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mr and mrs noble's complements to miss benton, and would be happy to see her this Evening at 8 o'clock.

david the sweet Singer of isreal says the heavens declair the glory of god and the fermament showeth his handy work.

6. Write a short letter to your teacher, giving an account of the manner in which you spent your last vacation.

7. Write sentences incorporating the following phrases,- long since, a few days ago, by and by, not yet, none at all, at length, in vain, by no means, a great deal, of course, in full.

8. Analyze the following; and parse the words in italics.

Whatever I am, I tremble to think what I may be.

Charles was a man of learning, knowledge and benevolence; and, what is still more, a true Christian.

Take nearly a tea-cup full.

9. Write twenty lines on the Rebellion in the United States.

10. Write ten sentences containing grammatical errors, correct the same, and state the reasons for the change.

EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

From the Massachusetts Teacher.

CASE OF N. T. ALLEN, OF WEST NEWTON,

Charged with Unreasonable Severity in the Punishment of a Pupil.

THIS case was tried on the 2d and 3d of March, before Judge Brigham, of the Superior Court, sitting in East Cambridge, on a prosecution for assult and battery upon Albion D. Emerson, a lad of fourteen years.

The facts proved by the witnesses were as follows: That on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 30, 1864, Albion D. Emerson, in common with several other pupils, was tardy at school, and, according to the custom of the school, was required to remain in during recess, and commit to memory the hymn sung at the opening of the session. He disobeyed this order, went out at recess, and on being sent for came in, took his place with the other boys, and immediately whispered with the boy at his side. Mr. Allen, observing this, came up to him from across the room, and asked him whether he had whispered. On his denial, Mr. Allen appealed to the other boys, and finding that he had added falsehood to his other offenses, took him with his left hand by the loose clothes about his chest, and, after shaking him with sufficient force to show his disapprobation, laid him upon the floor, upon his left side, and not upon his "right hip," which was proved to be the seat of the disease; then, immediately touching him with his slippered foot, told him to rise.

One witness testified that the shaking was severe, knocking the boy against the settee, which stood close to a loose black-board, then throwing him upon the floor, and he thought, placing his foot upon him, but was not sure whilst twelve or fifteen

other witnesses, including two girls, all members of the school, and present at the time, testified that there was nothing of the kind,-that the punishment was a moderate one, and made no impression upon them at all. It was also proved that immediately after Mr. Allen turned away, after the punishment, Albion turned to the lad next him and laughed and whispered again.

On the following day Albion attended school as usual, performed his accustomed duties, laughed when joked by the other boys about his punishment, and said "it did n't hurt him any"; was sent by one of the teachers, for a misdemeanor, to Mr. James T. Allen; was made to stand nearly an hour in front of the teachers' platform; played ball vigorously Thursday afternoon, ate and drank as usual, and made no complaint until Friday. Then, on his saying that he was in pain, he was sent home to Mr. Allen's house. On the following Sunday morning he was carried to his mother's house, 87 Springfield street, Boston. On Friday, Dec. 9, he died, of a disease pronounced by the physicians to be pyemia, the seat of the disease being the right hip.

After the examination of the witnesses in the case, a large number of gentlemen, some of whom had been for many years intimately acquainted with Mr. Allen, being called upon the stand, testified to the uniform excellence of his character, as a man and as a teacher, and especially to his eminent peaceableness, humanity, and kindness of heart.

This case was tried with care and patience, and with great ability; searchingly and sharply on the part of the attorney for the Commonwealth, who seemed to be determined to detect every particle of evidence to be found against the defendant, and to urge it vigorously upon the jury; and most satisfactorily by the defendant's counsel, in a spirit of confidence befitting so clear a case. Judge Brigham made a

most temperate, but weighty and impressive charge to the jury, showing how profoundly he felt the importance and delicacy of the relations of teacher and pupil, how watchfully the rights of both should be guarded, and how sacredly they should be preserved.

The jury were not long in coming to a unanimous verdict of acquittal; and it was very pleasant and touching to see how eager they were, as soon as they had given it, to take Mr. Allen by the hand and assure him how heartily they rejoiced to acquit him of the very shadow of offence.

With every person who had previously known Mr. Allen, and who was present at this scrutinizing trial, he must henceforth stand even better and higher than before. To a reader of the testimony given in this case, two questions will naturally suggest themselves: 1st. What was the real cause of the boy's death? And second, If this be the whole of the case, how came Mr. Allen to be prosecuted?

