Newspaper Page Text
|~NO. 93.
LITERARY.
i LECTURE
perfections of our Primary Schools,
bf method of correcting them
pi before the North Carolina In
f Education at Chapel Hill, June
V WILLIAM HOOPER,
j ancient languages in the University.
(includedfrom our last.)
jEit cause of the imperfections of
imarv schools, which 1 shall inen
searcity of able teachers. They
leraltoo" young and inexperienced,
btr charge of training the minds
, in g ihe tempers, arid forming tlie
the young, is confided, in a great
3 to'persons very little older than
themselves, to half-educated young
, those who, if they have diplomas
ands, must be confessed to have
n in their hands than in their heads,
iduates of our numerous colleges,
ame teachers, who were among the
inrv scholars. These like other in-
B gate their kind with pernicious
They send out annually their lit
is candidates for the several col
carrving evident marks of their
| parentage and, verifying the max
ancient philosophers, tnat “ex ni
| j\(.” Their Alrna Mater cannot
of these her pedagogick sons as
ng her back as much as they receiv
eversing the apostolic remark, she
t> them, “ ve cairied nothing out of
Id, and it is certain ye can bring
n” These teachers, if they deserve
credit, are at least entitled to the
joon making their pupils as wise as
es. The furniture of their upper
so light and scanty that it is aseasi
irred from their own noddles to those
wpils, as are the moveables of a
omone garret to another, at the be
if the new year. Indeed it is ac
o the analogy of nature, that the
,f all the inferior tribes should take
months to attain the size of the pa
al.
there be among my auditors any
sh* look upon the seventy of the
g remarks as an attack upon them
t them spare their resentment, by
[thatthe present company is always
, and that critics carry on a kind of
warfare discharging their shafts, not
before their faces, but those behind
gives me pleasure to state that many
achers are the flower of ourgradu
would it were the case that the pal
rere liberal enough to induce many
such to choose for the business of
s this most useful and laudable oc-
As it is however, other professions
e tempting prizes to their talents,
devote to school-keeping one or two
green, inexperienced years, only as
ns of enabling them to prosecute
re lucrative and less laborious pro
pulling, the school room, just when
i scholarship and acquired experi.
s fitted them for their work. The
ight to see this, and ought to pro
nst it, by setting before such young
prospect of honorable remuneration,
u would see our academies sough, af
ie first scholars among our graduates,
ing, with the other liberal professions,
ius anil learning of the land. Then
would not be considered, as it now
i is a mere stepping-stone to some
ition more lucrative or more honora
would be embraced as an eligible
for the whole of life. Thus our
would have the advantage of the J
wisdom and experience of a life- j
lit in the same occupation —ln oth
-1 we deem it of prime importance to
services of a man long practiced in
ssion, from the farrier who shoes our j
'to the physician, to whom we en-I
lives and the judge who sits upon '
nesof the public. In teaching alone !
entented with the services of tyros
;t ' B, A physician shall not prescribe
wn in a fever, a lawyer shall not j
ce respecting that son’s property, |
f J both be men of tried knowledge,
son’s intellect, that son’s temper,!
'moral character, the detcrminaiion
Ud of a man that son is to be—all
"I mailers arc rashly committed to
in of very slender experience. Now,
"'onof the youugmind and the man
°f the young heart, the only art in
’apprenticeship is required, no years
Ce are necessary ?—Does not every
'has tried the business of teaching
*t he learns something important
6ar , either in the subjects on which
"tts, or in the human nature on which
ln d that he is worth fivefold as much
nployers at thirty years of ago as he
* ent y I I<et a young teacher there
ever so clever and faithful to his un
?> he wants that which nothing but
1 P v e him, and hew seldom wc find
“oh promise sufficiently rewarded to
: m ( his laborious business until
I| oh ripens wine and cheese and
'IS shall ripen his raajesteiial facul
°'v the crudeness of his knowledge,
ll - sharpness of his temper, and (to
""r similitude of old Madeira) give
of sound knowledge and good
&2SK& &SreQ<SMMNB a
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY NARNIDUKE J. SLADE, AT THREE DOLLARS PER ANNE’S.
1 sense, from which bis pupils uiay continually
drink in strength and virtue.
