Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1881-12-08
Pedagogues and Presidents.

/ "lIe was mortal. and he had been a
school master" is the brief and suggestive
way, in which Sir Walter Scott describes one
of his characters. 1t Is an open question
whether this was intended to be praiseful or
! only excusatory, but whatever Sir Walter
may have meant, Il is certain that We Of
this age and country have adopted his pun
I gent Characterization as the happiest form Of
estimating our great men. That all men are
mortal goes without saying, Of course, still
It is well to keep the fact in mind. lest our
admiration Of towering persOnages lead us
to initiate the extrayagant sycophancy OF
the courtier who. when told that God, at
least, was greater than the prince, made
haste to reply. But the prince is young
yet IL ia not quite clear, however, why
We should make so much Of the fact that
great man has at some time in his life been
pedagogue It be the purpose TO
emphasize the notion that teaching is pro-
fesSion that leads TO anything II. as the
French say, you abandon It.
We are persuaded into this line of thought
BY daily reading Of President Arthur that
he il a man Of the world, and that he once
kept school. That he is a man of the world
signifies. We can understand, that he enjoys
Joke, and likes a good dinner, and is not
above cigars and billisrds-ali OF which is
democratic. and goes to show that he is in
sympathy with the masses But why add
that he has been a schoolmaster? We have
scanned the accounts Of his experiences as
teacher very closely without discovering
anything prophetic in them They are in
substance repetition Of the old storle,
about conquering the big. bad boys bv keep
inn its.rvt s.1E
I like father. Of chucking little girls under
I the chm when they we're perfect IN their gr-
ography lessons, Of taking part IN games Of
town ball and pomp pomp-pull-sway, and
finally Of refusing TO teach another term,
and going of, be~ept Of all the pupils, 10
be a lawyer or something, with "a book of
poems under hls arm for memcntoi aud
now. behold he Is President OF 10000 W0
Of people" 1t is all very pretty. and full Of
significance looked at backward aud with
the moral agreed upon But there are two
says Of adding It up. Did he become Pres
ident because Of his school teaching or IN
spite Of 1T Does the honor lie IN the fact
that he showed his ability to be good ped
sgogue, or IN the fact that he had sense
enough To quit the business as soon his
hTst term VAS ended
The probability i, that President Arthur
Ike many another Young man. taught school
because II vas easier than working IN a saw
mill. or a stone quarry, and because II paid
/ better. lie was out OF a Job. and he took
/ the softesi thing that offered. 1t !. crcdita-
BILE to him. To be sure, that he preferred any
honorable occupation to sitting around on
dry good, boxes and sponging his necessary
vlctuals and lodgings; but he would have
been President Just as soon. no doubt, II he
had never taken up the frrule The truth
Is, such accident. have hide to DO with the
subtle forces that shape men. fortunes in
politics. They are hardly worth considering
even A. incidents of personal biography. II
the intention b. 10 draw from them any pre-
mouitIou' OF future grcatnr.s The half Of
life j. much a matter of course, and uns
mans career up 10 lts turning point but du-
p.rcates that Of a thousand others. Not
eNery President il born with strawberry
mark that sets hm apart a .on Of de-.
tiny, and sIgnal.Ecs HIM even as country
sChnu. master. There are hundreds Of name
les. Young men now teaching ,choO. for the
same reason that President Arthur once did
and doing II just well ; and IN time they
wl.l bc lawyers or mlnlsters-Or possibly
editors, # they are real guod-hut It will not
follow should they be chosen some day to
the Presidency, that their pedagogi.n had
in 1t any hint of predesunation, or any sign
Of those quali,ir, Of mind and character
which We associate with the idea Of politl-
cal emiaencr.
We are entirely willing to believe that
President Ar,hsr conducted that school a,
Cohoc- with success, and could have had a
second or even third term but at the
same time, ve think he would himself say
if lnterrog ated, that the matter was one Of
bread and butter merely, and not Of pre-
paratory state~manship-an We would be
Willing to wager small sum that he gave
the typical book Of poems" to his sweet
heart. with the sentimental passages duly
under>cored, Just like any other foolish
Young fellow. 1t i. gratifying 10 know,
too, that he handled those unruly and re-
belious boys without expelling them, and
that he was then. as he is nov, staIwart,
standing six feet in his stockings
mon yarn stockings We should guess. dyed
blue but the impression remains that moth
ing better became him IN his school-teach-
ing than the leaving Of it at the close Of
the first term. Certainly, he never went
back 10 il and it is matter Of record that
he afterward lost an excellent situation be-
cause he would not consent to teach parsing
and the cube root in polltlcs-and the next
thing We knew he turned up as Vice Presi-
dent. He was once school master. Yes /;
but that was long time ago, and he taught
only one term We do not hear that he is
in the habit Of boasting of il, or attributlng
to it any influence upon his career. 1t was
a makeshift simply. by which he tided him
l. 4 1 4. L