Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-01-08
Common schools.
Circular Of the State Superintendent,

AO ~ NONNCA 1AACtt
tendent of Common Schools, has issued a circu-
lar to the County Superintendent Of schools and
an Address to teachers.
Suffer me then, once more, to urge 1t upon
you to address yourselves to your work with alac-
rity and zeal, and to prosecute it with unabated
energy and vigor. The enactment of a law has
not completed the work & of improvement. 1t has
merely authorized you to it. Almost
everything of success-every hope of good to be
obtained, depends mainly upon the zeal and eff
cheney with which you perform your duty. 9th
'ers are to cooperate with you in carrying on
THE enterprise, but you must infuse into their
bosor the necessary energy and spirit. Leave
n goyr Mtpress-6r you may--upon the character
Toft the State of Vermont. Even should your
services be expended in this field Of action but
for a single year, you may leave a bright impress
ion that shall be traceabIe for long years to come,
in the improved condition of our common
schools. You may identify your names with the
benign results which shall flow from such i'm
-provement. The enterprising pioneer who first
lays open to the sun the painless wilderness, is
not soo1 forgotten in the succeeding stages OF
advanced cultivation; and the successive i'm
:provenents afterwards superadded, must be re-
.garded in history as but a continuation of the la
dor which his hand begun.
And finally, as a last Indictment, (f indeed
unore could be needed to insure the exertion of
your best energies,) if you worthily and efficient
by bear your part in those agencies under which
the State of Vermont shall gradually rise in the
scale Of virtue and intelligence, until she shall at
tain a high 5emiHence in these ennobling charac-
t~eristics, you shall, if your lives are spared, reap
a rich and living reward in your own bosoms.
You shall look abroad and see her sons as they
emerge from childhood, growing up into intelli-
gent, useful and honorable member daughters
becoming %virtuous, we'll informed and accom-
plished women ;-"these-these are our Jewels"
And that pride and gladness shall have a COM
prehensiveness of scope, and there will mingle
with these emotions a sense or consciousness Of
elevation and expansion Of soul, unknown to the
bosom Of the Roman matron; for while her
"lewels' were but few, yours shall be numbered
by thousands and tens of thousands"
From the address to Teachers we extract the
following paragraphs upon School Discipline
"Upon the subject of discipline in school we
would say that obedience and order are indis-
pensibly necessary to successful instruction
disobedience and confusion incompatible with it
Regularity, order and submission to established
Tu1es must then, be enforced and naiitdi1Sd al
all hazards. The good of the whole clearly. de.
mands it. But how or by what means this i'm
portant end is to be gained, is a question which
may sometimes present some difficulty in the so
luton. We are not prepared to say that corpo
real punishment can, at least in the present con
dition of our schools, be entirely dispensed with
Whenever it is resorted to however, it must no
be with the expectation that it can be relied OF
as a means of reformation. And iii is admissible
in schools in any case only the principle that the
advancement and interest of the many must moi
be sacrificed for an individual. While we are
not ready therefore to pronounce it ga relic O.
barbarism," and to say that the cases are rare
in which a resort to it is demanded and tina
seven in those cases moral Influences would more
certainly and successfully accomplish the desira
bic end of retaining and reforming. We firm
iy believe that governing by kindness is ordina
rily "a more excellent way"-more excellent il
the direct success which attends it, in its effect
upon the character of the individual, and its in
huenceS upon all. Kindness is the very "mag
clans wand" in its effects upon the character {
the individual, and in its influences upon all
Kindness is the very 'magicia's wand in its pc
tent control over the rebellious and angry pa;
ysioRs Of the soul. There is scarce a human hear
that is SO cased and steeled but that some ave
snue to it remains and it is rare but that kind
tness @ll find the way. 1t is rare but that pt
r4ient, PerseVering kindness on your part will
length be reciprocated by d%ocility on the part {
the pupil. Many a hayward and unlucky DO
who now seems a fair candidate for a prison
the gallows, and whom no severity could reclaim
might by such kinkness be won from his pervers
and evil ways, and become a useful member
society. And a victory would be more gloriou
6han ever was gained over mere flesh and blooc
would be g fhofai triumph which should fairl
entitle yourto higher honor than belongs to hi
who cOnquets. e empires by violence and devasti
ton.
But whether COED moral conduct can be il
sured, and %yirtuous ~priReiple be instilled into tn
heart by means o stripes, or not, we think thel
can be no controversy upon the question whetht
a love Of study can be infused and the pupil
progress in learning bepromoted BY these mean
1t must be sufficiently obvious that it is imposs
bic to instil love into the bosom by the hatef
process of csstigation. We shonld sooner expe,
a sick man who loathes the sight of food, cou
be whipped into an appetite. There is no rel
ton between the means and the end. If your p
pill manifests ala aversion to study. he must be
lured, not driven to it. You lack qualification
if you cannot thus allure him-you fail of sucee
you attempt to coerce him. Fear or physic
oerciOn can never call forth those spontaneou
dent, and delighted efforts which alone CO
sure any substantial and valuable progress.