;> %^i..*^ *yVTip* -tf ri3 W8 [Copy 1 PENITENTIAL TEARS. 1 1 ^ ^ r LB 695 .M3 W8 Copy 1 PENITENTIAL TEARS; ? A CRY FROM THE DUST, THE THIRTY -ONE PROSTRATED A>iD iULVERIKED BY THK HAND OF HORACE MANN, SECRETARY, &c. , Ay % f/^ - ■• •7^' /oi'jaD/mt 0^, \4j(i^^v- uv di: BOSTON: C. STIMPSON, 106, WASHINGTON STREET. >IDCCCXI,V. BOSTON: F R 1 ]N T i: D BY D A V I U H . E L A, NO. 37, COKNHILL. V TO THE PuBIMC Having observed, in the newspapers, that one of the "Thirty-one" — that unlucky number, which yields so •' con- temptible a product," and which is doomed to such immortal infamy — has renounced his standing, and repudiated his connection, I was unwilling that the numerical charm should be broken. Suffice it, therefore, to say,' that I am a volunteer, who, touched with a generous sorrow, have come forward, with- out the knowledge of the " Thirty-one," stepped into their ranks in order to fill up the unlucky number, and perchance to receive my death-blow from the hand of Achilles. Let not his vengeance mistake its object. I am willing to face it on my individual responsibility : for if I must die, what an honor to die by such a noble hand. ' EjiiL ov/ 'oiinya^nn^ 'Exrofjo^ slu!. PENITENTIAL TEARS, &c. The castigation which Mr. Mann, with equal candor and truth, has inflicted upon us, shall not be without its salutary effects. It is good for us to be afflicted ; if in the insolence of prosperity, we have ventured to question the infallibility of one who seems born to dictate, and whose sacred au- thority may overbear, when it cannot enlighten, we shall, in our affliction, take a wiser course. We are conquered ; we are prostrate ; we confess it. For if we measure the degree of our humiliation by the motives of our conqueror, we know not that we shall ever be able to rise again. Yet the wretched privilege is allowed to the most abject beings, to complain ; and we have the Honorable Secretary's own authority, for believing that he is a man of such philanthropy, such meekness, such generosity, his heart so leaps into his mouth, at the very suggestion of a plan of benevolence, or the prospect of doing good, that his placability will, no doubt, pardon us, when he sees us subdued, and weeping — prostrate at his feet ; — at least, all of us but one. The meekest of men may sometimes be angry. Moses once spoke unadvisedly with his lips, and Job complained. But such a sight is always a phenomenon which excites our 2 attention ; we are as much excited at it, as they would be at a thunder shower in Egypt, or an earthquake among the hills of New England. When the meekness of Horace Mann is disturbed, whose softness, and benevolence have been sounded through the State by annual Reports, for at least these seven years, when such a man condescends to lay aside, for a moment, the equanimity of a philosopher and the gentleness of a Christian, (belonging however to no sect,) to use such lan- guage as the following : " Did I believe that invisible spirits were appointed to watch over children, and to rescue them from harm, and were the edifice to be burned down, where such a teacher goes daily 'to lash and dogmatize,' I should think that some beneficent angel had applied the torch, to scatter the pupils beyond the reach of his demoralizing government. As to that man, until his nature changes, or my nature changes, we must continue to dwell on opposite sides of the moral universe:" and all this, because an opponent had ventured to question, whether the Secretary ivas ready to give his heart as an offering to the cause ; surely the spectacle is extraordinary. " Can he be angry ? I have seen the cannon When it hath blown his ranks into the air ; And like the devil, from his very arm Puffed his own brother ; And can he be angry ? Something of moment then : I will go meet him, There's matter in't indeed, if he be angry." However, we must not wonder ; the patience of a saint may be exhausted. It is not the first time in the history of human infirmity, when the artist's irritability has been exactly in proportion to the frailty of his edifice. Absurdity and innovation need all the sanction of infallibility to protect them from ridicule and ruin. The first question that naturally arises is — What have we done ? What is our offence ? How have we merited this terrible castigation ? The truth is, that we have ventured, very respectfully, to question the wisdom of certain innova- tions, which, in any other age than the present, would have been discarded as too absurd even for thought or deliberation. In this opinion, we were certainly sincere ; and we vainly supposed that in this free land, we had a right to speak out our convictions, and to oppose what we considered as dangerous error. We knew that respect was due to the office of a man, selected by the wisdom of the land to watch over the interests of education, and hitherto we had seen nothing in his conduct to lead us to question his moral character. It should be remembered too, that the innova- tions were exceedingly radical : they went to change the foundations of our system. All coercive authority was to be expelled from our schools ; emulation was to be discarded ; text books were undervalued ; solitary study was to give place to almost perpetual recitation ; the innocence of human nature was assumed ; and all children, good, bad, and indifferent, were to be led along by the cords of love ; a religion was to be taught definite enough for a child to understand it ; and yet neither Jewish, Pagan, Mahometan, or Christian ; or if the name of Christianity was admitted, it was to consist of no definite truths, (for these had all been disputed and were therefore sectarian,) but it was to be a general Christianity, so weakened and diluted, that infidels might believe, and sensuahsts applaud it. In short, it was to be a Christianity that was to command the assent of every body. To all this, we must add, that these fine plans seemed to have a wide application, which even their author scarcely ventured to mention. In Mr. Mann's benevolence, education ceases to be a task to the pupil ; all the burden is put upon the teacher ; no hill of difficulty is to meet the young pilgrim ; he is to be surrounded with clouds of incense, and to tread on softness and flowers ; the innate love of knowledge is to be his sole stimulus, sufficient to arm him against all difficulties, and to incite him to all the industry he needs. Now it seemed pretty obvious, to a consistent man, that on this system, all classical learning must be discarded — the Greek and Latin languages could never be attained. For it is too much, even for Mr. Mann's scheming mind, to suppose that the distinctions of a Latin grammar, or a paradigm of the Greek verbs, are to be mastered by a pupil who has been taught to make his education his amusement. This conclusion is the more natural, as Dr. Rush, the prototype and pattern of the Secretary, had said the same thing more than fifty years ago. " How few boys," says Dr. Rush, " relish Latin and Greek lessons ! The pleasure they sometimes derive in learning them, is derived from the tales they read, or from a competi- tion which awakens a love of honor, and which might be displayed on an hundred more useful subjects ; or it may arise from gaining the good will of their masters or parents. Where these incentives are wanting, how bitter does the study of languages render that innocent period of life, which seems exclusively intended for happiness." " I wish I had never been born," said a boy, eleven years old, to his mother ; " Why my son," said the mother. " Because I am born into a world of trouble." " Wiiat trouble," said his mother, smiling, " have you known, my son ?" " Trouble enough, mama," said he, " two Latin lessons to get every day." Now certainly with these views, the learned languages must be rejected. There is no royal road to them — no beautiful mountain like the modern Hymettus, where the bees murmur to the very top. From these extravagant views, we have expressed a respectful dissent. And hence, we belong to the " unlucky number" — hence we are " pulverised." We thought, (perhaps falsely,) that the language we used was uncommonly kind and respectful ; and as to our senti- ments, the only fault was the presumption of venturing to differ from him. We said, explicitly, that his report, " in all its connexion with the interests of education, and in all its bearings upon the reputation and influence of numerous teachers, is one of high importance. This importance is greatly enhanced by the high official station, and the elevated moral and literary character of its author." (Remarks, p. 5.) We explicitly stated, that we differed from him " with great reluctance." " We doubt not that the