Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1842-06-10
For the Herald.
.u0R.gL REFLECTION s, No. 4.

sHOR.4A hEFAEI Wv - ~" "
.srhe whining school-boy, with his satchel, and
shining morning face, creeping snai-lke, unwilling
ly to school,"
The whining school-boy! We propose to
analyze, on this occasion, from the letter A, to
z. viz when lie first appears in the arcana
of letters. and is beginning to let GO the ''apron
STRINGS Of his mother" We will imagine him
released in partial manner. from the caress-
es and eudearmen,s of his home, and appears
in ..propa persona" before the awful school,
master-.he terror of his youth! He appears.
not seldom too, with moistened eye, and
hea.y heart; springng from the rupture OF
'infantile associations, and the new era, he is
so reluctantly (oftentime) about to commence.
Every thing now, is strange and bewldering;
he feels loneliness of heart--a dreadful lso-
laton-a state Of oneness; and his embryotlc
reason becomes surrounded by hale OF non
entitu he sscreeps like snal,' to the desk OF
his preceptor, and the sound of foolishness, IN
his own ears, of A, B, G, salute him. lie
laughs or cries, mocks or is 'sobersIded: or
become living statue! he progresses WITH
eaden footsteps in the highway Of knowledge.
The letters, more often, will not "stick" upon
his tongue, or soionrn within the cavity OF his
skull.-He gradually becomes acclimated (if
| may be allowed the term) to his situation;-
acquainted with his tutor and fellow travellers
tina: are at his side, and imperceptibly, as 1t
were the light Of memory pene,rates the brain
and fingers on his tongue. He plods on as tar
as the round letter O., mayhaps, and calls
halt He does not see plainly, the beacon
light OF hope. afar off, in the dim distance
their is no object ahead, presenting itself to
his ''mind's eye" and his mite of education is
vapid and vaporish. He wends his way home
ward with an, empty head to bis mother. Now
pa,hizes wifi him and endeavors TO concen-
ira,e his mind 6pon his task-to sue him into
"a love for i&sbf a repetition Of the symbols, and
makes manifest the pleasure she derives from
over the alphabet; as likewise do
others with whom he may come in contact,
like the flash of lightning-as the quickness
of ,hought--as the certainty Of the red mans
arrow, the pupil arrives at his journeys end,
FOL. The time being. He has accomplished the
.trelnendu0us task Recorded as upon leaves
.gf adarhant, the initials of his language; now
he has .ths.corner stone laid, upon which he is
ito fear an edifce that is to stand as upon the
rock, and TO dash back the angry gales, or
which 1870 totter upon the sands, and fall in
Usioieted 1uins.and be scattered to the four
Wind Of Heayen.. Now he has the keys of
the sanctuary. with which he unlock the
thopthts Of the living and sail the sain'ed 81.
lesstSSs1" who have inscribed their names up
oslshe sSsoll of Observation-Disclosures the
mys,icism--advanced their fell
low cieslpres' happiness, and contributed to
tstse the human mind to a knowledge of the
simplicity Of nature and almighty truth!
!. After having gone SO far, according as the
child is placed, by the laws of tyrant crcum-
Stance, i. e. if his parents are intelligent and
feel anxious for his advancement--are desl-
rous of catering the young idea: and If the
boy possess a .'good mind I'm sound body"
and bridled and cur5ed according to the hardness
of his mouth, ssdts7fat he may net run away at
will, or allowed to be contaminated with I'M
exemplary, and older, and less sensible chill
dren than himself; he will obey the laws of
nature and be inclined to do well. He begins
to advance in the primer with some zeal, his
faculties of higher order, now commence to
manifest themselves, and he Involuntary falls
in love with his spelling book; but if he is not
as have described, i. e. if he is possessed of
an over quantity Of brain, of refined texture,
with bilious or sangulne temperament, and |:
the intoxicating s,imula of knowledge be pour
ed into his mind, he may run faster than his
age dictated-become precocous, or in other
words the activity o. the brain may take pre-
sidence, and becom monopoly-draw heavy
drafts upon the bank, viz: the heart, for the
s'pabulun. vita," and peprive the bones and SIM
ews oftheir just dues, and the minor members
of the "body corporate" of the ''sina qua non.'
IF this demand continue to proceed unmolested,
there will be failure, either at the fountain
head, or branches, of the great system;- dis
tress will ensue-exhaustion on the one hand,
-, IL thor
or separate and distinct OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
sumption, or ransitory flooding: more fire.
auently the failure of the mind ensues, and i'd
Joey, or a general bankruptcy. follows. In Gu
ses Of unchecked precocIy there IS a disobedience
maid to nature. A precocious child is "lusus
natura," and we will not hold that parent guilt
less, who would encourage child to lururi-
ate out Of its proper sphere, viz: cucumber its
mind with matters not requisite to its age and
position in the drama life. The responsibility
Of the parent is here very, and strikingly man.
ifested, an injury is inflicted upon the child,
and upon the family of man at large! The
bearing of such cases on society, is seen at a
glance by any one of ordinary comprehension!
on the other hand, if child is endowed with
mediocre or small brain, and unfavorable
Temperament if he be'naturalls l1sus natura
from diminished deuelopement he will require
the spur to save him from falling into listless-
ness, langur, general apathy and stupidity.
He will, in accordance to the capacity with
which he is possessed capacity of a very
narrow and contracted kind, from his lacking
the material-the sssumum bonum - the brain
be disenclined to force an erpansion--to ac-
quire knowledge by labor. The parent and
preceptor, here, should use s.stlmulants free
ly," lie. should endeavor, by mild means, to
engender disposition for the book-awaken
up the Pickering light by application of the
oil, cautiously and prudentially not to pour in
to the small lamp too much of the stimula, or
u IL l.. La. L