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William, a gentleman of good address, said,

ry, if you don't mind your p's and q's, I shall not give you any more clothes.' Alarmed at in his usual bland manner: "Mr. H-was

his threat, I promised that I would hereafter study hard. I did not fail to fulfil my promise. My teacher wrote to my father, speaking well of my attainments. After my education was finished, my father gave me a well stocked farm and a fine carriage; besides which, my teacher sent me two splendidly bound books. I expect to marry a beautiful young lady in two weeks from to-morrow."

Eliza, a beautiful lady, and who is one of the few who are born with silver spoons in

my teacher. Having no inclination to study, I wasted my hours in gossiping. Mr. H. at first bore with my idleness, but at last his patience could hold out no longer, and he threw me down upon the floor, and bound my hands behind me. He then made me walk up and down the room for several hours; he would not release me until he had extorted from me a promise that I would be a good boy. Let me say that I was as good as my word. My teacher was as much opposed to corporal punishment as I am to spitting tobacco juice in the face of a lady.”

The whole company were convulsed with "Margalaughter at the story of William. ret, dear," said they to a small lady, who is modest-not to say bashful, "were you ever whipped when you were at school ?"

"Never!" replied she, blushing deeply. "I am an orphan. You know, my friends, that I am married to a man who was my teacher. I loved my mother so well, that when I went to school, I could not bring my

their mouths," was called on to favor the company with an account of her school-girl days. After a few minutes reluctance, for she is naturally bashful, she said: "My teacher, now dead,―peace to his ashes, say I,-my teacher was a mute. I was proud, overbearing, and could not bear contradiction. One day my teacher gave me a lesson to learn in the evening, but I did not attend to it until next morning. He asked me why I did not commit to memory the lesson he had given me. I refused to answer him. I well remember how his face turned. I kept my eyes fix-self to grieve her by neglecting my mind. I ed upon the floor with an air of stern resolve. therefore employed my hours, both in and out All the pupils turned their eyes to the teacher, expecting that he would chastise me; but he neither whipped me nor scolded me. He gave lessons to all the girls except me, nor did he speak to me. He avoided teaching me for several days; while I was obliged to sit on the bench a silent spectator of the exercises of the pupils. I at length burst into tears, but he took no notice of my tears. I could not bear this state of things; I begged his pardon, promising to do better. From that time till the completion of my education, he treated me as a child, and I, him as a master. Our regret at parting, when my term at the asylum was ended, may be better imagined than described."

of school, in reading; and I succeeded, let me say, beyond the most sanguine expectations of my teacher. As I wished to be all that my dear mother was, I formed myself after her pattern. I studiously avoided talking in the schoolroom, for I knew that my mother wished me to acquire everything esteemed worth knowing. I loved my teacher not so much on account of his handsome figure as because he exerted his best endeavors to advance me rapidly in my studies. Though I had no idea of setting my cap for him, he was pleased to marry me. To be frank, I feel myself one of the happiest of wives."

A gentleman is one who combines a woman's tenderness with a man's courage.

For the Schoolmaster.

The Power of Kindness.

BY ANNIE.

For the Schoolmaster.

The Records of the Pilgrims.

I

The Records-Enumeration-Bradford's Journal-Bradford and Robinson-Faithfulness of the Writers-Conclusion.

WHо does not cherish with a fond remembrance some loved one whose voice was ever heard in accents of gentleness and love; and Is it possible that the physical endurance of from whose eyes ever beamed a light and love, expressing in silent language, the a man is manifest in the vigor and tenacity of Life his written phrases? It is not impossible that thoughts of a heart guileless and pure. is short; but, if on our brief journey, we im- in the good old times of ministers who preachpart to earth's pilgrims a kind word and looked in the tone and introduced seventeenthly before their finally, that the virtue of patience was quite as common to their hearers as it is now to holders of cushioned seats in modern sanctuaries. The writers of the chronicles of our forefathers seem to have been possessed not only of this rare virtue, but of steady and durable pens, and withal, of a strong desire to inculcate moral and religious truth, in season and out of season.

of love, many a bright spot will gladden our
vision, and its close be peaceful and happy.