Let me now, with deference, suggest to my
i brethren in the task of instructing youth,
some improvements which have occurred to
ine, and particularize some faults which my
observations on various schools have brought
I under view.
The first and most glaring defect in the
conduct of our classical schools, is the ne
glect of the common rudiments of English
education. It is quite usual for young men
I to be sent from the academy to college so de
i plorably deficient in orthography and pen
i manship, as would disgrace the urchin of an
old school. Many a sad hour have 1 spent
t ovcr collegiate compositions, in deciphering
hideous hieroglyphics, and in restoring to
| their proper English physiognomy such mon
sters as weight and wrong, neighborhood, han
out, foiluge, separate, colledge, jenius, terri.
blepersuit, Ax. This is a serious evil—it is
| the very thing to bring classical teaming in*
;to discredit. Plain, uneducated people are
| competent judges of such blemishes as these,
* and may very justly complain of a course of
j instruction which, professing to communicate
; the higher parts of learning, leaves the young
j man so shamefully untaught in spelling and
writing his mother tongue, that he cannot pen
a common epistle without danger of disgrac
ing himself. There should then, be a compe
tent teacher ol English attached to every
| grammar school, into whose hands the boys
should pass for an hour or two every day, to
be practised in the several English branches.
This is better done in conjunction with their
classical course, because it only introduces a
relieving variety of occupation, and cannot
advantageously either precede that course, or
be delayed till that course is considerably ad
vanned.
A second practice of our Preparatory
Schools, against which I must be permitted
to inveigh, is the omission of a great part of
the prescribed classical course.—Of this the
faculty of the University have reason to speak
with much feeling. A certain quantity of
Greek and Latin is required to be read ir. or
der to admission into college. It is as little
as is at all consistent with respectability—
less than what is demanded by most of our
colleges. Rut in the payment even of this
pittance, we are not fairly dealt with. Few
academies render us honestly the full debt.
One teacher clips oIF a little here, and anoth
cr there. For example: we require the whole
seven books of Caesar's Gallic War; but one
youth comes prepared only on five, another
on sou 1 *, another on only two. Wc require
the whole of Virgil's -Eneid, or Ovid Expur
gata,* as an equivalent for the latter half;
and we require these authors not only to be
construed and parsed but scanned. But this
requisition is in most cases not complied with,
and all we can extort is the first half of the
.Eneid, read without any attention to proso
dy. Here at once is Latin enough to fill up
a whole year,of which the pupil is cheated by
this system of literary fraud. Another has
read the Gospel of John in Greek, hut has
not looked at the Acts, and surely we must be
hard and austere men to insist upon more
than half of what is prescribed in the course.
A third has gone no further in his arithmetic
than fractions, and depends on making up the
deficiency after be enters college. A fourth
lias not studied geography. Laboring under
one or another of these deficiencies, a youth
comes to the University, perhaps from the
extremity of the State. The faculty are
then placed in this painful dilemma: they
must cither depart from their proclaimed
terms, in violation of their conscience and of
authority, or they must turn away this young
man, who has come from such a distance, and
deprive him of the benefits of the institu
tion. Now we ask, is it fair, is it kind, in
teachers to iui|H>sc upon us this distressing
conflict between feeling and duty ? Is it deal
ing fairly with their pupils, to expose them to
this mortifying repulse ? Is it doing justice to
the cause of classical learning, of which they
aro the professed advocates, to subtract thus
largely from a quantum in itself sufficiently
meagre? We hope this appeal will not he
made in vain, f
* Ovid Erpurgaia. Since the appearance of
Mr. Gould's beautiful and chastened edition of
this author, there can be no proper objection to
his restoration to a place in our schools. The
richness of his poetry, the vivacity of his des
criptions, and his entertaining stories, cannot fail
to render him a pleasing and improving compau
ion, while theancient mythology, arrayed in such 1
drapery, must be much better remembered than |
when searched out by piecemeal in the dry pa-1
ges of a dictionary. This edition of Mr. Gould j
is further recommended, by its containing some ;
beautiful selections from the Heroides, to initiate
the student into pentameter verse, of which he j
would otherwise remain ignorant through his !
whole course.
