' ,0 <^ ••••* *° ^°^ iP*. 0* >. *«. .**' •VSK&*. ^ *♦" .>fe "V _**" *V > ^ : SiPv ^°- ^- *«*cr J *_ o ,^' > ^ .^ •** S # . «,. a* ' ♦: *^ ^ A.H.CADWALI.ADER LITH. RICHMOND IND. A TEACHER'S D S AND DOWNS FROM 1858 TO 1879. ,jLi^lisi 1 1 Jca 1 1 /•«- * y r All Rights Reserved. RICHMOND, IND. : PALLADIUM STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 1879. aW t^M"} PREFACE. I have felt for many years that the Lord was calling me to give all my time to preaching His gospel, at all times, and wherever He should be pleased to send me ; but as I had a large family to support, and was in debt, too, I did not see how they could live, or how I could pay my debts. I tried for several years to work and preach, and to do all the good I could. Nothing I could do seemed to prosper. I at last came to the conclusion that I must make a full surrender or sacrifice, for the Lord would not accept a half one. The latter part of the year 1878, I felt willing to give up all and labor for the Lord, if he would take care of my family, and help me to get my debts paid. It was then that the thought was deeply im- pressed on my heart that if I would write a book, giving sketches of all the schools I had ever taught, and of various meetings that I have held in differ- ent places, that it would be the means, by the aid of the Lord's blessing upon it, of helping me through. Under these circumstances I bring forth the fol- lowing pages before the public. While writing the first part of this book, I held meetings every night, and sometimes in the day time, missing but two or three nights in three months. These meetings were the most powerful and successful of any that I have ever attended, showing fully, to my mind, that if I was willing to do my part, the Lord would do His, of the great work of gathering souls into His king- dom ; for truly " the fields are white unto the har- vest, but the laborers are few." And how many are standing idle, with their arms folded ! Has not the language of our blessed Master been sounded into your ears: "Go, work in my vineyard ?" There is work for all to do. " Go, work in My vineyard; oh, work while 'tis day; The bright hours of sunshine are hastening away, And night's gloomy shadows are gathering fast, When the time for our labor shall ever be past. Begin in the morning, and toil all the day; Thy strength I'll supply, and thy wages I'll pay; And blessed, thrice blessed, the diligent few Who finish the labor I've given them to do." Hoping that the Lord's blessing may rest upon these pages, and that your prayers may go with me as I go up and down in the land, may the Lord re- member in mercy, The Author, INDEX. PAGK. First School 1 Memories 2 Noah Webster 2 Second School 6 Strange Bible Facts 7 Third School S Curious Derivations 11 Scientific 12 Fourth School 12 Alphabetic Khymes 14 FifthSchool 15 School 's Out , 18 Reading Aloud 20 The Seven Wise Men 20 Faith 21 Pronunciations 22 Sixth School 22 Isaac Newton 24 Fretting 25 Flowers 25 Going to School 26 Seventh School 30 What Shall We Eat? 32 Many Facts in Small Compass 32 How to Float 33 It Is Not Always May 34 The School House in the Woods 35 Eighth School 38 What It Did 42 Laughter 44 Oonumdrums 45 VI. INDEX. My First Going to School 4(5 Ninth School 41 A Teacher in God's School 51 Tenth School 54 Educate 59 Eleventh School GO The Beautiful Old Story 62 By Their Fruits 63 Only 65 The Church Walking with the World 66 Visit Your Schools 70 Twelfth School 70 Paradoxes 73 Whittier, the Quaker Poet 73 Thirteenth School 7S On Kindness 80 On Swearing 80 The Infidel and his Daughter 81 Epitaph 82 Fourteenth School 83 A Dying Wish 84 Sweet Words 85 George Muller 85 Fifteenth School 86 The Sparrow's Inquest 88 Sixteenth School 88 God's Baven 89 Wise Saws 91 Trip to the Southwest 91 Seventeenth School 94 The Praise Meeting of the Flowers 96 Don't Neglect the Children 97 Eighteenth School 101 Footprints of Deity 105 Found in the Snow 106 A Lamp to thy Feet 108 Nineteenth School 108 Trip through Kansas Ill INDEX. Vll. Honor Old Age 120 Shut the Gate 120 What is Earth? 122 Twentieth School 122 Make Eoom for the Boys 137 Kiss your Child Good-night 140 •John Jankens' Sermon 141 Twenty-first School 142 Johnny Flaxnian 14f> Einging the Water Boy 149 Abide with Me 151 The Simple Church 151 Twenty-second School 152 The Unbarred Door 154 Twenty-third School 158 My Mother's Hands 102 Benjamin Franklin 103 A Particular Providence 166 A Teacher's Book of Thanks 107 Twenty-fourth School , 10S A Bird Lesson 171 Consider the Lilies 172 Which Loved Best 17.°. Power of Kindness 174 What to do with a Wheelbarrow 170 Twenty-Fifth School 177 A Prayer 188 In Memoriam 181' Thirst of the Soul 190 Off to the Indian Territory 191 The Chemistry of Tobacco 196 The Prayers of Our Lord 197 Twenty-Sixth School 198 How he Kept House 203 Bishop Simpson's Life Saved by Prayer 204 Personal Appearance of Jesus 20G John 207 The Christian and his Echo ... 210 Twenty- Seventh School 21 i A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. i I commenced my first school about the 4th of 12-month, 1858, at the brick school house on Nolan's Fork, Wayne County, Indiana. The house was five miles northwest of Richmond, on the east bank of the stream. It was a brick house, standing east and west, one door in the west, three windows on each side, blackboard across the east end, also a platform the same ; "good patent desks, good stove, well fixed with charts, maps, and things needful. There were about fifty pupils enrolled during the term, from little boys and girls to young men and women. It. was my first attempt at school teaching, and I, like many others, thought that I knew it all, but the longer I taught the less I found that I knew. It was a three months term : in those days we had to teach sixty-five days for a quarter. I received twenty-five dollars per month, and we did not re- ceive our pay until the next Spring following. We commenced our work of a morning at half-past eight and closed at half-past four. The games that we played : " base," " black man," and " town ball." I enjoyed the fun of playing as much as any of the scholars. I thought it was my duty to play with the pupils so that I might have an oversight among them. 2 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. One young woman was very fond of reading novels. I noticed one day that she was very atten- tive, to her book, especially her geography. I watched her for awhile and I noticed that her book was wrong end up. I told her I did not want any more of that kind of work done at my school. She felt very badly about it and I never saw her read those books any more. Although not a professor at this time I was much opposed to such reading- matter, believing it to be very injurious. ] Teachers in those .days were hired by the people ofi^ach school district. They would call a meeting of the patrons of the school. Sometimes there would be several applicants for the same school. At this school there were three of us that applied. I received the highest number of votes and was elected. There were directors who had charge of the papers and gave orders for wood, tuition, etc\ There was one little boy by the name of Borton, that I shall never forget. He was blind in one eye, and seemed to feel as if every person looked down on him because he was blind. I had much sympa- thy for him and showed him all the respect possible. 