The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-10-09

your children OBEDIENCE. ! want IL written
large Iwish could make 1t blaze mere III IL
perishable, glowing letters on the walls o
every home-oBEDIENCE, OBEDIENCE. oBEDI
ENCE! Obedience to law-to household law
to parental authority: unquestioning, IN
family; obedience in the school!'
II is a good thing to bear the yoke In oul
yOnth-tu put reign upon the spirit ana the
will. to curb and hold 1t In check for the
grand Issues Of life. Better Is he that rnlett
lis spirit than he that taketh n city. At the
risk of being charged with depression 1 Zee
that must say that we OF this country mus
learn more and more OF the sacred character
of law, human and divine-that IL cannot bt
trnmpled upon without entaillng the most re re
riouS consequences. We are TO commit 10 III
our life. What an Insult that is TO the maJes
ty Of It's high prerogative when we assume tc
right our own wrongs and avenge our own IN
jurles, and above all when we make ooid te
! rob it of it's most sacred trust, the guardian
ship of human life. He has learned to trif1e
with sacred things and to enter prohnely the
holy Of holes who deliberately attempts the
life OF another whether in the role OF the as
sassin or according to the "code Of honor"
know of no way to correct that reckless disre
gard Of human life which so often crops out
about us except by the influence of the home
and the school. These are the nurseries ol
our civil society and In them are laid the
foundations OF that character which Is to
make this country whatever 1t Is TO be.
Those youths under your daily care and IN
struction, who learn respect for superiors, obe.
dience to rightrul authority and the consclen.
tious control of will Will be the strength and
glory OF this nation. to them We must entrust
the palladium Of IT'S liberties.
To inculcate these lessons of self-restralnt
the teacher must assert and maintain his own
authority. There must be no possible doubt
who is master OF the school. No school can
accomplish anything, however scholarly ana
learned the teacher unless order Is preserved.
This will not require any obtrusive exhibi.
tions of the teachers prerogative, nor will II
demand vexations and arbitrary tnterfer.
enccs with the general conduct OF the pupils.
1t is an old saying that people are best gov.
erned that are least governed. Properly un.
derstood that saying applies 60 the school as
well as to the nation. This does not tonch the
difficult question ms to modes and methods OF
discipline. We may cheerfully admit and nc.
quieSce In that revolution which has almost
dispensed with an enforced obedience, and
which reckons the counsel OF solomon az oo.
solete as some suppose the first chapters OF
Genesis to be. But whatever theories may be
entertained and practiced in this matter, the
general proposition Is clear that tuition Is
successful and efficient only where law and
teacher is to impress upon the pupil is one
which he must have learned most thoroughly
himself. without self-command, seifre-
straint and self-government, scourging which
securing government is fitted to it. Let me
give you In his own words the experience OF q
celebrated Scotch Professor and Metaphysl-
clan: Our teacher was q gentleman VI large
attainmentS and vast energy OF charac acter,
with immense muscular power, but nnfortn-
nately for himself and US he had an irritable
temper. He was in no wise restrained by the
ncw-fangled notions adverse to corporal pun.
iShment. If sternness Of manner and severl-
ty Of chastlsemens could have deferred us
from disturbing a master he should have
dwelt In perfect peace.
Instead of this his life and ours were subject
to constant worry. The flogging went on hot
ly each day and the disorder roared around In
the grandest style. He fond OF good i'm
plenent which would swing well around bis
This he found in a strap which he applied
with the buckle-end. Soon after the school
had opened for the day the din began to rise
and the strapping process also began ana
nation and delight Of most of us who dreaded
u "whack," but exulted in "row." Says DR..
Calderwood. "of course government was I'M
ample rendered that cultivation OF the will OF
which we are speaking entirely out or the
question. The teacher was himself the Inn
personation of an uncontrolled and unre.
Straihed will. Exercising no government
over himself he was impotent to master and
control others. Selfrestralnt In the pupil
will come most surely through the well-bal.
anced seIfcontrol of the teacher.
We esuggest then that restraint be the first
lesson in the cultivation of the Will.
Another most important feature Is direction
Of the will. No life reaches its true dignity
that has not right aim and end. To make g
choice worthy Of the soul and Its unmeasured
and unmeasuruble capacities is the grave re.
sponsibility that rests on every intelligent
creature. The VIII, as the executive faculty
makes its choice according to the motives pre-.
pend upon our thoughts and feelings and de.
sires. Though these we may control molina
tion, and controlling that we decide the
choice. All but fatalists admit the freedom ol
q Ipf
late In human responsibility and as the deep.
est and most fundamental fact in human con-
seriousness. We may interfere with mans
outward acts, we may shut him up IN dun
geon and drag him to the stake, but we can.
not touch that inner fortress where resides
the liberty Of choice, that is not only impreg
nable, 1t Is unassailable. While this is admit
ted and conlended for 1t cannot be denied
mines the executive act may be controlled
and controlled 80 deoisively as TO be certainly
known beforehand. As an example. take q
man OF tender, sympathetic nature, with an
established character for benevolence and
phiau thropy. Let an appeal be made to him
for help-an appeal which shall combine al
the elements Of real distress. sickness, want
desertion and friendessness In such case
we are perfectly competent beforehand to an;
nounce his choice. We know that the appeal
will be answered by prompt and liberal re-
sponse. 1t is contended by the soundest writ
ers on this subject not only that the choice
may be controlled but constrained, and yet
liberty, freedom remain unaffected. Indeed
is not such u constraint matter OF constant
we are placed In circumstances which infiu
ence and decide our plans and courses OF &C
tion. But there is always an alternative
there Is always possibility OF acceptance OF
rejection and therefore freedom.
Now, as teachers, we may make the alterna
tive of right, Of truth, OF well-doing SO attrac
tive and desirable as TO be permanently infu
ental, We may so set the stream OF some
4 e. 81 .t,a tnr In
the channel OF a widening usefulness, and
may become commanding current which
shall pour its llie.giving influences through
thousand fields, blessing them teeminl
royal prerogative Of the teacher, This Is 6
sovereignty that touches our moral and spir
ltual nature and that dignifies the profession
you have chosen with an honor which no y
| ties can confer and no obscurity hide despoil
This will.direction may be helped by setting
before the youth high and lofty ideals. Pre-
senling as models those who have made theil
dead selves the stepping stones TO higher
flee and devotion OF those who counted no
their lives dear that they might maintain
| their loyalty to truth and keep faith with con
science. Abstract principles are best incul
ca ted In their living eXemplifications. Histo
ry, this history Of this nation, the history O
| our section, smitten and scourged as 1t Is IL
| full of just such exemplifations as are calcu
lated 10 excite the admiration and inspire Il
to their trials and triumph. brief reoitals o
their grand endeaver and achievement too
will stir the genial current OF the soul and
may beget new and strange longings in some
heart pregnant with celestial fire. These les
sons may not take hold at once, they may ap
pear at once to be lost on some scholars. bu
they will live in memory, and they will come
out into clear consciousness as the future layt
upon us its hard demand and tries us with itt
stern tests. Then they awake as giant from
sleep, and possess us with sovereign power
Is there not a special obligation on oul
| teachers, particularly those of this section tc
labor in ibis department Of will-culture