CHAPTER IV.

MORAL DISCIPLINE.

Under the title which I have placed at the head of this chapter I intend

to discuss the methods by which the teacher is to secure a moral

ascendency over his pupils, so that he may lead them to do what is

right, and bring them back to duty when they do what is wrong. I shall

use, in what I have to say, a very plain and familiar style; and as very

much depends not only on the general principles by which the teacher is

actuated, but also on the tone and manner in which, in cases of

discipline, he addresses his pupils, I shall describe particular cases,

real and imaginary, because by this method I can better illustrate the

course to be pursued. I shall also present and illustrate the various

principles which I consider important, and in the order in which they

occur to my mind.

1. The first duty, then, of the teacher when he enters his school is to

beware of the danger of making an unfavorable impression at first upon

his pupils. Many years ago, when I was a child, the teacher of the

school where my early studies were performed closed his connection with

the establishment, and after a short vacation another was expected. On

the appointed day the boys began to collect, some from curiosity, at an

early hour, and many speculations were started as to the character of

the new instructor. We were standing near a table with our hats on--and

our position, and the exact appearance of the group, is indelibly fixed

on my memory--when a small and youthful-looking man entered the room,

and walked up toward us. Supposing him to be some stranger, or, rather,

not making any supposition at all, we stood looking at him as he

approached, and were thunder-struck at hearing him accost us with a

stern voice and sterner brow, "Take off your hats. Take off your hats

and go to your seats." The conviction immediately rushed upon our minds

that this must be our new teacher. The first emotion was that of

surprise, and the second was that of the ludicrous, though I believe we

contrived to smother the laugh until we got out into the open air.

So long since was this little occurrence that I have entirely forgotten

the name of the teacher, and have not the slightest recollection of any

other act in his administration of the school. But this recollection of

his first greeting of his pupils, and the expression of his countenance

at the moment, will go with me to the end of life. So strong are first

impressions.

Be careful, then, when you first see your pupils, that you meet them

with a smile. I do not mean a pretended cordiality, which has no

existence in the heart, but think of the relation which you are to

sustain to them, and think of the very interesting circumstances under

which, for some months at least, your destinies are to be united to

theirs, until you can not help feeling a strong interest in them. Shut

your eyes for a day or two to their faults, if possible, and take an

interest in all their pleasures and pursuits, that the first attitude in

which you exhibit yourself before them may be one which shall allure,

not repel.

2. In endeavoring to correct the faults of your pupils, do not, as many

teachers do, seize only upon _those particular cases_ of transgression

which may happen to come under your notice. These individual instances

are very few, probably, compared with the whole number of faults against

which you ought to exert an influence. And though you perhaps ought not

to neglect those which may accidentally come under your notice, yet the

observing and punishing such cases is a very small part of your duty.

You accidentally hear, I will suppose, as you are walking home from

school, two of your boys in earnest conversation, and one of them uses

profane language. Now the course to be pursued in such a case is, most

evidently, not to call the boy to you the next day and punish him, and

there let the matter rest. This would, perhaps, be better than nothing.

But the chief impression which it would make upon the individual and

upon the other scholars would be, "I must take care how I _let the

master hear me_ use such language again." A wise teacher, who takes

enlarged and extended views of his duty in regard to the moral progress

of his pupils, would act very differently. He would look at the whole

subject. "Does this fault," he would say to himself, "prevail among my

pupils? If so, how extensively? It is comparatively of little

consequence to punish the particular transgression. The great point is

to devise some plan to reach the whole evil, and to correct it if

possible."

In one case where such a circumstance occurred, the teacher managed it

most successfully in the following manner.

He said nothing to the boy, and, in fact, the boy did not know that he

was overheard. He allowed a day or two to elapse, so that the

conversation might be forgotten, and then took an opportunity one day,

after school, when all things had gone on pleasantly, and the school was

about to be closed, to bring forward the whole subject. He told the boys

that he had something to say to them after they had laid by their books

and were ready to go home. The desks were soon closed, and every face in

the room was turned toward the master with a look of fixed attention.

It was almost evening. The sun had gone down. The boys' labors were

over. Their duties for the day were over; their minds were at rest, and

every thing was favorable for making a deep and permanent impression.

"A few days ago," says the teacher, when all was still, "I accidentally

overheard some conversation between two of the boys of this school, and

one of them swore."

There was a pause.

"Perhaps you expect that I am now going to call the boy out and punish

him. Is that what I ought to do?"

There was no answer.

"I think a boy who uses bad language of any kind does what he knows is

wrong. He breaks God's commands. He does what he knows would be

displeasing to his parents, and he sets a bad example. He does wrong,

therefore, and justly deserves punishment."

There were, of course, many boys who felt that they were in danger.

Every one who had used profane language was aware that he might be the

one who had been overheard, and, of course, all were deeply interested

in what the teacher was saying.

"He might, I say," continued the teacher, "justly be punished; but I am

not going to punish him; for if I should, I am afraid that it would only

make him a little more careful hereafter not to commit this sin when I

could possibly be within hearing, instead of persuading him, as I wish

to, to avoid such a sin in future altogether. I am satisfied that that

boy would be far happier, even in this world, if he would make it a

principle always to do his duty, and never, in any case, to do wrong.

And then, when I think how soon he and all of us will be in another

world, where we shall all be judged for what we do here, I feel strongly

desirous of persuading him to abandon entirely this practice. I am

afraid that punishing him now would not do that.

"Besides," continues the teacher, "I think it very probable that there

are many other boys in this school who are sometimes guilty of this

fault, and I have thought that it would be a great deal better and

happier for us all if, instead of punishing this particular boy whom I

have accidentally overheard, and who probably is not more to blame than

many other boys in school, I should bring up the whole subject, and

endeavor to persuade all the boys to reform."

I am aware that there are, unfortunately, in our country a great many

teachers from whose lips such an appeal as this would be wholly in vain.

The man who is accustomed to scold, and storm, and punish with unsparing

severity every transgression, under the influence of irritation and

anger, must not expect that he can win over his pupils to confidence in

him and to the principles of duty by a word. But such an appeal will not

be lost when it comes from a man whose daily and habitual management

corresponds with it. But to return to the story:

The teacher made some farther remarks, explaining the nature of the sin,

not in the language of execration and affected abhorrence, but calmly,

temperately, and without any disposition to make the worst of the

occurrence which had taken place. In concluding what he said, he

addressed the boys as follows:

"Now, boys, the question is, do you wish to abandon this habit or not?

If you do, all is well. I shall immediately forget all the past, and

will do all I can to help you resist and overcome temptation in future.

But all I can do is only to help you; and the first thing to be done, if

you wish to engage in this work of reform, is to acknowledge your fault;

and I should like to know how many are willing to do this."

"I wish all those who are willing to tell me whether they use profane

language would rise."

Every individual but one rose.

"I am very glad to see so large a number," said the teacher; "and I

hope you will find that the work of confessing and forsaking your faults

is, on the whole, pleasant, not painful business. Now those who can

truly and honestly say that they never do use profane language of any

kind may take their seats."

Three only of the whole number, which consisted of not far from twenty,

sat down. It was in a sea-port town, where the temptation to yield to

this vice is even greater than would be, in the interior of our country,

supposed possible.

"Those who are now standing," pursued the teacher, "admit that they do,

sometimes at least, commit this sin. I suppose all, however, are

determined to reform; for I do not know what else should induce you to

rise and acknowledge it here, unless it is a desire hereafter to break

yourselves of the habit. But do you suppose that it will be enough for

you merely to resolve here that you will reform?"

"No, sir," said the boys.

"Why not? If you now sincerely determine never more to use a profane

word, will you not easily avoid it?"

The boys were silent. Some said faintly, "No, sir."

"It will not be easy for you to avoid the sin hereafter," continued the

teacher, "even if you do now sincerely and resolutely determine to do

so. You have formed the habit of sin, and the habit will not be easily

overcome. But I have detained you long enough now. I will try to devise

some method by which you may carry your plan into effect, and to-morrow

I will tell you what it is."

So the boys were dismissed for the day; the pleasant countenance and

cheerful tone of the teacher conveying to them the impression that they

were engaging in the common effort to accomplish a most desirable

purpose, in which they were to receive the teacher's help, not that he

was pursuing them, with threatening and punishment, into the forbidden

practice into which they had wickedly strayed. Great caution is,

however, in such a case, necessary to guard against the danger that the

teacher, in attempting to avoid the tones of irritation and anger,

should so speak of the sin as to blunt his pupils' sense of its guilt,

and lull their consciences into a slumber.

At the appointed time on the following day the subject was again brought

before the school, and some plans proposed by which the resolutions now

formed might be more certainly kept. These plans were readily and

cheerfully adopted by the boys, and in a short time the vice of

profaneness was, in a great degree, banished from the school.

I hope the reader will keep in mind the object of the above

illustration, which is to show that it is the true policy of the teacher

not to waste his time and strength in contending against _such

accidental instances_ of transgression as may chance to fall under his

notice, but to take an enlarged and extended view of the whole ground,

endeavoring to remove _whole classes of faults_--to elevate and improve

_multitudes together_.

By these means, his labors will not only be more effectual, but far more

pleasant. You can not come into collision with an individual scholar, to

punish him for a mischievous spirit, or even to rebuke him for some

single act by which he has given you trouble, without an uncomfortable

and uneasy feeling, which makes, in ordinary cases, the discipline of a

school the most unpleasant part of a teacher's duty. But you can plan a

campaign against a whole class of faults, and put into operation a

system of measures to correct them, and watch from day to day the

operation of that system with all the spirit and interest of a game. It

is, in fact, a game where your ingenuity and moral power are brought

into the field, in opposition to the evil tendencies of the hearts which

are under your influence. You will notice the success or the failure of

the means you may put into operation with all the interest with which

the experimental philosopher observes the curious processes he guides,

though your interest may be much purer and higher, for he works upon

matter, but you are experimenting upon mind.

