The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1850-06-21

70 announcer man SaIueii, W "''iie''
again to grow while, and again to be torn up
Yonder," continues the now wrathtul soul-llii9'
minator, "yonder sits boy eleven years old,,
who has been at TWELVE SCHOOLS, and ne will
soon enter his thirteenth! Nor can |, by any
art, conitrrive to procure regular attendance OF
nv pupils at school. A little rain, or compa-
ny of men playing soldiers-and 10! | have
beggarly account of empty seats If our boys
had no parents, and we could live on air, some
thing might be done. But as things are, what
can we do? Nothing, or else worse than moth
ing" Thus the teacher.
The frequent hearing of these observations
has put me upon inquiring what are, after ALL
the fundamental conditions of good school;
or, what must be, before good school can ex.
ist. and in what circumstances the purposes OF
a school can be fulfilled, and in what they can.
not. The results Of these reflections shall now,
as briefly as possible, be laid before the reader
They are presented to him with confidence, yet
with Difference
"Permanence, persistence" says dlstln-
guished writer, "is the first condition OF fruit
funess in the ways of men," "The very horse
that is permanent how much kindlier do his
rider and he work, than the temporary one,
hifed on any hack principle yet known! am
for permanence in all things at the earliest pos
sible moment, and to the latest possible. Bles-
ssd is he who continueth where he is" Per
manence is the first fundamental condition OF
good school, The teachers must be perma:
nently appointed; the pupils placed pernsa-
nently under their care and the institution in
every respect permanently established. 10 call
farti mans best efforts, you must satisfy him
that he will assuredly reap what he sows; he,
and not another. The teacher must understand
that if he is neglectful of the child, he, and not
another teacher, will have to endure the vulgar
and insoIent youth, and the shame of the fool.
sh and unjust man; that, if he laboriously
trains and wisely governs the child, his shall
be the Joy of instructng the loyal youth, and
his the glory of the noble man. The boy, too,
must feel that he is almost unalterably fixed in
his school, and that there, or nowhere, he is to
work out his education TO do boy the
greatest good, your acquaintance with him
must be intimate and thorough penetrating
through all disguises, and seeing his case just
as it exists. The teacher must also know
pupils history; the circumstances and ideas of
his parents; the character Of his home. All
this requires time, and, frequently, long time
In permanent situation, teacher alone has
fair opportunity to improve in the practice of
his most difficult art. His errors and his fail.
ures, as well as his successes and triumphs,
continually instruct him. He has an opportu-
nifty to watch the result of his labors dis
cover precisely what effect his words and meas
ures and manners produce upon the characters
of his pupils. His feeling towards them, in.
s.ead Of being merely friendly or fr;lerpal, is
al most parental, it not more than parental. He
comes to understand why father can endure
an untoward and undutiful son, and why Il
mother can cling with peculiar fondness to her
least attractive child. Besides, school, con-
sidered us a whole, will improve from genera
ton to generation, aud from age to age-some-
times, perhaps, falling behind the time, and
sometimes outstripping it. II is far easier to
alter and improve, than to establish and create.
How beautiful thing is 1t for son to be edu.
Gated where his father and his grandfather
were! At what an advantage he enters it;
with what effect can the father advise his son
respecting his behaviour; how well prepared
is he to know his sons exact state and progress
at every part Of his school career; and if the
father has left behind him reputation for tai
ents and industry, what All argument is that for
the son not to dishonor his memory. For these,
and other reasons which come crowding into
my mind, but of which the necessity to be
brief iorbids the utterance, | 60 for perma-
nence in all educational arrangements, at the
earliest possible moment, and to the latest pos
sible. | look for nothing greatly good from
our schools, until permanence becomes a fea.
ture of them Heaven deliver us from all pal.
try, petty, temporary, "private schools, de.
pendent for their existence upon the life, or
health, or pleasure, or whim Of an individual!
and all good people help Heaven to do this +!
A school, to be worth much, must be public,
permanent thing, with an ":odoF of nationality
about it." ~
The SECOND fundamental condition of good
school to which refer, is, that sufficient poDer
be conferred upon its teachers Teachers, at
present, have no power at all. They have not
the power, even, to compel the regular and
punctual attendance o their pupils at school
a quite preliminary, insignificant, though alto
gether Indispensable power. If we are ever to
have good schools, teachers must be clothed
with full powers to compel attendance. This
Is point which cannot now be safely left to
parents, so cruel is their kindness, SO strong
their weakness. Shall the physician prescribe