The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-10-28

"He 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 excu-
satory, but, whatever Sir Walter may have
meant, it is certain that we OF this age and
cou ntry have adopted his pungent charactsri-
cation as the happiest form Of estimating our
great men That all men are mortal goes with
out saying, of course still it is we'll to keep the
fact in mind, lest our admiration OF towering
personages lead us to initiate the extravagant
sycophancy of the courtier who, when told that
God, at least was greater than the prince.
made haste to reply, "Bnt the prince is young
vet" 1t is not quite clear, however, why We
sh ould make so much Of the fact that great
man has at some time in his life been peda-
gogue-unless it be the purpose to emphasizs
the notion that teaching is profession that
leads to anything, IT, as the French say. you
abandon it.
We are persuaded into this line Of thought
by daily reading of President Arthur that he
is man of the world, and that he once kept
school, That he is man Of the world signi-
fies, we can understand, that he enjoys joke,
and likes good dinner, and is not above Oh
cars and billards-all of which is democratic,
and goes to show that he is in sympathy with
the masses But why add that he has been
sehoolmaster? 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 stories about conquering the big, bad
boysby keeping them in at recess and taking
to them like father, OF chucking little girls
under the chin when they were perfect IN
| their geography lessons, of taking part in
| games of town-ball and pomp-pomp-pull-awaY
| and finally OF refusing to teach another term,
| and going off, bewept of all the pupils, to be
| lawyer or something, with "a book OF poems"
under his arm for memento; and now, Dc.
hold! he is president of 600 OF people"
| 1t is all very pretty, and full OF significance,
| looked at backward and with the moral agreed
| upon. But there are two ways OF adding It up:
| Did he become President because Of his school
| teaching or in spite of it? Does the honor lie
| in the fact that he showed his ability to be q
! good pedagogue, or in the fact that he had
sense enough to quit the business as soon as
| his first term was ended?
| The probability is that President Arthur,
| like many another young man, taught school
| because it was easier than working In saw
| mill, or a stone-quarry, and because it paid
better He was out OF a job, and he took the
| softest thing that offered. IL is creditable to
LIS
| BILE occupation to sitting around on dry goods
| boxes aud sponging his necessary victuals aud
4 lodging; but he would have been President just
| as soon, no doubt, if he had never taken up
| the ferue, The truth is, such accidents have
/ little to do with the subtle forces that shape
| mems fortunes in politics. They are hardly
| worth considering even as incidents OF person
| al biography, If the intention be to draw from
| them any premonitions of future greatness.
/ The half Of life is much a matter of course,
/ ON m nauS to its turning DOlnt
| but duplicates that OF thousand others. Nos
| every President Is born with strawberry
mark that sets him apart as son OF destiny
and signalizes him even as a country sooool-
| master There are hundreds OF nameless
Young men now teaching school for the same
reason that President Arthur once did, and do
ing it Just as we'll; and in time they VIII 90
| LAWYERS or mnisters,-or possibly editors, IL
they are real good-but it will not follow,
should they be chosen some day to the Presi-
dency, that their pedagogism had in 1t any
| hint of predestinatioD, or any sign OF those
qualities of mind and character which we asso-
ciate with the idea of political eminence.
We are entirely willing to believe that Pres
ident Arthur conducted that school at Cohoes
with success, and could have had second or
| even third term; but at the same time, we
think he would himself say, If interrogated,
that the matter was one of bread and butter
| merely and not of preparatory statesmanshlP
and we would be willing to wager small
sum that he gave the typical book OF poems
10 his sweetheart, with the sentimental pas
sages duly underscored Just like any other
foolish young fellow. 1t is gratifying to know.
too that he handled those unruly and rebel
lious boys without expelling them, and that he
was then, as he is now, a stalwart, standing
six feet in his stockings''- common yarn stock
ings, we should guess, dyed blue; but the i'm
preston remains that nothing better became
him in his school-teaching than the leaving OF
| it at the close of the first term. Certainly, he
never went back to it; and 1t is matter OF
record that he afterwards lost an excellent SIT
uation because he would not consent TO teacn
| narsine and the cube root in politics-and the
next thing we knew he turned up as Vice
President. He was once q schoolmaster. Yes;
but that was a long time ago, and he taught
only one term. We do not hear that he is in
the habit of boasting Of it, or attributing to 1t
| any influence upon his career 1t was mako
shift simply, by which he tided himself over
an idle winter, away back yonder when what
he did had no special purport, and is no more