1 1 I have often thought of what Horace Mann said to teachers : " Teachers, if a scholar ever enters your school with a club-foot, or ragged clothes on, or any other defects at all, never let on as though you see them. If any way pay more attention to them than others." There has always been a warm place in my heart for such pupils. A teacher will never lose anything by respecting persons of this class. I speak of this circumstance by way of encourage- A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. xnent to young teachers especially. A teacher should cultivate a spirit of love and sympathy for every pupil they have in their school. I also speak of this little boy that if he is living and his eyes should ever rest upon these pages, he may know that his old teacher had often thought of him. This I moreover hold, and dare Affirm where'er my rhyme may go — Whatever things be sweet or fair, Love makes them so. In those days the young and old men would meet at some of the school houses one night in the week for the purpose of debating, and we all took an interest and tried to see how much we could learn. Joseph Quigg was a champion debater, a fine speaker and a noted infidel. In a few years after this he was converted to the Christian religion, and he was now just as bold for the Lord as he had been for Satan. He said that before he was con- verted he was always looking for the "black sheep" in the flock, but now he looked for the white, and there were more white ones than he thought there were. He has long since gone the way of all the world, with the bright evidence behind that he had gone home to glory. '^Spelling schools were quite common in this coun- try in those days, and all people that attended would take part in the spelling, the main object seeming to be to see who could beat spelling. There was a boy who attended this school by the name of Cox, that was a good speller and a good reader — good spellers will nearly always be good A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. T, readers. fU my school this winter the pupils got in the habitof tagging. I put a stop to it on the school grounds, but they would wait until they would get nearly half a mile away, then they would go to tag- ging again. The school house stood in the corner of a woods pasture with a high stake and riderect fence between the house and the road. I had a pocket telescope, and after the children would get quite a distance away I would slip down to the cor- ner and with the instrument I could see them very plain. They would tag some, then they would look to see me. The next morning I would tell them who had been at such work. It broke it up entirely, and they never knew until the last day of school how I could tell so well who were the ones that diso- beyed. Then I told them how it was. The reason that I objected to that kind of play was, that trouble generally grew out of such sport. Miles Hunt was one of the directors, and he did all he could for the benefit of the school. He has long since passed away, and his amiable wife also. His children are still living happily together at the old homestead. There was a young slave from Cuba that had run away from his master, and was lecturing in this part of the country. He was a fine speaker and a noble looking man and no one thought of him being a slave. He spoke to several large congregations in Eichmond and in various school houses in the coun- try. He had an appointment at my school house. Word came to Eichmond that he was a slave and that there was a reward of one thousand dollars A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. offered for him. He had come to Nathan Hunt's in the morning before the word came to town. There were some fellows who had made it up to come out that night and take him and get the re- ward offered, but some one heard of the plot, mount- ed a horse and come out at full speed and told him about four o'clock. He disappeared in a moment across the road into a field and was not heard of any more in that part of the country. The boys come out about seven o'clock but their bird had flown. My school closed to good satisfaction ; we had an examination of all the studies ; the pupils had made rapid advancement. I really did not know how much I was attached to and how much I did love them, until we were called to part. MEMORIES. Memories on which we dwell — Are they those that, well defined By their crystal clearness, quell Saddest longings of the mind? NOAH WEBSTER. Noah Webster, whose greatest monument is the " Unabridged Dictionary," is probably the most con- sulted of all human writers. The New York School Journal asserts, as " something on which to found fame," that the total circulation of this author's works has reached a figure second only to that attained by the Bible itself. A painstaking arithmetician has calculated that seventeen or eighteen millions pounds of paper, equal to nine thousand tons, have been imprinted with the 6 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DCWNS. "words, words, words," which Webster used as the roadway wherewith to convey to the public the very important things he had to say. To "cover" only one class of his publications, at least three thousand sheep have patiently contributed their own cover- ings, and in all the departments of work necessi- tated by the editorial, mechanical and business- preparation and management of all this phenom- enal publication, not less than a thousand persons obtain the means whereby they live. The man to whom we refer produced one book, the "American Spelling Book," not bulky in size, nor superhuman as to material, but which never- theless, still circulates at the rate of a million copies a year. Little by little our tasks are done, So are the crowns of the faithful won, So is heaven in our hearts begun; With work and with weeping, with laughter and play,. Little by little the longest day And the longest life is passed away, Passing without return — while so % , 3Phe new years come and the old years go. After my first school closed I moved to Miami County, Indiana. I commenced my second school one-half mile west of Xenia — a subscription school for two months. It was a new part of the country. My school house was built of logs and was about fourteen feet square, with slab benches, no desks, and a small blackboard about eighteen inches wide and three feet long. I had about thirty enrolled, the most of them small. There were two little girls, by the name of HiaU, very nice little girls, that, A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. were always there early, with their bright, smiling faces."] They nearly always brought some flowers with tltem for me. I always have loved children. I taught this school the Summer of 1859 ; the school house stood just at the edge of the timber ; the little folks would build houses with chunks and moss. I have often watched them and heard them talk. How many beautiful lessons may we all learn from little folks if we only stop to watch them. Children in this day and age of the world think that they cannot go to school unless they have a nice house and good desks to sit at. Those children at my school never thought that there could be any better accommodations. I had one visitor during the school — he looked as though he was lost. I often think of those little boys and girls ; those of them that are living are now grown up to manhood and womanhood ; how