LECTURE III.

MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM.

BY ARIEL PARISH.

The school is a miniature community, a section of society. It contains within itself all the elements of the body politic, of which it is a part. In it are the magistrates, officers of government, mechanics, agriculturists, the men and women, of whatever grade and employment, of the next generation. There, in embryo, is every passion and feeling incident to human nature. There, already appear those incipient habits, which, if left to their own downward tendency, will sooner or later degrade the man into the brute or fiend.

Like the invisible electric fluid which pervades all material objects, beneath, around and above us, when left to its own eccentric and devious course, deals destruction to the works of man and death to himself, but under the control of omnipotent mind, becomes a submissive messenger swifter than thought, subserving his wants, so the invisible spirit that dwells within that little community, is endued with a power for evil or for good, which finite mind can never comprehend.

Into whose hands shall be committed interests of so vast a magnitude? How can those who are to guide

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that subtle agency learn their duty, so as to discharge it with all due fidelity to God and man? May we not fondly hope that this Association, whose career has so auspiciously commenced, may be greatly instrumental in raising up a generation of laborers, who shall be 'apt to teach," and devoted to their profession? And while great men in high places, and a crowd of little men in their train, are heralding the virtues of explosive cotton, may it ever be the object of our highest ambition, to discover the great secret for producing expansive minds!

A thorough and successful teacher will exhibit in the discharge of his official duties, two prominent qualifications.

1st. SKILL TO IMPART INSTRUCTION.

2d. ABILITY TO GOVERN.

On these will depend, almost entirely, his influence and usefulness. And however much he may excel in the one, he cannot on that account afford to be deficient in the other. It is true, that in the department of teaching, he may impart such a degree of interest to the subject, or he may present it in so attractive a manner, as to absorb all the attention of his pupils, and thus, for the time, forego the necessity of resorting to any apparent controlling power;-but this is only one of those desirable modes of so combining the elements of authority with the process of instruction, that only one, and that in its most agreeable attire, shall seem to the pupil to exist.

Important as the former must ever be admitted to be, the latter must nevertheless take precedence in prac

tice, if not in actual merit. Allow me therefore to ask your attention to a few observations on the particular application of certain principles of School Government, before we proceed to notice the modes of administration.

That" order is Heaven's first law," is a sufficient reason why it should exist on earth, especially to those who desire any resemblance; and if anywhere on earth, it evidently should be found where the human mind is undergoing that purifying, renovating process, which shall prepare it for a holier influence, and fit it for its high destiny. But the common and almost only reason usually assigned, why order should be maintained in the school-room is, that those who wish to devote themselves exclusively to study and the exercises of the school, may do so without interruption or confusion.

This certainly is one very satisfactory reason in its favor, and would come near being conclusive, if two things were true, viz.: If the subjects contained in the text-books were the only ones to be learned or taught; and secondly, if pupils were mere machines, which could be set in motion and stopped, at the will of the master, as the engineer manages the locomotive. But if we rest satisfied with such reasoning, we fail to discover the full measure of benefit which a well digested system of government, judiciously administered, is designed to impart.

He

The ignorance of the child is not limited to the subjects comprehended in his text-books; nor is the teacher to be confined to them in his instructions. is as ignorant of propriety in action, of the time when and the manner in which he may act, as he is of the

relation of number in arithmetic, or of latitude and longitude in geography. The passions and feelings of the child are usually stronger, and for want of reason and judgment, more uncontrollable, in proportion, than in adult age. If suffered to "grow with his growth, and strengthen with his strength," it is obvious that any amount of knowledge he might acquire, would not render him a safe, a trustworthy man. On the contrary, it would be like making an intelligent robber a sentinel over your treasures, or giving a madman charge of a magazine of gunpowder.

When, it may be asked, can the child ever be instructed so advantageously, with respect to human actions and his duties to his fellows, as when a moral principle is brought to bear on him, in which he feels a deep interest in its present application?

Among the ancient Persians, parents sent their children to school to learn justice, and we are informed that their teachers made it a prominent object, in settling the dissensions which occurred among the boys, to accomplish it in such a way, that the principle of right and wrong should be made as clear as possible to their comprehension, and so impressed on their minds as to influence them in all their future conduct. And it is a suggestion worthy of serious consideration, whether much more time rightly employed by us in a similar manner, would not prove as beneficial to the interests of society here, as among the heathen Persians. No teacher who is known to connive at injustice can stand f a moment before the public sentiment of his school, much less of society at large. Now let him direct that

sentiment, so as to act on any violator of justice, wher ever he may be found, whether among boys in the little school circle, or among men, and he will perform a service of incalculable value to the human race.

A majority of the pupils in every school, need to have impressed on their minds, the great importance of scrutinizing the motives by which they are actuated, of appreciating the benefit both to themselves and others, to be derived from cultivating honesty of purpose in all their plans. They should know that confidence between man and man, is the only permanent founda tion on which prosperity in business can rest, the only security for the continuance of those enjoyments arising from the social relations of mankind. It would be reasonable to suppose that in the school-room, some of the happiest opportunities might be found, to impress this principle on the young mind in the most effectual manner. Yet it is an idea by no means uncommon among teachers respecting school government, that nothing but overt acts, direct, palpable violations of order, should receive special attention. Hence it follows, that the master of the school in many instances, after a general declaration of what must and what must not be done, acts the part of executioner merely, inflicting exemplary punishment on the transgressor, as soon as he is detected, with scarcely an inquiry respecting the motive or the cause which prompted him to the crime, and he leaves him, without revealing to the pupil the folly of his act, or imparting a salutary hint which would prevent a similar occurrence.

The only palliation for a practice like this, which a