Be gentle and kind, whate'er be thy lot,
In school-room, in palace, or lowlier cot,-
Whatever thy mission, whatever thy sphere,
Its power will prove magic to lighten each care.
Dispense to each traveller thou meet'st by the
way

A share of thy graces, that he may ne'er stay
In the paths of unkindness, disunion and strife,
Thus shading with sorrow the journey of life.
But if o'er a brother misfortunes dark stream

Hath rolled like a flood, blotting out each bright

dream

Which in youth may have been far more brilliant

than thine,

One of the most complete and reliable compilations of their writings is the Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, by Alexander Young. Other and good works exist, by Hubbard, Hutchinson, Holmes and Baylies. Banvard's Plymouth and the Pilgrims is a smaller and a good work, containing the more important

Ere the tempter beguiled and he knelt at his records and valuable original matter.

shrine;

Extend in all kindness, a hand that will guide
And raise him above the dark swelling tide.
With a voice full of love bid him turn from earth's

care,

The records which remain consist of journals by Gov. Bradford and by Governors Bradford and Winslow, the account of the loss of a boy and the colonists' search for him, a brief account of the reasons for settling in

To the pleasures of Heaven, which will welcome the new country, together with letters written

him there.

So when thy ephemeral existence is o'er,
And thy frail bark is launched on eternity's shore,
A light, not of earth, will illumine thy flight
To those realms of bright glory where "God is
the light."

by their pastor in Holland, John Robinson,
There is also a
and replies by the colonists.
long and quaint dialogue between the ancient
and the young men of the colony, concerning

doctrines and duties.

Some of the most valuable papers are copWhen the Old ies of original documents.

No man can be sound in his faith, who is South Church was held by the British, some of the records were lost which have not yet apunsound in his morals.

The days of Cavaliers and Roundheads have passed into historic times. Puritan and bigoted Churchman sleep quietly in death. It is not for their descendants to disturb their rest. Still the spirit of liberty which they possessed cannot decay. It must remain fresh and vigorous, although it be choked by oppression or stunted by political extravagance.

J. W. O.

peared. The Plymouth church, however, fur-ing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, witnessed nishes on its books what is a copy, without the introduction of slavery on the soil of the doubt, of Bradford's journal, made by a con- New World. Tares and wheat have grown temporary. This is enriched by the copyist with up together. Every descendant of the Pilnotes and seems to contain, besides, his own re- grims looks with eagerness for the harvest flections and explanations, incorporated in the when those tares shall be plucked up by the text. This account, and Winslow and Brad-roots. ford's journal are both full and circumstantial. The reasons for the removal from England and settlement in Holland, the projects for emigration, together with their reasons for selecting America, the incidents of the departure and of the voyage are all explicitly given in one, while the other journal and the various letters mainly relate sufferings, trials, employments into which they were led after their arrival in America. Bradford appears, in these simple but earnest accounts, as a man of fortitude and of moral and religious excellence. Robinson, their pastor, never saw his flock. after he bade them farewell on their departure from Holland, but he continued his counsel by means of his earnest epistles, which breathe that spirit of true piety and trust in God which the colonists, notwithstanding their intolerance, seem to have possessed. Indeed, many of the first settlers retained an unbroken and reverential regard for the mother who had forced them to relinquish, for conscience' sake, her careful teaching for their rough, but welcome discipline in the wilderness.

It is from these records that the history of the settlement of New England has been culled. They bear internal evidence of their correctness in the exactness of their relations, the carefulness and evident deliberation of their diction, and the spirit of honesty which they exhibit.

The hundred hardy souls who filled the little Mayflower, surely planted seeds of freedom in those colonies which they assisted to found. This seed has sprung up, though sown by the wayside. The same year that saw the land

For the Schoolmaster.
Slips of the Tongue.

NORMALITES of the Providence dynasty may remember the spasmodic attempts, one day, of

a diffident member of Professor Greene's class to furnish an example of a "subordinate connective," commencing a sentence.

"When Columbus discovered America "the scholar rashly began; then ensued an awkward pause, followed by a desperate effort to complete the sentence. "When Columbus discovered America,"- "America was discovered!" The sensation was as profound as when an unfortunate young lady spoke confidently of the exports, from a certain state, of the products of the diary.

Nobody but ourselves and the parties concerned witnessed the following rich illustration of the benefits of test questions in text books, which occurred in a Grammar school

in our state.

Teacher, reading the questions from a popular Primary Geography,- -"What settlement in the south of Australia ?"

1st Pupil. "Port Jackson, or Botany Bay." So far, very good. But an unintentional

transposition of the questions resulted as "the teachers in such and such a school had

follows:

Teacher.

"What are found here?"

scholars from the vicinity who were further advanced at the same age, and if they could

2d Pupil. barous state."

"A coarse dark race, in a bar-not put the children as far forward in their studies, it would be necessary for a change to be made in their children's school." What reply could a teacher make, satisfactory to

Teacher. (Putting the previous question,) "By whom is New Guinea inhabited ?"

3d Pupil. (Vociferously,) "Parrots and this ignorant parent? Far easier to his popbirds of Paradise!" ularity, although not to his conscience, to

Teacher.

are found here?"

