Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-08-01
THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER.
A Paper Prepared BY School Examiner Henry
wingats and read before the Maryland State
Teachers Association by Miss Marie Briscos.
ain the strength of the endeavor,
In the temper of the giver,
In the loving of the lover, =
lies the hidden ~ac0rnpar.ab

Lies the hidden -ecompense"
Emerson.
II is not the purpose of this paper to
dwell on the pecuniary rewards of the
teacher. Pecuniary compensation, one of
the rewards of the teacher, as 1t is of all
other Of earth's toilers, is doubtless the
primary motive that leads many classes of
persops-young women who are compelled
to rely upon their own resources for the
support Of themselves or relatives; young
men and young women who are striving to
raise the means TO take more extended
course in education; men and women of
matarer years who find other avenues of
employment closed TO them-.o follow the
profession Of teaching. As long as we live
In world the great majority of whose in.
habitants must take thought for the NOR.
row, or experience the pain and shame Of
hunger and rags, it is only the impractical
idealist who will decry pecuniary compen-
sation as one, at least, of the rewards of the
teacher. The pecuniary compensation of
the teacher is usually small, much smaller
than it ought to be, but this compensation
may be all that stands between himself and
poverty. 1t is for livelihood and NOT for
glory that the men and women of the nine
tenth century commonly toll. With this
brief glance at pecuniary compensation as
one Of the rewards of the teacher dismiss
the subject
The most priceless reward of the teacher
is. or ought to be, the opportunity for doing
good that his profession offers him. The
exhortation that comes to every man If he
will unstop the ears of his moral being
long enough to listen is: Strive TO make
the little corner of the world in which you
live better for your having lived in it. No
philosopher or teacher Of the past has laid
down a more perfect rule for human con-
duct than this. No philosopher or teacher
of the future win De able to lay down more
perfect rule. This rule of human conduct
is the cornerstone upon which every sys-
tenn Of ethics that shall endure must be
built. When every man learns to practice
in his daily life this noblest precept of the
ethical code the golden age of righteous
ness and peace whose advent the worlds
sweet dreamers have foretold in poetry and
song win be at our very doors. The man
who follows this rule of conduct will make
a success of life even though he have but
a cottage TO shelter him. The man who
follows not this rule of conduct will not
make success OF life even though he have
a palace TO shelter him. The opportunity
for doing good, for making the little corner
of the world in which he lives better for
his having lived in il, that comes TO the
faithful teacher Is not excelled by that
which comes TO any other man. Teaching
remains. and always will remain the
noblest and most useful of professions. II
is a nobier and more useful profession
than that of the preacher, Of the lawyer or
of the physician. The preacher lives at
the expense OF mans hopes and fears re.
garding an unknown world beyond the
grave; the lawyer lives at the expense Of
the strife and discord that arise between
man and man; the physician lives at the
expense OF mans ignorance or disregard of
the laws OF health and cleanliness. The
teachers work is with the young, to pre-
pare them for citizenship in this known
and present world; TO teach them to deal
rightly and justly towards others SO that
they may avoid the lawyers wiles; to teach
them how to develop and preserve the body
50 that they may escape the physicians
drugs.
II has been said in allusion TO the power
of the mother TO mould the youthful mind,
that "the hand which rocks the cradle
rules the world" The mother has opror.
tunity to mould the character of the child
rem in her own household. II falls to the
lot Of the teacher to have entrusted to his
care the children Of many households.
The teacher who follows his profession for
ten, or twenty, or thirty years may really
become y more powerful factor in forming
public sentiment and in shaping the desti
mics OF the race than those favored mof;sls
who have won worldwide fame a. wa
riors or statesmen? Ifa few years ago, you
had visited the rural communities In some of
the th-Western states, you would have
met intelligent looking boys and girls. eight
and ten and twelve years old. who could
not speak or understand one word of Eng.
lish. These boys and girls were born on