Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-08-05


when Solomon wrote, ''He that spareth his rod
hateth his sou; but he that loveth him chasten-
eth him betimes,' many theories as to the
government Of boys have been advanced, and
many experiments in that line have been tried,
and yet the question, to many minds, remains
unsettled From the ancient pedagogue in
the old country who 'horSed' the lazy or
disobedient pupil on the back of stout school
fellow or serving man, and barred the person of
the offender for a taste of the birch; from the
head master of Eton with his swish block and
his ceremonious attendants, to the most im-
proved preceptor of the nineteenth century,
who relies upon the moral sense, alone, to re-
strain his young gentlemen from mischief and
upon the pure love of knowledge to keep their
minds in proper trim for its acquisition, there
are, and have always been, many grades of dis
cipline, or want of discipline, among school
masters These we propose briefly to consider.
That many bad boy has been made worse by
inudicious and immoderate aogging, We do not
question, but that the use of the rod may be
safely dispensed with, altogether, is, to us, a
proposition which is more thar doubtful. From
the little boy, nunching his pie, who advised
his elder brother to cry for piece also and the
urchiu who assured the believing youngster
that he wouldn't get whipped if he broke two
pitchers and spilled the milk, because he had
"a grandmother at home, to the fast young
man of fifteen who takes his julepat the restau-
rant and lets himself in after midnight with his
night latch key, there is a general adherence
Of corporeal punishment; but if you ask the hon
est opinion Of the boys as to its efficacy, you II
be sure to find that the Wise Man did not
speak in vain. Not only do we seldom hear
complaints among men that they were too Sc
verey chastised 10 their youth, but among boys
themselves the remark is frequent that they
wouldn't have done so, if they mad thought
''the old man would find it out, and give them
the reward of their misdeeds.
The forward manners of many among the
boys-we beg their pardon-young gentlemen,
their perpetual discomfort, their eagerness for
change, and their dislike to settled employment,
arise, in great part, from the fact that they
have been allowed their own way by parents
and teachers. The result is showing itself in a
way most disastrous for society. Good work
men are becoming scarce; every apprentice (but
there are no apprentices now, we should say
''employee'') knows enough in six months to
be ''boss, and so We have our work half done,
while Strikes disturb cities, disorganize the
whole system of production and bring families
to ruin.
A. B. who can't spell, and A. NJ. S who
would be sorely puzzled to string together half
dozen sentences of decent English, have made
university honors laughing stock, and grave
professors are forced to admit, in their solemn
conclaves, that currculums which they consider
absolutely essential to the production of schol-
ars must be abandoned, or made elective, be-
cause their halls would be untrodden did they
insist upon having students in the proper sense
of the word.
Ma thinks that johnnie is too delicate for
hard study and too tender for the rod, and
johnnie comes forth from school an overgrowu
ignoramus, who can smoke cigars, drink, swear,
and commit all sorts of improprieties, but is ut
terly incapable of making decent living, and
lounges about the streets, at the expense of his
toiling father, till something turns up" that
consigns him to the penitentiary, or renders his
sudden emigration to parts unknown, desirable.
Our writer's frequently are shallow our states
men, are mere politicians; our orators are but
dcmagogues or Office seekers Why is this?
Patient study and aborous research have been
abandoned; home discipline is relaxed; teachers
who would do their duty, fear to offend by do
ing it, and scholars, statesmen, and orators,
skilled mechanics and reliable workingmen are
becoming few Let us begin reform at home.
Let every parent insist upon obedience to his
commands and take the time and trouble to en-
force it; let every teacher be judged by the real
progress his boys make, and not by their rapid
advancement in studies of the very elements of
which they are really ignorant; let boys be kept
at home at night, and treated as boys; let ju-
dlclous admxture of loving encouragement,
aud equally afectiouate reproof be used in their
management, and forget not that the wisest of
men has declared with the pen of inspiration,
that, 'the rod and rcproof give wisdom"
In August, 1869, Gen. Robert E. Lee, iu re-
ply to letter from Mr. T. Chambliss, wrote as
follows:
81 regret to learn from your letter of the
18th instant the difficulties under which the
Virginia agriculturists in your part Of the State
labor. fear that the same have to be en-
countered in other parts of the country. [
know of no relief except such as can be derived
from our own exertions and labor 1t is in vain,
in my opinion, to expect aid from others, or to
aUait for the offer of capital. The only capital
nnnn which We can RELY Ia nllr nersnnal labor