Remember, then, as for the first time you take your new station at the

head of your school, that it is not your duty simply to watch with an

eagle eye for those accidental instances of transgression which may

chance to fall under your notice. You are to look over the whole ground.

You are to make yourself acquainted, as soon as possible, with the

classes of character and classes of faults which may prevail in your

dominions, and to form deliberate and well-digested plans for improving

the one and correcting the other.

And this is to be the course pursued not only with great delinquencies,

such as those to which I have already alluded, but to every little

transgression against the rules of order and propriety. You can correct

them far more easily and pleasantly in the mass than in detail.

To illustrate this principle by another case. A teacher, who takes the

course I am condemning, approaches the seat of one of his pupils, and

asks to see one of his books. As the boy opens his desk, the teacher

observes that it is in complete disorder. Books, maps, papers,

play-things, are there in promiscuous confusion, and, from the impulse

of the moment, the displeased teacher pours out upon the poor boy a

torrent of reproach.

"What a looking desk! Why, John, I am really ashamed of you! Look!"

continues he, holding up the lid, so that the boys in the neighborhood

can look in; "see what a mass of disorder and confusion. If ever I see

your desk in such a state again, I shall most certainly punish you."

The boys around laugh, very equivocally, however, for, with the feeling

of amusement, there is mingled the fear that the angry master may take

it into his head to inspect their domains. The boy accidentally exposed

looks sullen, and begins to throw his books into some sort of

arrangement, just enough to shield himself from the charge of absolutely

disobeying the injunction that he has received, and there the matter

ends.

Another teacher takes no apparent notice of the confusion which he thus

accidentally witnesses. "I must take up," thinks he to himself, "the

subject of order before the whole school. I have not yet spoken of it."

He thanks the boy for the book he borrowed, and goes away. He makes a

memorandum of the subject, and the boy does not know that the condition

of his desk was noticed; perhaps he does not even know that there was

any thing amiss.

A day or two after, at a time regularly appropriated to such subjects,

he addresses the boys as follows:

"In our efforts to improve the school as much as possible, there is one

subject which we must not forget. I mean the order of the desks."

The boys all begin to open their desk lids.

"You may stop a moment," says the teacher. "I shall give you all an

opportunity to examine your desks presently.

"I do not know what the condition of your desks is. I have not examined

them, and have not, in fact, seen the inside of more than one or two. As

I have not brought up this subject before, I presume that there are a

great many which can be arranged better than they are. Will you all now

look into your desks, and see whether you consider them in good order?

Stop a moment, however. Let me tell you what good order is. All those

things which are alike should be arranged together. Books should be in

one place, papers in another, and thus every thing should be classified.

Again, every thing should be so placed that it can be taken out without

disturbing other things. There is another principle, also, which I will

mention: the various articles should have _constant_ places, that is,

they should not be changed from day to day. By this means you soon

remember where every thing belongs, and you can put away your things

much more easily every night than if you had every night to arrange them

in a new way. Now will you look into your desks, and tell me whether

they are, on these three principles, well arranged?"

The boys of most schools, where this subject had not been regularly

attended to, would nearly all answer in the negative.

"I will allow you, then, some time to-day, fifteen minutes to arrange

your desks, and I hope you will try to keep them in good order

hereafter. A few days hence I shall examine them. If any of you wish for

assistance or advice from me in putting them in order, I shall be happy

to render it."

By such a plan, which will occupy but little more time than the

irritating and useless scolding which I supposed in the other case, how

much more will be accomplished. Such an address would of itself,

probably, be the means of putting in order, and keeping in order, at

least one half of the desks in the room, and following up the plan in

the same manner and in the same spirit with which it was begun would

secure the rest.

I repeat it, therefore, make it a principle in all cases to aim as much

as possible at the correction of those faults which are likely to be

general by _general measures_. You avoid by this means a vast amount of

irritation and impatience, both on your own part and on the part of your

scholars, and you produce twenty times the useful effect.

3. The next principle which occurs to me as deserving the teacher's

attention in the outset of his course is this:

Interest your scholars in doing something themselves to elevate the

moral character of the school, so as to secure a _decided majority who

will, of their own accord, co-operate with you._

Let your pupils understand, not by any formal speech which you make to

that effect, but by the manner in which, from time to time, you

incidentally allude to the subject, that you consider the school, when

you commence it, as _at par_, so to speak--that is, on a level with

other schools, and that your various plans for improving and amending it

are not to be considered in the light of finding fault, and punishing

transgressions, and controlling evil propensities, so as just to keep

things in a tolerable state, but as efforts to improve and carry

forward the institution to a still higher state of excellence. Such is

the tone and manner of some teachers that they never appear to be more

than merely satisfied. When the scholars do right, nothing is said about

it. The teacher seems to consider that a matter of course. It does not

appear to interest or please him at all. Nothing arouses him but when

they do wrong, and that only excites him to anger and frowns. Now in

such a case there can, of course, be no stimulus to effort on the part

of the pupils but the cold and heartless stimulus of fear.

Now it is wrong for the teacher to expect that things will go right in

his school as a matter of course. All that he can expect _as a matter of

course_ is, that things should go on as well as they do ordinarily in

schools--the ordinary amount of idleness, the ordinary amount of

misconduct. This is the most that he can expect to come as a matter of

course. He should feel this, and then all he can gain which will be

better than this will be a source of positive pleasure; a pleasure which

his pupils have procured for him, and which, consequently, they should

share. They should understand that the teacher is engaged in various

plans for improving the school, in which they should be invited to

engage, not from the selfish desire of thereby saving him trouble, but

because it will really be happy employment for them to engage in such an

enterprise, and because, by such efforts, their own moral powers will be

exerted and strengthened in the best possible way.

In another chapter I have explained to what extent, and in what manner,

the assistance of the pupils may be usefully and successfully employed

in carrying forward the general arrangements of the school. The same

_principles_ will apply here, though perhaps a little more careful and

delicate management is necessary in interesting them in subjects which

relate to moral discipline.

One important method of accomplishing this end is to present these

plans before the minds of the scholars as experiments--moral

experiments, whose commencement, progress, and results they may take a

great interest in witnessing. Let us take, for example, the case alluded

to under the last head--the plan of effecting a reform in regard to

keeping desks in order. Suppose the teacher were to say, when the time

had arrived at which he had promised to give them an opportunity to put

the desks in order,

"I think it would be a good plan to keep some account of our efforts for

improving the school in this respect. We might make a record of what we

do to-day, noting the day of the month and the number of desks which may

be found to be disorderly. Then, at the end of any time you may propose,

we will have the desks examined again, and see how many are disorderly

then. We can thus see how much improvement has been made in that time.

Should you like to adopt the plan?"

If the boys should appear not much interested in the proposal, the

teacher might, at his own discretion, waive it. In all probability,

however, they would like it, and would indicate their interest by their

countenances, or perhaps by a response. If so, the teacher might

proceed.

"You may all examine your desks, then, and decide whether they are in

order or not. I do not know, however, but that we ought to appoint a

committee to examine them; for perhaps all the boys would not be honest,

and report their desks as they really are."

"Yes, sir;" "yes, sir," say the boys.

"Do you mean that you will be honest, or that you would like to have a

committee appointed?"

There was a confused murmur. Some answer one, and some the other.

"I think," proceeds the teacher, "the boys will be honest, and report

their desks just as they are. At any rate, the number of dishonest boys

in this school can not be so large as materially to affect the result.

I think we had better take your own statements. As soon as the desks are

all examined, those who have found theirs in a condition which does not

satisfy them are requested to rise and be counted."

The teacher then looks around the room, and selecting some intelligent

boy who has influence among his companions, and whose influence he is

particularly desirous of enlisting on the side of good order, says,

"Shall I nominate some one to keep an account of the number?"

"Yes, sir," say the boys.

"Well, I nominate William Jones. How many are in favor of requesting

William Jones to perform this duty?"

"It is a vote. William, I will thank you to write upon a piece of paper

that on the 8th of December the subject of order in the desks was

brought up, and that the boys resolved on making an effort to improve

the school in this respect. Then say that the boys reported all their

desks which they thought were disorderly, and that the number was

thirty-five; and that after a week or two, the desks are to be examined

again, and the disorderly ones counted, that we may see how much we have

improved. After you have written it you may bring it to me, and I will

tell you whether it is right."

"How many desks do you think will be found to be disorderly when we come

to make the examination?"

The boys hesitate.

The teacher names successively several numbers, and asks whether they

think the real number will be greater or less. He notices their votes

upon them, and at last fixes upon one which seems to be about the

general sense of the school. Then the teacher himself mentions the

number which he supposes will be found to be disorderly. His estimate

will ordinarily be larger than that of the scholars, because he knows

better how easily resolutions are broken. This number, too, is recorded,

and then the whole subject is dismissed.

Now, of course, no reader of these remarks will understand me to be

recommending, by this imaginary dialogue, a particular course to be

taken in regard to this subject, far less the particular language to be

used. All I mean is to show by a familiar illustration how the teacher

is to endeavor to enlist the interest and to excite the curiosity of his

pupils in his plans for the improvement of his school, by presenting

them as moral experiments, which they are to assist him in

trying--experiments whose progress they are to watch, and whose results

they are to predict. If the precise steps which I have described should

actually be taken, although it would occupy but a few minutes, and would

cause no thought and no perplexing care, yet it would undoubtedly be the

means of awakening a very general interest in the subject of order

throughout the school. All would be interested in the work of

arrangement.

All would watch, too, with interest the progress and the result of the

experiment; and if, a few days afterward, the teacher should

accidentally, in recess, see a disorderly desk, a good-humored remark

made with a smile to the by-standers, "I suspect my prediction will turn

out the correct one," would have far more effect than the most severe

reproaches, or the tingling of a rap over the knuckles with a ratan.

I know from experience that scholars of every kind can be led by such

measures as these, or rather by such a spirit as this, to take an active

interest, and to exert a most powerful influence in regard to the whole

condition of the institution. I have seen the experiment successful in

boys' schools and in girls' schools, among very little children, and

among the seniors and juniors at college.

