Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-02-10

stores of knowltdgc, has accomplished
greater work than the mighty Alexander
weeping for other worlds TO ccrqner after
sns'aving the whole human race
Tas oiliee Of a schoolma.ter was in olden
times honorable, his person sacred his
power crest, and his influence achnow-
lodged. We ell know the story oil the
Irecisn pedayogue who declared that lie
was master Of the city. Being asked hoE,
he replied. "lhst he rulsd the children. the
children ruled their mothers ard tile III 9th.
ers ruled their husbands, therefore he ruled
al.
At the present day the 'schoo!tcacher,
as he is somewhat Hippantly called, hardly
occupies the position In society to which he
is entitled, which is e.ing principally to
two causes, one the wretched pittancs
which 10 doled out By parsimonious b ards
for the highest labor, the most important
employ snt which can occupy the time
and tax the talents Of man, aud which
seems to have been the case, time out Of
mind. Goldsmith, in his essays, SAYS.
"Whsrsvsr the salary 10 $40 it should
be 5000. Every member Of society should
be paid in proportion Ms he is nece ,sary,
and ! will be bold to gay" lie adds, "tha.
schoolmas,ers in state arc more necessary
than cisrgvmen, as children stand in more
need of instruction Il an their parents.
The other cause, consequence Of the
former, is the uncertainty Of duration o.
teachers calling; fer as soon as n better
position offers it il but natural 10 embrace
the opportunity. To men, who merely
adopt the fcrule SIS a means Of living the
labor is frequently irksome, and instead Of
accompany ing their scholsrs over the flow
cry walks OF learning and removing the
obstacles on the way. they become hard
taskmasters, taking no interest in labor
which occupies the head but not the heart.
Many have been the jakcs nad satirical
hits at the scholastic calling. The old
conundrum for instance, why 10 school
teacher like grind.tone :" "Becauss he
wears himself Gu, o i.hing dullsblades."
The poet Lloyd who was tutor in his
youth-givss the following description Of
the calling
still to be piniened down TO teach
The 0yntax and 10 para Of speech
Or. what. perhaps Is drudsery worse.
TIE links and points and rules Of verse;
To deal out authors BY retail
Like penny pots ~ Oxford ale
Yet such his task, dismal truth
Who watches Ter the bent Of youth,
And while paltry stipend earning,
He sows the richest seed OF learning,
And tnls their minds with proper caro-,
Aud sees then their due produce bear
No Joys, alas his tells beguile,
HIS own lies lallew oil the while.
"but atil he's on the rosd you'llsay
'Of learning" Why, pefhsps hs may,
Butturns like horses 10 mill.
Nor getting on, nor standing still
i...
Who reads no more than what he teaches
Poor Goldsmith, the poet. the novelist,
the essayis the historian, the drAramist,
the naturalist and the puriet, most child
like good natussd man. who never felt
the grip Of gsnteel poverty had been an
usher in school, and ia the inim,abe
cicar,;cf Waksfsld gives the following dia-
logus
Are you sure you are ht for school Have
you bssp bred apprentices to the business
dress the boys hairs No. Then You won't
do for q scheol. Have you had the small pox j.
No Then you Won't do for \ school. Can YOU
lie three in . bed Ne. Then you will never
d for school, Have you got good appetite
Yes. Then yen will by no means do for
schoo oil No Sir, il you are for genteel, essv
profession. bind yourself for seven wears an
apprentice TO turn cutters wheel but AVOID
sho oil by any means
ETmes have softened somewhat since Gold
amith days, and he learned avocGtious have
come into greater repuie. "a an may even
read Greek without being avoided - a magl-
ciap but still the teacher has moi reached hns
proper position in the social scale. lie IS, and
ought TO be the very first as bis duties aretb
most important,
II is with great diffd encs that now pro.