Honorable Secretary is fully aware of the great responsibility involved in the exercise of the powerful and widely extended influence of his office, and that it is his desire faithfully to acquit himself in the discharge of that responsibility." (Remarks, p. 39.) We said again, that " though differing from Mr. Mann, upon this subject, we would by no means be supposed to under- value his efforts in the cause of education, or detract aught from the benefits his labors have conferred. Our dissent from his views arises from an honest conviction that, if adopted, they would retard the progress of sound learning." (Remarks, pp. 56-7.) We closed our pamphlet with these emphatic words : " We have to say, finally, that as we came forward reluctantly to the task of publicly expressing our dissent from some of the sentiments advanced, and plans of teaching proposed, by the Honorable Secretary in his report, we take leave of the subject, with the satisfaction which springs from a consciousness of having discharged a duty which we owed alike to ourselves, to the public, and to him." (Remarks, page 144.) This humble, and almost abject manner of approaching his dignity could not shield us from the anger of an enraged philanthropist. He has heated his furnace seven times hotter than it was 10 wont to be heated ; he has poured out the phials of his indig- nation upon us. He charges us with being the foes to improvement — (as perhaps personified in himself) — of wishing to petrify education, and fix it in its infant state — of having disgraced all the Boston teachers and ourselves — of rolling "sea fog" over his sunshine — of condemning veterans when we are freshmen ; in short, for a man of such matchless moderation, he seems to be very angry with us. All this would be a wonder, did we not know that his views of education he in this dilemma: they must either be infal- libly true, or supremely ridiculous. To doubt them is to expose them to contempt. Newton was very calm when his demonstrations were questioned ; but woe to the luckless wight who ventures to question the delicious dreams of a theoretic man. Knowing that his conclusions cannot bear the test of reason, the highest provocation you can oiTer him is to examine them. It is a beautiful touch of human nature in the great Cer- vantes, when he makes his renowned Don Quixote angry at opposition, just in proportion to the magnificence of his specu- lations. It was no small provocation to have such sweet dreams disturbed. When Sancho at the inn ventured to question whether Dorothea was the Princess Micomicona, because he saw her nuzzling in every corner, " Good heavens ! how great was the indignation of Don Quixote at hearing his squire speak thus disrespectfully ! I say it was so great, that, with speech stammering, tongue faltering, and living fire darting from his eyes, he said, Scoundrel ! designing, unmannerly, ignorant, ill-spoken, foul mouthed, impudent, murmuring and back-biting villain ! darest thou utter such words in my presence, and in the presence of these illustrious ladies, and hast thou dared to entertain such rude and insolent thoughts in thy confused imagination? Avoid my presence, monster 11 of nature — treasury of lies — magazine of deceit — store house of rogueries — inventor of mischief — publisher of absurdities, and enemy of the respect due to royal person- ages — begone, and appear not before me, on pain of my indignation. And in saying this he arched his brows, puffed his cheeks, stared round about him, and gave a violent stamp with his right foot on the floor, all manifest tokens of the rage locked up in his breast." Such was the rage of the knight who was usually a pattern of urbanity and politeness. And if there be any philanthropist on earth who imagines that invention is his own prerogative, and that all benevo- lence and wisdom have become impersonated in his own form ; and if he wants terms in which to vent his indigna- tion against any hardy doubter, who ventures to question his principle or oppose his influence, let him go to the romance, and improve his vocabulary by the fertility of Don Quixote. The next question we may ask is, What has been our prov- ocation ? Were we obliged by the laws of God or man to hold our peace ? The public need not to be told that the duties of a practi- cal school-master are exceedingly onerous. It is all a long dreary march up hill. Let schemers say what they will, the task of putting true knowledge into the early mind, is slow, toilsome, unostentatious and discouraging. It was long ago remarked, " There is no royal road to geometry." Perhaps there is no work where such tiresome efforts are attended with such apparently small results. Knowledge leaks into the mind by drops. We heard an old teacher make use of a homely comparison. It is, said he, boosting a clumsy boy up into a tree — he is perpetually falling back on you. In these unappreciated duties, in which, as Johnson says, " every man that has ever undertaken the task, can tell what slow advances he has been able to make, and how much 12 patience it requires to recal vagrant inattention, to stimulate sluggish indifference, and to rectify absurd misapprehension," in these duties a man needs all the sympathy of an enlight- ened community. He certainly does not wish to see them infected with false theories, and taught to indulge in impossi- ble expectations. What can be more calculated to move a poor school-master's indignation, when he is toiling alone to row his frail canoe against wind and tide — few to visit and none to pity him — than to hear of an itinerant philosopher, going from Dan to Beersheba to teach the people to make demands that none can gratify, and to form hopes that must be disappointed. The merchant hates the pedler, and the physician the quack, and all men ought to hate popular delusion. In the meantime, while our task is increased by enormous exaggeration, our accustomed implements are taken from our hands. We must burn our rods ; we must use no emulation ; we must discard our text books ; we must interest the dull, the thoughtless and the lazy ; we must make labor as light as recreation. We nmst throw away the alphabet, and then teach children the power of letters ; we must work impossible wonders ; and all this to prove that education is an advancing science, and that seven annual reports have not been made in vain. Surely there was something here to call forth a remonstrance from those who believe these opinions to be wrong. What can be more exciting than to find stumbling blocks thrown into a path already obstructed, and by a man who has never borne the burden and the heat of the day ? But our object was not to justify ourselves, but to confess our guilt ; and to shed penitential tears over our manifold offences. We confess that it is just as certain that we have done wrong, as it is that the opinions of the Honorable Secre- tary are reasonable and correct. Our motives are as black as his heart is immaculate. If his reputation is the altar, 13 our pride and our profit shall be the victim and the sacrifice. We solemnly confess that our conduct will be proved to be far from innocence, when his schemes are shown to be far from absurdity and extravagance ; and when the world acquits him of being a visionary, it shall see us returning prodigals, weeping and prostrate at his feet. O, the agony that will wring our hearts, when he shall show his judgment to be sober, and his plans to be practicable. In the meantime, if we may be permitted from the dust in which he has prostrated us to murmur a stifled conviction, it shall be, that our whole offence is dissent from his assertions. We do not agree with him ; and we have expressed our dissent in very decorous language. We utterly deny that we have garbled our quotations, or misrepresented his lan- guage. He has said precisely the things which we have represented him as saying ; and in the very spirit which we have represented. Notwithstanding the charge of " sup- pressing qualifying remarks and fabricating a sentence I never could have written, and imputing to me a signification I never intended ; " he did say, and insinuate precisely the things we have imputed to him. They are the natural consequence of his views ; and a man who never gets his head beneath the stars to see what is going on in this sublunary state, who imagines a perfection just suited to his own fancy, must of course despise all that is practical. If the Scotch schools, as he has represented them, are patterns of activity, and the Prussian schools beautiful specimens of the gentle influence of love and moral suasion, of course New England teachers are hyberna- ting animals ; they are under a sleepy supervision ; his hyperboles are no