Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-07-13
THE scHooLMAsTER.
The Place He Has Taken In Flo.
tion.


tion.
In France, just now, politics and Pc
dagogy are more closely connected than
they should be; but there, az elsewhere.
the authority of the ,schoolmaster u,
while 1t lasts, so undeniable, his speech
SO deliberate and privileged, that It u
perhaps hardly surprising that his pu-
pills, on gaining their liberty. should of
ten amuse a sympathetic world with an
exaggerated picture Of petty ambition,
meanness and revenge. In many cases
the caricature Ii fair enough retort
for unfair treatment suffered In boy
hood at the hands Of bully or q fool;
but our experience has been unfortu-
nate II we have no memories Of genu-
Inc sympathy and helpfulness on the
part Of one, at least Of our teachers.
Most novelists appear anxious to cor
rect the impression produced by the
ridicule Of the pedagogue with other
and more kindly portraits. This is as
It should be. The teaching profession
has no monopoly Of failure, and its
members work hard (for teaching II
hard work, as all who have tried 1t
know)-and often with no adequate Sc
curity for the future, and little chance
Of advancement.
AS rule, the principal is more hard
ly treated in fiction and on the stage
than his assistants; the name Of usher,
which is equivalent to the French huis-
sier, and the old Scotch term janitor,
now suggests duties more suited to the
boy who cleans the boots than to q
schoolmaster.
Goldsnrith has told US Of his melan-
choly experiences az an usher at Peck
ham academy, and his case was appar-
emily by no means exceptional The
interview In the Vicar Of Wakefield"
between George Primrose and his cous-
in Is harsh Indictment Of the degrad-
ing conditions under which too many
under masters had to work In the eigh-
teenth century: II have been an ush-
er at boarding school myself and
may die by an anodyne necklace, but
I had rather be under turnkey In New
gate. was up early and late. I was
browbeat by the master. hated for my
ugly face by the mistress, worried by
the boys" Yet the term is ancient and
honorable enough, an "ostiarius," or un-
der master. being provided for by the
statutes Of Winchester college, though
the reason for its use is by no means
plain, as the under master Of q great
school was from the first qualified to
rule with dignity In the absence Of his
superior. Smollett sketches the usher
of his day with sympathy more than
once. Roderick Random, for instance,
was bullied by Mr.. Syntax, who was
afterward treated as he deserved. ard
got all his book-learning from the un-
der master; and when he and efrup
set out on their wanderings they were
fairly feeced by the smiling old ped
agogue who quoted Horace, and made
out long bill for board and lodging
with equal urbanity and cheerfulness.
In "Peregrine Pickle" too, Mr.. Jen-
nings, who had been Obliged by tho
.,.naa,o,. aa,,,r,.tro,,or, ~ sortuna N
act in the character Of an inferior
teacher" Is very favorably contrasted
with the .fIliterate Germss who
acted an principal. and owed ali the
success Of his school to the duty-loving
usher. A notable instance of the
schoolmaster in real life becoming real
10 later generations by the help Of me-
tion is TO be found In the case of Eu-
gene Aram. which was adapted with
such success by Lytton and by Tom
Hood: and a somewhat similar topic
was used by Stirling In his drama, "The
Gold Mine: or, the Miller Of Grenoble,~
in which Ensebe Noel, the schoolmasser
of Bont- -du- Monde, murders Rabisson,
the knife-r grinder. for his secret Of the
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