In one of the colleges of New England a new and beautiful edifice was

erected. The lecture-rooms were fitted up in handsome style, and the

officers, when the time for the occupation of the building approached,

were anticipating with regret what seemed to be the unavoidable

defacing, and cutting, and marking of the seats and walls. It was,

however, thought that if the subject was properly presented to the

students, they would take an interest in preserving the property from

injury. They were accordingly addressed somewhat as follows:

"It seems, young gentlemen, to be generally the custom in colleges for

the students to ornament the walls and benches of their recitation-rooms

with various inscriptions and caricatures, so that after the premises

have been for a short time in the possession of a class, every thing

within reach, which will take an impression from a penknife or a trace

from a pencil, is covered with names, and dates, and heads, and

inscriptions of every kind. The faculty do not know what you wish in

this respect in regard to the new accommodations which the trustees have

now provided for you, and which you are soon to enter. They have had

them fitted up for you handsomely, and if you wish to have them kept in

good order, we will assist you. If the students think proper to express

by a vote, or in any other way, their wish to keep them in good order,

we will engage to have such incidental injuries as may from time to

time occur immediately repaired. Such injuries will, of course, be done;

for, whatever may be the wish and general opinion of the whole, it is

not to be expected that every individual in so large a community will be

careful. If, however, as a body, you wish to have the building preserved

in its present state, and will, as a body, take the necessary

precautions, we will do our part."

[Illustration]

The students responded to this appeal most heartily. They passed a vote

expressing a desire to preserve the premises in order, and for many

years, and, for aught I know, to the present hour, the whole is kept as

a room occupied by gentlemen should be kept. At some other colleges, and

those, too, sustaining the very highest rank among the institutions of

the country, the doors of the public buildings are sometimes _studded

with nails as thick as they can possibly be driven, and then covered

with a thick coat of sand dried into the paint, as a protection from the

knives of the students!!_

The particular methods by which the teacher is to interest his pupils in

his various plans for their improvement can not be fully described here.

In fact, it does not depend so much on the methods he adopts as upon the

view which he himself takes of these plans, and the _tone and manner in

which he speaks of them to his pupils_.

A teacher, for example, perhaps on the first day of his labors in a new

school, calls a class to read. They pretend to form a line, but it

crooks in every direction. One boy is leaning back against a desk;

another comes forward as far as possible, to get near the fire; the rest

lounge in every position and in every attitude. John is holding up his

book high before his face to conceal an apple from which he is

endeavoring to secure an enormous bite. James is, by the same sagacious

device, concealing a whisper which he is addressing to his next

neighbor, and Moses is seeking amusement by crowding and elbowing the

little boy who is unluckily standing next him.

"What a spectacle!" says the master to himself, as he looks at this sad

display. "What shall I do?" The first impulse is to break forth upon

them at once with all the artillery of reproof, and threatening, and

punishment. I have seen, in such a case, a scolding and frowning master

walk up and down before such a class with a stern and angry air,

commanding this one to stand back, and that one to come forward,

ordering one boy to put down his book, and scolding at a second for

having lost his place, and knocking the knees of another with his ruler

because he was out of the line. The boys scowl at their teacher, and,

with ill-natured reluctance, they obey just enough to escape punishment.

Another teacher looks calmly at the scene, and says to himself, "What

shall I do to remove effectually these evils? If I can but interest the

boys in reform, it will be far more easy to effect it than if I attempt

to accomplish it by the mere exercise of my authority."

In the mean time things go on during the reading in their own way. The

teacher simply _observes_. He is in no haste to commence his operations.

He looks for the faults; watches, without seeming to watch, the

movements which he is attempting to control. He studies the materials

with which he is to work, and lets their true character develop itself.

He tries to find something to approve in the exercise as it proceeds,

and endeavors to interest the class by narrating some fact connected

with the reading, or making some explanation which interests the boys.

At the end of the exercise he addresses them, perhaps, as follows:

"I have observed, boys, in some military companies, that the officers

are very strict, requiring implicit and precise obedience. The men are

required to form a precise line." (Here there is a sort of involuntary

movement all along the line, by which it is very sensibly straightened.)

"They make all the men stand erect" (at this word heads go up, and

straggling feet draw in all along the class), "in the true military

posture. They allow nothing to be done in the ranks but to attend to

the exercise" (John hastily crowds his apple into his pocket), "and thus

they regulate every thing in exact and steady discipline, so that all

things go on in a most systematic and scientific manner. This discipline

is so admirable in some countries, especially in Europe, where much

greater attention is paid to military tactics than in our country, that

I have heard it said by travelers that some of the soldiers who mount

guard at public places look as much like statues as they do like living

men.

"Other commanders act differently. They let the men do pretty much as

they please. So you will see such a company lounging into a line when

the drum beats, as if they took little interest in what was going on.

While the captain is giving his commands, one is eating his luncheon,

another is talking with his next neighbor. Part are out of the line;

part lounge on one foot; they hold their guns in every position; and, on

the whole, present a very disorderly and unsoldier-like appearance.

"I have observed, too, that boys very generally prefer to _see_ the

strict companies, but perhaps they would prefer to _belong_ to the lax

ones."

"No, sir;" "No, sir," say the boys.

"Suppose you all had your choice either to belong to a company like the

first one I described, where the captain was strict in all his

requirements, or to one like the latter, where you could do pretty much

as you pleased, which should you prefer?"

Unless I am entirely mistaken in my idea of the inclinations of boys, it

would be very difficult to get a single honest expression of preference

for the latter. They would say with one voice,

"The first."

"I suppose it would be so. You would be put to some inconvenience by the

strict commands of the captain, but then you would be more than paid by

the beauty of regularity and order which you would all witness. There is

nothing so pleasant as regularity, and nobody likes regularity more than

boys do. To show this, I should like to have you now form a line as

exact as you can."

After some unnecessary shoving and pushing, increased by the disorderly

conduct of a few bad boys, a line is formed. Most of the class are

pleased with the experiment, and the teacher takes no notice of the few

exceptions. The time to attend to _them_ will come by-and-by.

"Hands down." The boys obey.

"Shoulders back."

"There; there is a very perfect line."

"Do you stand easily in that position?"

"Yes, sir."

"I believe your position is the military one now, pretty nearly; and

military men study the postures of the human body for the sake of

finding the one most easy; for they wish to preserve as much as possible

of the soldiers' strength for the time of battle. I should like to try

the experiment of your standing thus at the next lesson. It is a very

great improvement upon your common mode. Are you willing to do it?"

"Yes, sir," say the boys.

"You will get tired, I have no doubt; for the military position, though

most convenient and easy in the end, is not to be learned and fixed in

practice without effort. In fact, I do not expect you will succeed the

first day very well. You will probably become restless and uneasy before

the end of the lesson, especially the smaller boys. I must excuse it, I

suppose, if you do, as it will be the first time."

By such methods as these the teacher will certainly secure a majority in

favor of all his plans. But perhaps some experienced teacher, who knows

from his own repeated difficulties with bad boys what sort of spirits

the teacher of district schools has sometimes to deal with, may ask, as

he reads this,

"Do you expect that such a method as this will succeed in keeping your

school in order? Why there are boys in almost every school whom you

would no more coax into obedience and order in this way than you would

persuade the northeast wind to change its course by reasoning."

I know there are. And my readers are requested to bear in mind that my

object is not to show how the whole government of the school may be

secured, but how one important advantage may be gained, which will

assist in accomplishing the object. All I should expect or hope for, by

such measures as these, is _to interest and gain over to our side the

majority_. What is to be done with those who can not be reached by such

kinds of influence I shall endeavor presently to show. The object now is

simply to gain the _majority_--to awaken a general interest, which you

can make effectual in promoting your plans, and thus to narrow the field

of discipline by getting those right who can be got right by such

measures.

Thus securing a majority to be on your side in the general

administration of the school is absolutely indispensable to success. A

teacher may, indeed, by the force of mere authority, so control his

pupils as to preserve order in the schoolroom, and secure a tolerable

progress in study, but the progress will be slow, and the cultivation of

moral principle must be, in such a case, entirely neglected. The

principles of duty can not be inculcated by fear; and though pain and

terror must in many instances be called in to coerce an individual

offender, whom milder measures will not reach, yet these agents, and

others like them, can never be successfully employed as the ordinary

motives to action. They can not produce any thing but mere external and

heartless obedience in the presence of the teacher, with an inclination

to throw off all restraint when the pressure of stern authority is

removed.

We should all remember that our pupils are but for a very short time

under our direct control. Even when they are in school the most untiring

vigilance will not enable us to watch, except for a very small portion

of the time, any one individual. Many hours of the day, too, they are

entirely removed from our inspection, and a few months will take them

away from us altogether. Subjecting them, then, to mere external

restraint is a very inadequate remedy for the moral evil to which they

are exposed. What we aim at is to bring forward and strengthen an

internal principle which will act when both parent and teacher are away,

and control where external circumstances are all unfavorable.

I have thus far, under this head, been endeavoring to show the

importance of securing, by gentle measures, a majority of the scholars

to cooperate with the teacher in his plans. The particular methods of

doing this demand a little attention.

(1.) The teacher should study human nature as it exhibits itself in the

school-room by taking an interest in the sports and enjoyments of the

pupils, and connecting, as much as possible, what is interesting and

agreeable with the pursuits of the school, so as to lead the scholars to

like the place. An attachment to the institution, and to the duties of

it, will give the teacher a very strong hold upon the community of mind

which exists there.

(2.) Every thing which is unpleasant in the discipline of the school

should be attended to, as far as possible, privately. Sometimes it is

necessary to bring a case forward in public for reproof or punishment,

but this is seldom required. In some schools it is the custom to

postpone cases of discipline till the close of the day, and then, just

before the boys are dismissed at night, all the difficulties are

settled. Thus, day after day, the impression which is last made upon

their minds is received from a season of suffering, and terror, and

tears.

