunton on the 
 Normal School Committee something less 
 than three years. During that time a warm 
 personal friendship developed between Dr. 
 Dunton and myself. Big, whole-souled, noble- 
 hearted man as he was, no one in the posi- 
 tion in which I was could associate with him 
 for any length of time unless he learned to love 
 him as I learned to love him. In performing 
 the duty which I had on the Normal School 
 Committee, it was always a pleasure, it was 
 always inspiring, to meet with Dr. Dunton. 
 My first year's association was with Judge 
 Adams, Mrs. Ames, Mrs. Fifield, and Mr. 
 Hubbard. Those were the stormy days in 
 the history of this school, and I can never 
 forget the sound, logical talks which he used 
 to give that committee upon this school ; and, 
 friends, with Dr. Dunton we always felt that 
 we had a wise, conservative counsellor, and I 
 can say to-day personally that I have never 
 had a better counsellor than Dr. Dunton. 
 During my short period with him on the 
 Board I spent much time with him. My 
 business being with this school, it called me 
 to be with him, and our time in arranging for 
 the school was pleasantly spent. One thing 
 
 3 6 
 
I should like to say, and I feel as though it 
 ought to be said at this juncture. The people 
 whom I have the pleasure of representing in 
 this city owe an especial debt of gratitude 
 to Dr. Dunton. It was through his efforts, 
 through his big-heartedness, that one of them 
 was first made a teacher in this city. That 
 we can never forget, because he was a man 
 who lived above conditions. So it is and so 
 it was with Dr. Dunton. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 MISS L. T. MOSES 
 
 When, to our human view, a great and good 
 work is finished, it is seemly that those who 
 have most benefited by that work should con- 
 sider its nature and extent, with the high pur- 
 pose of making their own lives more useful 
 because of what they have received. 
 To-day it is our privilege to consider the 
 earthly part of a life so helpful, so far-reach- 
 ing, so inspiring, that its work will go on as 
 long as we live and as long as those for whom 
 we work shall live; nay, even beyond that. 
 It behooves us to do this for the sake of 
 others ; that by our endeavor we can con- 
 tinue his work, his spirit, his power, and so 
 through us his work can go on. Perhaps we 
 can profit most from the consideration of 
 some of the qualities that made this life so 
 valuable to those whom it touched. 
 
 37 
 
Dr. Dunton was always a student, a deep 
 and earnest student. His pleasure was in the 
 study of his profession, and he was only 
 satisfied when he had thought out clearly and 
 to its very elements any subject connected 
 with his work ; whether the subject were a 
 method of teaching, or the action of the will 
 in the formation of character, it was neces- 
 sary for him to go to the very foundation 
 of it. 
 
 He was ever a progressive teacher. For 
 years, in order to know the power and char- 
 acter of different pupils, I used to go into 
 Dr. Dunton's classes, and so had the oppor- 
 tunity to know of his growth as a teacher; 
 and till his health was impaired it always 
 seemed that the last work was the best. This 
 was especially true when the subject under 
 discussion touched the vital side of living — 
 a stronger and stronger spiritual grasp was 
 his. In his simple strength he often rose to 
 eloquence. That his teaching moved and in- 
 spired to high living you can testify with no 
 uncertain accent. 
 
 For this school, which, next to his family, 
 he loved, his plans were constantly progres- 
 sive. One only need to know its history to 
 see the steady growth of him who planned it. 
 His plans that his school should do a great 
 work for Boston he was prevented from 
 carrying out. How well I remember what 
 they were, and how clearly he had worked 
 
them out ! His thought was that a city 
 normal school should come into close contact 
 with every teacher in the city; so he planned 
 and started a series of Saturday morning les- 
 sons on various subjects, given by supervisors 
 and teachers who were experts in those sub- 
 jects. He often said, " Suppose this work 
 could be carried on for ten years ; Boston 
 would have such a system of schools as it 
 would be hard to match in the country. " 
 But the Normal School idea was not yet 
 rooted in the minds of the powers that were, 
 and so other plans carried the day, and the 
 energy and far-sighted judgment that should 
 have been used for wide benefit to Boston 
 must be used for years in planning and strug- 
 gling for existence. Are there just now hope- 
 ful signs of the dawning of a brighter day 
 when great executive power can be applied 
 to its legitimate work ? For us and for all 
 educational work let us hope so. 
 A man of firmness and sound judgment was 
 our friend. So true was he to his convic- 
 tions that he was never able to understand 
 how any one could see the right course and 
 follow any other. So his life was strong and 
 consistent. His judgment on any matter was 
 always sound and practical. And his profes- 
 sional insight, — shall I call it? — that sort 
 of professional sense that comes with long 
 and deep study, was always clear and true. 
 I never heard a topic in any way related to 
 
