The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1877-09-19

school again and when the parents ga
way to his will, lest he would starve
the woods, he demonstrated how far Il
preceptor had succeeded in teaching Il
young ideas how to shoot" by layir
round the school house, and shootir
the old man through the crevices in Il
log walls, with his pop gun.
The employment of such a teacher 4
this was a forcibls illustration Of Il
folly, nay, the almost criminality Of en-
ploying such teachers. even in the fir
rudiments Of an education, for Their
perhaps, was not a single scholar VIII
ever went any length OF time to th'
good meaning old creature, who ever Ell
tirely recovered from the defects Of h
early education.
That, and various other teachers VIII
have been employed in the country, dem
onstrate the further fact, that it is ne
the birch, the rules OF the ecbool, thong
as fixed as the laws OF the Medes an
Persisns, nor is it the book learning tina
constitutes the good teacher. 1t is un
doubtedly true that the tutor must knO'
what be processes to teach. But it j
equally important that he should know
how to teach il to not only the Who'll
class, but 10 every individual Of tina
class, and for this purpose the capacity
intellectual powers and sensibilities o
each pupil, should be carefully studied
The present system Of teaching in larg,
classes, perhaps never can and never vii
be abolished in our schools. But many
a child lags behind, becomes discouraged
aud falls a victim to this system that
might under other circumstances, have
become the ornament Of the school
Take for instance boy of bashful, timid
modesty, slow perceptive faculties. which
is almost the sure accompaniment Of q
reflective inquiring mind, and let him. in
company with more forward, pert boys,
come before a petulant, unobservant
tyrant of q teacher, and he will almo,t
invariably make a failure; The conse-
quence is, that be soon lags behind his
class. becomes discouraged and acquires
no taste for learning, and ends q street
loafer and vagabond.'
The steps from rule to rule, from case
10 case, from axiom to axiom, from prob
lem to problem. are as regular and as
necessary in the temple OF science. as in
the stairway Of building. The pupil
must comprehend and understand each
step before il can ascend higher with con-
scious knowledge Of progress.
To illustrate, How 10 1t possible for a
scholar to make any progress in arithme'
tic without fully understanding the fun
damental rules-additiou. subtraction,
multiplication and divi-ion2 Yet, how
frequently it is the case that a scholar
from absence, sickness or iusttention,
passes over one Of these rules without
understanding it, yet he is lifted by the
teachers fat over step after step, and
kept in his class. 1t is true this makes
but little difference on examination day
in some Of our fashionable schools; for
the questions and answers are written in
books, and the pupils memories alone
are called in requisition, aud they an
swer with a parrots pertness and little
more than parrots comprehension.
The interest taken in the cause of ed
ucation has done credit to our political,
religious and social progress. but at the
same time we everywhere behold the self
taught, the selfmsde man, from the
mill boy Of the slashes," who stood
among men:
"Rrect in form, as one whose spirit free,
Meier bent to any, less than God, the knee"
down to our present statesmen and di.
vines, ever rising superior to their COLI
lege-bred competitors.
1t would be unjust TO attribute this
entirely to defects in our system Of educa-
ton. The iron will, the habits Of untir>
ing industry and application, the untram.
meled freedom of though and expression,
which builds up the INDECENT youth to
place and distinction, are seldom devel,
oped and formed into fixed habits by the
college student He relies on his
parents wealth and influence, upon his
teachers instructions, aud fails to acquire
that self-culture and self>reliance, 90 nec-
essary in after life. But that profound
Sidney Smith, has pointed out
one defect in our system Of education.
He said to a young friend: my advice
ia, to have the courage to be ignorant Of
q great many things, in order that you
may avoid the calamity Of being ignor>
ant of everything" This is the great
defect Of our present system of education.
The parent sends the child to school
perfectly ignorant Of its taste or capacity,
or destiny in future life, and requires it
to be driven around the tread mill of the
sciences, disregarding Pope's couplet:
One genius only, on one science ct,
So vast lie art, SO narrow human wit.
And the poor child is driven through
studies, for which it has neither taste,
capacity, or the remotest hope of being
available in after life. Instead of con-
fusing the young mind in this way, let it
be learned something ,OsH that will be
useful in after life. That boy who has
even learned the multiplication table ,Oel
will surpass the other who has been
forced through without study and refiec-
ton.
TO BIB CONTINUED.