Now such a practice may be attended with many advantages, but it seems

to be, on the whole, unwise. Awing the pupils, by showing them the

painful consequences of doing wrong, should be very seldom resorted to.

It is far better to allure them by showing them the pleasures of doing

right. Doing right is pleasant to every body, and no persons are so

easily convinced of this, or, rather, so easily led to see it, as

children. Now the true policy is to let them experience the pleasure of

doing their duty, and they will easily be allured to it.

In many cases, where a fault has been publicly committed, it seems, at

first view, to be necessary that it should be publicly punished; but the

end will, in most cases, be answered if it is _noticed_ publicly, so

that the pupils may know that it received attention, and then the

ultimate disposal of the case may be made a private affair between the

teacher and the individual concerned. If, however, every case of

disobedience, or idleness, or disorder, is brought out publicly before

the school, so that all witness the teacher's displeasure and feel the

effects of it (for to witness it is to feel its most unpleasant

effects), the school becomes, in a short time, hardened to such scenes.

Unpleasant associations become connected with the management of the

school, and the scholars are prepared to do wrong with less reluctance,

since the consequence is only a repetition of what they are obliged to

see every day.

Besides, if a boy does something wrong, and you severely reprove him in

the presence of his class, you punish the class almost as much as you do

him. In fact, in many cases you punish them more; for I believe it is

almost invariably more unpleasant for a good boy to stand by and listen

to rebukes, than for a bad boy to take them. Keep these things,

therefore, as much as possible out of sight. Never bring forward cases

of discipline except on mature deliberation, and for a distinct and

well-defined purpose.

(3.) Never bring forward a case of discipline of this kind unless you

are sure that public opinion will go in your favor. If a case comes up

in which the sympathy of the scholars is excited for the criminal in

such a way as to be against yourself, the punishment will always do more

harm than good. Now this, unless there is great caution, will often

happen. In fact, it is probable that a very large proportion of the

punishments which are ordinarily inflicted in schools only prepare the

way for more offenses.

It is, however, possible to bring forward individual cases in such a way

as to produce a very strong moral effect of the right kind. This is to

be done by seizing upon those peculiar emergencies which will arise in

the course of the administration of a school, and which each teacher

must watch for and discover himself. They can not be pointed out. I may,

however, give a clearer idea of what is meant by such emergencies by an

example. It is a case which actually occurred as here narrated.

In a school where nearly all the pupils were faithful and docile, there

were one or two boys who were determined to find amusement in those

mischievous tricks so common in schools and colleges. There was one boy,

in particular, who was the life and soul of all these plans. Devoid of

principle, idle as a scholar, morose and sullen in his manners, he was,

in every respect, a true specimen of the whole class of mischief-makers,

wherever they are to be found. His mischief consisted, as usual, in such

exploits as stopping up the keyhole of the door, upsetting the teacher's

inkstand, or fixing something to his desk to make a noise and interrupt

the school.

It so happened that there was a standing feud between the boys of his

neighborhood and those of another situated a mile or two from it. By his

malicious activity he had stimulated this quarrel to a high pitch, and

was very obnoxious to the boys of the other party. One day, when taking

a walk, the teacher observed a number of boys with excited looks, and

armed with sticks and stones, standing around a shoemaker's shop, to

which his poor pupil had gone for refuge from them. They had got him

completely within their power, and were going to wait until he should be

wearied with his confinement and come out, when they were going to

inflict upon him the punishment they thought he deserved.

The teacher interfered, and by the united influence of authority,

management, and persuasion, succeeded in effecting a rescue. The boy

would probably have preferred to owe his safety to any one else than to

the teacher whom he had so often tried to tease, but he was glad to

escape in any way. The teacher said nothing about the subject, and the

boy soon supposed it was entirely forgotten.

But it was not forgotten. The teacher knew perfectly well that the boy

would before long be at his old tricks again, and was reserving this

story as the means of turning the whole current of public opinion

against such tricks, should they again occur.

One day he came to school in the afternoon, and found the room filled

with smoke; the doors and windows were all closed, though, as soon as he

came in, some of the boys opened them. He knew by this circumstance that

it was roguery, not accident, which caused the smoke. He appeared not to

notice it, however, said he was sorry it smoked, and asked the

mischievous boy--for he was sure to be always near in such a case--to

assist him in putting up the wood of the fire more compactly. The boy

supposed that the smoke was understood to be accidental, and perhaps

secretly laughed at the dullness of his master.

In the course of the afternoon, the teacher ascertained by private

inquiries that his suspicions were correct as to the author of the

mischief. At the close of school, when the studies were ended, and the

books laid away, he said to the scholars that he wanted to tell them a

story.

He then, with a pleasant tone and manner, gave a very minute, and, to

the boys, a very interesting narrative of his adventure two or three

weeks before, when he rescued this boy from his danger. He called him,

however, simply _a boy_, without mentioning his name, or even hinting

that he was a member of the school. No narrative could excite a stronger

interest among an audience of school-boys than such a one as this, and

no act of kindness from a teacher would make as vivid an impression as

interfering to rescue a trembling captive from such a situation as the

one this boy had been in.

The scholars listened with profound interest and attention, and though

the teacher said little about his share in the affair, and spoke of what

he did as if it were a matter of course that he should thus befriend a

boy in distress, an impression very favorable to himself must have been

made. After he had finished his narrative, he said,

"Now should you like to know who this boy was?"

"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir," said they, eagerly.

"It was a boy that you all know."

The boys looked around upon one another. Who could it be?

"He is a member of this school."

There was an expression of fixed, and eager, and increasing interest on

every face in the room.

"He is here now," said the teacher, winding up the interest and

curiosity of the scholars, by these words, to the highest pitch.

"But I can not tell you his name; for what return do you think he made

to me? To be sure it was no very great favor that I did him; I should

have been unworthy the name of teacher if I had not done it for him, or

for any boy in my school. But, at any rate, it showed my good wishes for

him; it showed that I was his friend; and what return do you think he

made me for it? Why, to-day he spent his time between schools in filling

the room with smoke, that he might torment his companions here, and give

me trouble, and anxiety, and suffering when I should come. If I should

tell you his name, the whole school would turn against him for his

ingratitude."

The business ended here, and it put a stop, a final stop, to all

malicious tricks in the school. Now it is not very often that so fine an

opportunity occurs to kill, by a single blow, the disposition to do

willful, wanton injury, as this circumstance afforded; but the principle

illustrated by it, bringing forward individual cases of transgression in

a public manner, only for the sake of the general effect, and so

arranging what is said and done as to produce the desired effect upon

the public mind in the highest degree, may very frequently be acted

upon. Cases are continually occurring, and if the teacher will keep it

constantly in mind, that when a particular case comes before the whole

school, the object is an influence upon the whole, and not the

punishment or reform of the guilty individual, he will insensibly so

shape his measures as to produce the desired result.

(4.) There should be a great difference made between the _measures which

you take_ to prevent wrong, and the _feelings of displeasure which you

express_ against the wrong when it is done. The former should be strict,

authoritative, unbending; the latter should be mild and gentle. Your

measures, if uniform and systematic, will never give offense, however

powerfully you may restrain and control those subject to them. It is the

morose look, the harsh expression, the tone of irritation and

fretfulness, which is so unpopular in school. The sins of childhood are

by nine tenths of mankind enormously overrated, and perhaps none

overrate them more extravagantly than teachers. We confound the trouble

they give us with their real moral turpitude, and measure the one by the

other. Now if a fault prevails in school, one teacher will scold and

fret himself about it day after day, until his scholars are tired both

of school and of him; and yet he will _do_ nothing effectual to remove

it. Another will take efficient and decided measures, and yet say very

little on the subject, and the whole evil will be removed without

suspending for a moment the good-humor and pleasant feeling which should

prevail in school.

The expression of your displeasure on account of any thing that is wrong

will seldom or never do any good. The scholars consider it scolding; it

is scolding; and though it may, in many cases, contain many sound

arguments and eloquent expostulations, it operates simply as a

punishment. It is unpleasant to hear it. General instruction must indeed

be given, but not general reproof.

(5.) Feel that in the management of the school _you_ are under

obligation as well as the scholars, and let this feeling appear in all

that you do. Your scholars wish you to dismiss school earlier than usual

on some particular occasion, or to allow them an extra holiday. Show by

the manner in which you consider and speak of the question that your

main inquiry is what is _your duty_. Speak often of your responsibility

to your employers--not formally, but incidentally and naturally, as you

will speak if you feel this responsibility.

It will assist very much, too, in securing cheerful, good-humored

obedience to the regulations of the school, if you extend their

authority over yourself. Not that the teacher is to have no liberty from

which the scholars are debarred; this would be impossible. But the

teacher should submit, himself, to every thing which he requires of his

scholars, unless it is in cases where a different course is necessary.

Suppose, for instance, a study-card, like the one described in a

preceding chapter, is made so as to mark the time of recess and of

study. The teacher, near the close of recess, is sitting with a group of

his pupils around him, telling them some story. They are all interested,

and they see he is interested. He looks at his watch, and shows by his

manner that he is desirous of finishing what he is saying, but that he

knows that the striking of the bell will cut short his story. Perhaps

he says not a word about it, but his pupils see that he is submitting to

the control which is placed over them; and when the card goes up, and he

stops instantly in the middle of his sentence and rises with the rest,

each one to go to his own place, to engage at once in their several

duties, he teaches them a most important lesson, and in the most

effectual way. Such a lesson of fidelity and obedience, and such an

example of it, will have more influence than half an hour's scolding

about whispering without leave, or a dozen public punishments. At least

so I found it, for I have tried both.

Show then continually that you see and enjoy the beauty of system and

strict discipline, and that you submit to law yourself as well as

require submission of others.

(6.) Lead your pupils to see that they must share with you the credit or

the disgrace which success or failure in the management of the school

may bring. Lead them to feel this, not by telling them so, for there are

very few things which can be impressed upon children by direct efforts

to impress them, but by so speaking of the subject, from time to time,

as to lead them to see that you understand it so.

