The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-07-17
might as we'll advertise and say, diplomas

! remain as long as he had pupils and his con,
troll over them was supreme. lie was kne
and master and the only way to get rid of him
was to Withdraw the scholars or let them com
| bine to run him off. The parents rarely inter
fercd with his control over their children II
he punished them it was all right and all the
presumptives were in his favor indeed strict
discinlinarian much more popular than an
easy going meek tempered man, who permitted
his pupils to do pretty much as they pleased.
The rod was considered an essential part of
the school furniture. 1t was no great crime
for boy to resist and fight back, but, if the
teacher failed to Subducc him and whip the
fight he suddenly lostahis prestige and was
laughed at as a failure. SO besides compe-
tent knowledge Of books n successful teacher
had TO be fortified with will power and mIlscu-
lar power and the conduct Of the boy outside
the school was part OF the curriculum. Seventy
years ago, my father was teacher in Liberty
county, and / have heard him tell .with
much humor Of the struggles that he had in
subduing the larger boyS,i whose parents were
rich and proud How on one occasion the
biggest boy in school refused TO make the
usual bow as he retired from the school room
at recess and he gave him three days
OF grace in which to bow as the
other pupils did, or to take a whipping
or leave the school, and he swoTe that he
would do neither, and how the collision came
and the door was locked and they fought for
ten minutes all over the benches and desks,
while the other scholars, both girls and boys,
were outside peeping through the cracks Of the
log school house with intense interest to see
the result of the contest. 1t was a regular
serugs battle, but the teacher whipped it, and
that settled his dominion for good. 'That
yank can fight" they said, "and he amt
afraid to do it," and this ensured him the re-
spect Of both patrons and pupils.
The times have wonderfully changed since
we patriarchs were boys and went to the old
fashioned schools TO learn the rudiments. We
began our work on the old blue back spelling
book that had wonderful picture on the fly
leaf-a picture of Mercury, or Minerva, or
somebody, pointing to the dome of temple
Oh a mountain. 1t was rough wood cut, but
1t was very fine to us, for pictures were scarce
in those days, The printed lines on the title
page almost settled our destiny as we counted
them to the tune of richman-p oorman-ped-
dler-tinker. BY and by we advanced to
baker, and then to cruci1ix, and then oincom-
prehensibility-that word of learned length
and laundering sound. In course of time we
reached phthisic, the fifth mile stone, and then
our photography was considered complete We
pondered all the romanceS as we went along
those thrilling, fascinating romances-one
about an old man who found rude boy up in
one of his apple trees stealing apples and de-
sired him to come down.
The romance of poor dog Tray, who got into
bad company, and the milknaid who tossed
her head and spilled the milk, and the lawyers
bull that gored the farmers OK. These COM
posed nearly the dime novels of that day, and
] wish it did yet, for there was no harm In
them, and good moral was left behind. We
had mixed schools in those days, and the BOYS
were sorely put to 1t to keep up with the girls,
and they were ashamed not to, for we all had
our sweethearts, and they were betting on us.
There has been no improvement on that sweet
heart business that know Of. We had no
steel pens, and had to depend upon the old
gray goose for quilts. In memory l see the
good old teacher standing by the window half
his time, making or mending pens with his
little pearl-handled knife that they said came
all tho way from London. He kept one eye
upon the blade and the other upon the boys.
A flock Of geese was treasure then, and when
the good woman had plucked their breasts to
All her bedtics and the boys had pulled their
quilts for pens the poor geese were q pltiful
sight to behold. "Where is your pen, my
son?" said the teacher. 81 haven't got any
] couldn't catch the old gander this morning"
We had no desks nor globes nor charts nor
blackboards But the hickory was there to
Jingle knowledge and good behavior into us
through the cuticle of the back and the legs.
But after all, VIC had the Same foundation
TO build upon that the boys have now and we
kept npace with tho wants and necessities of
the age. Three times three made nine, just
as they do now. Language was the same, and
history, ana philosophy, and astronomy, and
trigonometry, and geometry. Our boys could
speak Hohenlinden and Bozaris and Patrick
Henry and Cassabianica about as well as they
do now. The modern appliances for education
are much improved, but great scholarship is
not confined to any age or institution. 1t
comes, if it comes at all, in spite of all embar-
easements. Where there is q will there is
way, and education is now within the easy
reach of ALL
But he who with patient and inquiring mind
Would seek the stream of science TO ascend
Must count the cost, and never hope to find
Rest to his labors or 10 his wandeiings end
The foundation can be laid, but whether it
In hts ~
boy or the girl Scholarship acquired from
books is but small part of education. AS
man can master the art of music and be no
just so can he understand trigonom-
etry and be no surveyor. Practice, experience
and observation must all come in to the educa-
ton Of successful man. a long time ago 1
knew an old farmer who could hardly write
his name, but he was self-reliant, and his
habit of observation had stored
his mind with useful knowledge.
He knew the peculiar qualities and uses of
the trees of the forest and would tell YOU
which were tough or strong or elaStic-which
were good for the aXle-tree of the wagon and
which for the hubs or the Spokes or the felloes
which would last longest in the ground or out
of it, What vines wound the pole with the
course of the sun and what the reverse and
what wound both ways and crossed each other
lie knew that the lateral limbs of tree never
grew any higher from the ground and the sur
Veyors marks were just where they were
CHuPpeN HAIL II century ago. lie Knew that a
cane got its full growth in year and the
number OF rows of corn ON the ear was al
ways oven. lie knew that the bat built a
nest but laid no eggs, and the raincrow laid
eggs, but built no nest, and whippoorwiU
never set across limb, but lined it. If he
found whore serpent had crossed the road he
could tell
Whether the snake that made the track
WAS going north or coming back"
He had experimental with the supposed in
huence OF the worm on vegetation and found
1t had none lliterate rs that man was | AL
ways felt that he was fit to be a teacher.
What comfort il is to have KNOWLEDGE. 10
be full of knowledge. \ great poet, said
Where ignorance is bliss, It's folly TO he
wise But ignorance is never bliss
IL cannot he, for bliss is the
highest grade, of happiness. 1t is
heavenly JOY and utterly Incompatible with
ignorance. "''"
Shakespeare says: Ignorance is the crrss
OF God and knowledgei is the wing with which
We fly 10 heaven" 'N"
the Sword" S''''' IMAM
And Lord Brougham saws: "The schoo,
master is abroad i'll the land and viii ,r,,st
him against the soldier in full military arraS, >
Lord Bacon says: "Knowledce is mover
and the Scriptures abound in iniunctions 81,
increase our knowledge" even thourh mucT
study Is WEAKNESS to the flesh.