lies, they are sober expressions of his opinions. What is it to us, or to the public, that he has covered up his goading thorns under a profusion of flowers, that he is 3 1% paying unmeaning compliments, when he is aiming a fatal blow under the fifth rib. The soft language only increases the insult. When the Pharisees with the Herodians shewed the tribute-money, they were exceedingly respectful in their preface ; Master, we know that thou art trve, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men. But even these men would have been too wise to complain, had their com- pliments been omitted in the sacred record. The first question that presents itself to our notice is. Have we misrepresented the Honorable Secretary, in saying that he is a visionary projector in his schemes, and an inac- curate observer of facts. If he is not, we are certainly wrong, and are ready, on conviction, to make the amende honorable. We affirm then, in the first place, it is somewhat difficult to say precisely on what ground the Secretary does stand. He hardly discards corporal punishment, and yet he regards it as a relic of barbarism. He reverences the Bible, and yet some of its most comprehensive precepts are only suited to an early stage of civilization. Solomon was a wise man, and yet some of the projectors of this age are a great deal wiser. How much inspiration there is in the Old Testament, he has not exactly told us, but yet the Gospel evidently con- tradicts it, though an Apostle says, What son is he ivhom his father chasteneth not? And again, We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. On the subject of emulation he is pretty clear ; he wholly discards it; but on the elements of reading he is foggy again ; for after having explicitly said that " no improvements could be hoped for in teaching to read, while the present mode of teaching the alphabet continues," it turns out at last that the alphabet is to be taught. " Mr. Pierce, in the lecture from which the quotation in the * Re- marks ' is made, says, 'After the scholars are able to manage with 15 ease, simple sentences, such as are found in Gallaudet's and Worces- ter's Primers, Bumsted's First Book, or Swan's Primary Reader, let tljem be taught the names and sounds, or powers of letters.' Now the first sentence in Gallaudet's Primer is, ' Frank had a dog ; his name was SpoV In Worcester's it is, ' .^ nice fan.' In Bumsted's ' First Book,' the first sentence has twenty different, but very simple words; the second has only six. In Swan's, it is, ' / can make a new cage.'' Mr. Pierce's direction therefore, is, ' After the scholars are able to manage with ease, such simple sentences' as the above, 'let them be taught the names and sounds of letters.' What an outrage then, was it to say, that Mr. Pierce would postpone the teaching of letters, until after 'two thousand,' or ' one thousand,' or ' seven hundred,' whole words had been learned, and then, ' if ever,' begin ' to combine letters into words.' Must a child learn seven hundred words before he can read, ' A nice fan,' or other similar sentences ? Take the common type, in which this Reply is printed, and I doubt whether seven hundred different words can be found on any three full pages in it. "Still more enormous is the statement in relation to the ' Primer,' which is said to be my 'standard ;' for, according to the directions contained in that, about a fifth part of the letters were to be learned, by or before the time that one hundred words were to be ; and in regard to spelling, which, of course, must be subsequent to learning the letters, it says, 'There is no doubt, that the sooner it is begun, intelligently, the better.' Yet the ' Remarks ' say, 'What surprises us most, if this be the meaning, is that Mr. Mann should discover from such defective instruction, reasons for a total neglect of the alphabet.' The italicising of the word total, is not mine; the 'Remarks' them- selves give it this emphasis of falsehood. What an exorbitant misrep- resentation, on the threshold of the section, of my views and of the views of those with whom I agree! " Now Mr. Mann cannot suppose that if any instructor, in the process of teaching the alphabet, should choose, in order to stimulate attention, to employ a few pictures, with a few whole words under them, we should have any controversy with him. If this is all he means, his plan is perfectly harm- less, and we wish him and all others God speed in their efforts. But he certainly brought forth his plan with much more pomp and circumstance ; he evidently regarded it as a 16 great innovation. It was a new foundation ; and no hope could be entertained of great improvements in teaching until it was universally adopted. But whatever may be his reason- ableness here, which evidently can only be saved from folly, by the extent of the innovation — it is evident that he regards children as born with a burning thirst for knowledge ; going to school is but taking them to a toy-shop ; they may be led along through all the rough and smooth places of education with interest and delight. Shakspeare's whining school- boy, creeping like a snail, unwilling to school, is a picture no longer to be acknowledged. " I deny," says the Secre- tary, with that peculiar eloquence which belongs to his views of truth, "I deny that any Christian man, or any enlightened heathen man, is left without resource, under such circum- stances, ' unless he appeals to fear.' He has the resource of conscience, which is no more extinguished in the child's soul, by the clamorous passions that, for a time, may have silenced its voice, than the stars of heaven are annihilated by the cloud which for a moment obscures them from our vision. He has the resource of social and filial affections. He has the love of knowledge and of truth, which never, in all its forms, is, or can be, eradicated from a sane mind. If the teacher is what he ought to be, he has the resource of a pure and lofty example, in his own character ; and he moves be- fore the eyes of his pupils as a personification of dignity and learning and benevolence. What a damning sentence does a teacher pronounce upon himself, when he affirms that he has no resources in his own attainments, his own deportment, his own skill, his own character ; but only in the cowhide and birch, and in the strong arm that wields them ! " Now the question is, with these views of education, are we libellers, or is he a visionary ? Let us begin with punishment. So congenial has it been to the sentiments of mankind, that the rod has passed into a 17 common metaphor. When Mr. Mann thinks he is combat- ing prejudice, he is certainly at war with nature. The necessity of resorting to corporal force arises from the sen- suality of our nattn-e, and the fact that children cannot com- prehend the sublime motives which open before them in an immortal existence. Before we eat the fruit, we must plant the tree. Before we win the crown, we must run the race. Some part of education is spent in getting, not directly knowledge, but the vehicles of knowledge ; just as the car- penter or mason may .spend some time in putting up the staging. The chesnut bur's, after all, are very appropriate emblems. When a general takes some advantageous height, levels the trees, blows up the rocks, smooths the surface, and draws up the cannon, the work for a while seems very use- less, and very discouraging ; the common soldier must take it on trust. But when the battery is laid, and the walls of the enemy begin to fall, then the meanest sentinel sees the object to be attained. We must meet these rough places in the paths of knowledge ; and the skilful instructer must help his pupil over them as well as he can. Indeed difficulties are good for us ; our enemies are our friends, and our an- tagonist is our helper. Who has not known the pleasure of triumphing over a problem, which at first well nigh threw him into despair ? Every sound and sullen scholar looks back with pleasure on these delicious difficulties. These soft and silken reform- ers who wish to smooth the passes to knowledge, and make a world for the young which God has never made, would only spoil the rising generation, supposing they could carry their plans into execution. A wise man devoutly thanks God that the price of knowledge is labor, and that when we buy the truth, we must pay the price. If you wish to enjoy the prospect at the mountain's summit, you must climb its rug- ged sides. 