The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-11-06

cover when, to his joyful surprise, he foun
the box filled with books upon the top o
which lay auohtly folded and supcrscribc
liltlo billet, directed TO himself EugerI
Fnalching up tho paper he opened it, an
rend, IN the finely traced characters ofan I'm
settled female hand, the laconc contcnts:-
"a lot ofoId, musty volumes, in return 70
your nice little present Father has pckei
hem oul from his old college books, and Civ
on them to me 10 send to you, saying you
would like them. Ifyou think, as ho saws, Il
bout them, shall he pleased 10 have you nc
ccpt them from
"Your friend,
"MARY.
With II low shout of irreprcssible joy, he
now hastily caught up his treasure, rushed
into the house, and, calling on his mother 10
come aud witness his good fortune, fell to I'M
packing the books, greedily running over the
title pages of ench, as, with many half sup
pressed exclamation Of pleasure, he success
lively took out the different volumes, which,
10 the number of eight or ten, the box con-
tanned, and spread them around him on the
floor The collection consisted ofa complete
set oimathematics, from common arithmetic
TO huXions; n standard work on natural pIi-
losophy; another on astronomy;tOgcther with
separate treatises upon geology, mineralogy
aud chemistry; while the whole was accom-
panied by good set of mathematical nstru-
If'an.a,
These books received the attention of
Locke every leisure moment he could find,
and gladly lie hailed the day when the dis
'rict School commenced. His proceedings
with the new teacher are not such it is
hoped, rs often occur, though doubtless too
often
But here again it was his fortune soon to
become, though not exactly in the same way
nA before, the uHintemtional cause of much |
nncasness and perpIcXity TO another person. !
age. That other parsonage was the school |
master, who-his requirements, us usual |
with the mass OF our district school teachers, |
being confined to common arithmetic, gram
mar and the like, without the ability to illus
traIe one halfofthe principles even OF these,
viewed with considerable alarm, nj the out
set, the formidable looking books which
Locke bad brought into the school with the
Nvowed intention ofpursuing The studies they
contained. Audhe made several attempts TO
draw the other from his purpose. Common
arithmetic, said he, should first be thorough
ly studied, and all the sums worked over and
over, ill they were rs familiar rs tho alpha
Der. Locke, inreply, said he should like to
have Il sun pointed out TO him in any of the
Hrittmetics which'he could not already do;
though if the master would illustrate to him
the rules ofallegaton and double position,he
would like to listen, as he did not quite IN
derstand all the reasons for the results of t
these two rules. Not caring to push the ,
matter, any farther on that tack, the teacher
next recommended geography rs useful &
interesting study. In answer 10 This, LCuilu
proposed TO submit himselfto an cxanina-
ton; being able, as he believed, to answer
every ordinary question that could be raised
either on the maps or in the textbook. The
master then mentioned English grammar,
advising the other again 10 commit the gram
mar book to memory. Here, also, he was
met by the obdurate pupil, who, though will.
ling TO Join the parsing class at their lessons,
objected to spending any more time upon
his grammar book; and, by the way of furn-
Islnng a reason for his objections, lie imne-
tiiateiyfbrought forward the book in question
and, handing it to the former, kept him re-
luctantiy looking over till the whole was rat
iled off at one recitation.
Being toiled in these and every other at
rempt of the kind, the master concluded to
let Locke go on in his chosen pursuits unmo-
Tested; and right thankful would he have been
for the reciprocation ofthe favor. This how
ever, as with reason he had feared, was not
granted him by the unconscious object of his
Slrea6, who soon called on him for cxplana-
tons of problems or principles, of which he
knew aboutas much as the man in the moon;
but Of which he had unwisely determined to
conceal his ignorance lest it should he said Il
IN the district, that there were scholars III he c.
school who knew more than their master.-- ;.
And having settled on this course, 10 other -
alternative now remained for him, but to "a
meet these calls for instruction in the best p
way he could. And it would have been IL. al
inusing enough TO spectator, in the secret, al
TO have Witnessed the various shifts to which
the poor fellow was driven, to get along with -
his troublesome pupil, without exposing the :,
ignorance which he was so anxious to conceal OIL
At one time, when thus called on for instruc- tn
ton, he would pretend such hurry that lie II
could not attend to the required explanations; &C
at another, When apparently he was about to "
comply with the request of his pupil, he =
would suddenly discover some delinquency
in the school, which he must Immediately at pa
tend to, and which would be made to occupy pc
his attention so long, that he would have ay
barely time to hurry through the ordinary to
duties of school, before the established hour ,h
Of closing. AT another time, he would take ~
the book look over the difficult passage, and GU
handing it back to Locke with Il Knowing Fl
smile, advise him to try it again; he would ne
soon see the only difficulty, and it would be ii,
better for him 10 discover it for himself 40
nd at yet another, when hard pressed for
assistance, he would read the problem in
question several times, and after guncng ut
The context till he had got the run of the G,
technical terms, proceed with u pretended -
explanation, for which neither himself, pupil III
u any one else, could ever be any the wiser. m
From this unpleasant predicament, however, lis
he thus sadly annoyed teacher was at length II
For Locke, finding him so
self unable TO make anything out of the man, ~,
even when he was successful enough to get "
him to look at his studies, came, after n while, ma
TO the conclusion to let him entirely alone g. stl