The first question is satisfactorily answered by the physicians' certificates; and Albion is known to have given the same account of the cause of his pain to two of the teachers and to other persons.

PHYSICIANS' CERTIFICATES.

I hereby certify that on the morning of Saturday, December 3, 1864, I was called to attend Albion D. Emerson, at the house of Mr. N. T. Allen. I found him suffering from an injury to the right hip, and on enquiry he informed me, that while playing ball Thursday afternoon, "I fell sort of ungainly upon my hip, and thought I felt something give way, but did not mind it much and went on playing ball." I then examined the hip and found a slight abrasion with some swelling.

West Newton, March 4, 1865.

GEO. F. ADAMS, M. D.

I hereby certify that on Sunday, the 4th day of December last, I visited Albion D. Emerson, at 87 Springfield street, in this city, whom I found suffering from pain in his right hip. On my asking him to what cause he ascribed his difficulty, he replied that he fell, (while playing ball,) striking his hip against a rock or stone used as a goal, and that he had been laine from that time. This account was given me in the presence of J. Harry Bradlee and the mother of the lad.

2 Dover street, March 3, 1865.

C. H. STEDMAN, M. D.

To the second question, an ample answer may readily be conjectured by any person who knows anything of the character of the complainants.

We who have long loved, valued, and respected Mr. Allen; who know what a precious thing to every good man is a spotless reputation; how swiftly a slander flies, and how readily a slight suspicion or misapprehension is sometimes exaggerated into a fearful change; and who have had the opportunity and satisfaction of seeing the good name of our friend come untarnished from the fire kindled by malice,—are not willing to let this number of the Teacher depart, without assuring Mr. Allen's distant friends that there never was a day when his name was brighter or dearer to us than it is to-day.

GEORGE B. EMERSON,
JOHN D. PHILBRICK,

GEO. W. BRIGGS,

J. H. BROWN, M. D.,

BOSTON, March 4, 1865.

HENRY BIGELOW, M. D.,
J. W. PLIMPTON,

WM. E. SHELDON,
DIO LEWIS, M. D.,

B. G. NORTHROP.

We publish this statement of the trial, signed by the above-named persons, gladly, and append extracts of the able charge of Judge Brigham, which clearly defines the powers of the teacher and the relations he sustains to the pupils in the discipline of the school.

ABSTRACTS OF THE CHARGE.

Mr. Foreman and Gentlemen of the Jury :-The case to which you have listened is one of more than ordinary importance, and certainly one of great public interest, as has been indicated in the large attendance of persons and the attention with which they have apparently listened to the whole course of proceedings in the trial. It is an important case to the defendant-important as affecting his reputation; important as affecting his estate; for the material interests of a teacher are always more or less involved in his character or reputation. But there are no principles of law which, in respect to this case, will require you to do any other than your duty as in all criminal cases.

This defendant is accused of an assault and battery upon one Albion D. Emersonan assault and battery. He is not accused of having caused the death of this per

son, although it appeared from the evidence that it was not many days after this occurrence that the boy died. The grand jury investigated this case before it came to you. It was their duty, under their oaths, if they found the defendant had caused the death of the boy by an unlawful act, to have so declared in the indictment. That they have not done so, relieves the defendant from any imputation in this case of having done any act which caused the boy's death. He is not called upon to meet any such charge. He is not called upon by this indictment to make any explanation of the cause of the death, nor is he permitted so to do, for he stands here charged with the simple act of having assaulted the boy; and with the

assault you are to concern yourselves; and with nothing beyond that, except so far as it tends to throw light upon the assault itself. He is charged with an assault and battery. The use of some degree of force upon the person of Emerson by the defendant is admitted, so that you have, gentlemen, no difficulty about that. That is disposed of. The defendant admits that he applied force on this occasion to the person of this boy. That this was done by the defendant in his character of a school-master, upon the person of Emerson when he bore to him the relation of a pupil, is admitted; therefore you have no difficulty about that fact. You come, then, to the question, What force may a school-teacher use upon the person of a pupil ?