18 • What would this new school of philanthropists say to the beautiful allegory, — the Choice of Hercules, — first pictured by Prodicus, then adorned by the prose of Xenophon, and afterwards by the poetry of Lowth. They must change the personages in that instructive scene, and give to virtue the language of vice. Is not the philosopher describing a mod- ern reformer, when he says, " She came to him with the most elegant skin ; whiter and more rosy than reality ; with a gait more erect than nature ; having her eyes wide open, (that is staring at wonders,) and in garments, through which her beauty appeared ? " And then she went on to promise him almost as many impossibilities as are attempted in the Normal School at Lexington. What must these men think of Hesiod's paths to education, rgrj^vg to ngmov ; but which was found mo?^e easy for having been once so difficult 1 The truth is, all antiquity is against them ; and they can only be right when they reverse the records of experience, and show that the whole world has been mistaken. Mr. Mann says, that corporal punishment is a " relic of barbarism," and that it came down to us from the dark ages. It is very evident that his dark ages are not the middle ages, for Horace, who is supposed to know something of the Augustan age, speaks of it. Memmi quae plagosum mihi parvo orbilium dictare.* Orbilius was his school-master. Plagosus Orbilius may be strictly translated, My feruling school-master and his lessons were remembered, because his government was energetic. Horace, who felt his blows, has celebrated his memory in immortal verse. Suetonius, in his account of illustrious grammarians, has described him. Fuit autem naturae acerbae, non modo in antisophistas quos orani sermone laceravit, sed etiam in discipulos. He was a whipper, and severe with his scholars — ferula cecidit. «Hor. Epist. Lib. II., Ep. 1, Line 70. 19 Juvenal alludes to the same punishment. (See Sat. I. 1. 15.) Et nos ergo manum ferulae subduximus. We too have pulled away our hands when the master was clapping us. Augustine, one of the lights of Christianity, speaks thus in his confessions. " Discipline is needful to overcome our puerile sloth, and this also is a part of thy government over thy creatures, O God, for the purpose of restraining our sinful impetuosity. From the ferules of masters to the trials of martyrs, thy wholesome severities may be traced, which tend to recal us to thee from that pernicious voluptuous- ness by which we departed from thee." Milner's Church History, Vol. II. p. 296 ; Armstrong's edition. Melancthon, the great restorer of learning, the amiable and pious reformer, has left us his testimony : — Ego habui praeceptorem qui fuit excellens grammaticus. llle adegit me ad grammaticuni, et ita adegit ut consiructiones facerem. Cogebat reddere regulas constructionis per versus Mantuani viginti cut triginta. Nihil patiebatur me omittere ; quoties errabam, dabat plagas mihi ; et tamen ea moderatione quae erut conveniens. Ita me fecit gram- maticum. Erat vir optimus ; delexit me ut filium, et ego eum ut patrem ; et brevi convenimus, spero in vita eterna. See Melchor Adams's Life of the German Theolo- gians, p. 328. " I had a master," says this mild reformer and best of men, " who was an excellent grammarian. He compelled me to the study ; he made me write Greek and give the rules in twenty or thirty verses of the Manluan. He suffered me to omit nothing, and whenever I made a blunder, he whipped me soundly, and yet with proper mod- eration. So he made me a grammarian. He was one of the best of men ; he loved me hke a son, and I loved him like a father, and I hope we shall both meet in heaven." The quaint Fuller sanctions the same doctrine. In de- sc.ibingthe good school-master, he says : — "He is moderate 20 # in inflicting deserved correction, though he questions whether all the whipping in the world can make their parts, which are naturally sluggish, rise one minute before the hour nature hath appointed." Holy State, Book II. Chap. 16. Dr. Johnson had felt the severities of the pedagogue, and gave us on this subject not only his opinions, but his expe- rience. " Mr. Langton one day asked him how he had acquired so accurate a knowledge of the Latin, in which I believe he was exceeded by no man of his time. He said, My master whipped me very well ; without that. Sir, I should have done nothing. He told Mr. Langton that while Hunter was flog- ging his boys unmercifully, he used to say, ' And this I do to save you from the gallows.' Johnson upon all occasions expressed his approbation of enforcing instruction by means of the rod. ' I would rather,' said he, ' have the rod to be the general terror to all, to make them learn, than to tell a child, if you do thus or thus, you shall be more esteemed than your brothers or your sisters. The rod produces an eflTect which terminates in itself.' " Boswell's Life, Vol. I. p. 20. Dr. Goldsmith reiterates : " Whatever pains a master may take to make the learning of the languages agreeable to his pupil, he may depend upon it, it will be at first extremely un- pleasant. The rudiments of every language, therefore, must be given as a task, not as an amusement. Attempting to deceive children into instruction of this kind is only deceiv- ing ourselves ; and I know no passion capable of conquering a child's natural laziness but fear. Solomon has said it before me, nor is there any more certain, though perhaps disagreeable truth, than the proverb in a verse too well known to be repeated on the present occasion. It is very probable that parents are told of some masters who never use the rod, and are consequently thought the properest instructers for 21 their children ; but though tenderness is a requisite quality in an instructer, yet there is too often the truest tenderness in well-timed correction." (Goldsmith's Works, Vol. IV. pp. 220-21.) Sir Walter Scott has some remarks of similar ten- dency in the beginning of Waverly ; and Coleridge tells us he was soundly and profitably whipped in his youth for being an infidel. " Had my preceptor argued with me, it would only have gratified my vanity," says he ; " a whipping was the very thing that my ignorance needed." We have here, then, the names of Socrates, Xenophon, Horace, Suetonius, Juvenal, Augustine, Melancthon, Fuller, Johnson, Goldsmith, Scott and Coleridge, on the other side of the question. The list might be extended almost indefinitely. Let them be thrown into one scale, and Horace Mann and his coadjutors mount the other ; we are fearless for the result, and the world shall never know from our lisping testimony who kicks the beam. In youth the passions are strong, the reason is weak, and the experience almost nothing. It is impossible for a child to penetrate into futurity, and see the sublime motives which even the man, after years of experience, very imperfectly conceives, and still more imperfectly acts upon. If the sen- sual predominates over the intellectual in the sage and the philosopher, how much more in those whom the laws of nature and of nature's God have reduced to the lowest scale of reasoning intelligence. The necessity of overcoming sloth by pain, arises partly from the sensuality of our nature, partly from the very structure of the youthful mind, which must be taught to see future evil in a concentrated symbol. We give them a less amount of suffering in order to make them avoid a greater ; and we give it to them not only in justice, but the highest mercy. Every well construct- ed mind, like Melancthon's, when informed by experience, looks back on the school-boy hours, and thanks his teacher, 4 22 • not only for his lessons, but his bloivs. It is not the small- est evil of the philanthropist's moon-shiny speculations, that it teaches children to cherish resentment for correction, for which they ought to feel the deepest gratitude and love. As to the idea that the natural curiosity which all children feel is sufficient, when well directed, to lead common minds and all minds to the sublimest heights of knowledge, it is a dream, which can only enter the mind left to compare the universe to a toy-shop. What is this natural instinct for knowledge, and to what objects does it lead ? It may teach a boy to find a bird's nest ; to shoot flying ; to drive a stage ; or it may induce him to give attention to any other of those athletic sciences which are the sport rather than the business of human creatures. It may help a youth through a novel, or teach him to learn a ballad, and especially to learn all the licentious parts of the physiology of the human frame. In its best state it can only direct some peculiar minds to some single congenial department. No doubt Paganini learned to fiddle by his instinctive fondness for that kind of knowledge. Garrick probably learned acting, and West painting, in a similar way. In its best impulses, it can only operate on peculiar minds ; and that not to the whole circle of knowledge, but in some one peculiar direction. Burns