 39 
 
his profession broached that he was not ready 
 to give a clear, practical, and sound judgment 
 concerning it. At one of the meetings of the 
 Normal Council of New England the princi- 
 pal of one of our most successful Massachu- 
 setts normal schools remarked after a hot and 
 varied discussion which Dr. Dunton had 
 closed with his usual clear, strong putting of 
 the subject, " However much others may 
 wander, however confused a subject may 
 seem, when Dr. Dunton gets up to speak 
 we know that everything will become clear. 
 There will be nothing to add." 
 Perhaps his patient helpfulness may seem 
 stronger to me than to you ; for I have 
 known its .never-failing action over a quarter 
 of a century ; have known it in the relation of 
 fellow-teacher, and have seen it exercised 
 towards a score of classes in favor of any in- 
 dividual who asked for it. How often have 
 I heard him go through an explanation of a 
 subject to an inquiring pupil, seen him watch 
 for the brightening look that showed its com- 
 prehension, miss it, and patiently go step by 
 step over the work again ! Still not compre- 
 hended, he would start from a different 
 point of view and come back, or pour in 
 illustration after illustration, till the reward 
 came, — the pupil saw. However busy he 
 was, however long it took, he never let an 
 inquirer go unsatisfied. 
 
 40 
 
Then to us, his teachers, how helpful in 
 every way ! By a word, a suggestion, an en- 
 couragement, a discussion, in whatever way 
 he could help us, he did it. And when we 
 differed from him in the application of a 
 principle to our own work, how free he left 
 us ! Truly, teaching with him was a means 
 of grace to his teachers. 
 If there were time I could tell of his help, 
 extending over a stretch of more than thirty 
 years, when I went into his school in Bath 
 — a moderately young teacher. I owe much 
 to his patience, much to his helpfulness, 
 much to the inspiration his own teaching 
 gave me, and, with you, I gratefully acknowl- 
 edge his help. 
 
 He was a man always broad and generous in 
 his judgment of others, always generous of 
 his time and strength in giving the advice we 
 so many of us needed, and always generous 
 of his means. Whenever a young teacher 
 fell ill by the way his purse was ready to help. 
 We all understood that when that sort of help 
 was needed Dr. Dunton was never to be left 
 out, and he always doubled the amount we 
 asked for in such cases. 
 
 You all know his keen sense of humor. You 
 know the look in the eye which showed it. 
 And I think you know the tender sympathy 
 which is ever its accompaniment. There 
 were many hard places in his work here, 
 many times hopes must be disappointed. He 
 
was so sympathetic that I think any one of 
 us would have gladly relieved him if it had 
 been possible. 
 
 Do you remember the tone in which he spoke 
 always of children as the " little folks " ? It 
 always seemed to me that his very voice ex- 
 pressed his love for them. He spoke in the 
 same tone of his mother, of the members of 
 his family, whom he loved with a deep and 
 peculiar love. So with you who needed him 
 and who came to him ; I am sure you, too, 
 felt, even if you did not formulate it, the 
 tender sympathy of his great loving heart. 
 This was manifested in all his relations with 
 you. 
 
 At the last reunion there were sent him by 
 your committee a beautiful bouquet of roses. 
 They came to him as we were gathering 
 here. He enjoyed them every moment of his 
 life. All day Sunday, his last full day on 
 earth, he enjoyed them. Every one who 
 came to him must enjoy them too, and hear 
 that they were sent by his pupils. He kept 
 them by him and enjoyed them till the end 
 came the following day. You see the thought 
 of you went with him to the spiritual world. 
 Such a character, with such qualities, studi- 
 ous, progressive, firm, sound in judgment, 
 patient, helpful, generous, and sympathetic, 
 is for all places and for all times. It is a 
 boon to you and to me and to all who come 
 in contact with it, however remotely. Like 
 
 42 
 
a pebble in the sea, its influence reaches the 
 farthest shores of time, — eternity. 
 We cannot view such a life and believe it 
 stops with earth. We cannot view such a 
 life and not aspire to make our own lives 
 more useful to others. We cannot view such 
 a life and not reverence it. And reverencing 
 such a human life we will reverence God's 
 life in ourselves. So from this view of our 
 friend we go out more determined to so live 
 and work that God's life in us shall be so 
 far-reaching in its beneficence that our work 
 in its use to others shall be like his, — im- 
 mortal. 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Solo. "My Heart Ever Faithful" Bach 
 