Repeat, with judicious caution, what is said of the school, both for and

against it, and thus endeavor to interest the scholars in its public

reputation. This feeling of interest in the institution may very easily

be awakened. It sometimes springs up spontaneously, and, where it is not

guided aright by the teacher, sometimes produces very bad effects upon

the minds of the pupils in rival institutions. When two schools are

situated near each other, evil consequences will result from this

feeling, unless the teacher manages it so as to deduce good

consequences. I recollect that in my boyish days there was a standing

quarrel between the boys of a town school and an academy which were in

the same village. We were all ready at any time, when out of school, to

fight for the honor of our respective institutions, each for his own,

but very few were ready to be diligent and faithful when in it, though

it would seem that that might have been rather a more effectual means of

establishing the point. If the scholars are led to understand that the

school is to a great extent their institution, that they must assist to

sustain its character, and that they share the honor of its excellence,

if any honor is acquired, a feeling will prevail in the school which may

be turned to a most useful account.

(7.) In giving instruction on moral duty, the subject should generally

be taken up in reference to imaginary cases, or cases which are unknown

to most of the scholars. If this is done, the pupils feel that the

object of bringing up the subject is to do good; whereas, if questions

of moral duty are only introduced from time to time, when some

prevailing or accidental fault in school calls for reproof, the feeling

will be that the teacher is only endeavoring to remove from his own path

a source of inconvenience and trouble. The most successful mode of

giving general moral instruction that I have known, and which has been

adopted in many schools with occasional variations of form, is the

following:

When the time has arrived, a subject is assigned, and small papers are

distributed to the whole school, that all may write something concerning

it. These are then read and commented on by the teacher, and become the

occasion of any remarks which he may wish to make. The interest of the

pupils is strongly excited to hear the papers read, and the instruction

which the teacher may give produces a deeper effect when ingrafted thus

upon something which originates in the minds of the pupils.

To take a particular case. A teacher addresses his scholars thus: "The

subject for the moral exercise to-day is _Prejudice_. Each one may take

one of the papers which have been distributed, and you may write upon

them any thing you please relating to the subject. As many as have

thought of any thing to write may raise their hands."

One or two only of the older scholars gave the signal.

"I will mention the kinds of communications you can make, and perhaps

what I say will suggest something to you. As fast as you think of any

thing, you may raise your hands, and as soon as I see a sufficient

number up, I will give directions to begin.

"You can describe any case in which you have been prejudiced yourselves

either against persons or things."

Here a number of the hands went up.

"You can mention any facts relating to antipathies of any kind, or any

cases where you know other persons to be prejudiced. You can ask any

questions in regard to the subject--questions about the nature of

prejudice, or the causes of it, or the remedy for it."

As he said this, many hands were successively raised, and at last

directions were given for all to begin to write. Five minutes were

allowed, and at the end of that time the papers were collected and read.

The following specimens, transcribed verbatim from the originals, with

the remarks made as nearly as could be remembered immediately after the

exercise, will give an idea of the ordinary operation of this plan.

"I am very much prejudiced against spiders and every insect in the known

world with scarcely an exception. There is a horrid sensation created by

their ugly forms that makes me wish them all to Jericho. The butterfly's

wings are pretty, but he is dreadful ugly. The is no affectation in this,

for my pride will not permit me to show this prejudice to any great degree

when I can help it. I do not fear the little wretches, but I do hate them.

ANTI-SPIDER-SPARER."

"This is not expressed very well; the phrases '_to Jericho?_' and

'_dreadful ugly_' are vulgar, and not in good taste. Such a dislike,

too, is more commonly called an antipathy than a prejudice, though

perhaps it comes under the general head of prejudices."

"How may we overcome prejudice? I think that when we are prejudiced

against a person, it is the hardest thing in the world to overcome it."

A prejudice is usually founded on some unpleasant association

connected with the subject of it. The best way to overcome the

prejudice, therefore, is to connect some pleasant association with it.

For example (to take the case of the antipathy to the spider, alluded

to in the last article), the reason why that young lady dislikes spiders

is undoubtedly because she has some unpleasant idea associated with the

thought of that animal, perhaps, for example, the idea of their crawling

upon her, which is certainly not a very pleasant one for any body. Now

the way to correct such a prejudice is to try to connect some pleasant

thoughts with the sight of the animal.

I once found a spider in an empty apartment hanging in its web on the

wall, with a large ball of eggs which it had suspended by its side. My

companion and myself cautiously brought up a tumbler under the web, and

pressed it suddenly against the wall, so as to inclose both spider and

eggs within it. We then contrived to run in a pair of shears, so as to

cut off the web, and let both the animal and its treasure fall down into

the tumbler. We put a book over the top, and walked off with our prize

to a table to see what the spider would do.

At first it tried to climb up the side of the tumbler, but its feet

slipped on account of the smoothness of the glass. We then inclined the

glass so as to favor its climbing, and to enable it to reach the book at

the top. As soon as it touched the book, it was safe. It could cling to

the book easily, and we placed the tumbler again upright to watch its

motions.

It attached a thread to the book, and let itself down by it to the

bottom of the tumbler, and walked round and round the ball of eggs,

apparently in great trouble. Presently it ascended by its thread, and

then came down again. It attached a new thread to the ball, and then

went up, drawing the ball with it. It hung the ball at a proper distance

from the book, and bound it firmly in its place by threads running from

it in every direction to the parts of the book which were near, and then

the animal took its place quietly by its side.

Now I do not say that if any body had a strong antipathy to a spider,

seeing one perform such a work as this would entirely remove it, but it

would certainly soften it. It would _tend_ to remove it. It would

connect an interesting and pleasant association with the object. So if

she should watch a spider in the fields making his web. You have all

seen those beautiful regular webs in the morning dew ("Yes, sir;" "Yes,

sir"), composed of concentric circles, and radii diverging in every

direction. ("Yes, sir.") Well, watch a spider when making one of these,

or observe his artful ingenuity and vigilance when he is lying in wait

for a fly. By thus connecting pleasant ideas with the sight of the

animal, you will destroy the unpleasant association which constitutes

the prejudice. In the same manner, if I wished to create an antipathy to

a spider in a child, it would be very easily done. I would tie her hands

behind her, and put three or four upon her to crawl over her face.

[Illustration]

"Thus you must destroy prejudices in all cases by connecting pleasant

thoughts and associations with the objects of them."

"I am very often prejudiced against new scholars without knowing why."

"We sometimes hear a person talk in this way: 'I do not like such or

such a person at all.'

"'Why?'

"'Oh, I don't know; I do not like her at all. I can't bear her.'

"'But why not? What is your objection to her?'

"'Oh, I don't know; I have not any particular reason, but I never did

like her.'

"Now, whenever you hear any person talk so, you may be sure that her

opinion on any subject is worth nothing at all. She forms opinions in

one case without grounds, and it depends merely upon accident whether

she does or not in other cases."

"Why is it that so many of our countrymen _are_, or seem to be,

prejudiced against the unfortunate children of Africa? Almost every _large

white_ boy who meets a _small black_ boy insults him in some way or other."

"It is so hard to _overcome_ prejudices, that we ought to be careful how

we _form_ them."

"When I see a new scholar enter this school, and she does not happen to

suit me exactly in her ways and manners, I very often get prejudiced

against her; though sometimes I find her a valuable friend after I get

acquainted with her."

"There is an inquiry I should like very much to make, though I suppose

it would not be quite right to make it. I should like to ask all those

who have some particular friend in school, and who can recollect the

impression which the individual made upon them when they first saw her,

to rise, and then I should like to inquire in how many cases the first

impression was favorable, and in how many unfavorable."

"Yes, sir;" "Yes, sir."

"Do you mean you would like to have the inquiry made?"

"Yes, sir."

"All, then, who have intimate friends, and can recollect the impression

which they first made upon them, may rise."

[About thirty rose; more than two thirds of whom voted that the first

impression made by the persons who had since become their particular

friends was unfavorable.]

"This shows how much dependence you can justly place on first

impressions."

"It was the next Monday morning after I had attained the wise age

of four years that I was called up into my mother's room, and told that

I was the next day going to school.

"I called forth all my reasoning powers, and with all the ability of a

child of four years, I reasoned with my mother, but to no purpose. I

told her that I _hated_ the school-mistress then, though I had never

seen her. The very first day I tottered under the weight of the mighty

fool's-cap. I only attended her school two quarters; with prejudice I

went, and with prejudice I came away.

"The old school-house is now torn down, and a large brick house takes

the place of it. But I never pass by without remembering my teacher. I

am prejudiced to [against] the very spot."

"Is it not right to allow prejudice to have influence over our minds as

far as this? If any thing comes to our knowledge with which wrong

_seems_ to be connected, and one in whom we have always felt confidence

is engaged in it, is it not right to allow our prejudice in favor of

this individual to have so much influence over us as to cause us to

believe that all is really right, though every circumstance which has

come to our knowledge is against such a conclusion? I felt this

influence, not many weeks since, in a very great degree."

"The disposition to judge favorably of a fraud in such a case would not

be prejudice; or, at least, if it were so, it would not be a sufficient

ground to justify us in withholding blame. Well-grounded confidence in

such a person, if there was reason for it, ought to have such an effect,

but not prejudice."

The above may be considered as a fair specimen of the ordinary

operation of such an exercise. It is taken as an illustration, not by

selection, from the large number of similar exercises which I have

witnessed, but simply because it was an exercise occurring at the time

when a description was to be written. Besides the articles quoted above,

there were thirty or forty others which were read and commented on. The

above will, however, be sufficient to give the reader a clear idea of

the exercise, and to show what is the nature of the moral effect it is

calculated to produce.

The subjects which may be advantageously brought forward in such a way

are, of course, very numerous. They are such as the following:

1. DUTIES TO PARENTS.--Anecdotes of good or bad conduct at home.

Questions. Cases where it is most difficult to obey. Dialogues between

parents and children. Excuses which are often made for disobedience.

