The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1872-03-22
M j S G ella ne Gus
For tile 1E'gis Dc MtelEgencer.
LECTURE ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND
RIGHT PRINCIPLES.
BY HEZEKIAH EARNEST.

The people all around had long been at
Uncle Hezekiah to give them regular lee.
ture on Public Schools, and such like, Gas
he had been reading much about them every
now and then in the papers,; and after
much persuasion he at last consented
The time was accordingly set, and every
body, almost, as they happened to have
leisure, came out to hear him.
! The room was jam full.
The meeting being called to order, and
Squire Bunting called to the cheer, he just
told them it was hardly necessary to in
troduce to them Hesekiah Earnest, or rather
as every body knew him, Uncle Hezekiah
who was about to give them sound lee
ture, not on politics, but on matters of fact
With this Uncle Hezekiah (after wiping
his specks over and over again with his
red silk handkercheD began.
He said he was no politician, nor preach
er neither, and did not come there to give
them any high flown lecture; but as the
Squire had just said, to talk over things
and matters of fact" and his main subject
at this time would be, Public Schools, and
Free Schools, and the like, and then he would
totch little on what might be called right
principles.
Ever since he was boy and learned to
read he had loving for schools; but he
would just say in passing, not much for
Yankee school masters. He had cyphered
as far as the single rule offs, and little
farther until he came to fractions and there
he stopped; as there seemed to be no use
in them any how. So one is near the thing,
near about right you know, you need not
go all the time into fractions. That was
his rule, except when one came to make
almanacs
Well, as he had just said, ever since he
,as boy, he recollected something about
Public Schools and school masters and
also he recollected when the Legislature
made bargain with the Banks to give so
much money every year for schooling. and
that was divided among the counties and
used to pay the master for learning the poor
and orphan children. To tell you the truth
that worked very we'll, and seemed to be as
far as it went the right principle. But after
while the politicians took the matter in
hand and ever since, just like Uncle Josh
ua's big coat, it has been patched and
patched and patched again. He says it
did not need all this patching at all, it was
as strong and good as ever, but his wife
had a great fondness for patching and he
| just let her have her own way. SO after
this they began to think it was time to put
another patch on the school law and to
take another step forward to keep up with
the times. They thought it would work
better to take the thing more in hand them.
selves--to build some splinter new school
houses-to hire the school masters and lei
all hands come, big and little; and charge
them that were able to pay; something
which everybody thought was great kind
ness, and in tins way keep up regular
schools.
This worked along very well and seemed
somewhat the right principle. The pool
learned to read and write gratis free, those
that were little needy were helped, and
the rich helped themselves.
But there came another timc-~it was
regular quilting time-yes, they turned
Uncle Joshuas coat tetotally inside out
patches and all. All the old folks like my
self recollect it well. 1t was the very time
that everybody's apple orchards were sc
full that they just broke tetotally down
And so it was like to be with Democracy
1t overbore and was very near breaking
down too. Everything, they thought must
be more Democratic every law must bt
made more Democratic--and every Office
even down to supervisors, they must bt
more Democratic must be elected, all O.
them by the people; the constables, the
magistrates, the school commissioners and
some thought even Of the school masters
Well, to carry it all out fully, and being
in quandary what more they could do, anC
how to fix things, they just made up thei
minds to send u committee right up t.
Massachusetts, and larn all about things
and in particular about Public Schools.
SO off they went, and after they came
back, stopping awhile in Pennsylvania
they just told us, Z" the people here in ole
Maryland knew nothing about schools ant
and not much else either. They said W
there they were the most knowing set o
people they ever saw, and no wonder
They asked so many smart questions, anc
knew every thing about schools, ant
such like things; but they never sounded
them on big things. They say nothing els,
but school houses as white as the driver
SNOW, and school masters all with thei
spectacles on. They sometimes looked
through them and sometimes looked owe
f them. They said as for schooling, tn,
State made business of it, real business
She took the children at certain age
while the old folks went from home selling
patents and other things, and made men o
them, gave them schooling, plenty of it