was a poet ; and it is likely he learned poetry by a spontane- ous industry ; other knowledge, like other mortals, he got by painful effort. It is well known that some men have become eminent in some sciences, which at first were exceedingly disgusting to them. Knowledge may be compared to a garden full of delicious fruits and flowers, but surrounded with a thorny fence. We must break through with painful scratches before we can sit under the comfort of its shades, or hear its water-falls break on the ear. It is like the representation which the old geog- 23 raphers give of the still vexed Bermoothes ; the most dreadful tempests roared around its shores — perpetual thun- ders rocked its skies, and unclassified monsters tumbled in its seas. The voyager could scarcely land there vv^ith- out being stranded ; but, once safe ashore, and he was met by the breezes of an unfading spring, and regaled with the fruits of an everlasting autumn. Now, a theorist may at- tempt to alter the elements of nature as well as the elements of education. If he tries to peddle out his goods at a cheaper rate than the wholesale Author of the universe has imported them from the boundless regions of his own on)niscience, he will become a bankrupt in the end. His cheats will be detected, and his wares sink even to a lower price than his own valuation of them. Perhaps the place where Mr. Mann's theories are best carried out is among the Indians. There we can easily imagine, that the instinctive love of such knowledge as they teach is adequate to all the purposes of education. They never whip their children, (any more than they do at the Lexington Normal School,) never stimulate their emulation by setting before them the high prizes of life ; never mortify their vanity, and never teach them the alphabet ; they are taught things not words ; how to entrap the deer ; how to cast the tomahawk ; and, we have no doubt, the process of education is all smooth and delightful. But, pray, is this facility owing to their superior wisdom, or a deplorable want of conceptions of the high objects after which an immortal and intellectual being should strive ? No doubt puerile instincts will carry a boy to some species of instruction. But we shall prize it higher, and recommend it more, when we find it has ever made a Coke or a Newton. " Believe,'^ says Coleridge, '' in order that you may knoiv." The incipient stages of education, (except to some few 24 • remarkable minds, like Paschal's or Barralier's,) never can be made delightful. No doubt, in the subsequent stages, the fruit comes with the labor, just as the farmer may eat the apples while he gathers them, though for some years he must plant and prune an unbearing tree. The effect of the modern schemes must be to dwarf the intellect ; if it is always delightful for a boy to learn, he will of course only learn what is delightful. Now there is skill in all things — in pitching coppers, in packing cards, and, as the proverb says, even in roasting an egg. All this, however, is below the consideration of our sublime Secretary. He sees no difficulty in making the veriest infant appreciate the value of all the learning he is called to acquire. You can put the sublimest motives into the meanest mind. When a man has got upon his sublimities, you must shoot him flying, or there is no bringing him down to a conception of earthly difficulties or practical prudence. To visit our earth, like the winged messengers who bestride the lazy-pcb- cing clouds, and to excite the white, upturned, wondering eyes of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him, is some- times the beginning and end of his mission. We present to the sober experience of every man, woman and child in the State, the following labored paragraph ; and we will consent to be called fools for ever, if, with whatever eloquence it may seem to be written, it is not acknowledged to lack one species — the eloquence of truth. "'School Discipline,' is a comprehensive phrase, signifying the vast range of means and motives by which the bad passions of children may be overcome, and by which, also, their character, so far as school influences are capable of doing it, may be cultivated and trained into symmetry, loveliness, strength, honor, veracity, justice, reverence, and immortal blessedness. This subject, then, introduces us at once into the presence of a vast assemblage of measures and appliances, from the low motive that controls the craven and the brute, — the fear of ^25 bodily smart, — up to social, personal, filial, domestic considerations, and from these to the hallowed and immortal influences of morality and religion. Whoever looks at this momentous theme, at all with the eye of a philosopher or a moralist, sees this vast and various assemblage of motives and means, arranged, as it were, upon an immense scale, one end of which measures the force of impulses that belong to the brute, while the other reaches to the aspii'ations of the highest spirit that bows before the Eternal Throne. It is a scale, which, like the ladder seen in the vision of the patriarch, reaches from earth to heaven. The teacher called to preside over children, and to mingle his influ- ences in the formation of their character, looks up and down along this scale, where all persuasives and dissuasives are orderly arranged ; and be selects, as his favorite instruments, such as find their strongest affinities in his own nature. If he be a ' lover of God and friend of human kind,' then his prayerful desires and longings are, to select his motives from the loftiest of the series, that he may thereby inspire his pupils with the spirit of those two great commandments on which hang all the law and the prophets, — first, the love of God with all the heart, and soul, and mind ; and second, the love of our neighbor as ourselves, which divine authority has declared to be like unto the first. If, however, the teacher be stricken with a madness for worldly distinc- tion, and power, and display ; if he is one who can forget the desola- tions of war in the splendors of a triumph ; if he can be blind to the atrocities of the slave-trade while doting upon the regal wealth which it yields; if he can gaze with envy upon elevated political station with- out scorning the meanness or moral profligacy by which it may have been reached, then he will goad on his pupils by the fiery incentives of ambition, and will cherish those rivalries in the school-room, which shall afterwards grow into overreachings in the market-place, and corruption in the senate-chamber. I remember once hearing a very distinguished writer and college teacher in this country say, while advocating emulation in school, that it was the only way to give dra- matic interest and glory to the history of the race. ' Without emula- tion,' exclaimed he, deprecatingly, 'there would be no Caesars, no Napoleons; society would dwindle down into tameness,or consist only of such men as Fenelon and Dr. Channing.' And if, to give one more specification, if the prevailing attributes in the teacher's cliaracter be pride, the love of domination, a morbid sensitiveness about his own personal importance, which converts the condemnation of a principle into a purposed indignity, and applies it to himself, — if that character includes, also, a recklessness of all sacrifices, however boundless, bv which the lust of ' authoritj' ' can be sated, then, out of this vast scale of motives, which measures the distance between the brute and the angel, he will select, and bring out, and defend, the lowest of them all, — absolute, unexplaining sovereignty, or 'authority,' on his own side; absolute, unreasoning subjection on the side of the pupil; — and the doctrines advocated and ' worshipped' by him will be, that both the sovereignty and the subjection shall be maintained by fear, and the in- fliction of physical pain." This is sublime ; so sublime as to be above the clouds, and up to the moon. All this vast scale of motives is susceptible of being put into the mind of a baby. You must not use the rod, because there is a vast chain of motives reaching from the throne of the Eternal down to the Normal School at Lexington. It is like a ladder, and some stand on one round and some on another. The teacher, called to preside over children, looks up and down along this scale, and per- haps becoming a little giddy as he approaches the top, he selects the highest motive to influence the lowest mind. At any rate, having such a copious store, imported from all time and all eternity, it is very strange if he cannot dispense with the rod, which lies crushed beneath the ladder, and bruised under its feet. The only difficulty is to conceive how a little child is to climb up this