2. SELFISHNESS.--Cases of selfishness any of the pupils have observed.

Dialogues they have heard exhibiting it. Questions about its nature.

Indications of selfishness.

3. FAULTS OF THE SCHOOL.--Any bad practices the scholars may have

observed in regard to general deportment, recitations, habits of study,

or the scholars' treatment of one another. Each scholar may write what

is his own greatest trouble in school, and whether he thinks any thing

can be done to remove it. Any thing they think can be improved in the

management of the school by the teacher. Unfavorable things they have

heard said about it out of school, though without names.

4. EXCELLENCES OF THE SCHOOL.--Good practices which ought to be

persevered in. Any little incidents the scholars may have noticed

illustrating good character. Cases which have occurred in which scholars

have done right in temptation, or when others around were doing wrong.

Favorable reports in regard to the school in the community around.

5. THE SABBATH.--Any thing the scholars may have known to be done on the

Sabbath which they doubt whether right or wrong. Questions in regard to

the subject. Various opinions they have heard expressed. Difficulties

they have in regard to proper ways of spending the Sabbath.

(8.) We have one other method to describe by which a favorable moral

influence may be exerted in school. The method can, however, go into

full effect only where there are several pupils who have made

considerable advances in mental cultivation.

It is to provide a way by which teachers and pupils may write

anonymously for the school. This may be done by having a place of

deposit for such articles as may be written, where any person may leave

what he wishes to have read, nominating by a memorandum upon the article

itself the reader. If a proper feeling on the subject of good discipline

and the formation of good character prevails in school, many articles,

which will have a great deal of effect upon the pupils, will find their

way through such an avenue once opened. The teacher can himself often

bring forward in this way his suggestions with more effect than he

otherwise could do. Such a plan is, in fact, like the plan of a

newspaper for an ordinary community, where sentiments and opinions stand

on their own basis, and influence the community just in proportion to

their intrinsic merits, unassisted by the authority of the writer's

name, and unimpeded by any prejudice which may exist against him.

The following articles, which were really offered for such a purpose in

the Mount Vernon school, will serve as specimens to illustrate the

actual operation of the plan. One or two of them were written by

teachers. I do not know the authors of the others. I do not offer them

as remarkable compositions: every teacher will see that they are not so.

The design of inserting them is merely to show that the ordinary

literary ability to be found in every school may be turned to useful

account by simply opening a channel for it, and to furnish such teachers

as may be inclined to try the experiment the means of making the plan

clearly understood by their pupils.

MARKS OF A BAD SCHOLAR.

"At the time when she should be ready to take her seat at school, she

commences preparation for leaving home. To the extreme annoyance of

those about her, all is now hurry, and bustle, and ill-humor. Thorough

search is to be made for every book or paper for which she has occasion;

some are found in one place, some in another, and others are forgotten

altogether. Being finally equipped, she casts her eye at the clock,

hopes to be in tolerable good season (notwithstanding that the hour for

opening the school has already arrived), and sets out in the most

violent hurry.

"After so much haste, she is unfitted for attending properly to the

duties of the school until a considerable time after her arrival. If

present at the devotional exercises, she finds it difficult to command

her attention even when desirous of so doing, and her deportment at this

hour is, accordingly, marked with an unbecoming listlessness and

abstraction.

"When called to recitations, she recollects that some task was assigned,

which, till that moment, she had forgotten; of others she had mistaken

the extent, most commonly thinking them to be shorter than her

companions suppose. In her answers to questions with which she should be

familiar, she always manifests more or less of hesitation, and what she

ventures to express is very commonly in the form of a question. In

these, as in all exercises, there is an inattention to general

instructions. Unless what is said be addressed particularly to herself,

her eyes are directed toward another part of the room; it may be, her

thoughts are employed about something not at all connected with the

school. If reproved by her teacher for negligence in any respects, she

is generally provided with an abundance of excuses, and however mild the

reproof, she receives it as a piece of extreme severity.

"Throughout her whole deportment there is an air of indolence and a want

of interest in those exercises which should engage her attention. In her

seat, she most commonly sits in some lazy posture--either with her

elbows upon her desk, her head leaning upon her hands, or with her seat

tipped forward or backward. When she has occasion to leave her seat, it

is in a sauntering, lingering gait--perhaps some trick is contrived on

the way for exciting the mirth of her companions.

"About every thing in which it is possible to be so, she is untidy. Her

books are carelessly used, and placed in her desk without order. If she

has a piece of waste paper to dispose of, she finds it much more

convenient to tear it into small pieces and scatter it about her desk,

than to put it in a proper place. Her hands and clothes are usually

covered with ink. Her written exercises are blotted and full of

mistakes."

THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING BEHINDHAND.

"The following incident, which I witnessed on a late journey,

illustrates an important principle, and I will relate it.

"When our steam-boat started from the wharf, all our passengers had not

come. After we had proceeded a few yards, there appeared among the crowd

on the wharf a man with his trunk under his arm, out of breath, and with

a most disappointed and disconsolate air. The captain determined to stop

for him; but stopping an immense steam-boat, moving swiftly through the

water, is not to be done in a moment; so we took a grand sweep, wheeling

majestically around an English ship which was at anchor in the harbor.

As we came toward the wharf again, we saw the man in a small boat coming

off from it. As the steam-boat swept round, they barely succeeded in

catching a rope from the stern, and then immediately the steam-engine

began its work again, and we pressed forward, the little boat following

us so swiftly that the water around her was all in a foam.

"They pulled upon the rope attached to the little boat until they drew

it alongside. They then let down a rope, with a hook in the end of it,

from an iron crane which projected over the side of the steam-boat, and

hooked it into a staple in the front of the small boat. '_Hoist away_!'

said the captain. The sailors hoisted, and the front part of the little

boat began to rise, the stern plowing and foaming through the water,

and the man still in it, with his trunk under his arm. They 'hoisted

away' until I began to think that the poor man would actually tumble out

behind. He clung to the seat, and looked as though he was saying to

himself, 'I will take care how I am tardy the next time.' However, after

a while, they hoisted up the stern of the boat, and he got safely on

board.

"_Moral_--Though coming to school a few minutes earlier or later may not

in itself be a matter of much consequence, yet the habit of being five

minutes too late, if once formed, will, in actual life, be a source of

great inconvenience, and sometimes of lasting injury."

NEW SCHOLARS.

There is at ------ a young ladies' school, taught by Mr. ------.

* * * * *

"But, with all these excellences, there is one fault, which I considered

a great one, and which does not comport with the general character of

the school for kindness and good feeling. It is the little effort made

by the scholars to become acquainted with the new ones who enter.

Whoever goes there must push herself forward, or she will never feel at

home. The young ladies seem to forget that the new-comer must feel

rather unpleasantly in the midst of a hundred persons to whom she is

wholly a stranger, and with no one to speak to. Two or three will stand

together, and instead of deciding upon some plan by which the individual

may be made to feel at ease, something like the following conversation

takes place:

"_Miss X._ How do you like the looks of Miss A., who entered school

to-day?

"_Miss Y._ I don't think she is very pretty, but she looks as if she

might be a good scholar.

"_Miss X._ She does not strike me very pleasantly. Did you ever see

such a face? And her complexion is so dark, I should think she had

always lived in the open air; and what a queer voice she has!

"_Miss Y._ I wonder if she has a taste for Arithmetic?

"_Miss X._ She does not look as if she had much taste for any thing. See

how strangely she arranges her hair!

"_Miss S._ Whether she has much taste or not, some one of us ought to go

and get acquainted with her. See how unpleasantly she feels!

"_Miss X._ I don't want to get acquainted with her until I know whether

I shall like her or not.

"Thus nothing is done to relieve her. When she does become acquainted,

all her first strange appearance is forgotten; but this is sometimes not

the case for several weeks. It depends entirely on the character of the

individual herself. If she is forward, and willing to make the necessary

effort, she can find many friends; but if she is diffident, she has much

to suffer. This arises principally from thoughtlessness. The young

ladies do not seem to realize that there is any thing for them to do.

They feel enough at home themselves, and the remembrance of the time

when they entered school does not seem to arise in their minds."

A SATIRICAL SPIRIT.

I witnessed, a short time since, a meeting between two friends, who had

had but little intercourse before for a long while. I thought a part of

their conversation might be useful, and I shall therefore relate it, as

nearly as I can recollect, leaving each individual to draw her own

inferences.

For some time I sat silent, but not uninterested, while the days of

'Auld Lang Syne' came up to the remembrance of the two friends. After

speaking of several individuals who were among their former

acquaintances, one asked, 'Do you remember Miss W.? 'Yes,' replied the

former, I remember her as the fear, terror, and abhorrence of all who

knew her.' _I_ knew the lady by report, and asked why she was so

regarded. The reply was, 'Because she was so severe, so satirical in her

remarks upon others. She spared neither friend nor foe.'

"The friends resumed their conversation. 'Did you know,' said the one

who had first spoken of Miss W., 'that she sometimes had seasons of

bitter repentance for indulging in this unhappy propensity of hers? She

would, at such times, resolve to be more on her guard, but, after all

her good resolutions, she would yield to the slightest temptations. When

she was expressing, and apparently really _feeling_ sorrow for having

wounded the feelings of others, those who knew her would not venture to

express any sympathy, for, very likely, the next moment _that_ would be

turned into ridicule. No confidence could be placed in her.'

"A few more facts will be stated respecting the same individual, which I

believe are strictly true. Miss W. possessed a fine and well-cultivated

mind, great penetration, and a tact at discriminating character rarely

equaled. She could, if she chose, impart a charm to her conversation

that would interest and even fascinate those who listened to it; still,

she was not beloved. Weaknesses and foibles met with unmerciful

severity, and well-meaning intentions and kind actions did not always

escape without the keen sarcasm which it is so difficult for the best

regulated mind to bear unmoved. The mild and gentle seemed to shrink

from her; and thus she, who might have been the bright and beloved

ornament of the circle in which she moved, was regarded with distrust,

fear, and even hatred. This dangerous habit of making satirical remarks

was evinced in childhood; it was cherished; it 'grew with her growth,

and strengthened with her strength,' until she became what I have

described.

