acquirement of authority by the religious teachers: esteem, love, and fear.
1. The teacher must possess the esteem of his pupils. They must respect him for his learning and his character. He must thoroughly master the subject which he has to teach. Besides, a careful preparation of the day's lesson should be made invariably before. It is most ruinous for the teacher's authority, if the pupils detect any deficiency in his knowledge – and they will discover it very soon if there is any. The pupils cannot and will not listen to such a teacher with the respect and willingness which are necessary not only for a fruitful study, but also for school discipline. Remarks will be passed about the teacher's mistakes, or his inability to handle the subject; perhaps bolder pupils call the teacher's attention to his mistakes. In such cases the man who is master of his subject can, and mostly will, calmly admit that a slip has been made, whereas the teacher who is not sure of his subject, and who blunders frequently, is inclined to keep down any objections by frowns, scoldings or even punishment. The result will be dissatisfaction among the students, which may lead to serious breaches of discipline.
As to his character, anything like passionate or irritable behavior, abusive language, haughtiness, levity, whims, fickleness, inconsiderate or idle talk, mannerisms, peculiarities of gesture and expression which will strike the pupils as ridiculous, and any other defect of mind or character will at once be detected by the keen eyes of the students and will more or less weaken his authority. In a teacher who is a religious, the virtues expected of a religious man