pose to give YOU my iusa OF method in tc ach-
o I'd % certain which 1
have found rapid and profitable. The aDho-
rism OF Pope. that order is Heavens hrst law,
is pscuiia'y .rpiieasie 40 ,oar profe--ion
k,ndne IS. combined with irmaess the nculca-
ten Of the most iigid ODE dience without ipiur.
ing it's effects by Unnecessary severity should
be an essential part of your conduct of y school
Busbv, the head master OF tho Blue Coat
school receiving Charles the Second IA the re-
citation room kept On his hat, but mniediat
on quitting his pupils, removed 1t with an apol
ogy. stating that 1t his boys thought there was
y greater man in England than he, his power
over them would be gone. but while you rule
with unlimited sway. the sceptre should be tip
ped with the eismcnd point Of kindness it
should be your aim 10 make the scholars path
an onward enc Of pleasure aud not tina monot
onous drudgery of galley slave. endeavoring
to excite curiosity by VARIETY, to encourage dill
genee bv increasing the facilities of acquiring
knowledge. and to reward application hy prov
ing the usefulness of learning.
- " WAywlTi ChllIrgn " Jutu-t tnou mold nf
rule,
And sun thee in he light Of happy faces,
Love, hops snd patience, these must be thy
graces,
Aud III thine own hear, let ts.m fret keep
hool.
Children are too frequently treated as
initiative animals and NOE MS intelligent beings
ana the memory made the principal instru
ment IN requiring know ledge AT the expense Of
the understanding. thus they get words but
not ideas Go INTO msnufactoiN aud vou will,
perhaps see . number of little bows and gir,s
producing results which for celerity and lngen
uity resemble magic but watch tor ment
and Won viii hnd the work the result of machin-
CIV. and that the children merely start q rod
move IA crank or join an end which an ingenious
monkey might be trained to do. Similar I'M
pressisns have crossed nv mind on examining
many schools, the crowd of little folks ere ready
with their answers carefully taken from the
book by the teachers, but let q question b pro
posed which 10 not in the gwen terms and
all il silent as the grave IL is the machinery
which works and the chill 'ren only form . me
dunn Of transmission without understanding the
matter. more than the telegraph wires do the
message they are conveying from one hems
phsre 10 the other.
Howis it likely a child should, when find
in a common school geography. intended for
junior classes, questions and replies similar to
the following: but how can the earth be
founu Wneu u Tt8eo IN come piHCeo lntO IOIty
mountains aAd sinks In others into deep vallsysi
Because, these inequalities on the earth's sur
face no more interfere with its retundSty than
do the trining p,ofuberGntes upon the eufieie Of
an orange with its chapel In fact am very
much opposed 10 the mere learning ef lessons.
although a careful psrusal Of seine good text
book may be necessary. would rather have
the natter than the manner, and the pupil
should be encouraged to give his knowledge in
bis own language instead Of his authors. though
Ne hnd il not uncommon for a teacher to inter
rupt a pupil who did not follow the text, or, VII.
in stage parlancs, was not dead letter perfso %
In his part.
Ex-President Hill Of Howard University, in
. recent speech in Boston. thus endorses this
position:
" II there 10 any curse to education in this
country il 10 the blind worship OF the text book
81 stem. You can teach child more in half an
hour, than il can learn in five or hours.
Grammar should b learned more from the
teacher and lees from the text book than is
an inv ersion Of the true order of study. IL studs
Grammar before the child is familiar with the
Ian guagc ITSELF and ofthe usage Oft ne language
Grammar should be taught thoroughly when the
child is fourteen or fifteen Years Of ogs"
Although the worthy ex professors rhetoric
is some~ha' confused and HIS stvie tsutoloy,c
vet his meaning is clear enough, ard squares
with cur own on this highly imporisnt point.
Now often do We hsnr old folks exclGim
"how vastly saperior ere the adj aning, ;
OF chileren 1t the present time TO what they
we're when We were young" An old man will
| say. 'Whv, bal but one wears schoo ing in
my life. and that without spelling book. >
grammar. geography. an arithmetic or any