 (jwith Violoncello obligato) 
 
 Miss Gertrude Newman. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 
 MRS. EDWARD L. RAND 
 
 Most of the pupils who come to the Boston 
 Normal School come at the beginning, I sup- 
 pose, as we did, with very little conception 
 of the privilege of being a teacher, or of the 
 training necessary to become one. At the most, 
 with a few exceptions, there is some fancy 
 
 43 
 
that it would be a good thing to learn how to 
 teach ; but often the motive is to choose a pos- 
 sible and perhaps pleasant way of earning a 
 living. To Dr. Dunton it fell to supply the 
 ideal of the teacher's work and life, so wholly 
 lacking in the minds of most of us, and then 
 day by day to build within us the character, 
 to develop the intellectual life, which should 
 make the toil into which we had idly drifted 
 our chosen work. 
 
 How greatly in this quarter of a century of life 
 and work in our community did he raise the 
 standard of the profession of teaching, and how 
 clearly he showed to men and women the dig- 
 nity and usefulness and joy of service in the 
 profession ! Phillips Brooks once said, " It 
 takes a perfect person, with perfect love and 
 perfect faith, to perfectly teach a Sunday-school 
 class." And to Dr. Dunton's mind there was 
 nothing, no power of one's nature, however 
 great, however small, which could not and 
 ought not to be so trained as to feed the stream 
 of the true teacher's life. So strongly did he 
 fill our minds with the spirit of joy in our vo- 
 cation, and of honor for it, that even the two 
 great disheartening conditions of work in our 
 public schools — the overcrowded classes and 
 the bad air — could not dampen our enthusiasm 
 or make us feel that the teacher's life was 
 other than one of high privilege and great 
 reward. 
 This power of sending his pupils to their work 
 
 44 
 
with joy was a very great power. It has been 
 said that we do work of any kind better when 
 the heart is high; and surely what is true of 
 all work, however mechanical, is supremely 
 true of work with children. And in this con- 
 nection I must not fail to speak of the help 
 given by Dr. Dunton when the high heart had 
 sunk very low indeed, and when only belief 
 in God and the knowledge that 
 
 " Tasks in hours of insight willed 
 Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled" 
 
 could keep up its courage. How many times 
 in earlier years, before the school had grown 
 so large and his duties so manifold, has he 
 personally visited at her work the struggling 
 young teacher, put his finger on the weak point 
 which caused her failure, and helped her to 
 correct her mistakes and to begin over again 
 with a truer courage and far greater skill ! 
 How patient and thorough was his considera- 
 tion of each pupil's needs, and how generous 
 his estimate of their strong points ! Notwith- 
 standing his own sound scholarship, his great 
 clearness of mind and marvelous analytical 
 power, he was too wise to feel that strong 
 mentality was the only requisite for the teacher. 
 He saw the womanly, the motherly, in many 
 a one who was slow of mental development, 
 and he gave the right place to the loving heart 
 and faithful will in summing up the value of 
 her equipment. In this, and indeed in his 
 
 45 
 
whole relation to his pupils, his attitude was 
 that of a father, wise, gentle, and dignified. 
 His great kindness and justice were made pos- 
 sible by the fact that he tried to consider each 
 pupil as his child, weighing the difficulties 
 which beset her, and her home circumstances, 
 as well as her character and attainments. 
 The hours spent in Dr. Dunton's classes were 
 a delight. His teaching was a revelation to 
 us. I well remember during the first psy- 
 chology lesson which I heard him give, it 
 seemed to our minds that every department of 
 knowledge was related to this great subject. 
 " And lo ! Creation widened to man's view." 
 Such teaching was indeed inspiring. Allied to 
 the wonderful analytical power to which I 
 have previously referred was what might be 
 called the dramatic power, which seizes the 
 salient points of a truth or an illustration and 
 fixes them in the hearer's mind. I once heard 
 the principles of good taste in decoration laid 
 down by a well-known architect. He stated 
 that they were the principles of good conver- 
 sation as well: say what is to be said in the 
 fewest terms; let the subject-matter be inter- 
 esting; let its expression be direct and to the 
 point; let all other subjects be forgotten till 
 the one on hand is disposed of. These laws 
 Dr. Dunton illustrated in his teaching, and 
 strove to impart to his pupils. 
 His sense of humor brightened everything 
 and made his classes free from strain, while 
 
 4 6 
 
his thorough preparation for his work and ab- 
 solute conscientiousness in the performance 
 of duty were a daily strength to us. It is hard, 
 indeed, to separate the intellectual delight 
 which we had in his teaching from that other 
 delight which his character gave us. Here was 
 a good man, genuine, simple, large-hearted, 
 reverent, just, a lover and seeker of truth. 
 How shall we divide the intellect from the 
 heart and will, or separate what God hath 
 joined together? The influence of all were 
 united in the help which he gave us, and will 
 always give us ; and we believe that that great 
 nature, rejoicing in the light and truth which 
 he loved and sought, has " other, greater work 
 to do " in the New Life to which he has been 
 called. 
 