immense ladder, and reach and reap these celestial rewards. It reminds us of the Irishman, who, boasting of his country, told the Yankee that their bees were as big as oxen. " But what sort of hives do you have ? " said the Yankee. " O, just such as yours." " But,"' said the curious Yankee, "how do your bees get into them?" "Arrah," says Paddy, "that is their look out." The motives of New England and the hives of Ireland, may go together. Let us be understood. We are no advocates for unneces- sary severity. Our consciences acquit us of ever having struck, intentionally, one needless blow. We are even will- 27 ing that every school-master should enter his domain with the secret purpose in his own breast, of governing without corporal punishment, if he can. It has always been our experiment. But we can scarcely conceive of a more miser- able situation, than that of a poor pedagogue, put into a school of unruly boys, in a district already infected with the new theories ; the children already spoiled, by the perfection of parental discipline ; the rod denounced as a sprig of the dark ages ; and it being proclaimed, by sound of trumpet, that its use is a measure of the teacher's want of skill, he is set to work. We can hardly conceive of a condition more degrading and discouraging ; and, in our hottest vengeance against the new philanthropists, the greatest curse we can wish them, (although it is almost too bad.) is to he put into it. Even Horace Mann might be benefitted by the event. The wisdom that discards the rod, is excessively afraid of emulation. Reformation is universal ; it cuts up all experi- ence by the roots. It makes no distinction, and it equally discards that emulation which is for things laudable, and is regulated by justice, with that which is excessive, and leads to frivolous distinctions and bad results. For ourselves, we think, lohen the merit can he exactly measured, some por- tion of emulation leads to salutary exertion, and has no bad influence on the heart. Take the case of spelling for exam- ple, the grade of honor is easily ascertained ; the degree of merit is various, from the head of the class, to one remove from the bottom. What child was ever injured by it : and what spelling has not been improved ? It cannot be rank poison, for all New England has survived it. The lieroes of the revolution passed through this pernicious process ; and a Franklin, a Washington, a Warren, a Mather, and an Edwards, are its fruits. It is true, there may be a feverish passion, excited by a false application of this principle ; 28 • just as a truckman may abuse his horse with his whip. But has the city of Boston ever made an ordinance that no truckman shall carry a whip ? We may ask, too, where is this reform to stop ? If emu- lation is so poisonous to boys, why not pernicious to men ? The school is a little world ; and education should be an epitome of what is to be hereafter. Must all the distinctions of life be abolished, because men may feel for them a dangerous emulation ? Must there be no captains, colonels, nor esquires — no titles of honor — nor offices of respect ; for those grown children, who are just as susceptible of being perverted, by the existence of this passion, as their younger images are by its abuse ? Perhaps the very Board of Educa- tion itself may go in this moral reformation, and the very Secretary's office be abolished. One of our colleges, in the onward progress of the day, has abolished all distinction of parts on commencement day ; and yet they have done but half their work ; for they still continue to give diplomas to doctors of divinity ; that is, under-graduates need no emula- tion to excite them to study ; but grave preachers do. It is just as it should be ; for, as Mrs. Q-uickly says in Shakspeare : " It is not good that children should know any wickedness ; old folks you know have discretion, as they say, and know the world." Mr. Mann, if we understand him, would put the rod into the school-master's hand, and say with great solemnity, I am no ultraist, I have never advocated the abandonment of its use. " After all other means have been tried, and tried in vain, the chastisement of pupils, found to be otherwise incorrigible, is still upheld by law, and sanctioned by public opinion." But then, remember, it is a 7'elic of barbarism. Its use proves less that your pupils are guilty, than that you are a blunderhead. 29 " Through the ignorance of the laws of medicine, a parent may so corrupt the constitution of his child, as to render poison a necessary medicine, and through an igno- rance of the laws of the mind, he may do the same thing in regard to punishment. When the arts of health and education are understood, neither poison nor punishment will need to be used, unless in most extraordinary cases." " The fear of bodily pain is a degrading motive." " These are motives taken from the nethermost part of the nethermost end of the scale of influences." Truly, here is an encourag- ing advocate. When these things are said, not merely to school-masters, but to every man, woman, and child, in the community, we shall soon have schools which only the inventor of the theory can govern. The implements of Solomon, and the wisdom of Solomon, must for ever be separated ; and the passage be blotted from revelation, which says, Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Proverbs, xix. 18. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lam. iii. 27. Even Christ has said, My yoke is easy, — but still it is a yoke. The worst feature about this miserable philosophy, is its prudery and purism; imposing on us a paper perfection, utterly inconsistent with life and manners. In contradicting God's word, it assumes the existence of a world which God never made. All its pupils are made of gingerbread, and so sweet, that none but a reformer, paid for his voracity, can ever swallow them. It falls in, too, with the weakness of the times ; it has the skill of the devil, and tempts us on our feeble side. The fault of excessive democracy is a propen- sity to be captivated with bold experiments. As the major- ity decides, the people must be startled with some glittering theory ; and the promise must be as large and as sublime, as the performance is mean and contemptible. Now we can scarcely conceive of a man worse employed 5 30 • than in catering to such a corrupted taste. He is tempting the people to the very precipice, to which they are forward enough to rush of their own accord. " Hypocrisy," says Burke, " of course dehghts in the most subUme speculations ; for, never intending to go beyond speculation, it costs nothing to have it magnificent." While some fev, good men are using all honest arts to undeceive the people, endeavoring to rein in their extravagant fancy and recal their abused reason to the sober realities of life ; while they are teaching them, that if they would secure a blessing they must pay the price for it ; to find a roving demagogue, in the dress of a philan- thropist, going about to counteract their efforts and to push delusion into fatal extravagance — Oh ! it is beyond measure disgusting. Such a culprit deserves not the pillory — not the gallows ; not the slander which he imputes, nor the flagellation which he removes — but what is infinitely more severe — he deserves to have his celestial robe taken away, and to be shown to the world in his mortal rags. For our part, if it should be our lot ever to be on a school committee, and a candidate should appear before us, pretend- ing to do all that Mr. Mann demands ; that is, always to coax, never to whip ; to govern only by these high scale motives ; to lead all children to the heights of knowledge, by the instinctive love of learning; to discard the alphabet and yet teach the power of letters ; never to distrust the word of a child, whatever might be his story, and never to allow them to mistake in a recitation ; to discard emulation and the rod, and always to rule by seraphic love ; and finally, to teach history, geometry, botany, philosophy, chemistry, astronomy, and metaphysics, in all the district schools ; if such a pre- tender should come, we should condemn him on his own showing, and discard him at once ; and in this we should imitate a shrewd farmer, who flourished in Roxbury some seventy years ago. There came along a fellow, who wished 31 to let himself, one day. The farmer asked him what he could do ? and how much ? " How much stone wall can you lay in a day ? " " Oh, sixteen rods." " How much salt meadow can you mow in the same time ? " " Two acres and an half." " How many cords of wood can you cut and chop, in the same time ? " " Somewhere about seven." " Alas," said the farmer, wiping his mouth, " I cannot hire you ; I never should find work enough for you to do ; you had better go back to your native place, for there I suppose you are all equals." As to the debasing influence which fear has on a child, we suspect it is all delusion and extravagance. Nothing is debasing which is natural, and fear is one of the legitimate motives of human life. God has made dangers ; and made man, and made fear ; and our sublime philosophy cannot alter his works. Besides, it is contradicted by fact. Where was there ever a more high-spirited nation, than Great Britain ; all whose statesmen, generals, and admirals, were whipped at school ? The character of Britain is not perfect, we are aware ; but she ofTends much more by her pride and arro- gance, than she does by meanness and servile debasement. All her heroes prove that the rod of childhood has not degraded them. The same may be said of our own revolu- tionary heroes. Rome was a corrupt nation ; but certainly one of the most magnanimous of all antiquity. Yet we learn, both from Horace and from Juvenal, how her great men were educated. In the age of chivalry, a blow was worse than death; and yet, all these gallant knights had been whipped at school. The new theory must give us a long list of better examples, before we can forget the tree which has borne, in such rich profusion, such excellent fruit. Such is the honorable Secretary as a theorist. Let us now consider whether he is a less visionary man, considered as a reporter of facts. 32 The Secretary must excuse us if our minds are perpetually recurring to Don Quixote, when we write of him. Now it was a remarkable feature in the knight-errant, that he saw all objects in the visible world through the glasses of his own theory. Windmills were giants, an inn was a castle, a swine- herd a herald, and the humble Dorothea a princess from the land of monkeys : it is a fine touch, too, in the genius of Cervantes, that, though the knight was the pattern of honor, and the very mirror of integrity, yet he would lie in favor of chivalry. No man need distrust his word in common life, though he told more lies than an electioneering newspaper, when he went down into Montesinos's cave. We have no doubt that Mr. Mann might have a conscience, and might be qualified for a witness in any court of law, provided he would lay aside his theories, look on this working-day world with some attention, be careful to see what really exists, and then report solely what he sees ; and, finally, lay aside those delusive figures of speech which he candidly acknowledges are his besetting sins. " A redundancy of metaphor is a fault of my mind." " Did they know how much I strive against it, how many troops of rhetorical figures I drive away daily, and bar the door of my imagination against them, they would pity, rather than reproach me for this mfirmity." (Reply, p. 46.) How many of these delusive figures he drives away we do not know, we only know how many he admits ; and we will here only remark, that a man of his peculiar views, and who is so troubled with those thick-coming fan- cies that even he himself calls it an infirmity, is the last man we should choose to cross the Atlantic to report to us the state of foreign schools. If we have ever reproached him for a natural infirmity, we are sorry ; and as for pity, we felt it long before his pathetic confession called for its increase. Without disputing Mr. Mann's integrity, the judgment of 33 his best friends, who know him, will bear us out in saying, that he always sees all objects in the light of his own opin- ions. The coloring is as sure to come as the object is to be presented. Thus, when he describes the condition of the schools in Massachusetts, he paints them as being in the most deplorable state of depression ; bad instructors, sleepy super- vision ; non-attendance ; most of the pupils not able to read ; old school-houses, (Augean stables,) and a Herculean labor to cleanse them. He piles up reports and testimonials without moderation or mercy. He says the school system was almost an entire failure — plenty of skulls that could not teach, and would not learn. In this night of desolation, I came ; I spoke the word of order ; I put the darkness to flight ; I col- lected the information ; I made the reports ; I proposed my theories, and I established the normal schools. All was desolation before me, and all was a blooming Eden wherever I had trod. Far be it from us to sponge out the coloring of this delightful picture. It must be more pleasant for a good man to see the blessings he has scattered, than for a vain man to sound a trumpet to his own fame. One thing we cannot but remark — how easy it is to collect statistics to any point which an agent wishes to prove ; it is but to set a few devoted followers to writing, and then to call their effu- sions reports ; to cull all we like, and reject all that makes against us, and the work is done. We happen to know whole towns, whole regions, where this mighty reformation is still a profound secret, and where they esteem it the very salvation of their schools, that iheir health has not been tampered with by the nostrums of Hor- ace Mann. When he speaks of his labors, they are abso- lutely astonishing. Rasselas thought, when he heard Imlac's description of the qualifications for writing poetry, that no man could ever be a poet ; and Mr. Mann has about con- vinced us, that no man ever performed the labors of Secre- 34 • tary to the board of education. They would exhaust the strength of Samson and the patience of Job. If we believe them to have been done, it must be on Tertullian's argu- ment, — quia impossibile. "During the last seven 3'ears, I have published six large volumes of school Abstracts, which contain as niuch reading matter as five of the great vohnnes of Sparks's Life of Washington. These Abstracts con- tain selections from the school-committees' reports, principallj' manu- script, all of which I have carefully read. The reports of committees that I have examined for this purpose, I think would make, at least, fifteen such volumes as Sparks's Washington. In addition to this, I have revised all the tabular part of the Abstracts; and set myself down night after night to such mere mechanical work as was never before imposed upon any officer of the government. The tables of the Ab- stract for one year, I prepared without assistance. A competent judge has given it a» his opinion, that what I have to do in preparing one of these volumes, is equal to six months' continuous labor, — working only ordinary hours. If it has employed me less time than this, it is because I have made little difference between day and night. During the same time, the Annual Reports which I have written, have amount- ed to eight hundred octavo pages. My correspondence has been at least three times as much as my Reports, — not a little of it being of a very difficult character, such as giving advice upon legal questions, &c. I have given advice (always gratuitous,) on at least a hundred legal questions ; and thereby, as I trust, have saved many districts from all the mischievous consequences of litigation. I am now completing the sixth volume of tiie Common School Journal, every number of which, — with the exception of those issued during my six months' absence abroad, when it was in the hands of Mr. Emerson, — I have prepared. I have made five circuits over the Commonwealth, occupying, on an average, three months each. I have inspected great numbers of schools in Massachusetts, and have visited half the States in the Union, for the purpose of seeing their schools and examining into their systems of education, and have spent six months on a foreign tour. I trust, that, for whatever sins I may be called to render an account, idleness will not be among the number." Now we v^'ill not make narrow exceptions — we will not cross-examine this witness, that testifies in his own favor 35 with as much truth perhaps as modesty. We only ask Mr. Mann to remember, that figures of speech and perhaps hy- perboles are among his infirmities. During his six months' tour through Europe, and his six weeks' flight through Germany, the same ardent fancy fol- lows him. His tongue is teeming with language, which, to be true, cannot be literal ; figures of speech swarm around him too good to be rejected by his costly self-denial. Every thing corresponds to his own theory, and every example goes to confirm it. He sees schools where they vt'hip girls for amuse- ment, and schools where nothing but emulation and no emu- lation are practised. In Scotland they have the most intense excitement, and in Prussia the most Christian gentleness ; no rod — no emulation — and no evils attending the absence of them. The deaf are taught to speak, and the dumb to sing ; and the darkest night settles over the Austrian empire. Now other travellers tell different stories : more sober men see things in a different light. The Prussian school system needs examining. Austria is not, in point of learning, the prison- house of darkness he has represented her. She has been rising even since the battle of Wagram ; and in Vienna, Schlegel gave his most acute and refined lectures on the English Shakspeare. That some of the dumb may be taught to speak is proba- ble ; but that the scheme is so successful, as our traveller represents, is not only unlikely from its own evidence, but is actually confuted by better witnesses. The truth is, our Secretary loves the marvellous too well not to believe it. He forms his opinion ; he looks on the world through it ; every thing he sees goes to confirm it ; and his six weeks' inspection of Saxony and Prussia only serves to send him back the same man he was before. He is the Munchausen of the moral world. 