The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-10

iiiiJOI ColllCS Lie lilcll WIN 10 W CcdCl
boys during the critical age must be
every inch man. He must maintain
discipline; he must fix the highest
possible standard of manly honor; he
must have sympathy; he must be
gentleman; he must be scholar; he
must be at once a friend and father
to his pupils, and he must possess the
ardOr of an enthusiastic student, with
the zeal Of missionary. If this seems
a high ideal, it is none the less positive
one. We can afford to do anything with
our boys, rather than to place them in
the hands Of unworthy masters!
What such a teacher means to the
average boy can only be appreciated by
those who were blessed in early life
with the advice and example of man
of this type. Scores Of successful
business and professional men in Rich
mond, as they read these lines, will
remember such one who, through
thirty years of consecrated service,
gave of his great soul to the boys he
taught. How we reverenced him; how
we loved him; how we stood in awe Of
his goodness-we Richmond men who
were boys twenty years ago-and how
we would as soon have denied our
lineage as to lie to him Though he
has slept in his grave these ten years
and more, that great teacher of boys
lives to-day, and ever will live in the
heart Of every lad who came in contact
with that magic personality. All Of us
are better because he taught us; all of
us have higher ideal of life. That
man was John P Mcclure, ST., and
with him should rank in every way
those princely teachers of boys whom
Richmond men honor and admire,
Thomas Norwood and w. Gordon
McCabe, that genial knight of Old
Virginia. What debt Virginia owes
these three!
What can teachers of this stamp do
for boys? Surely they can teach them
as men of less nobility cannot. Surely
they can give of their deep learning and
broad culture to inspire the young
mind. Surely they can mold the plastic
clay of boyhood into the statue of
exalted manhood. Surely they can set
the hallmark of honorable gentlemen
on the lads given into their care.
We write with feeling upon this
point, for it is the all-important element
in the preparatory school. Would you
have your boy gentleman and a
scholar? Then commit him into the
hands of one whom you can trust to
obey old CromWell's mandate and to put
conscience in his work.
The Morale of the School.
Next only to the teachers in the
preparatory school, the morale of the
place fixes its worth. By this is meant
that indescribable something which
makes the boys of school look alike
and smile alike and talk alike, that
tradition of honor and manliness and
truth which makes school for boys
as vital and living as any college. Such
schools exist and cherish their tradi-
tons, be they long or short, as rever-
emily as university cherishes its oak.
Take Elton, for example, or take that
&c h art T h ouse" School, of which
Thackerary writes with SO much feeling
in the Newcomes. The boys barred
their heads, then they mentioned these
schools and felt that they had a
worthy name to uphold when they
boasted from what institution they
came
There are certain elements in the
morale of successful school which are
inflexible. The first of these is love of
truth. A cynic has remarked that it
is natural for boy to lie, and that the
instinct of exaggeration is second only
to that of self preservation. Be that as
it may, the fact remains that the school
which maintains the honor system and
exalts the truth has morale that must
mould for the better every boy who is
enrolled. Fair dealing is another
essential to good morale. The school