Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1858-11-02
School Government and Discipline.
-An Essay Read Before TIE Teachers Association.
Y MISS oRPuA I. TURNER.

and noblest mission sent below to engage
/ the energies of humanity - and who Is
sufficient TO fulfil it Are the diseased
and malformed physically and mentally
= understanding not and seeking not to
understand the laws which govern their
own being No. Are those who are
unable to restrain their own passions and
/ appetites, continually violating physiologi-
cal laws, thereby bringing upon them
selves disease, whose haud-maid is dis
cord No. The persons who take upon
themselves the responsibility of control
ing others should possess a sound body
and mind and perfect control Of them
selves, capable of sinking into the region
of eternal calm, hearing unmoved the
dash and roar os all sorts Of mental lorna
does And as the teacher is the centre
around which the little planets revolve
and also receive their light and heat. or.
/ IN other words, reflecting upon them our
peculiar conditions Of mentality, an equi-
| librium in the warning elements can soon
est be gained by the superior and sooth-
/ ing influences of a serene and happy tenn
/ per. Others may have the power arbi-
trarIiy 10 FORCE submission but not as
God governs the orders of planets and
/ systems in their harmonious relations to
each other, balancing each in its own or
der according to the laws of attraction and
repuIsion. 1t Is fact, made self-evident
10 every individual who has reflected up
on it, that an imperfect physical organi-
zation engenders its counterpart in the
mental, and as health in both IS indispens-
able TO happiness and improvement, they
/ should receive the teachers most arduous
attention.
Youth, with its impulsive vigor, way
ward Iongings and extravagant hopes,
which feed indiscriminately upon shadows
and substances - unable to distinguish the
one from the other - acting without con-
sidering the effect, simply because there
is an impulse within which compels them
to act = their little frames being material
engines propelled by the vitality of the
/ spiritual - submitted to cur reason to
guide in the proper direction - living cru
cibles to be filled by us with facts and
principles = submitted to the action of in
sidious elements and the extreme condi-
tions of life = should be prepared 10 re-
ceive them; for an idea IS not communi-
Gated by words If the mind of the hearer
is not in a condition TO appreciate the SEN
ument. lis FORM or covering may be
| seen, but not the spirit The living prin-
ciple which gives it life and beauty. Ma
ny explanations and precious words of
wisdom are lost in consequence of the IN
ability of the teacher to interest and slim
ulate the pupil, which is occasioned by
the uproariousness Of the school room, and
discordant conditions of things in general,
originating in the violation Of some nalur-
al law of health, sometimes from the want
of a proper amount Of pure atmosphere,
sometimes from the oyer-straining and
oser-taxing of the intellectual faculties,
TO a neglect of the proper exercise Of the
physical and social. 1t being a fact
which is gradually receiving favor, that
each faculty of the human organism, as
we'll as every infnitesimal unfolding ia
nature, has It's use, and should be brought
into action, having in itself an inherent
element productive Of happiness, if prop
erly exercised, and the reverse, if sup
pressed. And it is a mistaken idea Of
many parents and teachers that old heads
are becoming 10 young shoulders - that
mirthful feelings should BE subdued, as
unbecoming, and incompatible with men
tai culture The lower faculties are de-
veloped first, and nothing IS more condu-
Give to health than buoyancy of spirit. 1t
quickens circulation and gives a glow to
the features which chases weariness away
as quickly as frost is dispeled by the ris-
ing sun. And as others imbibe our men
tai emanauous rs certainly as one physi
cal system IS infected by the disease of
another, the movements and intonations Of
the teacher should ever be with freshness
and vigor, that they may iIlumine the
blind paths Of science, and with bright
face and words of cheer charm away the
tedium and discomfort which often, like
poisonous miasma. pervades the school
room. The Mineral Point teacher espe-
cially should possess superior powers of
this kind, in order to counteract the In
Guence of the dingy, dilapidated walls.
rickety benches, and the sound Of loose
clap-boards and rattling shivers, keeping
time with The bowling wind, which ever
ara annr nenefrafes the numerous RAJ