The Mississippi Creole. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1841-1851, 1850-03-16
FOR THE MISSISSIPPI CREOLE
A NJ

pressed, tina. the teachers Office, proVerbially
irksome and laborious, is made a sinecure. =
On the contrary, if competent and %talthiul' ne
is conscious that his physical abilities are mad
equale to the duties he OoSth perform. But
the burden Of his care consists not in urging
forward his pupils, SO much as restraining them
Not in the amount, go much as in the quality
and manner Of instruction. Itis not his duty
to learn them'-the expression contains a sole
cism in logic as well as in language. To tins
part knowledge with facility is sometimes
mentioned as a quality Of rare merit
AS if the vacant head Of the learner is to be
poured full out of the plentitude Of the instruc-
tors. This is particularly a favorite express
sion Of certain ~itinerant teachers, PedIeFs q
learning-manifestly the most absurd, miss
chievous and contemplate Of the various prac-
tees Of modem empiricism. They profess to
have invented something equivalent to a ma
chine with which i. is proposed for a specified
amount Of money, TO manufacture and insert in
the brain Of each patron, in the course oil a
given number Of lessons, Of certain minutes
and seconds each, a thorough knowledge, &C.
&c.
Il is remarkable that such hollow pretensions
are capable Of attracting crowds of the less
rejecting or the less informed, who caPtivated
by these gilded pretexts, acorn the usual dull pro-
cess O the day school. What prOpriety is there
in d~evoting years Of time and study to the sub
iects Of Grammar, A rithmetic, Philosophy, &C.
when these several branches can be thOrOug ly
acquired in a course Of ten lessons each? Very
many persona seem to forget that the process
Of learning consists entirely and exclusively
lin the mental operations Of the learner, and not
In those Of the teacher-that knowledge can.
only be acquired at the expense Of an amouHt
or time and personal application ProPortioned
10 the value Of the attainment. lis true, that
owing to diversity Of mental organization,
those that, In other respects, have equal advan>
lages, are unequal in their advancement. Some
that have larger capacities are naturally indo-
lent; others having less abilities are much more
s%'udious. 1t is no part Of the teachers duty
to regulate these constitutional disparities, any
F., more than ii is his duty TO create new faculties
Of mind or 10 furnish additional brains, should
such be needed. Incidence Is undoubtedly
the most formidable antagonist he has to con-
tend with. This habit, however is seldom so
8 inveterale as not to be obviated by the usual
| stimulus Of emulation. Should this fail in any
case there are no means Of permanent cure su
perior to it. You may beat such a boy, for
revenge, if it will CRAFTY you perhaps he de.
serves no better for his l%aziness; al least it will
give the master the benefit Of corporeOl exer-
else "a thing he commonly needs-but do not
. expect by this means to quicken his intellect
!, or to benefit him in any respect whatever, 1
he has intellect it will shine in due time; somt
of the most brilliant g%eniHses have been, il
childhood, most VIGOROUSLY iHdOlent. II he ha
: il not, ''thOugh you NAV bray him in a morta
yet will his folly not depart from him"
II the sentiment thatit is necessary TO restric
: rather than advance the student is a paradox
a clearer truth never was deduced from Obser
: walton and experience. The lad, as his min
opens and it's powers are developed is constant
o. y increasing his store Of knowledge, with great
n. er or less facility according to the strength o
IA HE endOwments, equally in all usual conditions
whether in the field, in the forest, at home O
. at school, he observes, thinks and reasons. H
is placed at school not TO learn faster than h
might elsewhere, but to learn more useil
things. His mind is to be directed into a cours
F., embracing subjects the pursuits Of which wi
be Of more service TO him in lie. If here ii
chief object Of the preceptor is to guard hi
against the conception of errors and the foruI
ing OF evil habits, ifhe does not watch assid
/; Ously al his exercises, and persist, withol
:, regard TO the time necessary to be employed
making the ideash he undertakes to impress, ele
ID and distigss in his pupils mind; he would i
6nitely better remain without studying Il
= book Of nature alone till he reach the time
!, life when discretion should be his safe,gua
against the incurable evils incident to him in
carelessly conducted school. Like other i
s%titutons Of pnrpoSed benevOlence schoO
I'm. cannot be neutral in their influence; s,ch OIL
hey is either a source Of incalculable good or
old Infinite evil, gathering inestimable treasure
in or scattering them irrecoverably abrOad-ch,
nd, ishing a taste for learning that will, thou
,hL life, be cultivated with increasing delight,
ted implanting an everlasting disgust for the pl
the suit Of any Of ita branches.
on Why is it that scores Of talented young m
with oil the advantages that can be desire