The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-13

much care. Brutus was condemned
for the killing of Caesar, and Caesar
was considered too ambitious to live.
Washington was considered as a
greaer man for winning our liberties
than Columbus was for discovering
America. But the young debaters
learned to have opinions of their own
and to speak on their feet Two of
the boys who were prominent in the
debating society of the famous Love-
joy Academy about the year IS46.
afterwards become noted speakers,
each in his chosen calling David M.
Carter the lawyer, and Richard Hines
the Episcopal minister.
One of the main troubles of the
teacher of sixty years ago was that of
classifying the pupils. Each boy
brought the books that were at home
and with them frequently a note from
parents that the teacher must make
the books do, as no others could be
purchased. Thus classes were multi
piled. Some teachers were known to
leave the time of recitation to the pu-
pills, calling up the geography class,
for example, and asking if they were
ready. Generally the, class was. not
ready. tsr tta
Discipline, in a great majority of.
the old time schools, was severe. But,
curious to relate, the severity never
produced good order, long at time.
Many and various were the ways of
one of the ornaments that adorned
the teachers desk. Mr.. Lovejoy had
two rods, one long and the other
short. When the refractory boy was
ordered to the desk and told to "hand
over" before the open palm was
struck, he was asked, in gentle tones,
Which will you be introduced to, the
IL Ia
MANI" AS for me, am free to con-
fess that, when l received the intro
duction to the "old gentleman"
made up my mind that l would make
the acquaintance of the young gem
tleman" next time-but always find
ing that one was as bad as the other.a
One case of discipline, in the school
mentioned, will ever remain fresh in
my memory; and, at the risk of being
tedious, / must relate it:
A small boy was drinking water,
from the bucket at the door, when
another boy, nearby, poured cup
full of water down his back. Of
course, great confusion arose. The
Wetted boy accused boy sitting near
the bucket as the offender. The ac-
cused said he was not guilty, but the
accusation was repeated, and the sup
posed disturber was hailed to the
desk and ordered to hand over"
which he promptly did. The rod was
lifted to strike; but before the blow
could fall, a large boy eighteen years
DID, whose seat was near the door,
was on his feet, saying in strong, sup
pressed tones: "Mr. Lovejoy you
must not strike that boy for he is in
nocent" Needless to say, that the at
tention of the entire school was drawn
towards the dramatic incident. / re-
member wondering how it was pos
sible for any living boy to talk that
way to our teacher. Mr.. Lovejoy re-
piled, This is none of you business, sit
down" But 1 will not" was the short
reply, for this boy is innocent am
the offender sir, and / am perfectly
willing to take the punishment The
rod was quietly laid down upon the
desk. The teacher rose to his feet,
and. looking the speaker full in the
face, said, II cannot punish a boy who
has done as noble an act as you have
done" The innocent boy returned to
his seat, and a great hush pervaded
the room for some time. That big
boy, in after years was a. brigadier
in. the. Confederate,y army and
he gave his life for his country, on the
field of battle. His name was General
Junius Daniel.
The teacher of the olden time paid
much more attention to memorizing
by the pupils than those of the pres-
ent day At sthis era, the imagiTa-
ton is. more cultivated than of old, at
the expense of other branches of
study nearly as important But there
was one thing that was formerly in
sisted on to a large extent-inental
arithmetic-now much neglected. The
teacher, who,s more than any other
in eastern North Carolina, Familiarity
known as Ghost" Elliott. He had
the wonderful gift of implanting In
his pupils strong and abiding love of
mental arithmetic. He claimed that
this study trained the mind for the
accurate study of any subject. It's eul-
tivated precision facility in getting at
the truth in any kind of problem. All
his pupils were his enthusiastic ad-
mirers. Many of them. to-day, hold
high and honorable positions in our
State.