LAURA."

Though such a satirical spirit is justly condemned, a little

good-humored raillery may sometimes be allowed as a mode of attacking

faults in school which can not be reached by graver methods. The teacher

must not be surprised if some things connected with his own

administration come in sometimes for a share.

VARIETY.

"I was walking out a few days since, and not being particularly in

haste, I concluded to visit a certain school for an hour or two. In a

few minutes after I had seated myself on the sofa, the '_Study Card_'

was dropped, and the general noise and confusion indicated that recess

had arrived. A line of military characters, bearing the title of the

'Freedom's Band,' was soon called out, headed by one of their own

number. The tune chosen to guide them was Kendall's March.

"'Please to form a regular line,' said the lady commander. 'Remember

that there is to be no speaking in the ranks. Do not begin to step until

I strike the bell. Miss B., I requested you not to step until I gave the

signal.'

"Presently the command was given, and the whole line _stepped_ for a few

minutes to all intents and purposes. Again the bell sounded. 'Some of

you have lost the step,' said the general. 'Look at me, and begin again.

Left! right! left! right!' The line was once more in order, and I

observed a new army on the opposite side of the room, performing the

same manoeuvres, always to the tune of 'Kendall's March.' After a time

the recess closed, and order was again restored. In about half an hour I

approached a class which was reciting behind the railing. 'Miss A.,'

said a teacher, 'how many kinds of magnitude are there?' _Miss A._

(Answer inaudible.) _Several voices._ 'We can't hear.' _Teacher._ 'Will

you try to speak a little louder, Miss A.?"

"Some of the class at length seemed _to guess_ the meaning of the young

lady, but _I_ was unable to do even that until the answer was repeated

by the teacher. Finding that I should derive little instruction from

the recitation, I returned to the sofa.

"In a short time the _propositions_ were read. 'Proposed, that the

committee be impeached for not providing suitable pens.' 'Lost, a

pencil, with a piece of India-rubber attached to it by a blue ribbon,'

&c., &c.

"Recess was again announced, and the lines commenced their evolutions to

the tune of 'Kendall's March.' Thought I, 'Oh that there were a new tune

under the sun!'

"Before the close of school some compositions were read. One was

entitled 'The Magic King,' and commenced, 'As I was sitting alone last

evening, I heard a gentle tap on the door, and immediately a beautiful

fairy appeared before me. She placed a ring on my finger, and left me.'

The next began, 'It is my week to write composition, but I do not know

what to say. However, I must write something, so it shall be a

dialogue.' Another was entitled the 'Magical Shoe,' and contained a

marvelous narration of adventures made in a pair of shoes more valuable

than the far-famed 'seven-league boots.' A fourth began, 'Are you

acquainted with that new scholar?' 'No; but I don't believe I shall like

her.' And soon the 'Magical Thimble,' the 'Magical Eye-glass,' &c., were

read in succession, until I could not but exclaim, 'How pleasing is

variety!' School was at length closed, and the young ladies again

attacked the piano. 'Oh,' repeated I to myself, '_how pleasing is

variety!_ as I left the room to the tune of Kendall's March."

By means like these, and others similar to them, it will not be

difficult for any teacher to obtain so far an ascendency over the minds

of his pupils as to secure an overwhelming majority in favor of good

order and co-operation with him in his plans for elevating the character

of the school. But let it be distinctly understood that this, and this

only, has been the object of this chapter thus far. The first point

brought up was the desirableness of making at first a favorable

impression; the second, the necessity of taking general views of the

condition of the school, and aiming to improve it in the mass, and not

merely to rebuke or punish accidental faults; and the third, the

importance and the means of gaining a general influence and ascendency

over the minds of the pupils. But, though an overwhelming majority can

be reached by such methods as these, all can not. We must have the

majority secured, however, in order to enable us to reach and to reduce

the others. But to this work we must come at last.

4. I am, therefore, now to consider, under a fourth general head, what

course is to be taken with _individual_ offenders whom the general

influences of the school-room will not control.

The teacher must always expect that there will be such cases. They are

always to be found in the best and most skillfully-managed schools. The

following suggestions will perhaps assist the teacher in dealing with

them.

(1.) The first point to be attended to is to ascertain who they are. Not

by appearing suspiciously to watch any individuals, for this would be

almost sufficient to make them bad, if they were not so before. Observe,

however; notice, from day to day, the conduct of individuals, not for

the purpose of reproving or punishing their faults, but to enable you to

understand their characters. This work will often require great

adroitness and very close scrutiny, and you will find, as the results of

it, a considerable variety of character, which the general influences

above described will not be sufficient to control. The number of

individuals will not be great, but the diversity of character comprised

in it will be such as to call into exercise all your powers of vigilance

and discrimination. On one seat you will find a coarse, rough-looking

boy, who openly disobeys your commands and opposes your wishes while in

school, and makes himself a continual source of trouble and annoyance

during play-hours by bullying and hectoring every gentle and timid

schoolmate. On another sits a more sly rogue, whose demure and

submissive look is assumed to conceal a mischief-making disposition.

Here is one whose giddy spirit is always leading him into difficulty,

but who is of so open and frank a disposition that you will most easily

lead him back to duty; but there is another who, when reproved, will fly

into a passion; and then a third, who will stand sullen and silent

before you when he has done wrong, and is not to be touched by kindness

nor awed by authority.

[Illustration]

Now all these characters must be studied. It is true that the caution

given in a preceding part of this chapter, against devoting undue and

disproportionate attention to such persons, must not be forgotten.

Still, these individuals will require, and it is right that they should

receive, a far greater degree of attention, so far as the moral

administration of the school is concerned, than their mere numbers would

appear to justify. This is the field in which the teacher is to study

human nature, for here it shows itself without disguise. It is through

this class, too, that a very powerful moral influence is to be exerted

upon the rest of the school. The manner in which such individuals are

managed, the tone the teacher assumes toward them, the gentleness with

which he speaks of their faults, and the unbending decision with which

he restrains them from wrong, will have a most powerful effect upon the

rest of the school. That he may occupy this field, therefore, to the

best advantage, it is necessary that he should first thoroughly explore

it.

By understanding the dispositions and characters of such a class of

pupils as I have described, I do not mean merely watching them with

vigilance in school, so that none of their transgressions shall go

unobserved and unpunished. I intend a far deeper and more thorough

examination of character. Every boy has something or other which is good

in his disposition and character which he is aware of, and on which he

prides himself; find out what it is, for it may often be made the

foundation on which you may build the superstructure of reform. Every

one has his peculiar sources of enjoyment and objects of pursuit, which

are before his mind from day to day. Find out what they are, that by

taking an interest in what interests him, and perhaps sometimes

assisting him in his plans, you can bind him to you. Every boy is, from

the circumstances in which he is placed at home, exposed to temptations

which have perhaps had far greater influence in the formation of his

character than any deliberate and intentional depravity of his own;

ascertain what these temptations are, that you may know where to pity

him and where to blame. The knowledge which such an examination of

character will give you, will not be confined to making you acquainted

with the individual. It will be the most valuable knowledge which a man

can possess, both to assist him in the general administration of the

school and in his intercourse among mankind in the business of life. Men

are but boys, only with somewhat loftier objects of pursuit. Their

principles, motives, and ruling passions are essentially the same.

Extended commercial speculations are, so far as the human heart is

concerned, substantially what trading in jack-knives and toys is at

school, and building a snow fort, to its own architects, the same as

erecting a monument of marble.

(2.) After exploring the ground, the first thing to be done as a

preparation for reforming individual character in school is to secure

the personal attachment of the individuals to be reformed. This must not

be attempted by professions and affected smiles, and still less by that

sort of obsequiousness, common in such cases, which produces no effect

but to make the bad boy suppose that his teacher is afraid of him;

which, by the way, is, in fact, in such cases, usually true. Approach

the pupil in a bold and manly, but frank and pleasant manner. Approach

him as his superior, but still as his friend; desirous to make him

happy, not merely to obtain his good-will. And the best way to secure

these appearances is just to secure the reality. Actually be the boy's

friend. Really desire to make him happy--happy, too, in his own way, not

in yours. Feel that you are his superior, and that you must and will

enforce obedience; but with this, feel that probably obedience will be

rendered without any contest. If these are really the feelings which

reign within you, the boy will see it, and they will exert a strong

influence over him; but you can not counterfeit appearances.

A most effectual way to secure the good-will of a scholar is to ask him

to assist you. The Creator has so formed the human heart that doing good

must be a source of pleasure, and he who tastes this pleasure once will

almost always wish to taste it again. To do good to any individual

creates or increases the desire to do it.

There is a boy in your school who is famous for his skill in making

whistles from the green branches of the poplar. He is a bad boy, and

likes to turn his ingenuity to purposes of mischief. You observe him

some day in school, when he thinks your attention is engaged in another

way, blowing softly upon one which he has concealed in his desk for the

purpose of amusing his neighbors without attracting the attention of the

teacher. Now there are two remedies. Will you try the physical one? Then

call him out into the floor, inflict painful punishment, and send him

smarting to his seat, with his heart full of anger and revenge, to plot

some new and less dangerous scheme of annoyance. Will you try the moral

one? Then wait till the recess, and while he is out at his play, send a

message out by another boy, saying that you have heard he is very

skillful in making whistles, and asking him to make one for you to carry

home to a little child at your boarding-house. What would, in ordinary

cases, be the effect? It would certainly be a very simple application,

but its effect would be to open an entirely new train of thought and

feeling for the boy. "What!" he would say to himself, while at work on

his task, "give the master _pleasure_ by making whistles! Who would have

conceived of it? I never thought of any thing but giving him trouble and

pain. I wonder who told him I could make whistles?" He would find, too,

that the new enjoyment was far higher and purer than the old, and would

have little disposition to return to the latter.