time makes his mark on all of us. We had a nice time at the close of the term. I felt as though I had endeavored to do my duty in trying to learn them all I possibly could. So closed my second term of school. STRANGE BIBLE FACTS. The learned Prince of Grenada, heir to the Span- ish throne, imprisoned by the order of the Crown, for fear he should aspire to the throne, was kept in solitary confinement in the old prison at the place of Skulls, Madrid. After thirty-three years in this living tomb, death came to his release, and the fol- lowing remarkable researches, taken from the Bible and marked with an old nail on the rough walls of 8 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. his cell, told how the brain sought employment through the weary years : In the Bible the word, Lord, is found 1,853 times ; the word, Jehovah, 6,855 times, and the word, Bever- end, but once, and that in the 9th verse of 111th Psalm. The 8th verse of the 117th Psalm is the mid- dle verse of the Bible. The 9th verse of the 8th chap- ter of Esther is the longest verse, and the 35th verse of the 11th chapter of St. John is the shortest. In the 106th Psalm four verses are alike, the 8th, 15th, 21st and 31st. Each verse of the 136th Psalm ends alike. No names or words with more than six syl- lables are found in the Bible. The 37th chapter of Isaiah and 19th chapter of Second Kings are alike. The word, girl, occurs but once in the Bible, and that in the 3d verse and 3d chapter of Joel. There are found in both books of the Bible, 3,586,483 let- ters, 773,693 words, 31,373 verses, 1,139 chapters and 66 books. The 26th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, is the finest to read. The most beautiful chapter in the Bible is the 23d Psalm. The four most inspiring promises are, John, 16th chapter and 2d verse, John, 6th chapter and 37th verse, St. Matthew, 11th chapter and 28th verse, and the 37th Psalm and 4th verse. The first verse of the 60th chapter of Isaiah, is the one for the new convert. All should read the 6th chapter of Matthew. All humanity should learn the 6th chapter of St. Luke, from the 20th verse to its ending. I commenced my third term of school in the northeast corner of Howard County, Indiana, in the Winter of 1859-60. They hired me for three months A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 9 at twenty-five dollars per month ; one-half of this was to be public money, the other half to be paid by those that sent the last half of the term. My school house was a log one about twenty by twenty-four, with large wooden desks, large enough for six or eight to sit at a desk, and a small black- board, hardly large enough for one to work at. They told me before I commenced teaching that it was one of the hardest schools in the county to manage. I commenced my school about the first of 12th month, 1859. I recollect as I went to school the first morning, with the blues to some extent, there were some very rude boys, or nearly young men, who were reported to be very rude and hard to manage. I went to work, laid down my rules plain, so that all could understand them, with the firm determination on my part to keep every one just to that line. There was one young man who thought he would try me and see how things went ; I stopped everything and brought him back. There was another young man who was counted the ring- leader in meanftess ; he attended a Methodist pro- tracted meeting at old Antioch meeting-house, a mile or so east of the school house ; he became con- victed, was converted, and after this was one of the best boys I ever saw in a school room. While he was a lion before he was converted he was like a lamb now, kind and gentle. I was not a professor at this time, but I thought that there must be some reality in religion. After this my school passed along very nice and quietly. This young man became a Methodist preacher and is now in north- 10 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. era Missouri preaching, if he is living. I hope that he and I may meet again where parting is no more. The law then was that there were three exami- ners : one in each end of the county and one at the county seat. After I had taught about one month, I walked twelve miles to Jerome, a little town they examined in, in those days, whenever an applicant came. I got to his house about noon ; they were eating dinner, and he would have me eat with them. After dinner he began to ask me some questions orally ; in about one hour he gave me a certificate for one year. I felt real proud, as I trudged along home in the snow. There was one man that sent eight children to school until he thought the term was half out, then he kept them all at home ; the rest of the patrons sent on until the term closed. He was afraid that he would have to pay out some money, but when school closed it was found that there was money enough to pay the full time. I think I never saw a man hate anything so much as he did that he had now lost so much, and his children needed the schooling so much at this time. His children were learning very fast. I had forty-seven pupils en- rolled, I think. It was during this term, a very cold winter, that we had great times playing ball. The school house was on the south edge of some timber. There was one little girl that attended this school whom I met several years after, one evening as I was returning home from school ; she and her hus- band stopped me to enquire the way. After a few moments she said to me, " Is not your name Hub- A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 11 bard? " I said, yes. She then said she was satis- fied it was now. She had grown up, and was not the little girl that she was at my school, and I knew her not when she spoke to me. We had an exami- nation and also an exhibition ; the patrons were well satisfied with my labors as a teacher. How my heart was knit to those pupils in love. CURIOUS DERIVATIONS. The word " pamphlet" is derived from the name of a Greek authoress, Pamphylia, who compiled the history of the world into thirty-five little books. "Punch and Judy" is a contraction from Pontius and Judas. It is a relic of an old " miracle play," in which the actors were Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot. "Bigot " is from Visigotha, in which the fierce and intolerant Arianism of the Visigoth con- querors of Spain has been handed down to infamy, From Hamburg we get "humbug"; a "piece of Hamburg news " was in Germany a proverbial ex- pression of false political rumors. " Gauze " derives its name from Gaza, where it was first made. "Tabby cat" is all unconscious that her name is derived from Atab, a famous street in Bagdad inhabited by the manufacturers of silken stuffs called atabi, or taffety, the wavy markings of the watered silks re- sembling pussy's coat. "Old Scratch " is the demon Skratti, who still survives in the superstitions of northern Europe. " Old Nick " is none other than Nikr, the dangerous water demon of Scandinavian legend. The lemon takes its name from the city of Lima. 12 A TEACHBE'S UPS AND DOWNS. SCIENTIFIC. Chemical analysis discloses the fact that among the many articles used for food, there are only two, wheat and milk, which contain all the elements of the human body, and in the proper proportions. Other articles, such as butter, sugar, syrup, and fat of all kinds, are wholly carbonaceous, or heat pro- ducing, so that if a human