In a certain village in Switzerland, some years ago, there were heavy
complaints among all who possessed trees, that no fruit was safe; that
the children plundered it perpetually before it came to maturity; and
not only that, but that the green saplings had no security against
them. Another serious complaint was the barbarity of the children
towards all living creatures in their power. The clergyman, teacher,
and elders, often laid their heads together, to find some remedy for
this inhuman spirit, by which every child in the place was more or
less affected. They could not conceive why such a spirit should
prevail so specially in _this_ village; but they could find neither
cause nor remedy: all exhortations, all punishments, were in vain. The
clergyman of the village was changed; and the new minister was a great
friend to schools. His first walk was to the school-house. The vice of
the scholars had been made known to him, and the failure of all
preventive measures hitherto applied. But, determining within himself
to watch the whole course of proceedings in school, he soon perceived
that the teacher had a habit, and had acquired a singular dexterity in
it, of knocking down and killing flies with his cane, to the end of
which he had fastened a piece of leather. The windows were all on one
side, and being exposed to the morning sun of summer, they were
continually full of flies. The teacher's path lay along them, in front
of his scholars; and while talking to the latter, he struck down the
flies as they shewed themselves at the window. This manoeuvre amused
the children infinitely more than his instruction did, and they
followed his example. They were incessantly on the watch for flies
that buzzed through the room, caught them in their hands, and shewed
as great dexterity in this kind of chase as their teacher in his. But
their amusement did not end here: they had learned to play with their
captives, treat them with detestable cruelty, and seemed to find a
wicked delight in observing the shivering of their victims.
On observing these curious and far from pleasing peculiarities of the
school, the intelligent and humane clergyman easily accounted for the
spirit of destructiveness among the children; and his first step was
to induce the teacher to take his leather from the end of the cane;
and next, to turn the desks so that the boys sat with their backs to
the windows, and the teacher's path lay on the other side of the room.
Then the minister went frequently into the school, and examined so
severely, that both teacher and pupils had more to do than to give
their attention to the flies. As this was not yet entirely
satisfactory in its results, the minister took advantage of the hot
summer weather, to have instruction given only in the afternoon, when
the school was not so full of flies, and thus he gradually banished
the insects from the thoughts of teacher and children. But he knew
that it was of little avail solely to pull the weeds out of the young
mind. He obtained an unoccupied piece of land fit for planting, and,
not far from the school, laid out a school-garden. This pleased the
teacher, and the children willingly took part in the task, for they
had soon learned to like their new minister, who came and worked
amongst them. The garden was surrounded by a hedge planted with trees
and shrubs, and each child had a tree or shrub given him to take care
of. A nursery was soon laid out, and provision made for plenty of
larger gardens and orchards in the village. And, behold! the spirit
of destructiveness among the children soon passed away; and every
man's fruit and garden became safe, the youths even begging of their
parents that trees might be planted in the fields for them to take
care of. The new spirit was communicated from children to parents,
till it spread throughout the entire village; every family had its
pretty little garden; an emulation in cultivating flowers sprang into
existence; idle and bad habits disappeared; and gradually the whole
place was a scene of moral as well as of physical beauty.
This incident, the truth of which can be vouched for, has been
communicated to us by a lady of rank, who happens to have lately
become acquainted with the circumstances, and has thought that their
publicity may be advantageous. We have no doubt of the fact, that the
practice of amateur gardening is never associated with evil, but is
always a token of advanced tastes and correct habits. Let every one,
therefore, within his sphere, do what he can to promote this most
desirable pursuit. We would further say, let every school, so far as
it can conveniently be done, have its garden, not only for purposes of
amusement, but as an important engine of education.