A. L. T—; I have broken your window, and my father will send a man to mend it." Receiving a kind word from the person at the door, he bowed and ran to his home to relate the case. Here is an instance of true courage: A teacher, having received satisfactory evidence of the guilt of one of his pupils in a case of serious mischief, was about to inflict a penalty due to the offence, when another boy, of twelve years of age, called out, "O, sir, don't punish William! He did n't do it! Twas I, sir!" As an example of civility and obedience, I would say, A gentleman calling at C. H. S—, on business, one day, requested a lad at the door to hold his horse while he went in. On his return, he offered the lad a piece of money, which was courteously declined. The gentleman insisted, but the lad was immovable, saying, “Mr. T—————— would not like it, if I took pay for holding a gentleman's horse for a few minutes." I say an example of obedience. There was no specific school-law for such a case. It was deduced from the law of universal kindness, which was the summing up of the school-code, and which the boy so appropriately applied. Here follows a beautiful example of youthful kindness: THE DISINTERESTED BOY.-The sun had set, and the night was spreading its mantle over hill-top, and valley, and lonely wood, and busy village. While the winds were beginning to sweep through the trees, lights were here and there peeping through the windows, to tell that, though the wind was cold and Clustering without, there might be peace and comfort within. At this hour, Mr. Bradley passed through a little village among these hills, and, urging his horse forward as the night became darker, took his way through the main road toward the next town, where he wished to pass the night. As he passed the last house in the village, he thought he heard some one call; but, supposing it might be some boy shouting to another boy, he thought little of it. He heard the call again and again; at last, it occurred to him that some one might wish to speak to him, and he stopped the pace of his horse, and looked behind the chaise to see if he could discover who was calling. 66 Stop, sir, stop!" said a little boy, who was running with all his might to overtake him. Mr. Bradley stopped his horse, and a little boy of eight or ten years came up, panting at every breath. Well, my little fellow, what do you wish for?" said Mr. Bradley. You are losing your trunk, sir," answered the boy, as soon as he could speak. And so you have run all this way to tell me of it, have you, my good boy?" Yes, sir." Mr. Bradley jumped out of his chaise, and saw that his trunk, which was strapped underneath his carriage, was unfastened at one end, so that a sudden jolt might have loosened it altogether, and he have lost it without knowing where it had gone. "You are very kind, my little lad," said the gentleman, "to take all this trouble; you have saved me from losing my trunk, and I feel much obliged to you. And now, are you tall enough to hold my horse while I fasten the trunk as it should be?" said Mr. Bradley. "O, yes, sir," said the boy, stepping up, and taking hold of the bridle. He held the horse till Mr. Bradley was ready to start, and then said, "Good-night, sir," and stepped away. "Stop a moment," said Mr. Bradley, taking a shilling from his pocket; "here is a piece of money to pay you for your trouble, and I feel very grateful besides." "No, sir, thank you," said the boy, casting his eye full in the gentleman's face; "do you think I would take money for such a thing as that ?” “Ah!" said Mr. Bradley, as he afterward related the story, "I saw by his noble look that he had run from one half to three quarters of a mile, for the sake of doing a kindness to a stranger, and not for the hope of pay; and I could not find it in my heart to urge him to take the money; for I knew that the thought of doing good was a greater reward to him than money could have been. So I bade him 'good-night,' and he ran toward home; while I gave whip to the horse, and again rode briskly on; but I often think of that journey, and the noble-hearted boy who lived among the hills." The following might be used to show the ADVANTAGES OF POLITENESS. An elderly lady, passing down a busy street in New Haven, was overtaken by a sudden shower. She was some distance from any acquaintance, and had no umbrella. She was deliberating what to do, when a pleasant voice beside her said, "Will you take my umbrella, madam?" The speaker was a boy, perhaps ten years old. "Thank you," said the lady; "I am afraid you will get wet." "But perhaps you will accompany me to a friend's, and then I shall not find it necessary to rob you." The boy did so, and received the