The Teacher

About every thing in which it is possible to be so, she is untidy. Her books are carelessly used, and placed in her desk without order. If she has a piece of waste paper to dispose of, she finds it much more convenient to tear it into small pieces, and scatter it about her desk, than to put it in a proper place. Her hands and clothes are usually covered with ink. Her written exercises are blotted, and full of mistakes."

THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING BEHINDHAND

"The following incident, which I witnessed on a late journey, illustrates an important principle, and I will relate it.

When our steamboat started from the wharf, all our passengers had not come. After we had proceeded a few yards, there appeared among the crowd on the wharf, a man with his trunk under his arm,—out of breath,—and with a most disappointed and disconsolate air. The Captain determined to stop for him, but stopping an immense steamboat, moving swiftly through the water, is not to be done in a moment. So we took a grand sweep, wheeling majestically around an English ship, which was at anchor in the harbor. As we came towards the wharf again, we saw the man in a small boat, coming off from it. As the steamboat swept round, they barely succeeded in catching a rope from the stern, and then immediately the steam engine began its work again, and we pressed forward,—the little boat following us so swiftly, that the water around her was all in a foam.

They pulled upon the rope attached to the little boat, until they drew it alongside. They then let down a rope with a hook in the end of it, from an iron crane, which projected over the side of the steamboat, and hooked it into a staple in the front of the small boat. "Hoist away;" said the Captain. The sailors hoisted, and the front part of the little boat began to rise, the stern still ploughing and foaming through the water, and the man still in it, with his trunk under his arm. They "hoisted away," until I began to think that the poor man would actually tumble out behind. He clung to the seat, and looked as though he was saying to himself, "I will take care how I am tardy the next time." However, after awhile, they hoisted up the stern of the boat, and he got safely on board.

Moral. Though coming to school a few minutes earlier or later, may not in itself be a matter of much consequence, yet the habit of being five minutes too late, if once formed, will, in actual life, be a source of great inconvenience, and sometimes of lasting injury."

NEW SCHOLARS

"There is, at –, a young ladies' school, taught by Mr.–.

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But with all these excellences, there is one fault, which I considered a great one, and which does not comport with the general character of the school for kindness and good feeling. It is the little effort made by the scholars to become acquainted with the new ones who enter. Whoever goes there, must push herself forward, or she will never feel at home. The young ladies seem to forget, that the new comer must feel rather unpleasantly, in the midst of a hundred persons, to whom she is wholly a stranger, and with no one to speak to. Two or three will stand together, and instead of deciding upon some plan, by which the individual may be made to feel at ease, something like the following conversation takes place.

Miss X. How do you like the looks of Miss A., who entered school to-day?

Miss Y. I don't think she is very pretty, but she looks as if she might be a good scholar.

Miss X. She does not strike me very pleasantly; did you ever see such a face? And her complexion is so dark, I should think she had always lived in the open air; and what a queer voice she has!

Miss Y. I wonder if she has a taste for Arithmetic?

Miss X. She does not look as if she had much taste for any thing; see, how strangely she fixes her hair.

Miss S. Whether she has much taste or not, some one of us ought to go and get acquainted with her. See how unpleasantly she feels.

Miss X. I don't want to get acquainted with her, until I know whether I shall like her or not.

Thus nothing is done to relieve her. When she does become acquainted, all her first strange appearance is forgotten; but this is sometimes not the case for several weeks. It depends entirely on the character of the individual herself. If she is forward, and willing to make the necessary effort, she can find many friends; but if she is diffident, she has much to suffer. This arises principally from thoughtlessness. The young ladies do not seem to realize that there is any thing for them to do. They feel enough at home themselves, and the remembrance of the time when they entered school, does not seem to arise in their minds."

A SATIRICAL SPIRIT

"I witnessed, a short time since, a meeting between two friends, who had had but little intercourse before, for a long while. I thought a part of their conversation might be useful, and I shall, therefore, relate it, as nearly as I can recollect, leaving each individual to draw her own inferences.

For some time, I sat silent but not uninterested, while the days of 'Auld Lang Syne' came up to the remembrance of the two friends. After speaking of several individuals, who were among their former acquaintances, one asked, 'Do you remember Miss W.?' 'Yes,' replied the former, 'I remember her as the fear, terror, and abhorrence of all who knew her.' I knew the lady by report, and asked why she was so regarded, the reply was, 'Because she was so severe, so satirical in her remarks upon others. She spared neither friend or foe.'