being were to attempt to live on these articles alone, his brain and muscles would starve. By actual experiment, it has been found that a man could not survive two months on such a diet. My fourth school was taught the summer of 1860 at Xenia, Miami county, Indiana — a subscription school. I taught in a large room up stairs in the Addington building, called by some "Noah's Ark." My school room was about sixty feet long and twenty-one feet wide. I had sixty-five pupils en- rolled, and about forty nearly of one size. The same young man who was converted during my last school, attended this summer. He was mild and gentle as a little child. The pupils were in the habit of talking just about as they pleased. I got tired of that kind of work, and I told them that it must be stopped. The same day that I told them this, I whipped seventeen ; this came very near stopping it altogether. One day as I was passing down one of the aisles I heard some whispering ; I turned around and discovered that it was a young woman talking io some one. Said I, '"'Here! come and stand up here on the floor." She got very mad, but I told A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 13 her to move. She got up and came out, but at noon she went home. I verily thought that if the little ,ones had to mind, so should the older ones also. / We had some old wooden desks that made a terrible : racket when the scholars moved from -their seats. My wife assisted me during this term. There was one little boy that was always full of fun, and, to use a common expression "as sharp as a brier." Mont. Frazier was his name. He always told every- thing that happened at home ; if he did not get to school in time to tell it before school commenced, he would watch his chance and tell it afterward. One morning he came late ; his class was reciting on the charts. He spelled "jumps" and called it calf. My wife told him he knew that it did not spell that. He looked up at her very innocently and said, "Well, our cow's got a calf, anyhow." He knew he could make her laugh. He went home at night and told his mother how he had made Mrs. Hubbard laugh. He said, "I can make her laugh, anyway." His mother told him that Mrs. Hubbard would whip him. " I ain't afraid of her." " Well," said she, "Mr. Hubbard will, you know." It was a very pleasant place to teach ; pleasant on account of being the second story. We had a good breeze most of the time. This, was a very pleasant town to teach school in.|I had always heard it said that it was harder to Teach in towns than in the country, but I could not see any differ- ence. My school passed along very nicely. My pupils all took an interest in their studies ; at the close of the term we had an exhibition ; we had a 14 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. nice time, and closed with good feeling among all, long to be remembered by all of us. About this time the schools began To slack the use of the rattan ; They said " 0, no, it will not do, To use the rod on children so." Parents have ceased to remonstrate, So children begin to demonstrate; And teachers try with various plans — Coax, plead, entreat, and keep off hands. Some teachers fall into the way _ m0S * Of letting the children sleep and play.* ■ ALPHABETICAL RHYMES. ■ ..„ A's for Augusta, the capital of Maine, B is for Bello, a city of Spain, C stands for Carthage, for glory renowned, D is for Dublin, where Paddies abound, E stands for Edinburg, in Scotland so high, P is for Florence, that in Italy doth lie, G's for Geneva, where watches are made, H stands for Havre, famous for trade, I is for Ispahan, noted for age, J stands for Jerusalem, where wars did rage, K is for Kingston, a fortified place, L's for London, the head of our race, M is for Mexico, great in the past, N's for New York, though not first is not last, O's for Ontario, some people's home, P stands for Pompeii, in Italy well known, Q's for Quebec, Avhere Montcalm was laid low, E is for Richmond, a nice place, I know, S is for Sheffield, where sharp knives are made, T stands for Troy, where great Hector slayed, U is for Utrecht, where a great treaty was signed, A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 15 Y's for Versailles, famous for wine, W is for Windsor, a place of some fame, X stands for Xerses, a small town in Spain, Y is for York, with its spires so tall, Z stands for Zurich, the last of them all. My fifth school was taught the winter of 1860-'61, at Xenia, in Miami county, Indiana, with a man by the name of Eli Wall. He was an old man, and taught school a great many years. We taught in the Methodist meeting house, as the district had no school house. He and I started one very cold morn- ing to Peru to be examined. It was about eighteen miles ; we took one horse along, and rode it time about. We reached there about two o'clock; Eli went to put up his horse, and I went into the exami- ner's office to see him. They had no stated times to examine. When I went into the room where he was, (he was a lawyer), he was very busy writing. I told him my business ; he just kept on writing. Said he : ''Tell me what will be the interest on one hundred dollars for twelve days, at six per cent." He told me to work it mentally. After I had got that done, he asked me the capitals of several States, and some more questions. In a few moments he handed me a certificate for two years. Eftmger was the examiner's name. When Eli came in I intro- duced him to the examiner. Said he: "Mr Wall, tell me, if you please, what the capital of Kentucky is." The old man was not expecting him to com- mence so soon, and he could not nor did not answer the question at all. He turned around to me and said: " Well, Jerry, I just cannot tell what it is." 16 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. I have never seen a man so completely nonplussed in my life ; he would look first one way and then another, and oh ! how he did chew his tobacco ! The examiner finally answered it for him. He then asked him a few more questions, and gave him a certificate for eighteen months. Eli then turned to me and said: "Now, I reckon he will take you through a course." "No," said I, "here is my license," He seemed very much astonished, and wanted to know when I was examined. I told him while he was putting up his horse. We paid him fifty cents apiece, and started back for home. This was a sample of how they used to take us fellows through. We commenced our school about the first of 12th month, 1860. It was a large house, seated for meet- ing purposes. The first morning of school, Eli pro- posed that we divide the school. "Very well," said I, " make the choice, you are older than I am." He concluded to take the boys, as he thought he could manage them better than the girls. Said I : " I am satisfied with that," and so we went to work. We had about one hundred pupils. Eli soon found that he had a bad bargain on his hands, as the girls were no trouble much to manage. His plan was to let every one whisper as much as they pleased ; if they wished to go out of doors, just go out, one, three, or half a dozen. I was often diverted at him ; he would sometimes get a little bothered with an example, and he would chew tobacco and spit a ring around him. Several of the young men also used tobacco, and would spit all about over the floor. I A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 17 used tobacco also at this time, but