+ From this censure and complaint, let me be |
permitted to except the present able and ebtima- j
tie Master of the Hillsborough Latin School.—
This gentleman deserves much of every friend
of solid education in the State. Possessing one
of those sound, judicious minds, and gentle, well
regulated, yet firm tempers, to which youth can
be so safely committed, he has devoted to this j
useful but laborious profession, talents which I
might haveearned him more splendid distinction, |
and ampler onuluinents in other walks of life, j
A continually increasing number of pupils shows i
that the public appreciate his merits. May well- j
earned cornpciency long induce him to continue j
his useful toils ; and in the evening of his days,
if he is not able to make the boast of the famous I
Dr. Parr, that his potent arm has placed many a!
bishop on the bench, be will probably have the
honor and comfort of seeing many of his pupil*
‘•\N E NEVER DESPAIR OF ANV THING—TRUTH REINS OUR SLIDE, WK SHALL SAIL UNDER HER AURPK^S.” —HORACE.
GEORGIA TIXMEDS
1 Among the imperfections of our school
system, i may be pardoned for numbering lb*
want, in many teacheis, of an advantageous
manner of communicating their instructions.
There is often discoverable in the teacher, a
lamentable want of animation and vivacity of
manner, a want of spirit and energy ir con
ducting business. If instruction is imparted
with spirit and life. If the master keeps
wide awake, his pupils will also. But if he
jbe listless, languid, speaking scarce y loud
enough to be heard, and allowing then) to an-
I swerm the same style, why the whole school
will he pervaded by the same listless hum
drum, careless manner, which sickens a spec
tator just to witness it for one half hour. The
manner of a school-muster should have in ij
much of the promptness, energy and decision
r of a military officer giving the word of coni
maud to a company of soldiers. Then lie will
receive the same prompt obedience. Then
■ each boy will be on the alert, have all his
' wits about him, and letirn to have all his
knowledge ready at command, to march at a
moment’s warning. In this way not only
would the intellect be sharpened and the rne
-1 mory kept bright, but a vast deal of time
would be saved, which is now consumed in
waiting upon the indolence und tardiness of
sluggish or inattentive boys. Situated as 1
| have beeh for many years, destined to take
I up and prosecute the unfinished labors of oth
ers, I have had considerable opportunity of
i observing the effects of different modes of
discipline on the various youth who repair to
1 this place. Some are in their recitations ani
mated, confident, and pour forth with fluency
| all that they know. Such it is a pleasure to
> hear, and their recitation, though minute and
critical, passes off with smoothness and ra
! pidity. But in too many other cases we are
[obliged to say that the delivery of the student
is so lifeless, so indistinct, his manner so in
ert; and his replies to questions so slow, that
it must damp the ardor and weary the pa
tience of any teacher, and actually consumes
the huur to which the recitation is limited,
before half justice is done to the lesson. 1
am convinced that twice the business might
be done, twice the instruction imparted and
received, just by the correction of this one
fault. It is in vain to attempt to reform the
manner of delivery after the youth comes to
college ; it is by that time incurable. Let
then the teachers of ourprimary schools take
j lessons from the drilling officer, and cirdea
, vor to exhibit in their own manner, and to
' stamp upon their young militia, the same
quickness and energy. I know my pedago
gick brethren can say much in palliation of
this fault. They will tell me that I talk like one
who has had no experience in such things—
that animation cannot be kept up amid the
! dull, daily round of school-business—that it
j is a plant which cannot live in such an atmos
phere ; and they will wish me no other pun
ishment for my censure than to be condemn
ed to go into the schoolroom after dinner, in
a hot summer’s day, and-hear a class of little i
marble players recite a lesson in Caesar, giving
poor Julius, alas ! more stabs than he recei
ved from the daggers of all the conspirators
j ir. the Senate-house, and avenging the Gauls j
i upon hint for all his murders. “ If.you,” they J
will tell me, “ can keep the edge of your ani
mation sharp upon such materials, you must
be made of better metal than a Damascus
sword blade, or the farfamed penknives of
Rogers. Tho expense of animal spirits and
of lungs that would be incurred by sucli a
lively inode of instruction constantly kept up,
would wear any man out in a short time.” To
this I leply, that the thing is not impractica
ble, is proved by the fact that some teachers
have exemplified it and shown its happy ef
fects.—This is particularly the case in the
European schools. There the master enters
upon his business with an emphasis arid viva
city and gusto unknown to most of our Ame
rican seminaries. To them our manner would
appear frigid and spiritless in the extreme.