The friends resumed conversation. 'Did you know,' said the one who had first spoken of Miss W., 'that she sometimes had seasons of bitter repentance for indulging in this unhappy propensity of hers? She would, at such times, resolve to be more on her guard, but after all her good resolutions, she would yield to the slightest temptations. When she was expressing, and apparently really feeling sorrow for having wounded the feelings of others, those who knew her, would not venture to express any sympathy, for very likely, the next moment, that would be turned into ridicule. No confidence could be placed in her.'

A few more facts will be stated respecting the same individual, which I believe are strictly true. Miss W. possessed a fine and well cultivated mind, great penetration, and a tact at discriminating character, rarely equalled. She could, if she chose, impart a charm to her conversation, that would interest, and even fascinate those who listened to it; still she was not beloved. Weaknesses and foibles met with unmerciful severity; and well-meaning intentions and kind actions did not always escape without the keen sarcasm, which it is so difficult for the best regulated mind to bear unmoved. The mild and gentle seemed to shrink from her, and thus she, who might have been the bright and beloved ornament of the circle in which she moved, was regarded with distrust, fear, and even hatred. This dangerous habit of making satirical remarks was evinced in childhood; it was cherished; 'it grew with her growth and strengthened with her strength,' until she became what I have described." Laura.

Though such a satirical spirit is justly condemned, a little good-humored raillery may sometimes be allowed, as a mode of attacking faults in school which cannot be reached by graver methods. The teacher must not be surprised, if some things connected with his own administration, come in, sometimes, for a share.

VARIETY

"I was walking out, a few days since, and not being particularly in haste, I concluded to visit a certain school for an hour or two. In a few minutes after I had seated myself on the sofa, the 'Study Card,' was dropped, and the general noise and confusion, indicated that recess had arrived. A line of military characters, bearing the title of the 'Freedom's Band,' was soon called out, headed by one of their own number. The tune chosen to guide them was Kendall's march.

"'Please to form a regular line,' said the lady commander. 'Remember that there is to be no speaking in the ranks. Do not begin to step, until I strike the bell. Miss B., I requested you not to step until I gave the signal.'

"Presently the command was given, and the whole line stepped, for a few minutes, to all intents and purposes. Again the bell sounded;—'Some of you have lost the step,' said the general. 'Look at me, and begin again. Left! Right! Left! Right!' The line was once more in order, and I observed a new army on the opposite side of the room, performing the same manœuvres, always to the tune of 'Kendall's March.' After a time, the recess closed, and order was again restored. In about half an hour, I approached a class, which was reciting behind the railing. 'Miss A.,' said a teacher, 'how many kinds of magnitude are there?' Miss A. ('Answer inaudible.') Several voices. 'We can't hear.' Teacher. 'Will you try to speak a little louder, Miss A.?'

"Some of the class at length seemed to guess the meaning of the young lady; but I was unable to do even that, until the answer was repeated by the teacher. Finding that I should derive little instruction from the recitation; I returned to the sofa.

"In a short time the propositions were read. 'Proposed that the committee be impeached, for not providing suitable pens.' 'Lost, a pencil, with a piece of India-rubber attached to it, by a blue riband,' &c. &c.

"Recess was again announced, and the lines commenced their evolutions to the tune of Kendall's March.' Thought I, 'Oh! that there were a new tune under the sun!'

"Before the close of school, some compositions were read. One was entitled 'The Magical Ring,' and commenced, 'As I was sitting alone last evening, I heard a gentle tap on the door, and immediately a beautiful fairy appeared before me. She placed a ring on my finger, and left me.' The next began, 'It is my week to write composition, but I do not know what to say. However, I must write something, so it shall be a dialogue.' Another was entitled the Magical Shoe,' and contained a marvellous narration of adventures made in a pair of shoes, more valuable than the farfamed 'seven league boots.' A fourth began, 'Are you acquainted with that new scholar?' 'No; but I don't believe I shall like her.' And soon the 'Magical Thimble,' the 'Magical Eye-glass,' &c., were read, in succession, until I could not but exclaim, 'How pleasing is variety!' School was at length closed, and the young ladies again attacked the piano. 'Oh!' repeated I, to myself, 'how pleasing is variety!' as I left the room, to the tune Of Kendall's March."

2

In speaking of this common ground, and in commenting upon it, I wish not to be understood that I consider these truths as comprising all that is essential in Christianity. Very far from it. A full expression of the Christian faith, would go far in advance of all here presented. We must not confound however, what is essential to prepare the way for the forgiveness of sin, with what is essential that a child should understand, in order to secure his penitence and forgiveness. The former is a great deal; the latter, very little.

3

This apparatus has been previously described. See p. 40.

4

Originally written for a periodical.

5

The articles to which this letter is prefixed were communicated for the work, by different teachers at the request of the author.