The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-05-22
HOW HE CONQUERED.
RrOnSOn AIoOfi'a RuIe--1Ir. SfOddnrtI T'ris
Is Fiat River school.


Joseph Cook, and Joseph Cook told
everybody he met, that he made It 8
regulation in his school that, IF q pupil
violated a rule, Ct the master should sub
stitute mis- own voluntary sacrifciaI
chastisement for that pupils punish
ment, and this regulation almost Chris.
TANNED his school" One day." Mr..
Alcott said, &C [ called up before me a
pupil who had violated an important
rule. All the school was looking on. and
knew the rule and the penalty. I put
the ruler into the offenders hand; ex-
tended my own; told him to strike
Instantly l sew struggle begin in his
face. 4 new light sprang up IN his
countenance. A new set of shtittles
seemed to be weaving a new nature
within him. 7 kept my hand extended,
and the school was in tears. The bow
struck once and burst into tears. He
seemed to be- in q bath of ERE, which was
giving him q new nature. He seemed
transformed by tue idea that I shotld
suffer cbastisement in place Of his pun
ishment, and ever after was the most
dOcile pupil in the school, though he had
at first been the rudest."
Now this is very affecting and reason
able and striking. No one can read the
incident and very readily forget it and
1t contains a lesson that every school
teacher can certainly lead with profit.
| The incident came to the knowledge of
Mr.. Willis K. Stoddard, who for some
years past has been teaching a district
| school in Flint River township, 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 a clergyman who
| called upon him dtiring 9 critical period
in his career, aud with whom he was
very intimate, and he didn't think he
| dard had some few pretty hard BOYS in
| his school. They were big, and noisy,
and rough, and turbulent He had reaa
soned with them (; he had expostulated ,
he had begged and Wept. He had whip
ped them until his arms ached, and the
directors mad threatened to dismiss him
for unnecessary severity and absolute
| cruelty, and the boys grew worse and
worse every day. But when he was at
| his wits end, and was seriously think
| ing OF running away and losing all his
back salary rather than stay at the school
another day, he read this incident, and
| 1t gave his troubled mind new light. He
| treasured it up, and thought it might
| help him.
He had treasured it I'D probably half
a day, when, one bright June afternoon,
Samuel johnson, the biggest and strong
est and worst of all the big bad boys
violated all the rules of the school, one
after another, as last as he could think
of them, and wound up by tearing seven
leaves out of his geography. These he
crammed into his mouth, and when he
had chewed them into a pulp, he took
the Wad" in his hand and propelled
the whole mass with great violence into
the ear of Ellis Haskell, who although
also big and bad-a little bad-was not
possessed of sufficient presence OF mind
to look calm and unconscious under this
avalanche, merely because the eye of his
teacher was upon him and he accord
ingly signiied his very natural dismay
and astonishment by a tremendous
howl.
And all the school howled in respons
siVe chorus. Not only because he
scholars were delighted 20 see Ellis Has.
kell with his lsrbeard ear full of papier
mache, as though he were going to take
cast OF 1T for the physiology class, but
also because they knew the teacher
would promptly and without further
ceremony of tormahty give "Tecumseh''
johnson benefit, to-wit: q most awful
and dreadful lickin.'' And this.
being pleasant change from the monot-
| Onous routine OF study and recitation,
was always hailed with demonstrations
of great joy by the pupils.
Mr.. Stoddard called Samuel johnson
/ up to the desk, and more calmly than
was his custom under such circumstan-
ces, told him to go out and bring in a
switch. The pupils noticed there was
something unusually gentle in the
! teachers manner, and 1t struck Samuel
johnson very forcibiy that it was GER
tainly very much out of the ordinary
method of procedure for the culprit to be
| accorded the privilege of cutting his own
switch. But he was not the BOY who
would fail to appreciate and make the
! best use of his privileges and opportuni~
ties. So he did not idly waste his
| time, but presently returned with a
very peaceful looking switch indeed-a
| switch apparently far gone In the last
stages OF cOnsumPtiOn-the sickest
switch.
Now" said Mr. Stoddard, with
gentle, Omp8ssionate information, "strike
me-"
Samuel johnson, who had already
begun 10 unbuttOn his own Jacket.
opened his mouth wide, and the whole
school stared in speechless amazement
Mr.. StOddard calmly repeated his order.
He thought he could see the "new set
OF shuttles b inning to work." "Some
one" ne said-and woman could not
have spoken more tendeTl &c some one
must suffer for the infraction of the
rules. l do not punish any of you for
any pleasure it gives me to zee you
suffer. l do it because justice demands
it. Some one must be punished, and |
will suffer Chastisement in your stead"
The teacher saw ''new light spring up
in Samuel Johnson's countenance. The
boy looked at his teacher and then at his
switch. Th5 teacher could "see q strug-
gle begin in the face" Presently the
tears spraBg TO Samuel Johnson's eyes,
and he said, in a voice sufused with
anxiety; Hadn't better go out and
get bigger switch ?'
The teacher softly told him he might
do so if he wished, and Samuel johnson
went out and WAS gone ten minutes-ten
long, anxious, quiet, wondering minutes
When he returned the school smiled
lie carried in his hand a switch that
looked like q Russian peace commits
sioner. Re had cut it out OF an Usage
hedge, and when he held it where the !
sunlight could fall upon it, it looked !
wickeder than John MOrrissey's faro |
parlOrs. 1t was about seven
feet long an inch and threeo quarters
thick at the butt, and was timber and !
twisted, and had knots and knobs clear |
down to the point. The boys face shOne |
with bright glow of conscientious sat- |
isi6ctiOn as he balanced this switch and
drew 1t through his hard, muscular |