All depends upon the teacher’s heart being
in the thing. If he thinks his business an
: important one, and that whatever is worth
: doing at ail, is worth doing well, he will be
willing to use all requisite efforts to make
his instructions acceptable and successful, j
And here again a| pears the mischief of our!
schools being in tho hands of more transient ’
young men. They cannot enter upon their
daily duties with that relish and enthusiasm
with which a man carries on his main ultimate !
business, on which ho is to depend for repu- j
1 talion and for bread. Feeling very little in
| terest in their temporary occupation, they
| will make no exertions to improvo their scho
' larship, and their object will be, to get over
| the drudgery of the day, on as easy terms as
they can, and lay upat the end of a two years’
| contract, as much money as will bear their
■ expenses in studying a profession. No won
i tier the cause of lettcisshould languish under
j such management.
Another feature which, I think, would be
a great improvement in our schools, is the
use of oral lectures. Were a teacher to de
liver frequent lectures in a spirited and en
tertaining manner, on Roman and Grecian
| ;
I adorning the halls of legislation, and the chairs i
! of ihe liberal professions- *j
j To have paid this small tribute, in passing, to
i a gentleman whose proximity to the University, |
! and whose well trained contributions to its class- ,
| ns, enable the writer to be particularly well ac
| quamted with his merits, will not, he hopes, be \
! considered as invidious—other teachers, more re- j
1 mote, may deserve as wall, of whom personal '
I knowledge will not enable him to speak with
1 equal confidence.
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORB4A, JUNE 10, 1833.
■ history aod antiquities, on geography, and the
manners and customs of different nations,
: putting questions every nowand then to keep
alive attention and make memory responsible
■for what it has received, I am inclined to
jtliink it would have the happiest effect. How
i different an impression is made by the dull,
I customary operation of getting any thing by
1 book, and having it delivered from living
> lips, with all the advantages of look, voice
j a,| d gesture, which a teacher of good sense
and affectionate disposition coultl throw into
his manner. In doing this, he ought to have
; the ussistanqe of all necessary apparatus,
maps, globes, plans of towns and sieges, mill
j tary engines, and so forth. When a class is
engaged Ujjon Caesar's campaigns in Gaul,
their teacher ought to be able to exhibit to
j their eyes tiic line of his march—a picture of
the battle-ground as the author describes it—
of the situation of the town besieged, the dif
ferent columns of the two armies,and all the
testvdos and rtnece and battering rams which
were employed. Then, what is now a task
would become a pleasure, and the authors
read would be far better understood and re
membered. Let me here suggest the expe
diency of the trustees of our several acade.
mies taking pains to procure such apparatus
for the schoolroom. A common carpenter,
under the direction of the teacher,could make
models for instance, of Ctesar’s bridge, and
of some of the Roman engines of war: and
then that Bridge chapter, noiv the terror of
schoolboys, would be as attractive to them as
it is now formidable. They would not “come
to the river, all in a shiver,” but would think
of crossing the deep and rapid Rhine with as
much pleasure as they innke mill-dams over
the rivulets that traverse their paternal fields.
It is unfortunate that good maps and charts
and pictures, for the illustration of our school
books are either not yet made, or are too cost
ly to come within the reach of ordinary se
minaries. This is a desideratum which ought
to he looked into and supplied. There ought
to be a general call from all the schools for
sucli engravings, and such machinery, and
then the book-sellers could afford to have
them supplied at a reasonable price. It is to
be hoped that the art of lithography, whicu
has been so rapidly improving within a few
years, anti has multiplied prints on such cheap
terms, will ere long, be employed to furnish
all our schoolrooms with agreable and strik
ing delineations of all those parts of youthful
study which can be exhibited to the eye.