(Somewhat confused,) "What fall into the common current and swim with the stream of more accommodating teachers in aiming at speedy results. Ignorance must

4th Pupil." Papuas."

Teacher. (Perseveringly,) "What do they not be attributed to the teachers concerning the

consist of?"

5th Pupil. (Desperately,) “ Frizzled hair!" It is but fair to state that this incident is true, and it is perhaps unnecessary to add that the class had the same lesson for the next day. Was the teacher or the book-maker responsi

ble?

For the Schoolmaster. "Arriving at Speedy Results."

No remark made at the "Dedication of the Normal School Building, Bristol," impressed itself more indelibly upon my memory than the one at the head of this article. This can be attributed to my having had children in the public schools, and by frequent visits ascertained the course of instruction pursued in

|

value of this important remark, but necessity knows no law and they are compelled to do as others do, or perhaps, in too many instances, lose their situations, for the school committee cannot support a teacher long, whose course, however judicious, is not approved by a majority of parents,-for in our country the greater number will rule. The change, then, from our prevalent system must originate with parents, and intelligent educationists ought to seek every opportunity to inculcate the most correct notions of teaching on the minds of the more ignorant parents, and thereby prevent any interference with a system of study approved by the wisest and most experienced teachers.

Aiming at speedy results would not, then, present its unsatisfactory cause as now, so them. They all adopted the erroneous sys-prominently, and parents would learn in what

tem of "arriving at speedy results." I took the liberty, as a member of the school committee, to remonstrate against this practice, and was told that the majority of parents preferred a rapid progress in studies as indicating more improvement in their children. The teachers, then, were not to be blamed for yielding their better judgments to the more ignorant requirements of a majority, for if they attempted to argue in favor of not "arriving at speedy results," as most of them did, they were met by the plump declaration that

the true value of teaching consists.

G. H. T.

MENTAL pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by repetition, approved of by reflection and strengthened by enjoyment.

He that voluntarily continues in ignorance is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance produces.

For the Schoolmaster.

The Voice of the Past.

BY ANNIE ELIZABETH.

-

The voice of the past is borne to our ears

By the parting breath of the steeds of the years, And away o'er the waves of Time's billowy stream Reach its tones like a vanishing dream.

The heroes of old have from earth passed away, As the last beams that linger at close of the day, And the dim stars arise pale and cold on the tomb, Where the light of the past has slept in its gloom.

O'er the ruins of Greece, the first cradle of lore, The genii of Science will flit nevermore,

And the fame that was gained at the red Marathon,

Is mirrowed above in the poet's wild song.

And Rome, haughty Rome, whose banners unfurled

Their eagles of might o'er a down-trodden world, And looked in her pride from her seven hills down,

While nations afar turned pale at her frown.

He too by the mighty at last was laid low, And she bowed to the Goth, her rude northern foe,

Though vainly she tries for her power as of old, Like the giants consumed 'neath Etna's huge

fold.

We may seek for a tale of the past to learn,
By the side of old Egypt's lofty urn;
But the Nile's dark waves in silence weep,
And the desert sands their promise keep.

And history turns from the shadowy age,
For the morning light to illumine her page;
In vain she sighs for a power so vast,
As to list to the voice of the distant past.

To be swift to hear and slow to speak, is an evidence that a man loves truth, and opens his heart to receive it; but to be swift to speak and slow to hear, is an evidence that he loves his own opinion better than the truth.

For the Schoolmaster. Letter from Minnesota.

MR. EDITOR:

Dear Sir,-The accompanying letter, from our old school-mate and mutual friend, W.

W. T., has afforded me much amusement, and I doubt not will be acceptable to your readers. Those of them, at least, who are acquainted with its author, will readily recognize the spirit of by-gone days.

I. D., JR.

"GOOD MORNING, FRIEND JAMES.

"Minnesota, 1858.

"How true it is that to-morrow never comes. For the last some time I have set it apart as the day to answer your very welcome, but long neglected letter. I have concluded, this morning, if you will accept of fifty per cent. of what I owe you and throw in the interest, to balance accounts with you, and begin

anew.

We are having a regular New England January thaw-a thing very uncommon here. Winter has suspended, the snow banks have gone into liquidation, there is a great run on the river banks, and it is feared they will both have to go under. The clouds have discounted very freely, but that, instead of helping it, has tended to unsettle the ground on which they were founded,-everything seems to be going down stream. This winter-most of it-has been the pleasantest one I can remember for the last fifty or sixty years; very little cold weather, from four to six inches of snow, and excellent sleighing.

The panic,' which took you by surprise at the east, has been here also, but we heard of it in time to make some preparation. When we saw it coming we retreated behind our six months' bills and discharged a number of rounds of golden shot, which soon brought the fearful creature to terms. All of us were

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