I got so disgusted with that way of doing that I decided to quit the use of the weed, because I knew I could not say any- thing to them while I used it ; and I did quit, and have not used any from that day to this. And when men tell me that they cannot quit using tobacco, I know that men can, if they will only decide and make up their minds to it. Oh, how many young men are ruining themselves by the inveterate use of tobacco. Instead of its making them look smart, it looks very small to every sensible person. It was during this school that I began to study people by looking them in the eyes. I have also learned that person's eyes always tell the truth, and that person's lips will tell untruths. I also began at this school to read what people were say- ing by the movements of the lips. I noticed two small girls on the back seat talking ; after watching them a little while, I was satisfied what they were talking about. I went to them and asked them if they did not say so and so. " Yes," they said, " but how did you know what it was we said? " I told them, and they were very careful after that what they said. Teachers may often learn many things that way — not as eaves- droppers, but for the benefit of their schools. Our school progressed along very nicely. On Christmas morning early the large boys were at the school house, and had the house all fastened up. Eli came over to my house and said he guessed we were fastened out. We went up to the house ; Eli went up to the door and shook it pretty hard, and 2 18 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. told them to let him in ; but they would not, unless we would treat them. We had a little consultation, and decided to send a couple of boys after a couple of bushels of apples. They then let us in, and we went to work. They brought the apples, we passed them around among them, they ate and enjoyed themselves very well. Children never learn any- thing on Christmas or New Year's days, and I think the plan of closing schools on those days a very good one. Our school got along very well, and at the close of the term we had an exhibition at night to very good satisfaction. There were a great many people in attendance. We also had a very good examination in the various studies ; there were many of the patrons in to hear their children's ex- ercises. "school's out." Eeader, did you ever pause and contemplate that particular and peculiar phase of human nature de- veloped by the existent school boy, when released from study and discipline? when "school is out," and he is on his way home ? Ordinary humanity, when released from the toils of the day, is prone to seek rest and relaxation. The boy scorns all such effeminate ideas. He is composed of but three parts — legs, arms and yell ; and the yell is the biggest part of him. His legs and arms have been kept in irksome compulsory quietude all day, and must now be exercised. His voice has been seething and swelling in him for hours, and now must have vent. As soon as he is clear of the school house steps he A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 19 stops and deliberately yells a yell that is ear-split- ting, but which has no more object, aim, meaning or direction than the midnight vociferation of a mule ; and yet he appears at a full run, with his arms flying about like the scintillations of a pin wheel. He is no respecter of persons, and is utterly indifferent as to whether he runs down a smaller boy, spins an aged citizen three times around, or mashes a girl's hat over her eyes, in his headlong- career. Nervous ladies hug the sides of the houses as he rushes by like a whirlwind, and screams like a steam whistle. "Mercy on us! If that boy was only mine, I'd — " but just then her own boy fries past, falls over a dry goods box, bounces up, kicks at another boy, and is chased across the street and around the corner before she can get the "you Robert ! " with which she intends to annihilate him, out of her astonished throat. There is but one thing that has the slightest soothing effect on the boy, when he is on his way home from school. He can see his "old man" further than Prof. Hall can see a haystack with a telescope, and the moment that parent dawns upon his vision he becomes as proper as a model letter writer ; and the neatly modulated voice with which he wheedles the author of his being out of five cents on the spot, is a lesson for future ambitious savings' banks and passenger railway presidents. The amount of racing, jumping, pulling, haul- ing and howling that a schoolboy can concentrate into a transit of two squares, is positively astonish- ing; and the preternatural coolness and quietude 20 A TEACHER'S UPS AND' DOWNS. with which he takes his red face and panting breath into the kitchen, and asks if supper ain't most ready, is a human conundrum that calls for unqual- ified admiration. READING ALOUD. "It is a sorrowful thought with many of our teachers that the subject of reading aloud is very much waning in our public schools of this day. There is no better way of fixing the pupil's mind on what he reads than reading aloud. A person can not read anything aloud well, with proper inflection and emphasis, without thoroughly understanding it. A pupil cannot scramble through and skip over, what he knows that he is likely to be called upon to read aloud. It is among the very best of educa- tional disciplines. Besides this, with a competent teacher, it is, I need hardly say, the very best means of acquiring that clear enunciation which is one of the greatest beauties of speech, and which any observant person will find largely lacking in the younger people of the present day. Good English speaking and good English writing are produced, ex- cept in cases of rare inborn faculty, chiefly by the reading aloud of good English authors, under the- supervision of a teacher who himself or herself speaks good English and understands the authors." THE SEVEN WISE MEN. Most people have heard of the "Seven Wise Men of Greece," but very few know who they were or how they came to be called so. Here is the story, and A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 21 the moral of it is worth remembering, if their names are not. The seven wise men of Greece are sup- posed to have lived in the fifth century before Christ. Their names : Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Thales, Chilo, Cleobulus, and Periander. The reason of their being- called wise is given differently by different authors ; but the most approved accounts state that as some Coans were fishing, some strangers from Melicus bought whatever should be in the nets without seeing it. When the nets were brought in they were found to contain a golden tripod, which Helen is supposed to have thrown in there. A dispute arose between the fishermen and the strangers as to whom it be- longed ; and, as they could not agree, they took it to the temple of Apollo, and consulted the priestess as to what should be done with it. She said it must be given to the wisest man in Greece, and it was accordingly sent to Bias, who declared that Thales was wiser, and sent it to him. Thales sent it to another one, and so on, until it had passed through the hands of the men distinguished afterwards as the " Seven Wise Men" ; and as each one claimed that the other was wiser than he, it was finally sent to the temple of Apollo, where it long remained to teach the lesson