The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1877-08-31


dress a little boy as Mr.. and ask him
to please spell baker, or if he will he
kind enough to decline peIutd, is pic
ture too lutlicrOITs to be dwelt upon in
the presence of this learned body, and
should be reserved for Harper's Week
ly.
Not only do they fail in discipline,
but they fail i'm that particular in
which teachers accomplish their great
est goOd-they fail to create a thirst
for knowledge, To excite enthusiasm
i'm their younger students. The rea-
son is obvious: they are OVerworked
and feel no enthusiasm. To develop
preparatory schools to the highest de-
gree of excellence, every inducemcnt
to excellence must he presented to the
teacher. The college is the only arena
upon which to display specimens of
his handiwork. Every department of
human labor takes pride in eXposi-
tiOnS of the best results of its skill, and
the school is no exception to this rule.
The teacher, as an artist, desires TO
bring before the public specimens Of
his work. The college is the arena
for such exposition, or otherwise his
merits must bc measured by the opin-
ion of his pupils, who often times do
after his working days are over, and
he fails in the prime of his manhood
to rcap the rewards of his fidelity.
Frequently the skillfuI, conscientious
teacher goes to his last resting-plaCC
feeling that his life was Il failure,
What inducement has nc TO enter this
arena when the Judges in the case are
themselves competitors with him? 1t
is To the interest of the college that
Lows prepared there should reap the
honOrs, but the Judge who awards the
hOnOrs is not impartial. He passes
Judgment upon his own work.
"When self the waveriDg balance shakes
It's rarely right adjusted.
The temptation is to give preference
for his own work, but the temptation
should he removed, and an impartial
tribunal established to decide the mcr-
its of competing schools. As long as
the sub-cOllcge is in existence, the
teachers of private schools feel that If
they do first-clas- work il will not bc
recognized. In other words there Is II
monopoly that paralyzes rather than
stimulates enterprise.
\ strong argument in behalf of the
principle of concentration of universe
w NOTk WIFI u vi
ry work is that those countries which
hive acquired most reputation by
their educational institutions, and
have accumulated most experience
through centuries of successful educa-
tional enterprise, act upon this princi-
pie. Wherever sufficient capital Is ac-
cumulated for school purposes, the
university cuts of its preparatory de
partmcnt and clcVatCS the standard of
Scholarship necessary for admission
into its lowest class. Our public
schools in the cities and large towns
have acted upon this principle, and
they have failed to secure the patron
age of educated people wherever they
have failed to properly grade their
schools.
What must those colleges do that
depend for the salaries of their prOfcs-
Sors almost solely upon the income
from tuition fees, and cannot afford
to cut off any paying patronage If
from the arguments dcduced and from
the accumulated experience of men,
the cause of education il suly~crvcd 10y
disconnCcting the school and the
college, let such AN institution choose
between being a college or school,
and let it live or die on the principle
of the survival of the fittcst. The m
tCrest of a few professors anu ono 10
caIity must yield To the great cause Of
education at large. As the medical
profession attempt to 80 educate the
n,oplc in regard To the possibilities
and limits of the science Of medicine,
that they will no longer he influenced
bv those uuIacks who pretend 10 ac-
compliSh impoSsibilitie~, and as min
istcrs of the gospel attempt To 80 edu-
cate the people in Bible doctrines that
thcy will not he led astray 10y the
hcterO,IoX, who teach tlamnable here
sizes, 50 should teachers of preparatory
schools, and professors of real colleges
attempt by private conversation and
public speeches to bC%ct such healthy
public sentiment in educational mat
ters as will force institutions of learn
ing to conform to those methods and
those standards which the experience
of mankind has shown to he indispen-
sable to the attainment of the best re-
suits i'm education.
The teachers authority is delegated by
the parent, and he stands in the place
of a parent; hence his is necessarily
family government, which by
divine appointment is monarchy.
For this family government the
number of pupils is necessarily limited
otherwise the one man power Is an
impOssibility. Just as in families,
some men have the capacity to gov
ern larger ones than others; so a. tn
fix uDOn a definite number of pupils
for the school is impossible. The
number must he prOpOrtiOned to the
| teachers ability.
To crowd great multitudcs of chill
| dren together and require of them
that perfect order which is descrlbed
l,y its advocates by the term clock
work, and to require of them To Sll
| mt their desks, when they can do bet
| ter work under tree, to exact of cv-
cry one at the same time the same
| motions, is not like a family, nOI
is II natural, nor does it tend to
deveIoD those powers of the MIND
j which distinguish rathcPtha reduce
to a 'scOntemptible deadl cVel."
The college or university il com
posed of menand governed upon tho
nrincipIes that undcrlie the govern
mcnt of il well regulated State. The
onc-man power here is the mos
| objectionable of all modes of govern
mSent: Even in countries which, po
liticallY, are mOnarchIeS, the govern
| mcnt of their college and uniVersitiC
| * vested in trustees anda faculty. ~
i'm political economy, the number {
people that can he well included undo
the same form of government has nev
or been definitely determined, 80 TIN
nunllrer Of men that may successtnll!
attend university admits ofindefinit
expansion. The truth i that will
the maturity of character and tina
| scholarship which tit man TO attcn'
a university, the larger the numbc
| tbc greater the benefit derived. ~
iron sharpcncth iron, 50 the face q
man shaTpencth the face Ofhis friend.
, From different standpoint, then
the standp0int 0f numbers, ! have al
rived at the principle with which ] sc
, out, that it is best for the public {
have IA concentration Of universit
work. and best for the public to haN
Il diffusion of preparatory work. III
preparatory department of many col
ieges is fastened upon them by tn
very conditions of their life AN
uruwth, and to ask them To give it II
s To ASH thGla, a. they think, to SUI
| render their life. But what Is the du
f tv of university that has stcppc
Minerva like into the ranks, tull
| equipped by the endowment of som
muuificent founder? That grave II
, sponsjbility rests upon such an inst
| tttion uOtip will denYi that il shOul