36 • It is astonishing that any man awake should quote Mr. Mc Laren's letter as confirmatory of Mr. Mann's views. It is one of the politest pieces of contradiction we have ever seen. It is exquisite ; it almost equals the art with which Mr. Mann praised us, when he was stabbing us under the fifth rib. " In saying that I think your likeness is correct, of course I understand you to mean, not that all the Scotch schools are taught in the able manner you describe ; but those schools you went to visit in the large towns, and to which the most able teachers are drawn, by the superior advantages attending them, from all parts of Scotland, are taught in that able and energetic manner. If you had gone to visit the schools in country places, where, in many instances, extremely ill- qualified persons teach, you would, no doubt, have drawn another sketch, equally faithful to the life — but it would have been very different. '" And then adds, " He had suc- ceeded beyond what could be anticipated." Of course, in a friendly letter, no man wishes to give his friend the lie. Mr. McLaren writes like a man full of politeness, and not devoid of honesty ; and then he very softly tells our Secretary, that his report, though very graphic, is not true, except in a very few instances. It is really to be wish- ed, that we had more such letters. What might we know, what new testimonies might we discover, if some friend, equally discerning and equally faithful, should write from Holland, or Saxony, or Prussia ? The two capital errors which we have charged upon the Secretary, grow out of each other. The mind of strong hypotheses always sees facts in a false light. These errors are perfectly consistent with much sprightliness of language, much brilliancy of fancy, much forethought and much invention. They are even consistent with much perverted integrity. Every utterer of falsehoods is not a liar, nor is every bearer of false witness against his neighbor a breaker 37 of the ninth commandment. We impeach the judgment of Mr. Mann of high crimes and misdemeanors. We leave his heart to God. We say, that whilst he cherishes his present opinions, and aims at the extravagant innovations which his weakness is grasping, but which his strength never can exe- cute, he is utterly unworthy of trust or confidence. Even his best intentions cannot rescue him from the most enormous mistakes. The last thing to which we shall call a moment's attention, is, the points at issue between himself and us. He begins his pamphlet by saying that he had no intention of casting any reflection ; that our conclusions are wiredrawn and superfluous ; that the Boston teachers have been excited by their own sensitiveness ; and that he has uniformly treated all men with delicacy and respect. But is it possible for a man, holding his opinions, to look on teachers devoted to other practices, and not mean them in the promiscuous censures which he has thrown so repeatedly and so severely round the world ? Was his bow drawn at a venture ? and was it strange that we should feel a sense of injury at the promulgation of plans which we think we know to be im- possible ? We have never asserted, we do not suppose, that the Secretary means us more than a hundred other teachers, who know, by bitter experience, that all valuable education is a slow process, and that useful labors in this line are seldom attended with splendid results. But the truth is, his sanguine temperament, his redundant fancy, his brilliant anticipations, his metaphorical language, whether rejected or received, his acknowledged infirmity, is calculated to pour contempt on all rational measures and men, whether he is conscious of it or not. Even the tears of his mercy are bitter sarcasms, and the balm of restoration which he sheds into the wound he has made, is infused by the very rod which he denies to us all. 6 38 We confess that we did more than hint, with more truth perhaps than courtesy, that there was a reciprocation of quoting and praising between certain modern philanthro- pists. It was uncivil, we allow ; and we are much more con- vinced of our want of politeness in this matter, than our want of honesty. But how does the Secretary escape from our ungentlemanlike hint. Why, he says Dr. Howe is too good a man to hear such things suggested ; and then he runs off upon our reasoning, which, after all, turns out to be our language. "Mr. Mann has said, 'men are generally very willing to modify or change their opinions or views, while they exist in thought merely, but when once formally expressed, the language chosen often becomes the mould of the opinion. The opinion fills the mould, but cannot break it and assume a new form.' " To this, in order to make an application of my doctrine, I added, "Thus errors of thought and of life, originate in impotence of language." "O, blindness to the future," not always " kindly given ;" little did I think that I was preparing a net, in which not only myself, but my friend Dr. Howe, was to be ensnared. Yet see how the doctrine, that ignorant nations and ignorant men suffer from a scanty or an unintelli- gible vocabulary, is applied to us. See what subsequent errors in our lives, are traceable to our " impotence of language." Hear the "Re- marks." " May it not be in accordance with such a principle, that Dr. Howe, before the American Institute, in 1841, defended the Normal Schools in Massachusetts, with more than gladiatorial ardor ; he having before spoken of the school at Lexington in this manner: it is 'the best school I ever saw in this or any other country.' And does Mr. Mann wish to be made an exception to his own rule ; when, in his seventh annual report, on his return from Europe, he says : 'I have seen no Institution for the Blind, equal to that under the care of Dr. Howe, at South Boston;' which Mr. Maun had before pronounced 'the first of its kind' 'throughout the civilized world.' The Hon. Secretary cannot com- plain, if those of whom he expressed such unfavorable opinions before he went ' to some new quarter of the horizon ' for ' a brighter beam of light,' avail themselves in self-defence of his own rules to preserve their influence." 39 That is, Dr. Howe, in his letter before referred to, of March 9, 1840, having spoken in praise of the Lexington Normal School, and having shaped his opinion in that form of words, had no language, in which he could express a different opinion afterwards ; and therefore, unless he enlarges his vocabulary, will be constrained to repeat the same thing for ever ; and I, through poverty or unintelligibleness of speech, having expressed an opinion in favor of the Blind Institution, in February, 1841, and having no other phraseology, on my return from Europe, was led to express an opinion cast in the old " mould," and so to com- mend it again. See pp. 18-19 for this logic of Thirty-one Boston School-masters ! No wonder it took so many men to draw such an inference. The beautiful pun with which this paragraph closes, must not bhnd us to the sophistry which has thus shifted the question. The greatest mould in language that ingenuity ever made, is when she is incited by vanity and interest. If Mr. Mann cannot understand our object, we will not force his attention to a mortifying truth. Whatever may have been the motive, it is still a fact, that two great men have mutually quoted and praised each other. Nor is this a soli- tary case, nor is the admiration confined to the dual number. The most exquisite praise is to be laudatus a viro laudato, and here we have it. Unless some better proof is offered, it will still be suspected that somewhere nearer than old Rome, the following farce has been acted with infinite applause, as the play bills say. Frater erat Rom