 ADDRESS BY 
 
 MR. GEORGE H. MARTIN 
 
 I could have wished that the last words for 
 you to listen to this afternoon had been those 
 to which you have just listened, so compre- 
 hensive and so gratefully and tenderly appre- 
 ciative. My own word can add nothing to 
 what you have heard. 
 
 At a recent convention of teachers an ad- 
 dress was given upon the topic," The Obliga- 
 tion of the Public School for Inspiration." 
 It seems to me a most significant title. We 
 
 47 
 
are so apt to assume that the supreme obliga- 
 tion of the public school is to furnish knowl- 
 edge ! It is knowledge that we test for, 
 knowledge that we measure and record, 
 knowledge that we reward with prizes and 
 promotion. And yet, when we come to look 
 back upon our own lives, and ask what was 
 the best thing done for us and who did it, we 
 find we are not most grateful, I think, for 
 the knowledge that we were induced to ac- 
 quire, but for that mysterious something that 
 goes by the name of inspiration. And what 
 is it ? What is it to inspire ? It is not, I 
 take it, to stimulate, to spur, to give. Is it 
 not rather to awaken interest, to arouse am- 
 bition, to kindle enthusiasm, to animate with 
 purpose, to fill with hope and courage ? Is it 
 not doing what God did at the beginning 
 when we are told he breathed into man the 
 breath of life and man became a living soul ? 
 It seems to me that that is a vital part of 
 school work. To hold a class of children in 
 subjection and force them to perform their 
 daily tasks is one thing, but to inspire them 
 is another and a different thing. The one is 
 for the school, the other is for life. The one 
 is for the day, the other is for all time. „Of 
 two teachers, one of whom only stimulates, 
 even if every pupil in the class graduates 
 with the highest honors, and the other who 
 inspires, if but a single pupil — the second is 
 the teacher. The great Teacher, the Teacher 
 
 48 
 
who men said was sent from God, described 
 his own life and work by saying, I have come 
 to impart knowledge ? No, not even of 
 divine truth, though he did that. But, " I am 
 come that they might have life, and that 
 they might have it more abundantly," more 
 abundantly even than at the beginning. 
 And if all this is true of the teacher of chil- 
 dren, how much more is it true of the teacher 
 of teachers. If they are to inspire they must 
 be themselves inspired. If they are to be 
 sources of life he must be a perpetual spring 
 of life. His enthusiasm, his devotion, must 
 become theirs. It seems to me that in this 
 work it is not by elaborate schemes of psy- 
 chology, new or old, not by formal systems 
 of pedagogy, not by methods and devices, 
 however philosophical and ingenious, that his 
 best work is done, but rather by the loftiness 
 of his aims, the sincerity of his purpose, the 
 breadth of his sympathy, the fineness of his 
 instinct, the dignity of his professional bear- 
 ing, the weight of his personality. 
 For more than twenty-five years Dr. Dunton 
 was a teacher of teachers in this school ; and 
 when we undertake to measure his work and 
 his worth, this, it seems to me, is the stand- 
 ard which we must use. Wherever in these 
 schools of Boston, from the lowest to the 
 highest, there is a teacher who, looking back 
 over her life, feels that from him she received 
 a quickening, an uplift, an impulse, which 
 
 49 
 
have made her a source of more abundant 
 life to the children in her charge, there is his 
 most worthy and most enduring monument. 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Hymn "Hark! Hark!" 
 
 Hark! Hark! my soul, angelic songs are swelling 
 O'er earth's green fields and ocean* s wave- beat 
 shore: 
 
 How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling 
 Of that new life when sin shall be no more. 
 
 Angels , sing on! your faithful watches keeping, 
 Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above; 
 
 Till morning' s joy shall end the night of weeping, 
 And life's long shadows break in cloudless love. 
 
 50 
 
PRINTED AT THE EVERETT PRESS 
 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
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