thanks of the lady, and departed. Two years rolled away. The lady often related the circumstance, and often wondered what had become of her friend, but little thinking ever to see him again. In the dull season of the year this boy was thrown out of employment, and, the circumstances coming to the knowledge of this lady, she gave him a good home till March, when she introduced him to a good situation. Verily, kindness seldom goes unrequited, even in this world. Here is exhibited an instance of gratitude for favors received: A PASSING INCIDENT. As a man, of generous heart, from the country, was guiding, a few days since, his load of hay to the market, we saw, following him, and gathering the wisps of hay which dropped from the load, a poor woman and two lads, - the latter of perhaps the ages of seven and nine years. Our attention was specially drawn to them, by observing that the man frequently took pains to throw whole handfuls of the hay down the side of the load, in order, as was quite apparent, to convey, in as quiet a manner as possible, sentiments of comfort to the hearts of these suffering poor. As our walk lay in the direction of the market, we determined to witness the conclusion of this exhibition of sympathy and generosity. By-and-by the gleaning became so abundant, that the poor woman could refrain from her expressions of gratitude no longer; and, bursting into tears, she beckoned to the man to stop, and then, in a manner which indicated both intelligence and a delicate sense of her wretched condition, besought him to permit her a single word of thankfulness for his kindness. "Madam," said the man, "I, too, have been in the vale of poverty, and seen the time when a lock of hay would have been considered a treasure. A friend, by an act of kindness, of less value in itself than the one I have done to you, saved me from despair, and made me hopeful for better days. Years have passed now, and a kind Providence has blessed me with a good farm and a happy home. For years, as I have waked each morning, I have seemed to hear a sweet voice whispering, This day remember the poor.' As he said this, he raised the fork, and threw in the woman's arms as great a quantity as she and the lads could carry, and then drove onward, with a countenance expressive of the truth, "It is better to give than to receive." We turned from the scene to read again, and with greater profit than ever, the story of Ruth, gleaning in the fields of the generous Boaz, and of the kindness of the reapers to the destitute and successful gleaner. The following presents a specimen of lofty magnanimity: A NOBLE REVENGE. -The coffin was a plain one, -a poor, miserable, pine coffin. No flowers on its top; no lining of rose-white satin for the pale brow; no smooth ribbons about the coarse shroud. The brown hair was laid decently back, but there was no crimped cap, with its neat tie beneath the chin. The sufferer from cruel poverty smiled in her sleep; she had found bread, rest, and health. "I want to see my mother," sobbed a poor child, as the city undertaker screwed down the top. 66 'You can't, get out of the way, boy! Why don't somebody take the brat?" "Only let me see her one minute," cried the hapless, hopeless orphan, clutching the side of the charity-box; and, as he gazed into that rough face, anguished tears streamed rapidly down the cheek on which no childish bloom ever lingered. O, it was pitiful to hear him cry, "Only once, let me see my mother; only once!" Quickly and brutally the hard-hearted monster struck the boy away, so that he reeled with the blow. For a moment the boy stood panting with grief and rage; his blue eye distended, his lips sprang apart, a fire glittered through his tears, as he raised his puny arm, and, with a most unchildish accent, screamed, "When I'm a man, I'll kill you for that!” "There was a coffin and a heap of earth" between the mother and the poor, forsaken child, and a monument stronger than granite built in his boy-heart to the memory of a heartless deed. The court-house was crowded to suffocation. "Does any one appear as this man's counsel ?" asked the judge. There was a silence when he finished, until, with lips tightly pressed together, a look of strange intelligence, blended with haughty reserve, upon his handsome features, a young man stepped forward, with a firm tread and kindling eye, to plead for the erring and the friendless. He was a stranger, but from his first sentence there was silence. The splendor of his genius entranced, convinced. The man who could not find a friend was acquitted. 