that the wisest are the most dis- trustful of their wisdom. Faith relies upon the truth of what God hath promised, and Hope waits for the enjoyment of the good in the promise, but more especially for the glory which is to be revealed. This hope of glory is full of rejoicing, because everything which Hope 22 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. looks at and draws its joy from, depends on the truth and faithfulness of a covenant God. There can be no failing on His part, and therefore on the believer's there can be no disappointment. And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes, Is the hour before the dawning. PRONUNCIATIONS. Speak your words distinctly. Always sound t at the end of words : as rest, lest ; it has an unculti- vated sound to say res or les. Don't run all your words together, or mumble them. Don't pronounce arithmetic "arethmetic," or "rithmetic," but as it is spelled. Say asparagus, not "sparrogruss." Auxiliary has five syllables, with the accent on the second ; do not say " aux-ilary " but " aux-il-ya-ry." Camelopard should be accented on the second syl- lable ; the word is not " camel-leopard." Contrary, accent on the first syllable. l The fall of 1862 I moved with my family to New London, Howard County, Indiana, and assist- ed my brother, Woodson Hubbard, in a school in the fall and winter of 1862 and 1863 ; we taught in the public school house. We had about one hun- dred pupils enrolled ; several pupils had to sit at a desk — they were the old wooden ones. The school house stood north and south, one door in each end of the house, four windows on a side, and one large wood stove. When we got all the pupils in school the house was nearly filled up. With such desks in a school building it is a thing A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 23 impossible for a teacher or teachers to keep as good order as ought to be kept. There was one young woman who attended this school that was as lively as a cricket, always full of fun, and her voice could be heard above all the rest of the scholars at play time, and she was ready for all kinds of play that pupils played at school. It did not seem as though she was one of those per- sons that would ever see any trouble in this world. But how little do we know of the trials and troubles that are in our journey through life. Some of those persons that one would think would have no troubles have the most of them. It did not seem possible that in a few short years her life would be so changed, but alas ! how soon are the hopes and aspirations all blasted. She married, and like many others made a bad choice, so far as geniality was concerned, and instead of them being alike in their opinions and sources of enjoyment were much the contrary the one to the other. In a few short years I met her and she was not that gay and hap- py girl that she was a few years ago. The case of this young woman has often been before the view of my mind when I behold and see young people in the prime of life starting out in the world all life and gayety. In my experience as a teacher I have seen a few with almost as much contrast as the one I have alluded to. I always feel a sympathy for such persons and especially those who have attended my school ; they seem to- be nearer to me in sympathy and love than others ; they seem more as though they were my children. 24 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. Since my last school the Lord had pardoned my sins and now I felt that I could talk to the children. I never could before this in my teaching talk to my pupils of the love of God. Now it seemed a pleasure to me to explain many beautiful lessons that we read in our school books. It seemed more of a pleasure now to teach than ever before, and when children are small then is the time to impress them with useful lessons. I have thought of latter years that school teachers were as much if not more ac- countable than ministers of the Gospel, because the little minds receive impressions and they never leave them. Our school progressed along finely ; it averaged about eighty. This was my sixth term of school. How true is the maxim that, "as the twig is bent the tree is inclined." How swift the tide of life runs out, As years increase in numbers, That we should all be about, Before we lay in death's cold slumbers. Our school closed to good satisfaction. ISAAC NEWTON. Sir Isaac Newton was one of the wisest and best men that England ever produced. He was born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. At twelve years of age he was placed by his mother in the Grammar school at Grantham, where at first he was very inattentive, but afterwards rose to the head of the school. The time which other boys spent in play Isaac occupied in making various A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 25 machines and contrivances, in which he showed great skill. He made sun dials and tried various experiments in science. At fifteen years of age he went home again, as it was intended to make him a farmer ; but instead of looking after sheep and cat- tle, Isaac spent his time in reading and studying. Being found by his uncle working out a mathemat- ical problem under a hedge, he was wisely sent back to school, and then to Cambridge, where he made those great discoveries which have rendered his name so famous. He used to say that he made them by " patient thinking. " Let this be the lesson we learn from Sir Isaac Newton: patient thinking is the road to knowledge. FRETTING. It is a great misfortune to have a fretful dispo- sition; it takes the fragrance out of one's life, and leaves only weeds, where a cheerful disposition would cause flowers to bloom . The habit of fretting is one that grows rapidly unless it be sternly re- pressed ; and the best way to overcome it is to try always to look on the cheerful side of things. " Mind not high things." FLOWERS. " The flowers are blooming everywhere— On every hill and dell; And, oh, how beautiful they are ! How sweetly, too, they smell ! " The little birds they spring along, And look so glad and gay! I love to hear their pleasant song: I feel as glad as they. 26 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. " The young lambs bleat, and frisk about; The bees hum 'round their hive; The butterflies are coming out: 'Tis good to be alive ! " The trees that looked so stiff and gray, With green wreaths now are hung. 0, mother! let me laugh and play: I cannot hold my tongue." " Go forth, my child, and laugh and play, And let your cheerful voice With birds and brooks and merry May Cry out, rejoice! rejoice! "I would not check your bounding mirth, My happy little boy; For He who made this blooming earth — Smiles on an infant's joy." "going to school." Do those people who are sighing for a departure from the present school system realize what results might follow? I think not. I don't believe they are prepared for the awful consequences which would follow a departure from the monotony of text books and stereotyped class examinations. They must know that the moment you treat a pupil in school hours as if he was not a prisoner, he will at once kick up a rebellion and forget his books. Children are sent to school to learn ; we all know that. Certain eminent men have been called upon or have called upon themselves to compile geogra- phies, arithmetics, spelling books, readers, etc., for instruction of