Tlie proper construction of schoolliouses is
another point which deserves distinct atten
tion. When I have visited the classical
schools in our large cities, I have been struck
with the inconvenience under which they la
bor of being situated close upon the street,
stunned the live-long day with the rumbling
of drays, the rattling of coaches, the cries of
market people, in short the full diapason of
discords which come upon the tortured ear
trom the commingled voices of men, women
and children, dogs, mocking-birds and pianos,
belonging to a great town. What an advan
tage, thought I, do we enjoy in the solicitudes
of Carolina, where we can flx our academies
j in the quiet grove, apart from all this pestifer
| ous hustle, and where our boys can read or
play under a canopy of majestic oaks, surpass
ing those of Dodoua or of Bashan—where trie
dryads or the muses need not have scorned, to
dwell—skirled with a shrubbery of chinque
pins and birches, those quickencrs of genius,
those wonder-working weapons of the faith
ltd pedagogue,' possessing ad the powers ofj
the wand of Mercury, save that of lulling,
mortals to sleep. In the midst of such a
giove stands the schoolhotise, the temple of'
Astrea herself, stern goddsss of justice whom,
though the poets may feign, and the poor
Cherokces rnay really suppose to have forsa
ken this world, yet heio, if no where else on
earth, she holds her awful reign seated on a
j throne of flint,with the hickory sceptre in her
| right hand, and the faithful balance in her
i left; to whose altar her high priest, the
! schoolmaster, daily brings each pale delin
quent, weighs him in the balances, and by
| her command administers to his shoulders,
; hack, legs, et cetera, the full measure of his
i deserts. But these nurserfcs of puerile gen.
; ius and penitentiaries of puerile misdemean- 1
j ors, our schoolliouses, are not so fortunate in
j their construction and furniture, as they are
in their location. They ought to be built
with a special eye to the purposes to which
they are to be applied, and furnished with
commodious seats,and desks, alleysqnd doors
for ingress and egress. Every pupil should
have before him all accommodations for read
ing and writing, a separate desk under lock
arid key, where he may secure all his books
and his stationary, which, in our schools now,
is any thing but stationary ; his pens, ink,
ruler and pencil having to travel all around
the room for the accommodation of his fel-,
lows. The trustees ot each academy should j
see it provided with such conveniences, and
if they will not, each parent ought lobe wil- !
ling to incur the expense of such furniture,'
for nis son's benefit, the owner being allowed,;
upon leaveing tho school, to transfer it to a :
successor, for as near cost as its condition wil! :
merit. In winter every school-room should j
be wafrned by a stove. In no other w»y can
any degree of order be kept up: each shiver,
ing urchin will he continually running to the
fire, and when caalled to recite, he will have
nothing at lus fingers, end but —cold.
( Os the institutions which I have seen,*
those approaching nearest to my heav ideal
ol a schoolroom arc tlie celebrated Round;
Hail school in Massachusetts, and the New
| hern academy in this State. But if I might
be indulged in the description of one of these
, little castles in the air, with whose building 1
have somtiines amused myself, I would say,
; let this spot* where st» many years of the
sweet spring of life are to be spent, be made
as pleasant as possible to the senses. Let the
j dejected hoy, just banished from the delights
iof home, as he approaches the schoolhouse
1 lor the first time, see every thing thing toex
! hilaratc and refresh the spirits, and form no
dismal forebodings of meeting the Muniteur
as soon as he steps over tho thresnhold.* ’Lei
it be one of those umbrageous retreats which
, I before described, with ground smooth and
i a little sandy, to form a natural aietia for his
sports, free from those cruel enemies of
i youthful foes and incendiaries of youthful
tempers, stumps, roots anil stones—let the
1 house he of an oblong shape, with a door in
I front, from which leads a central aisle down
to the other extremity, where sits the sover
eign of the little world, m insulated gran
deur, on a slight elevation, sufficient to com
mand a view of II his dominions. Let the
floor be of brick,* to prevent noise, and let it
slope gradually from the door down to the
seat of the teacher. Let tlie whole area be
-covered with single desks, one behind the
i other; with aisles between the pupils, while
at their desks, sitting with their hacks to the
