The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-05-17

MISS JONES' when you wear rose qua
IN your hair. and have bunch OF flowers
on your table, l can study so much bet,
ter" child once said to her teacher.
why is that, dear?" queried the teacher.
Il don't know, ma'am,' replied the child.
love them because they are so pretty"
Out OF the mouth of this babe proceeded
powerful truth. Why beauty so inspires
the human soul, God alone knows We
were made with souls that thrill with joy
at the touch of beauty. Man himself is
thing of beauty Did not God make him
IN His own image, breathe lite into his
body, then collect Natures rarest gems
into the Garden of Eden and leave his
first man Graded in the lap of Beauty?
The beauties of Nature, which are merely
the crystalized thought of God, have an
unbounded power over us. The noun
tains with their heaven piercing heads the
ocean roaring and rumpling with the
abundance of itself, the sun with its ma
jestic rise and mellow decline, the strains
of heaven-born music. and
Even the meanest flower that blows can
give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for
tears
Heaven is Gods dwelling-place; earth
his school room. And nothing in the limit
ed vision of man is half so grandly de-
corated. God has pictured the walls of his
school house with mighty mountains ris-
ing ambitiously from an even border of
stately trees into the delicate tints of feath
cry clouds. He has placed here and there
over its floor green rugs of grass showered
with choicest flowers, then around the
whole poured the plenteous ocean. Over
it all He placed Sol the janitor, who keeps
it bright, fresh and clean Although we
are powerless to have anything 50 grand
we can initiate our model. at least; for
"A mans reach should exceep his grasp,
Or what's heaven for?"
To shut a child in an unattractive
school-room with all the beauties of Ma
ture just outside is to reiterate the pre-
dicament of Tantalus who was placed in a
pool of water up to his chin with Dough
of apples swaying above his head When
he stopped to quench his agonizing thirst
the water would mockingly recede, and as
often as he reached his hungry hand for an
apple just so often did the bough sway
beyond his reach. When school-rooms are
repulsive and the outside world so attTac-
tive, small wonder that children don't like
going to school.
My friend, Mr.. College graduate. who
had just taken the supervision of three
schools in county in North Carolina, ask
me to visit his schools with him. First
we went to the neighborhood of Prosperity
Creek, where the schools had been con-
solldated. The cleanliness of the large
room was attractive, but by far the most
striking feature was the decoration. The
ceiling and floor were painted and the
walls plastered. At a sweeping glance the
eye scanned nicely framed portraits of such
patriots as Washington, such authors as
Longfellow, until it rested on the benign
eountenance of the Great Teacher him
self Among these portraits were hang
ing pictures which told stories of mercy,
hope, courage, faith and charity On top
of the bookcase was a bust of Socrates
and one of Minerva, the goddess of wis
dom. The windows were curtained with
white lawn ruffled and draped gracefully
about the easements. In the sunny ones
sat pots of hyacinths and geraniums. In
front was arranged a kind of cosy corner,
seat covered with bright material and
strewn with tasty sofa pillows A pretty
rug was spread in front of this do ten
me-" / exclaimed in surprise, what can
such an arrangement be here for?" s'Taat
is the seat of honor" replied the teacher,
1.-The pupil. whose department and lessons
have been excellent for certain length of
time, may occupy the seat" In the oppo-
site corner was pyramidal arrangement
of shelves on which were pots of ferns,
fragrant Towering plants, and graceful
vines. The effect was that of bank of
flowers nesting in the corner Between
these two corners was the teachers table