children. It follows, as a matter of necessity, that pupils have no business to learn any A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. thing except from these books ; if a teacher should take it into her head to explain to the pupils the difference between poetry and blank verse, or ex- plain any interesting question in natural history, she should be severely reproved, because none of the school books refer to such things. The other day I met a bit of a girl going to school with tears in her eyes and Saunders' new spelling book in her hand. She could spell, but Saunders had told her, and her teacher had cau- tioned her to commit to memory the fact : " Words; are either primitive, derivative, simple or com- pound." The child didn't know whether the word " primitive " meant twin hitching-posts or a fire- alarm, and when I asked her the meaning of the word " compound," she looked from an apple-ped- dler's wagon to a lamp post and back, as if the significance of the word hovered between the two. I didn't explain, or assist her, of course. Because Saunders put that sentence in his speller, it follows that pupils must learn it, even though their teach- ers could not write it down and spell half the words correctly. That same little girl, hardly ten years of age, must learn from the same book that " in- dorser is one who indorses," and that " appellor is one who makes an appeal," and while she may learn the words by heart, she will know their meaning just about as much as her teacher knows why Lake Michigan is longer than it is broad. Around the corner they buried a fourteen-year-old boy the other day. He didn't die of scarlet fever or any other pronounced disease, in fact the doctor 28 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. never made up his mind what to call it. The boy became pale, haggard and thin, suffered much with his head, and in his last hours he talked wildly and strangely. "He was such a good boy, and he stud- ied so hard," wept his mother, and I took a look at the dead boy's school books. He had been studying mathematics, history, orthography, writing, natural philosophy, and two or three other books, and when his mother "came to remember," she recalled that his lessons kept him at his books from breakfast until nine o'clock in the evening, and that she had sometimes caught him working mathematical ex- amples on the Sabbath, in order to be perfect on Monday. I soon found where he left off in his arithmetic. It was an example reading as follows : "If A has ten oxen which weigh 800 pounds each, and B has fourteen mules which weigh four times as much, and one-third of the mules fall into a mud hole and four of the oxen loose their left ears, what will be the state of the weather next week ? " I do not say that this example killed the boy ; if it did, all right ; it was there to be learned, and he must either learn it or die. Just imagine how utterly unfit that boy would have been for society and business circles without being able to solve such problems off-hand. I was talking with a school teacher the other day, who will certainly come to some bad end if he does not change his opinions. He had the audacity to hold that children went to school not as prisoners, but as pupils, the social equals of the teacher, but obeying orders because realizing that discipline ad- A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 29 vances the interests of all. He held that it mat- tered not how the pupil learned that Michigan was bounded on the south by Ohio and Indiana, so long as they came to a distinct knowledge of the fact, and he therefore said to his young class in geo- graphy : ' ' Now, children, the President of the United States used to live in Ohio, and Senator Morton, now dead, lived in Indiana. Tell me in what direction those two states lie from Michigan." It was very wrong in him, because the pupils took great pleasure in hunting up the answer. No pupil should be allowed to search for any knowledge not laid down in the text books. This teacher sets another pernicious example : right in the face of the fact that there is a school reader containing the history of William Penn and the adventures of Mary's lamb, he takes a magazine or newspaper into his school room and says : " Now, children, I shall let one of you read this report of recent excavations at Pompeii. Before we read, let some one tell me where Pompeii is ? " "In Italy," was the answer. "And what happened to the city? " No answer, because it is not in the readers. "It was buried by ashes and mud from an erup- tion of Mt. Vesuvius, " he said, "and now where is that mountain ? " "In Italy." "Correct, and it again shows signs of an erup- tion. We will now read." In half an hour not one class only, but the whole school has learned geography, history, natural phil- 30 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. osophy, and something of art, in one lesson, and each pupil goes home to relate what was read, to discuss it, and perhaps to learn new facts. What is to become of our children if we permit such teaching ? UThe winter of 1863-'64 I taught school at a school house commonly known as the "Black Hill School House," situated two and one-half miles east of New London, Howard county, Indiana. I commenced about the first of 12th month, 1863 ; a small frame house, standing east and west, with three windows on each side of it ; small blackboard on the west end ; large wooden desks, large enough for four or five to a desk. There were about fifty pupils en- rolled during tne term, some of them so very wild and rude as to require a great amount of watching, and if I left them for a moment-at noon or at recess there was sure to be a muss. But they were like many horses, if you only kept a" tight rein on them they were all right. There are most generally in all schools some boys who want to domineer over the rest of the scholars. I went to Kokomo to be examined. The exami- ner put all those that wished to be examined in a large school room ; we worked away until noon. The examiner went to his dinner and left us, and we then went to work to help each other. Three of us got together ; one was good in arithmetic, another in grammar, and I was leader in geography. Thus we helped each other through. About half past one the examiner returned; a portion of the teachers were not yet through with their work. This was my A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 31 seventh term of school. We passed up our papers by turns ; he looked over our work, and said that we had done good work. I received an eighteen months' license. They were not as particular then as now. Several of my pupils who attended school that winter have gone to their long homes. There was one young man by the name of Samuel Neal, who was very wild and unruly. In a few years from that time the fell destroyer, consumption, claimed him as its victim. I was with him a day or two before he passed away ; he had become converted and was now happy in a Savior's love. We had a meeting at his father's large barn ; a few minutes before meeting broke, he signified that he wanted to talk to the people some. Old father Thorn stood by him and talked for him. He said that he wanted all who were there to meet him in glory ; that all was clear with him. It seemed that while he was once as a lion he was now like a lamb. His evidence was as bright as any person's I have ever seen ; there was no mist there. There are but few of the pupils who attended that school during that winter now living ; nearly all are gone. This was a very pleasant winter up to New Year's eve, when it began to snow and blow some from the northwest. New Year's morning, 1864, was the coldest morning that I have ever witnessed in my life. I went to school that morning, but found only four or five of the larger boys there. We staid there awhile, and as we would freeze on one side we were burning on the other. Said I : " Boys, let us A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. go home." "Agreed," said they, and so we started. I had to go facing the cold northwester ; it seemed as though I would surely freeze. I stopped at my father's ; my eyes were nearly frozen shut, and if I had gone on I expect I would have frozen to death. My school passed along very nicely ; all were well pleased with my labors, feeling that I had done my duty to the best of my judgment. WHAT SHALL WE EAT. Here are some of .the articles of food, showing the amount of nutriment contained and the time required for digestion : Time of digestion. Ain't of mitrim't Apples raw 1 h 50 m 10 per cent Beans , 2 h 30 m 37 per cent Beef, roasted . S h 30' m 26 per cent Beans, baked 3 h 30 m 60 per cent Butter 3 h 30 in 96 per cent Cabbage, boiled 4 h 30 in 7 per cent Cucumber, raw 4 h 30 m 2 per cent Fish, boiled 2 h 00 m 20 per cent Milk, fresh 2 h 15 m 7 per cent Mutton, roasted 3 h 15 m 30 per cent Pork 5 h 15 m 24 per cent Poultry 2 h 45 m 27 per cent Potatoes, boiled 2 h 30 m 13 per cent Kice lhOOin 38 per cent Sugar 3 h 30 m 96 per cent Turnips, boiled 2 h 30 in 4 per cent Veal, roasted 4 h 00 m 25 per cent Venison, boiled 1 h 30 m 22 per cent MANY FACTS IN SMALL COMPASS. Christianity was first preached in Britain, A. D., 178. London was first founded A. D., 50. The first A TEACHEE S UPS AND DOWNS. crusade occurred in 1,005. The first English House of Commons was organized in 1205. The first burn- ing of heretics in England was in 1401. The num- ber of languages spoken is 2,065. The number of men is equal to the number of women. The aver- age of human life is about 33 years; one quarter die- before the age of 7. To every 1,000 persons one rarely reaches the age of 100 years, and not more than one in 500 will reach the age of 80. There are on earth 1,000,000,000 inhabitants. Of these about 33,333,333 die every year, 81,824 die every day, 3,789 every hour, and 60 every minute. The losses are balanced by an equal number of births. The married are longer lived than the single. Tall men live longer than short ones. Wo- men have more chances of life previous to the age of fifty years, but fewer after, than men. The num- ber of marria'ges is in proportion as 70 to 100. Mar- riages are more frequent after equinoxes, that is, during the months of June and December. Those born in the Spring are move robust than others. Births and deaths are more frequent by night than by day. HOW TO FLOAT. A person who will throw himself on his back in the water with his hands held clasped in each other at his back, and with his head thrown back so that the nose and mouth may protrude from the water, may float for hours, and cannot sink in that posi- tion. Truth is tough. It will not break like a bubble 34 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. at a touch ; nay, you may kick it about all day, like a foot-ball, and it will be round and full in the even- ing. Truth gets well if run over by a locomotive, while error dies of lockjaw if she scratches her finger. IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY. The sun is bright, the air is clear, The darting swallows soar and sing, And from the stately elms I hear The bluebird prophesying Spring. All things are new, the buds, the leaves, That gild the elm tree's nodding crest, And even the nest beneath the eaves, There are no birds in last year's nest. Maiden, that read'st this simple rhyme, Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay; Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime, For O, it is not always May. JUNE. No price is set on the lavish Summer, And June may be had by the poorest comer. And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days; Then heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays. Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how, Everything is happy now, 'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true, As for grass to be green or for skies to be blue. A TEACHEE S UPS AND DOWNS. THE SCHOOL HOUSE IN THE WOODS. I. THE ROAD THAT LED TO IT. fwas a winding wagon way, Where the summer shadows lay, "Where the beech tree bent its head, Where the grass its carpet spread. Where the wild Sweet Williams grew. Where the violet's eye of blue, Watched the swaying of the trees, And the darting honey bees. Where the timid turtle-dove, Sang its plaintive song of love, Where the chipmunk hid himself — Saucy, sprightly little elf! Where the squirrel mocked our chase, Here and there, and every place — Swinging on the highest ti-ee, Chatting o'er his victory. A group of ragged, red-faced boys. Full of frolic and full of noise, Went this way to the school each day — They were sent to study— they went to play. They climbed the iron- wood straight and tall; They mocked the cat bird's querulous call; Some gathered the gooseberry, prickly and sour, And some, bouquets of the wild-wood flower. They braided the bark of the leather-wood, And whips they made, that were tough and good ; They fashioned guns from the elder stem, And with poke-berry juice they painted them ; They sung and shouted the live long day, Free from care, and full of play. 36 A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. II. HOW THIS SCHOOL HOUSE LOOKED. A turn in the road brings full into view The school house itself — shall I show it to you? The walls are of logs, with tha.chinks mudded ore' The seats are of puncheons — the same as floor. The boards of the door have been split from a tree; The hinges and latch are of wood, do you see ? The chimney is wide, made of sticks and of clay, With a roaring big fire on a cold winter day. The writing-desk is a long,' sloping shelf — Each writer close watched by the master himself. What with cracks through the floor And with cracks through the wall, Ventilation abundant is certain to all. The window — just one — runs the length of one side — Say a dozen feet long, and a single foot wide ; The roof is of " shakes," broad, heavy and long, Held down by "weight poles," many and strong. You have heard of " Brush College," you see it now, The " master" has come, take your hats off and bow, III. THE "MASTEE." Big and burly the "master" stands, With a bundle of " water-beech" in his hands; For many a son of the forest to-day Will need to be governed, I dare say. He lifts the latch of the clap-board door, With a hickory limb he sweeps the floor; He heaps the fire with logs of beech, Till the leaping flames up the chimney reach. A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 37 He writes up the copies, or works a hard sum. Till the hour for " taking up school " has come, Then grasps the "ruler" and rattles the sash, Eat-a-tat rat-a-tat dash-dash-dash. IV. SCHOOL SCENES. Bless me, what a din and clatter ! What's the matter ? What a patter ! As they scatter to their seats. Sam and Simon, Luke and Lyman — How they climb in ! How they chime in '