I do not mean by this illustration that such a measure as this would be

the only notice that ought to be taken of such an act of willful

disturbance in school. Probably it would not. What measures in direct

reference to the fault committed would be necessary would depend upon

the circumstances of the case. It is not necessary to our purpose that

they should be described here.

The teacher can awaken in the hearts of his pupils a personal attachment

for him by asking in various ways their assistance in school, and then

appearing honestly gratified with the assistance rendered. Boys and

girls are delighted to have what powers and attainments they possess

brought out into action, especially where they can lead to useful

results. They love to be of some consequence in the world, and will be

especially gratified to be able to assist their teacher. Even if the

studies of a turbulent boy are occasionally interrupted for half an

hour, that he might help you arrange papers, or rule books, or

distribute exercises, it will be time well spent. Get him to co-operate

with you in any thing, and he will feel how much more pleasant it is to

co-operate than to thwart and oppose; and, by judicious measures of this

kind, almost any boy may be brought over to your side.

Another means of securing the personal attachment of boys is to notice

them, to take an interest in their pursuits, and the qualities and

powers which they value in one another. It is astonishing what an

influence is exerted by such little circumstances as stopping at a

play-ground a moment to notice with interest, though perhaps without

saying a word, speed of running, or exactness of aim, the force with

which a ball is struck, or the dexterity with which it is caught or

thrown. The teacher must, indeed, in all his intercourse with his

pupils, never forget his station, nor allow them to lay aside the

respect, without which authority can not be maintained. But he may be,

notwithstanding this, on the most intimate and familiar footing with

them all. He may take a strong and open interest in all their

enjoyments, and thus awaken on their part a personal attachment to

himself, which will exert over them a constant and powerful control.

(3.) The efforts described under the last head for gaining a personal

influence over those who, from their disposition and character, are most

in danger of doing wrong, will not be sufficient entirely to prevent

transgression. Cases of deliberate, intentional wrong will occur, and

the question will rise, What is the duty of the teacher in such an

emergency? When such cases occur, the course to be taken is, first of

all, to come to a distinct understanding on the subject with the guilty

individual. Think of the case calmly, until you have obtained just and

clear ideas of it. Endeavor to understand precisely in what the guilt of

it consists. Notice every palliating circumstance, and take as favorable

a view of the thing as you can, while, at the same time, you fix most

firmly in your mind the determination to put a stop to it. Then go to

the individual, and lay the subject before him, for the purpose of

understanding distinctly from his own lips what he intends to do. I can,

however, as usual, explain more fully what I mean by describing a

particular case, substantially true.

The teacher of a school observed himself, and learned from several

quarters, that a certain boy was in the habit of causing disturbance

during time of prayer, at the opening and close of school, by

whispering, playing, making gestures to the other boys, and throwing

things about from seat to seat. The teacher's first step was to speak of

the subject generally before the whole school, not alluding, however, to

any particular instance which had come under his notice. These general

remarks produced, as he expected, but little effect.

He waited for some days, and the difficulty still continued. Had the

irregularity been very great, it would have been necessary to have taken

more immediate measures, but he thought the case admitted of a little

delay. In the mean time, he took pains to cultivate the acquaintance of

the boy, to discover, and to show that he noticed, what was good in his

character and conduct, occasionally to ask some assistance from him, and

thus to gain some personal ascendency over him.

One day, when every thing had gone smoothly and prosperously, the

teacher told the boy, at the close of the school, that he wished to talk

with him a little, and asked him to walk home with him. It was not

uncommon for the teacher to associate thus with his pupils out of

school, and this request, accordingly, attracted no special attention.

On the walk the teacher thus accosted the criminal:

"Do you like frank, open dealing, James?"

James hesitated a moment, and then answered, faintly,

"Yes, sir."

"Most boys do, and I do, and I supposed that you would prefer being

treated in that way. Do you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I am going to tell you of one of your faults. I have asked you to

walk with me, because I supposed it would be more agreeable for you to

have me see you privately than to bring it up in school."

James said it would be more agreeable.

"Well, the fault is being disorderly at prayer-time. Now, if you like

frank and open dealing, and are willing to deal so with me, I should

like to talk with you a little about it, but if you are not willing, I

will dismiss the subject. I do not wish to talk with you now about it

unless you yourself desire it; but if we talk at all, we must both be

open, and honest, and sincere. Now, should you rather have me talk with

you or not?"

"Yes, sir, I should rather have you talk with me now than in school."

The teacher then described his conduct in a mild manner, using the style

of simple narration, admitting no harsh epithets, no terms of reproach.

The boy was surprised, for he supposed that he had not been noticed. He

thought, perhaps, that he should have been punished if he had been

observed. The teacher said, in conclusion,

"Now, James, I do not suppose you have done this from any designed

irreverence toward God, or deliberate intention of giving me trouble and

pain. You have several times lately assisted me in various ways, and I

know, from the cheerful manner with which you comply with my wishes,

that your prevailing desire is to give me pleasure, not pain. You have

fallen into this practice through thoughtlessness, but that does not

alter the character of the sin. To do so is a great sin against God, and

a great offense against good order in school. You see, yourself, that my

duty to the school will require me to adopt the most decided measures to

prevent the continuance and the spread of such a practice. I should be

imperiously bound to do it, even if the individual was the very best

friend I had in school, and if the measures necessary should bring upon

him great disgrace and suffering. Do you not think it would be so?"

"Yes, sir," said James, seriously, "I suppose it would."

"I wish to remove the evil, however, in the pleasantest way. Do you

remember my speaking on this subject in school the other day?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, my object in what I said then was almost entirely to persuade you

to reform without having to speak to you directly. I thought it would be

pleasanter to you to be reminded of your duty in that way. But I do not

think it did you much good. Did it?"

"I don't think I have played _so much_ since then."

"Nor I. You have improved a little, but you have not decidedly and

thoroughly reformed. So I was obliged to take the next step which would

be least unpleasant to you, that is, talking with you alone. Now you

told me when we began that you would deal honestly and sincerely with

me, if I would with you. I have been honest and open. I have told you

all about it so far as I am concerned. Now I wish you to be honest, and

tell me what you are going to do. If you think, from this conversation,

that you have done wrong, and if you are fully determined to do so no

more, and to break off at once, and forever, from this practice, I

should like to have you tell me, and then the whole thing will be

settled. On the other hand, if you feel about it pretty much as you have

done, I should like to have you tell me that too, honestly and frankly,

that we may have a distinct understanding, and that I may be considering

what to do next. I shall not be offended with you for giving me either

of these answers, but be sure that you are honest; you promised to be

so."

The boy looked up in his master's face, and said, with great

earnestness,

"Mr T. I _will_ do better. I _will not_ trouble you any more."

I have detailed this case thus particularly because it exhibits clearly

what I mean by going directly and frankly to the individual, and coming

at once to a full understanding. In nine cases out of ten this course

will be effectual. For four years, with a very large school, I found

this sufficient in every case of discipline which occurred, except in

three or four instances, where something more was required. To make it

successful, however, the work must be done properly. Several things are

necessary. It must be deliberate; generally better after a little delay.

It must be indulgent, so far as the view which the teacher takes of the

guilt of the pupil is concerned; every palliating consideration must be

felt. It must be firm and decided in regard to the necessity of a

change, and the determination of the teacher to effect it. It must also

be open and frank; no insinuations, no hints, no surmises, but plain,

honest, open dealing.

In many cases the communication may be made most delicately and most

successfully in writing. The more delicately you touch the feelings of

your pupils, the more tender these feelings will become. Many a teacher

hardens and stupefies the moral sense of his pupils by the harsh and

rough exposures to which he drags out the private feelings of the heart.

A man may easily produce such a state of feeling in his schoolroom, that

to address even the gentlest reproof to any individual, in the hearing

of the next, would be a most severe punishment; and, on the other hand,

he may so destroy that sensitiveness that his vociferated reproaches

will be as unheeded as the idle wind.

If, now, the teacher has taken the course recommended in this

chapter--if he has, by his general influence in the school, done all in

his power to bring the majority of his pupils to the side of order and

discipline--if he has then studied, attentively and impartially, the

characters of those who can not thus be led--if he has endeavored to

make them his friends, and to acquire, by every means, a personal

influence over them--if, finally, when they do wrong, he goes plainly,

but in a gentle and delicate manner, to them, and lays before them the

whole case--if he has done all this, he has gone as far as moral

influence will carry him. My opinion is, that this course, faithfully

and judiciously pursued, will, in almost all instances, succeed; but it

will not in all; and where it fails, there must be other, and more

vigorous and decided measures. What these measures of restraint or

punishment shall be must depend upon the circumstances of the case; but

in resorting to them, the teacher must be decided and unbending.

The course above recommended is not trying lax and inefficient measures

for a long time in hopes of their being ultimately successful, and then,

when they are found not to be so, changing the policy. There should be,

through the whole, the tone and manner of _authority_, not of

_persuasion_. The teacher must be a _monarch_, and, while he is gentle

and forbearing, always looking on the favorable side of conduct so far

as guilt is concerned; he must have an eagle eye and an efficient hand,

so far as relates to arresting the evil and stopping the consequences.

He may slowly and cautiously, and even tenderly, approach a delinquent.

He may be several days in gathering around him the circumstances of

which he is ultimately to avail himself in bringing him to submission;

but, while he proceeds thus slowly and tenderly, he must come with the

air of authority and power. The fact that the teacher bases all his

plans on the idea of his ultimate authority in every case may be

perfectly evident to all the pupils, while he proceeds with moderation

and gentleness in all his specific measures. Let it be seen, then, that

the constitution of your school is a monarchy, absolute and unlimited;

but let it also be seen that the one who holds the power is himself

under the control of moral principle in all that he does, and that he

endeavors to make the same moral principle which guides him go as far as

it is possible to make it go in the government of his subjects.