master; this arrangement answering the
same end as blind bridles upon carriage hor
ses, that they cannot see the danger trom be
hind, but being in momentary expectation of
it, will he always on the alert. The throne
; as I said, must be situated in the centre ol
the lower end. Before it, in a space left for
the purpose, must be fixed a semicircular
bench for the class under recitation, from
, which, at the signal, one class can retire, and
[ to which another can repair, wheeling in ca
! sy circles through the aisles, like well trained
I hattallions, without any confusion. The
j smallest hoys I would have to occupy the
seats nearest the focus of light and warmth,
liko the planner mercury, because having
\ most mercury ill their constitutions, they
; would most apt to he flighty, if moving in a
; remoter orbit. If I durst add another appur
; tenanc« to iny school-room, it should be a
small apartment in the rear, just behind the
throne. made strong, with no exterior win
dow for admitting the whispers of sympathy,
but only a grated window, opening into the
schoolroiq and afibrdirig sufficient light for
j study. Neod I mention the purpose of this
j mysterious apartment ? It is fur the accom
modation of criminals aud debtors, and by
way of variety in the penal code, to relieve
the right hand of the teacher from perpetual
j vibration, and to prevent the too rapid ex
haustion of those birchen and chinquepin
nurseries before mentioned. Here the de
linquent could, during play hours, repent ol
his offences in solitary meditation, assisted by
; fasting; and here tiie truant and the idler
could be tasked and made to pay their debts,
an advantage unatuined by the usual impri
sonment of debtors,awliose time is complete])
thrown away both to themselves and their ere
editors. A school-room thus constructed,
j would be attended with many advantages ,
the teacher having every facility both for
| communicating instruction and maintaining
order, commanding, like Jupiter from the top
of Olympus, lus whole dominions with one
glance of “ that eye whose bend doth awe the
I world,” and ruling all by the tap of his feru
i la or the nod of the head,
Shakes his embrosial curls and gives the nod.
The stamp of fate and sanction of a god.
i If any of my audience should liete charge
me with an over-sight in supposing a monarch
to rule with a nod, subjects who sit w ith their
1 backs to him, I can only say that such an ob
jector knows not the marvellous flexibility ol
the human neck, nor how often a schoolboy is
found in the posture of Lot’s Wife.
I am sensible of the peril to which 1 am
exposing myself by these suggestions for the
reformation of youthful culprits, that I am
hazarding the wrath of that numerous tribe;
hut I hope the freedom of discussion is not
yet fettered on this floor, as it has been on
some other floors,f and that I shall he in no
danger of meeting a pistol or a club on my
way home. If I should, let them take care,
for they know not but my innocent-looking,
ivory-headed cane, which I never yet at
tempted to draw, may unexpectedly fly a
sunder, and like tho Trojan horse, disclose
death in the inside. Let them know, tliai
though my profession commands me to be
“no striker” yet tnv blood is of that nation
which hears the thistle as its emblem, anc
whose motto is: Nemo me impune lacesset
in all these remarks 1 have had my eve en
tirely upon schools for hoys; hut most ot
them may he applied, (mutatis mutandis) tc
senools for girls. With respect to the latter,
it may be added, that in some of our fcnviii
seminaries too much is attempted. The
whole encyclopedia of know ledge is embrac
ed in the list of studies, and in the compass
of two or three duodecimos ; and the young
lady, hy the time she reaches her teens, is in
tianger of thinking herself, a grammarian,
geographer, astronomer, chemist, botamst,mu
sician, painter and what not. Site is taken
from school just at tho age when she begun
* Nou bene. The brick must be laid o p-m a
\ floor of boards, with air circulating bept-aih, par
i ticularly in a humid atmosphere, last il should
become damp and unwholesome.
t Alluding to the Lite assault oo certain mem ,
1 bus of Con g fj.
to be capable of appreciating her studies,
and having got by rote a little smattering of
i every thing, she forgets it all, and never will
have any valuable knowledge unless she
chance to fall afterwards into the hands of a
sensible mother, who shall carry on the culti
vation of tho mind at a riper age. Our
schools for girls ought to he, as some of them
really are, under the care of men or of ladies
of age and experience and sound scholarship.
