The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-02-08

profession as to say he hates teaching
and he only engages in it because he
can, in this way, make" few dollars
through the stormy wintry months
Here, again, our attention is called to
that noble teacher, Horace Mann.
His biographers tell us that he was
never once Observation-Disclosures per-
chance with joy or anger. He meyer
swore-in fact, profanity was always
most disgusting to him. He. never
used the "vile weed" in any form. In
letter to one of his friends he said
II early formed the resolution to be a
slave to no habit. Distinguished ex-
emplar! Thank God that there are
teachers among US to-day, who, al
though they they may not have the
intellectual powers Of Horace Mann,
they have his excellent. habits: and
their life and labors are. having an in
fuence greater than we can now see,
or than Jen is able to tell. Having
noticed the Love Of the Work and
some of it's results which follow in
the train Of qualifications, | shall now
pass to the last division of the sub
ject.
III. PERSONAL CHARACTER-Char-
acter, not power, money, or fame,
make life great. Above everything
else we see the man or the lack Of the
man. The impress left by the contact
of character is ineffaceable. Uucon-
sciously, though it may be, yet we are
constantly leaving the mark of our
selves upon those with whom we are
associated, both as teachers and pu-
pills. White whitens; black blackens.
Seeing the impress we are not mis-
taken as to the kind that made it.
Even negatives" are not false. Man
illness gives manliness; honesty, hon
esty; truth, truth. To have hand
some picture the original must be
handsome. If the original stands in
counterfeit, the negative rises in mock
cry.
If the imprint of character is thus
true to itself, how can the teacher be
too careful as to what his character
shall be. Man admires noble charac-
ter, though he may envy and even
despise the brother who possesses it.
Nowhere does he admire it more than
in the teacher. Nowhere should he;
for nowhere is it more needed:
When the pupil learns by his asso-
ciation and acquaintance with the
teacher that he is kind, honest, truth
full, manly, and has an interest in his
welfare, he learns the lessons of kind
ness, honesty, truthfulness, and man
illness as he never could learn them,
were he to listen to lectures on these
subjects a long lifetime. On the 9TH
er hand harshness, dishonesty, decep-
ton, unmanliness, and those bad hab-
its Of which we have. already made
mention, more readily leave their i'm
pressions upon the youthful mind. I
would rather never have heard of a
school than have one Of my pupils
say that he has learned from me the
habit Of using tobacco; or that of
making use Of profane language; or
that he should say that I did not by
example, and by precept, whenever
opportunity was given, discourage the
use of strong drink, and teach the
wisdom Of stunning and hating the
ihCOAICoUIhS SuP.
Habits make character; and to
teach ri ght habits by example is as
much the duty, yes more the duty of
the teacher than occasionally to refer
to them and their opposite vices by
way Of precept. For he should use
the strongest means in his power for
the formation of the best character in
the youth over whom, he, in any way,
has an influence. And example IS
tenfold stonger than precept.
There are men whose lives are an
epitome Of self-sacrifce and useful
ness, who pass through the brief
struggle of mortal existence so calmly
and unobtrusively that, like the grace
full rivulet in the meadow field, i'm
parting freshness and fragrance all
around, they move on through life
without commotion, exciting no emu
lous rivalry, escaping from angry col
lisions, and passing quietly away; hav-
ing fulfilled high and noble destiny.
It is delightful duty to hold up
such an example to those who are
seeking true wisdom, and to illustrate
by truthful exhibition Of character,
the qualities, attainments, and. habits,
which inevitably lead to honorable
and useful distinction, and most tend
to benefit the human race"
While the best of parents are long
ing for it, society is expecting it, and
the welfare Of the Republic needs it.
shall not the teacher build up and
possess the noblest type of character?
Certainly he shall. And when in the
closing days of his career, the teacher
having given to the world such char
acter, shall look back over his useful
pilgrimage and see that where he once
scattered seeds Of kindness "there Is
springing forth the fruit of useful
ness; where his field was marked by
earnest toll, there many a noble youth
does honor to home and land; where
he strove with honest endeavor to live
before the boys and girls life of in
tegrity, of toll, ,>of virtue, of useful
ness, and of fidelity to duty, the peo-
pie rise up and call him blessed; then
his Joy will be full as he witnesses the
results OF such life. The sting Of
the thorn shall then have gone, and
contentment and happiness in all
their charming beauty shall give en-
chantment to the quiet evening of
life, From such lives shall go forth
an influence that shall cause the ''wil-
derness and the desolate places to bud
and blossom as the rose."
"Change, wide and Deep and silently performed,
This land shall witness: and, as days roll on,
Earths universal frame shall feel the effect
Even till the smallest habitabIe rock
Beaten by the lonely billoWs, heaE The songs
Ofunmngled sQGiesy, and bloom
Vita civil arts that send their fragrance forth
grateful tribute to all-rulng Heaven.
From culture uneXclusively bestowed
On this our noble race, in freedom born,