66 ་་ May God bless you, sir,-I cannot." I want no thanks," replied the stranger, with icy coldness. "I-I believe you are unknown to me." "Man! I will refresh your memory. Twenty years ago you struck a brokenhearted boy away from his mother's poor coffin. I was that poor, miserable boy." The man turned livid. "Have you rescued me, then, to take my life?" "No; I have a sweeter revenge. I have saved the life of the man whose brutal deed has rankled in my breast for twenty years. Go! and remember the tears of a friendless child." The man bowed his head in shame, and went out from the presence of a magnanimity as grand to him as incomprehensible; and the noble young lawyer felt God's smile in his soul forever after. The style of some of these stories may need alteration, but the lessons taught in them will commend their adoption to every one. In conclusion, I am satisfied that well-selected or original illustrations of the beauty of the several virtues to be inculcated, with welladapted remarks in addition, by the teacher, will be found most effectual in teaching morals in schools, and have, at the same time, this advantage that, if the subjects are judiciously chosen, with due regard to diversity, they seldom, if ever, weary the pupil, while they furnish his mind with exhibitions of lofty principles of action, which will be a valuable moral capital to him to the end of life. POSTSCRIPT.-After the above letter was in type, I received from a friend a copy of Cowdery's "Moral Lessons; " a book prepared to carry out the main branch of the plan for moral instruction, which I have endeavored to unfold and recommend; and I should do injustice to myself, to the author of the work, and to the cause of moral improvement, were I to omit the acknowledgment of my obligation to him for his successful and appropriate labors. It is to be hoped that he will continue the work so well begun, and furnish, as his opportunities permit, an extension of these Lessons, presenting a greater variety of illustrations, and touching an increased diversity of principles, to the end that the work may at length become as it is already, as far as it goes -a full store-house of material for the direction of the young in the formation of habits and principles indispensable to a successful encounter with the temptations to which they will be exposed. The teacher himself, too, would render an important benefit to his school and his successors, by transcribing, in a book kept for the purpose, every incident or anecdote bearing upon the same point, for future use, that those of this book may not become inefficient, by too frequent repetition, but, recurring after longer intervals, will retain their freshness and interest. from generation to generation. VIII. EDUCATION-A STATE DUTY; OR, MAY THE STATE INSIST ON THE EDUCATION OF HER YOUTH? AND TO WHAT BY D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD. Detroit, Michigan. A FEW remarks, growing out of this inquiry, may not be deemed unworthy of consideration by this society. Thus far our educational essayists have been more particularly interested in discussions as to the various forms and systems of education, how far moral and intellectual cultivation may be safely introduced into our public schools, and topics of a kindred character. There is, however, beyond all these questions, yet another, which ere long must obtrude itself upon the judgment of the American people; and it is proper that this association should be among the first to consider and shape opinion in reference to it. That question is the one we have adopted as the subject of this essay. To a large extent primary educational facilities have been supplied to the youth of this country, in a manner as yet unprecedented by other nations; so that wisdom has reared her store-houses on almost every corner of our Eastern cities, and along the sectional roads of the West as fast as they are opened into our forest wilderness. Her temples,"templa quam dilecta!" have gone up in beautiful proportions, and, through her ministers, the invitation has long since gone forth, and been carried down into the highways and hedges, for every child to come up and worship at the pure altars therein enshrined. Yet with each recurring year we find this invitation still unheeded by a large number of those for whom the feast has been especially prepared; nor are all those who inhabit the by-ways and the hedges even disposed to come in and receive the free bounty thus offered to them. They prefer the gutters and purlieus of ignorance and vice, rather than come forth from their pollutions and accept the State's benefi cence. So rapidly have the ranks of uneducated youth been increasing *A paper read before the American Association for the Advancement of Education, on the 13th of August, 1856, at Detroit, Michigan. No. 8. [VOL. III. No. 1.] |