A hundred and fifty years ago there was a famous teacher among the
German settlers in Pennsylvania who was known as "The Good
Schoolmaster." His name was Christopher Dock. He had two little
country schools. For three days he would teach at a little place
called Skippack, and then for the next three days he would teach at
Salford.
People said that the good schoolmaster never lost his temper. There
was a man who thought he would try to make him angry. He said many
harsh and abusive words to the teacher, and even cursed him. But the
only reply the teacher made was, "Friend, may the Lord have mercy on
you."
Other schoolmasters used to beat their scholars severely with whips
and long switches. But Schoolmaster Dock had found out a better way.
When a child came to school for the first time, the other scholars
were made to give the new scholar a welcome by shaking hands with him,
one after another. Then the new boy or girl was told that this was not
a harsh school, but a place for those who would behave. And if a
scholar were lazy, disobedient, or stubborn, the master would in the
presence of the whole school pronounce him not fit for this school,
but only for a school where children were flogged. The new scholar was
asked to promise to obey and to be diligent. When he had made this
promise, he was shown to a seat.
[Illustration.]
"Now," the good master would say, when this was done, "who will take
this new scholar and help him to learn?"
[Illustration.]
When the new boy or girl was clean and bright looking, many would be
willing to take charge of him or her. But there were few ready to
teach a dirty, ragged little child. Sometimes no one would wish to do
it. In such a case the master would offer to the one who would take
such a child a reward of one of the beautiful texts of scripture which
the schoolmasters of that time used to write and decorate for the
children. Or he would give him one of the pictures of birds which he
was accustomed to paint with his own hands.
The old Pennsylvania teachers were fond of making these tickets with
pictures and writing on them. The pictures which we have here will
show you what they looked like. The writing is in German, as you will
see.
Whenever one of the younger scholars succeeded in learning his A, B,
C, Christopher Dock would send word to the father of the child to give
him a penny, and he would ask his mother to cook two eggs for him as a
treat. These were fine rewards for poor children in a new country.
At certain stages in his studies, the industrious child in one of
Dock's schools would receive a penny from his father, and eat two eggs
cooked by his mother. But all this time he was not counted a member of
the school. He was only on trial. The day on which a boy or girl began
to read was a great day. If the pupil had been diligent in spelling,
the morning after the first reading day, the master would give him
a ticket carefully written with his own hand. This ticket read
"Industrious--One Penny." This showed that the scholar was now really
received into the school. But if he afterward became idle or
disobedient, Schoolmaster Dock would take away his token.
There were no clocks or watches in the country. The children came to
school, one after another taking their places near the master, who sat
writing. They spent their time reading until all were there. But every
one who succeeded in reading his passage without mistake stopped
reading, and came and sat at the writing table to write. The poor
fellow who remained last on the bench was called the Lazy Scholar.
Every Lazy Scholar had his name written on the blackboard. If a child
at any time failed to read correctly, he was sent back to study his
passage, and called again after a while. If he failed a second or a
third time, all the scholars cried out, "Lazy!" Then his name was
written on the blackboard. Then all the poor Lazy Scholar's friends
went to work to teach him to read his lesson correctly. And if his
name should not be rubbed off the board before school was dismissed,
all the scholars might write it down, and take it home with them. But
if he could read well before school was out, the scholars, at the
bidding of the master, called out, "Industrious!" and then his name
was rubbed off the board.
The funniest of Dock's rewards was that which he gave to those who
made no mistake in their lessons. He marked a large O with chalk on
the hand of the perfect scholar. Fancy what a time the boys and girls
must have had, trying to go home without rubbing out this O.
If you had gone into this school some day, you might have seen a boy
sitting on a punishment bench all alone. This was a fellow who had
told a lie or used bad language. He was put there as not fit to sit
near anybody else. If he committed the offense often, a yoke would be
put round his neck, as if he were a brute. Sometimes, however, the
teacher would give the scholars their choice of a blow on the hand or
a seat on the punishment bench. They usually preferred the blow.
At certain times the scholars were permitted to study aloud, but at
other times they were obliged to keep still. And a boy or girl was put
as a watcher, to set down the names of those who talked in this time
of quiet.
The old schoolmaster in Skippack wrote one hundred rules of good
behavior for his scholars. This is perhaps the first book on good
manners written in America. But rules of behavior for people living in
houses of one or two rooms, as they did in that day, were very
different from those needed in our time. Here are some of the rules:
"When you comb your hair, do not go out in the middle of the room,"
says the schoolmaster. This was because families were accustomed to
eat and sleep in the same room.
"Do not eat your morning bread on the road or in school," he tells
them, "but ask your parents to give it to you at home." From this we
see that the common breakfast was bread alone, and that the children
often ate it as they walked to school.
The table manners of that day were very good for the time, but they
seem very curious to us. He says, "Do not wabble with your stool,"
because rough home-made stools were the common chairs then, and the
floors, made of boards that were split and not sawed, were so uneven
that a noisy child could easily rock his stool to and fro.
"Put your knife upon the right and your bread on the left side," he
says. Forks were little used in those days, and the people in the
country did not have any. He also tells them not to throw bones under
the table. It was a common practice among some people of that time to
throw bones and scraps under the table, where the dogs ate them.
The child is not told to wait for others when he has finished eating,
or to ask to be excused. "Get up quietly," says the schoolmaster, "and
take your stool with you. Wish a pleasant mealtime, and go to one
side." The child is told not to put the remaining bread into his
pocket.
As time passed on, Christopher Dock had many friends, for all his
scholars of former years loved him greatly. He lived to be very old,
and taught his schools to the last. One evening he did not come home,
and the people went to look for the beloved old man. They found their
dear old master on his knees in the schoolhouse. He had died while
praying alone.