Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-12-08
influence Of Example.
In A certain village in Switzerland, s

Tn certain village in Switzerland, some
wears ago there were heavy complaints a
Inong all who possessed trees that no fruit
was Safe; that the. children plundered il
perpetually before it came to maturity; and
not only that, but that the green saPlings
had no security against them. Another Sc
rious complaint was the barbarity of the
children toward all living creatures in theiI
power. The clergymen, teacher, and el.
ders, often laid their heads together;to find
some remedy for this iuhuman spirit, by
which every child in the place was more OF
less affected. They could not conceive why
such spirit should prevail so specially in
this village; but they could find neither
cause nor remedy all exhortatIons, all pun
,shments were in vain. The clergyman OF
the village was changed, and the new MIN
lister was great friend to schools. His
first walk was to the school-house. The
vice of the scholars had been made known
to him, and the failure of all preventive
measures hitherto applied. But determn-
ING within himselfto watch the whole course
of proceedings in school, he soon perceived
that the teacher had habit and had &C
quired singular dexterity in it, of knock
ing down and killing A'es with his cane, to
the end Of which he had fastened piece OF
leather. The windows were all on one side,
and being exposed to the morning sun OF
summer, they were continually full OF flies
The teachers path lay along them, in front
of his scholars; and while talking to the lat
ter, he struck down the flies as they show
ed themselves at the window. This ma
neuvre amused the children infinitely more
than his instruction did, and they followed
his example. They were incessantly on
the watch for flies that buzzed through the
room. caught them in their hands and show
ed as great dexterity in this kind OF chase
as their teacher in his But their amuse-
ment did not end here they had learned
to play with their captives, treat them with
detestable cruelty, and seemed TO have
wicked delight in observing the shivering
of their victims. .a,,
On observing these curious, and far from
pleasing peculiarities Of the school, the in
telligent and humane clergyman easily &C.
counted for the spirit OF destructiveness
among the children and his first step was
to induce the teacher to take his leather
from the end of the cane, and next to turn
the desks so that the boys sat with their
backs to the windows, and the teachers
path lay on the other side of the ROOM
Then the minister went frequently into the
school, and examined so severely, that both
teacher and pupils had more TO do than to
give their attention to the flies. =, As this
was not yet entirely satisfactory in its re-
suits the minister took advantage ofthe hot
summer weather to have instruction given
only in the afternoon, when the school was
not so full of flies, and thus he gradually
banshed the insects from the thoughts OF
teacher and children. But he knew that
it was of little avail solely to pull the weeds
out of the Young mind. He obtained an un-
occupied piece of land fit for planting, and,
not far from the school, laid out school
garden. THIS pleased the teacher. and the
children willingly took part in the task, for
thew had soon learned to like their new
minister, who came and worked among
them. The garden was surrounded by
hedge, planted with trees and shrubs, and
each child had tree or shrub given him
to take care of. A nursery was soon laid
out, and provision MADE for plenty OF larger
gardens and orchards in the village. And
behold the spirit of destructiveness among
the children soon passed away; and every
mans fruit and garden became safe, the
youths even begging Of their parents that
trees might be planted in the fields for them
to take care Of The new spirit was commn-
nica.ed from children to parents, till. it
spread throughout the entire village every
family had its pretty little garden; an en-
ulation in cultivating flowers sprang into
existence idle and bad habits disappeared,
and gradually the whole place was scene
of moral as well as of physical beauty.
This incident, the truth OF which can be
vouched for, has been communicated to US
by lady of rank, who happens to have
lately become acquainted with the circum-
stances, and has thought that theii publicity
may be advantageous. We have no doubt
of The fact, that the practice OF amateur gar
dening is never associated with evil, but Is
always token of advanced tastes and cor
rect habits. Let every one, therefore, with
in his sphere, do what he can to promote
this most desirable pursuit. We would fur
ther say, let every school, so far as it can
conveniently be. done, have its garden, not
only for purposes of amusement, but as an
important engine of education.- Chambers
Edinburgh Journal.
A STRANGE PLAYMATE.-A few days
since lady of our town narrated to us the