What force may a school-master lawfully use upon the person of a pupil? In the first place, gentlemen, there must be a reasonable and proper occasion for the use of force. Such occasion would be afforded whenever a pupil for a violation of a reasonable regulation of the school deserved punishment, or for withholding obedience to a reasonable requirement deserved coërcion; and such occasion must be for the good of the pupil and the other scholars, not for the purpose of satisfying the irritated temper of the teacher or his personal dignity. For either of the purposes suggested as furnishing lawful occasion for punishment, a moderate castigation may be inflicted. There must be an occasion, gentlemen, which is reasonable in itself, which properly calls for the administration of punishment, for its effect upon the person to be punished, and for its effect upon the associates of the pupil to be punished. The reasonable and lawful occasion having arrived for punishment on the part of the teacher, how shall he punish him? The law says the mode and kind of the punishment must be reasonable. The degree and the severity of it must be reasonable, and both mode and degree of punishment must have reference to the occasion. The law prescribes no mode in which a school-master shall administer punishment to a pupil. In all cases it leaves to the jury the question of determining whether the mode of punishment was a reasonable one, just as it leaves to the jury to determine whether the degree or severity of punishment is reasonable,-whether such a degree and severity of punishment is called for when the occasion for punishment arises. Because, gentlemen, you will easily perceive that what would be an adequate and just punishment for one offence would be very excessive punishment for another. The occasion which calls for the punishment is thus to determine both what kind of punishment is to be administered and the degree of the punishment.

Now, by the light of these principles, gentlemen,-these rules controlling the powers and functions of the school-teacher in the management of his pupils,-you will regard the evidence. There is no function of a teacher's profession or oceupation which is more delicate and responsible than that of punishing. For the purposes of education, the law gives to the teacher, to some extent, the powers of a parent, and he must punish as parents punish. When the law delegates to a person any other than the parent the power of administering corporal punishment to a child, apprentice, or servant, the law puts upon the person the duty of exercising it as a parent does, with a full sense of his responsibility and the moral duties and obligations connected with it.

There is another kind of evidence in this case, of which there has been a very large amount, and I must refer to that, I mean that concerning the peaceable and humane character of the defendant. Every man who lives long enough to acquire a character is entitled to have the benefit of it when he is in peril. That is one of the blessings of character-that when a man finds himself surrounded by peril, by

accusation, if there is no other witness he may invoke, he may call upon those who have known his life. Whenever a criminal action is proved beyond any reasonable doubt, so that the minds of jurors cannot resist the conclusion that it has been done, then the evidence of character is vain. But when the testimony offered in support of an accusation comes from various contradictory sources; when the duty of determining the truth becomes delicate, embarrassing, complicated, and sometimes almost impossible; then the party accused has the right to say to the juror,— "While among all these uncertainties your minds are wavering, I throw into the scale for my benefit the life which I have lived among my neighbors and friends,-I throw that in for the purpose of raising the doubts which the mind of any man might reasonably entertain through confusion of testimony, imperfections of recollection, and contradiction." When that is the case, gentlemen, then testimony of this character becomes pertinent and valuable. I do not say whether this case is one of that kind or not: that is for you to determine. He asks you to doubt whether, having such a character and such a life, it is likely that, upon an occasion like that which has been described in this trial, he would have done a cruel, malignant, or unlawful act. If the proper occasion comes, gentlemen, for the consideration of this testimony, I have no doubt you will give him the benefit of it. If the case is so clear that it is not necessary for you to consider it, then you will not give it any more regard. I am not aware, gentlemen, that I can give you any further assistance in this case.

Education cannot be promoted by a loose application of the law. Have no regard for parents' apprehensions. The parents of Massachusetts will be no more secure, no more comfortable while they are performing their business avocations and their children are at school, from any verdict which comes from any loose application of the law. If this case is proved, find the defendant guilty. If it is not proved, acquit him. Because, gentemen, that is the only duty which you are called upon to perform in this or in any other criminal case.

The jury after consultation returned a verdict of not guilty.

PRESENTATION OF A PIANO-FORTE TO BRIDGHAM SCHOOL.

THE successful accomplishment of an undertaking which has been for some time in progress for the procuring of a piano-forte for the Bridgham Street School, was celebrated by appropriate exercises in the hall of the institution, on Tuesday afternoon, when a formal presentation of the instrument was made on behalf of the generous donors. The event excited no little interest, not only among those immediately connected with the school, but throughout the district and among the friends of education generally, as was evinced by the very large attendance of children, parents and committee men; and much pains were taken to have the exercises pass off with suitable spirit and eclat. There were numerous and pertinent addresses, and music of a very high order, both vocal and instrumental. Neither can we forbear a word in praise of the decorations of the hall, which were specially elaborate and appropriate. Deacon William C. Snow, Chairman of the District Committee, presided. The newly purchased instrument—a concert piano, of powerful tone and largest compass, in rosewood case, furnished at cost ($525) by Hallett, Davis, & Co., and manufactur

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