Under such guardianship, a young lady’s ed
ucation might be continued advantageously
till she was eighteen years of age, by which
time she might make solid attainments, and
her mind acquire a training and an impulse
which would carry it on in progressive im
provement through future life. If her teach
er should have the happy faculty of breath
ing into the young female mind an ardent
thirst of knowledge, which shall raise her a
hove the petty, cares and vanities of dress,
and exclude all desire of entering into com
pany and taking her place in the world until
tier appropriate studies arc finished—such a
solid and protracted education would rear a
1 generation of women that wouid have a migh
ty influence on society. Our sex would bo
■ obliged to push forward their acquisitions in
order to escape the humiliation of inferiority,
and tlie whole race of dandies, who now be
i ly upon the gentility of a coat and the grace
! fulness of a bow, to make up for what is lack
: ing in the head, all these would he compel!-
• ed to fit themselves for the company of the
■ fair by a stock of usctul and polite knowledge.
I Then we should not hear those sarcastic re
flections upon the capacity of the female sox;
I sarcasms of little wits, who are incapable of
r discriminating between want of opportunities
• and want of talent, and who, perchance, may
i on some occasion encounter a cultivated wo
man, that will make them rue their flippant
pretensions, and be cautious how they ever
I talk again of female inferiority,
t The sum of all I have said then, may be
: comprised in one remark, that inadequate pat
, ronage deprives the country of skilful expe
rienced teachers. Patronage, lilieral patron
' age, will command excellence in all the de
i paitments of life. Men ought to he willing
- to pay tlie best prices for good tuition, aslbi-y
i are for the best merchandize, the best mt---
; chanical work, the best legal and medical ad
• vice. A cheap bargain is generally a mean
, one, and in nothing docs this hold more true,
i than in the cmplovment of a teacher. When
r a father once brought his son to the philoso
i pher Aristippus, to put Inin under his tuition,
• and objected to his price, saying that he coultl
i buy a slave for that sum : “ Do so,’' exclaim
: ed the philosopher, “and then you will have
1 two.”
There is nothing which would provide a
i more eflectual antidote for ihe evils incident
- lo our schools, nothing w Inch would sooner
I brins: them to a high standard, than a semina
f ry for the education of schoolmasters. This
r is really a desideratum. The art of teaching
i, is one which requites all the lights that can
• lie collected from the inventions and experi
y mentsof past ages. As tilings now are, eve
!■ ry teacher Inis to acquire the art of hinmeif,
I, after many years’ experience, after having In.
; Loured under the disadvantages of involunta
r ry ignorance and mistakes through most of
’ bis life. Many never learn the art at all, and
> arc satisfied to plod on in the old track, teacii
: ing others as they themselves were taught.-
• But there are others who really wish to in.-
• prove themselves, whose minds are open to
welcome any suggestion, who read and’ in
qire, and would be glad to adopt any mode of
instruction and discipline which has been
tried with success. Now ; a seminary for
i teachers, conducted hy men of high reputa
• lion, would furnish the results of all the wis
. dom and ingenuity that have linen employed
upon the science of instruction in different
countries. There a man would Itarn what
ire the best school books, what is the best
course of study, what is the best mode of im
parting knowledge, the best mode of manag
ing youth, and what arc tlie greatest attain
ments practicable in a given time. All these
important particulars lie would learn, as well
as bring hisown scholarship to much greater
perfection. A teacher, trained ut-such a se
minary, would proceed with a confidence ami
courage and enthusiasm, now unfrlt. He
would not take every step tremulously, with
the hesitation and uncertainty of a man who
is feeling bis way and relying on hisow n sin--
i/lc experiment. The putflic would feel con
fidence in such a teacher; and a certificate*
of "having prepared one’s self for a school
.nastcr at such an institution, would he worth
wore than a hundred college diplomas. It is
istonishing that the public have not long seen
.he necessity of such an institution. We
lave seminaries for training up physicians,
lawyers and divines ; ctcn mechanics learn
their trades under the best masters. But that
most important, delicate and difficult business
of fashioning the intellect, moulding the dis
position and w ielding the nascent energies of
thosu who arc soon to be rulers of tlie world,
is left to mere accident, or falls to the lot of
tho most inexperienced characters. If a man
lias bought a fine piece of cloth, it is not eve.
ry tailor that ho will trust to make it up for
him. No; he inquires for the best workman
for him who has served his time iri one of the
cities, in some reputable shop. He is not
going to have lus suit spoiled Ly some hunr
ler in the art. But this same man wiil put
his sori, Ins dear son, who is worth more than
ten thousand suits of clothes, he will put his
C Coueludcd on second I’» gc. J