Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1857-09-17
Derry township, Sept. IA, 1857.
For tie Gazctte.
SCHOOLS AND THEIR OFFICERS.

Ii is a time Of great enthusiasm The
cause of Popular Education, the teachers
noble work, the love he owes to his profession.
are the great ideas of the time and town.
Institutes, Normal Glasses and Associations
have been held. Addresses, having for their
object the intellectual elevation of teachers,
have risen in dignity, and are of frequent
occurrence.
The avowed object Of this great movement
is to improve the character of the American
people. 1t is proposed to do this by working
on the minds of the present juvenile genera
tion through the minds of their teachers. 1t
is thought that the moral and mental tone of
this important class will be somewhat affected
by the minds of those with whom they are in
contact during their impressible days. That
the superior mind will strongly affect the
weaker.
1t is therefore thought desirable that the
teacher in his intercourse with his pupils,
should keep as free from little meannesses as
possible that he should aim at the meek
ness of Moses and the patience of Job :"
that he should be above the qualification Of
revenge; that he should never give way to
private pIque that if any "smart" boy
writes satirical composition showing up the
weak points Of the establishment, he should
laugh with the rest and that he should teach
by his example the noble forbearanco which
be is to inculcate by precept.
The teachers are told that if they can reach
this high standard, the citizens of the Amer
lean Republic in 1900 will be better than
their fathers are. Bot may not this desirable
state of things be countcractcd? The pow
erful mind affects the weaker. There is
power above the teachers, higher than they,
which bears somewhat the same relation TO
them that they bear to the pupils. If what
the fountain sends forth returns again to the
fountain" will not the acts of this higher
power be Reproduced in infinite succession
If this illustrious body pass by in dignified
silence the harmless pleasantly to which the
great are often subjected, and secure in the
excellence of their intentions and actions re-
main unmoved, will it not have good effect
upon the mind of that teacher who has been
told some fye-year-old, boy has made faces at
him? Is it always best to ferret out the little
offender, to turn him out Of school, to re
mo1sclessly punish all who saw him make
the face and chastise vigorously all who did
not tell that he made faces, whether they saw
him or not? But if the little boy had not
made a face, nor know who did, what would
be thought of that teacher who would still
wreak his vengeance upon him because face
had been made by somebody.
Those acute and large sOuled gentlemen
who have shown an aptness IN taking an ap-
plication, may complete the parallel Is it
! the best way to fulfil public trust by using
| it for the qualification of small revenge p
Is it a disinterested regard for the public good
which throws aside fitness, and decides from
personal motives2 1t is related Of Washing
ton that he once appointed bitter opponent
to situation of trust, assigning as a reason
his peculiar fitness for the post. The people
of the next generation may be more disinter-
ested than their fathers are-they may easily
be-but the present generation is not in every
respect an improvement upon the past.
OBSERVER.
rive had not read the whole Of the
above article until it was put in type, and
as the closing paragraph evidently has ref
erence to some recent appointments by the
school board, we deem it necessary to say
that we neither approve its tone or senti-
ments. Observer probably ascribes mo
tives" without being conversant with all the
facts which may have governed the board,
and may for aught we know thus be doing
quite as much wrong to them as is charged
to their account We have had some ex-
perience in such matters, and must say that
next to Chief Burgess, the School Direc
tor is the best abused officer we know of
whether he does right or wrong.-ED. Ga
zETTE.
Dead-Jacob Kirk, Esq Of York county former prom