Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-02-24
o RQGGNAL PAPERS
For the Spirit Of the Age.
The Teacher, the Taught, and the Subject
Of Education.
BY INVALID.

BY INVALID.
The vocation of teacher is the most
godlike of human employment, at once the
most responsible and the most delicate.-
How to teach, is great art, and one which
can be acquired only after the preceptor
has been himself we'll taught, and has adj
ded to his training the experience and in
dustry of maturer years. The good teach
or is always scholar. The cycle of hui
man knowledge no compass can measure,
and it has its golden number only when
this mortal puts on Immortality, and the
infinite spirit freed from the clogs of ply
sical structure, returns unto the God who
gave it. The world has not yet seen the
highest mental or intellectual development,
and until it be attained, no really good
teacher will cease his efforts to acquire use
full information. The thirst that is slaked
by the discoveries to-day of spring in the
desert, is awakened by fresh want on the
morrow; and the mind Of man is perpet-
ual aud embodied appetite, which, like the
daughter of the horse leech, is ever crying,
"Giye, give" ... s#..
Is not teaching a great art 2 Does not
its successful pursuit justify the most exal-
ted ambition, and earn for its votary sub
stantial commendation
need not here speak Of the moral train
ing which teacher is continually under
going. The moral nature is as capable OF
cultivation as the mental, and the faculties
Of the first may, as well as those Of the last
become inert, or hopelessly extinguished
1t is the duty Of all men, and especially o
children and youth, to foster to- such per
fection as is allotted to humanity every mo
raj instinct; and especially is it tn,
duty Of every parent and child to assist tn,
teacher, and to be to this extent co-work
er together with him. Impatience anC
fault-fnding on the part of parents, added
TO the natural restlessness of childhood un
der restraint, are not calculated to superin
duce patient zeal. The heart of teache
is not stone, and even if it were, it is ca
pable of attritiOn. | am sure that if tn
young people and their fathers and moth
ers who read this crude essay, could appre
ciate the griefs and hardships of the teach
er's lot-the sacrifices of feeling and ,
health-the unutterabil and never flaggin
exertions which are part of his daily lii
we should approach in a more emineu
degree to the perfection which runs throug
the design Of our public schools.
Do not let us forget that while Nose
prayed, Amalike prevailed not, and ths
only when the Israelites ceased to hold u
the wearied prophets hands, did the fo
advance. The lesson this history teacht
is one of practical Importance, and of itse
suggests what duty we owe our Mirian
and their brethren.
The taught who are theya Our lit
ones--our loved ones-our children-tf
staple Of the nations fusure- ourselves r
juvenated. -...- ..
Nothing is better settled than that yout
is the time during which education mu
be received. An adult may occasional
become learned by close application
the later stages Of existence, but this is Il
exceptional case that proves the universal
ty Of the principle. The mind, in this r
spect is like the clay in the potter's ham
before il receives consistency and imlpres
bility. Our early impressions are our
test and our strongest ones,
"The pebble in the streamlet scant,
The dew drop on the baby plant
Has warp'd the giant oak forever:
The merest incidents of childho
tenaciously hold their places in our men
ries, to the exclusion often of graver occl
rences > and the knowledge which we
quire, .while we occupy the form and ma
tain a wholesome fear of the birchen r.
is that which tinctures, if not controls,
future acquisitions. Which Of us has
gotten or can forget the prayer taught
by the kind mother whose lullaby sootl
us to sleepl Who among the oldest Of
but recollects the adventures Of Mot
Hubbardls dog and the story Of the II
that lay in the. house that Jack built 7 II
viyidly pictured to us all is the retrosp
of our carl lives. This being undenia
the fact, what seriousness the subject
sumesr What moral grandeur and
significance become stamped upon the I
ture and true development of the youtl
intelecsL Ignorance is the mother Of
perstition~ How irightfully we suffer Fl
a non-aeQraintance with the simplest |
of our being. The shadow which. falls
on the wall as we move in our bedrch
her, is converted into some bold brig,
and we kide our silly heads bencat
blanket, while tho perspiration starts.
every face An acquaintance with
commoDest rules which govern. light
shade, yould have preserved our ne
from the selEimpcsed shock. The re
berating echo Of our voices GENES to
affrighted ears. and amazes while it
plexes and eenfoundsus4 In our ignor
the hills sSe peePled with belligerent 4