New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-08-20

BFOnson Alcott,s Rule-M[r. 0toddard
fries le In . Flint River Sehool-And
Meets With Some Unexpected Ex.
perieace.
BRONSON ALcorr. Of Boston, once
told Joseph Cook, and Joseph Cook
told everybody he met, that he made it
q regulation in his school that, II q pu-
pill violated q rule, :. the master should
substitute his own voluntary sacrificial
chastisement for that pupils punish
ment, and this regulation almost Chris
tianized his school" "One day." Mr..
Alcott said, 81 called up before me q
pupil who had violated an important
rule. All the school was looking on,
and knew the rule and the penalty.
put the ruler into the offenders hand;
| extended my own hand; / told him to
strike. Instantly l sawa struggle be-
gin in his face. a new light sprang up
In his countenance. A new set Of shut
ties seemed to be weaving q new ma
ture within him. kept my hand ex-
tended, and the school was in tears.
The boy struck once, and burst into
tears. He seemed to be in bath of
fire which was giving him new ma
idea that 1 should suffer chastisement
in place of his punishment, and ever
after was the most docile pupil in the
school, though he had at frst been the.
rudest. y
Now this is very affecting and rea-
sonable and striking. No one can read
the incident and very readily forget it;
and it contains q lesson that every
school teacher can certainly read with
profit. The incident came to the knOwl-
edge of Mr.. Willis X. Stoddard, who
for some years past has been teaching
district school in Flint River Town
ship in Iowa. He read this extract
from one of Joseph Cooks lectures,
and never forgot the great moral it
conveyed. And, indeed. he privately
informed q clergyman who called upon
him during critical period in his ca
reer, and with whom he was very init
mate. and he didn't think, he ever
would forget it. Young Mr.. Stoddard
had some few pretty hard boys in his
school. They were big. and noisy, and
rough, and turbulent. He had rea.
soned with them; he had expostulated;
he had begged and wept. He had
whipped them until his arms ached,
and the Directors had threatened
TO dismiss him for unnecessary severity
and absolute cruelty, and The boys
grew worse and worse every day. But
when he was at Ills wits end, and was
seriously thinking Of running away
and losing all his back salary rather
than stay at the school another day, he
read this incident, and it gave his
troubled mind new light. He treas.
ured it up. and thought It might help
him. !
He had treasured it up probably half
a day, when, one bright June after
noon, Samuel johnson, the biggest and
strongest and worst Of all the big bad
boys, violated all the rules Of the
school. one after another, as fast Is he
could think Of them, and wound M by
tearing seven leaves out Of his eeoQra-
ply. These he crammed into his
mouth. and when he had chewed them
into 9 pulp, he took the {. Mad'' IN his
hand and propelled the whole mass
with great violence into the ear 81
Ellis Haskell, who although also bio
and bad . little bad WAS 4 not pos.
sessed OF sufficient presence Of mind to
!, look calm and unconscious under this
avalanche, merely because the eye 81
his teacher was upon him, and he ac-
cordingly signifed his very natural
sdismay and astonishment by . tre-
mendous howl.
And all the school howled IN respon-
sive chorus. Not only because the