Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-09-13
Is it True?

The Rev. Mr.. Foster, in his Sunday
evening lecture of September 1st. says
eve send our children seven, eight, o.
nine months in the year, to schools
whose methods are calculated to pro
duce mental imbecility, idleness anG
impudence."
If this is so, why are we so imbecile a:
to allow such state of affairs to con-
tinue? One of two remedies is in the
hands of each of us. Why do we not
have better methods adopted, or keep
our children at home, away from thai
which we know to be bad, and only bad
All our hopes center in our children
the hope of our country for future in
tegrity and greatness is in the rising
generation; and shall we tamely submit
to see all these hopes, our own and oul
country's, utterly and forever destroyed
by the ruthless hand of the vile peda
gogue? The Rev. gentleman has given
the warning cry. Let us rally to the
rescue. Let us tear down the schools
and Danish the teachers, all but the
teachers of religion. Then will return
the days of great men and tow garments
Tow garments for the millions, and
greatness for the few-such greatness
as the crab-tree boosted when it stood
among the hazel brush
Mr. Foster says: " If we would form
men of character we must go back to
the method of forty years ago" How
does he know this? Can he show us a
man, good or bad, formed after the
method of to-day? 1t is not the bust
ness Of the schools to make a few great
or wise men, but to put all in the way
of becoming SUCH
The teacher, of all men, must learn to
labor and to watt" wait till the frosts
of many winters have silvered his locks,
ere he can safely point with satisfaction
to the fruit of his labors. Who will
say, and make his assertion good, that
the men of forty years ago were greater
or better than the men of to-day. And
who, that has read a page of history,
will dare say what our children may be
forty years hence.
Those who were educated in the
schools of forty years ago and soon at
ter, are now demonstrating what the
methods in use then were able to &C
complish Does the gentleman point
with pride to himself and us, and wish
the rising generation made after the
similtude of such men, We don't. We
know our imperfections too well.
But what were the methods of forty
years ago? All the doings and happen
penings of forty years ago were ante-na-
tai to U.S. We have no doubt they hell p
ed to make us a pedagogue, for our
mother was teacher in those days, but
our memory brings us no report of the
| method she used in her school, How
ever, we may be able to picture the
work Of an hour in a school which we
attended some ten years later than that.
Here is the school house: A little
brick box by the road side, two doors,
six small windows-twenty-four panes,
"a huge chimney with fireplace for
burning cordwood, wooden benches on
two sides facing, and arranged tier above
tier on the sloping floor, a pine pulpit
for the teacher at one end, opposite the
fireplace; no play ground but the high
way; no apparatus except fire shovel
a maple rule, and few birch whips, and
no ornaments, save huge picture on
the low ceiling, painted with the smoke
of candle after the last spelling school
which looks like Bunyan's Apollyon
but is intended to represent the teacher
as we judge from the spelling book in
the left hand, and the long birch in the
right.
Sit, now moment, and see how char
acter is formed here. The teacher q
big, portly being erect on two legs,
pounds on the sash with his heavy rule
and the pupils, large and small, come
storming and stamping in from recess
and form a semi-circle around the fire
But soon the teacher hammers on the
desk, and calls in commanding tone
take your seats, there. faint cold.
Comparative quiet is secured, and the
teacher calls: GA, b, class come and
read" (That means u.s. What's that?
"a" Yes, what's that?" 3D." "No
faint. What is it?" I'd" eyes, what's
that?" Don't know" Don't know
that crooked letter, you blockhead!
Sarah, tell him-Urbin, what We doin
there? Come here; I'll learn yc how
to make faces at the girls" Urbir
comes; teacher shakes him; we dodge
What we mean?" Shakes him more
violently as the enormity of his offense
becomes more and more apparent. Ur
bin begins to cry. his spelling book flies
out Of his hand, he becomes dizzy and
falls to the floor. Teacher picks hin
up, and throws him over two or three
benches to his own seat, and as the boy
lights says: "Now stay there, you
wooden devil" Then he picks up the
fallen book and throws it after him, and
tells him to stop his crying and study
or he'll shake him again.
In the meantime our class is forgot
ten, so the teacher calls: First read
er class. There's the place, now read. .
II 60 go, up up. Do do, You you, 60
60, up up? We we, do do, go go, up
up. Let let, us us, 60 go, u-pup. Bet
sy Jones snaps her fingers and calls: Do
me sum-" Teacher goes and works
five minutes at Betsy's example, dur
ing which time the reading goes on
Teacher hands the slate to Betsy, who
4 looks in the book, and, finding he has got