THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA G378 b'lO 1832H UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00036720753 This book musf not be faken from the Library building. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/lectureonimperfeOOhoop A L E C T U li E Imperfectfousi of one Diiw*rr^ Sc^ool^^ THE BEST METHOD OF CORRECTIJ^G THEM: DELITEGCD BEFORE THE NORTH CAROLINA INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, CHAPEL HILL, JUNE 20th, 1832. BY ^V ILL I AM HOOPER. Professor of Ancient Languages in the University. NEWBERN: Printed by Johv I. Pasteur. 1832. t E F A C E The writer of tlip follow iiip Lrrture fcrl? it to bo duo to liiiPFplf, iu scndiiia it loitii 1(1 tlM ] nbluls, t( ii,;,kt siiii ;i[(li(._\ t( , li.i i,<.lti:(ss in wliitii he has indulgf ti hiint-tll' in son.t [ails ot it. l.t lnj.^ riie reader to recollccr, that though prepared j-iolc s^eciij to be rttici l.tlorc the Institute, yet it was aiitiei] ;it( ci tliat tht auoitnce betoii vl.cii it would actually be dili\eied, \\ ^ uh: Ik la. or anci j un is^ i.oue , I) ;. l it would form one out of several disceui si s to l;t pronounced at the same time on grave subjects, and theufoie that it n i^ht Lt pauonaLli to intcispcrse some stiokes of pleasantly by way of relieving attention. "V\ hen, however, the piece was called loi to appeal in punt an one; the other publications oi' th( Institute, tin autlioi hac. once detcm iitd to suppress it, as not giave enough to be woilliy ol that body, but as thi essay contained niaiiy suggestions v^huh he VMsliee. n.uci te' [ le- sent to the consideration of the people of JNoith Caiohna, he has \en- tured to commit it to the pre ss. tie might, it is true, have omitted the ludicrous parts, but that wouki have rtqunen it to be lecast, aiiei would have been contrary to the i xpiessi d wishet; ot st veial ot llit riien.bus, who thouglit that whatever hun.oui was mteispeisi ei \\oule. ohly attract publick cuiiosity, and ot couise cause any usitul aeMct j.nen to be more extensively lead. 1 he ^\ liter has tlieieibre yielded to tiiis opinion, and if found fault with, ha? no bettei delenee than that ol the ancient satirist : ridenlem dicere verum, Gluid vetat J A few omissions and additions have been made in preparinT the Lei ture for the press. In one of these an allusion is made to the poli- tical ferment now existing in some paits of our country , and it is liop'-d not to be an unpaic:onable sm, li when Cii:ur.iOh i.i e u sk ii i i e to law a.e taught ex cc.tUf ,u in son.r other colleges, sentiments ot a different kind should emanate from this. LECTURE Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Institute : We, upon wliom you have devolved tlie tasl; ot' aildiefsinff an audi- ence wliich has been feasted by the intelleetual enteitauiineut ol this raoaiino-,* have, we can assure yon, partaken largely of the g(Mieial festivity, and can excliange heaity conrrratulations with a delipl^ted publick. Yet we cannot l)ut be sensible of the disadvantage under which we labour, of succeeding such a speaker, and of provii'ing entertainment for ears yet ringing with such musick. 'V\ hat we must lose, however, in the favourable hearing of our humble essavs, we shall have amply made up to us in the countenance and sanction given to the labours of our lives by the sentiments uttered to-day ; and we, whose office it is daily to instruct the youth who hung upon the lips of the orator of the day, cannot but rejoice to have oui opinions ratified, and our authority seconded by remarks issuing from so high a source. We feel much indebted to one who has added the force of his sufi' age to the utility of that system of classical, mathematical and philosopliical study by which it is the business of our lives to tiain up the youth of on.' country for the future demands of that country. \\ e feel that our hands are strengthened bv such an ally : we rejoice in the arrival of such an auxiliary to fight the great liattle of truth and freedom, and provided the blessed victory is won, we care not much whose hiow shall wear the laurels. We can very contentedly follow on, unnoticed, in the triumphal procession, and envy not the hero who sits in the chiriot before us; but feel happy to have a contest so dear to us maintained by stronger arms than ouis, and proud to have one of ISoith Carolina's first and favouiite names proclaimed, in the exercises of this day, on the side of sound learning and immortal patriotism. * 1 his essay was read on the aftt moon of the day on which jNIr. Gaston delivered his Uration before the two literarv societies. The subject ^\'^^icll was assijiiiid me for a lecture hefore the Institute at this tiiiK' is, " 1 he Inipeifections of oui I liniary ^ ehools, i.i c the best int ihod of correcting them." The proposal and adoption of this, as a -uhject of discussion, implies a conviction in the minds of tlu- pub- licl,, that evils do exist in the svsfem ofoui primary schools; that those evils are felt and de{)lored, and that a remedy is anxiously desii ed. Indeed it can escape the observation of no one, that in the present state of thinas there is much waste of time and expense, that a huge number of our youth make no improvement, and that the attaiiin.i nts of .11 come far short of wliat is practicable. To boriow a compa:ison fioni another ait, we may say, the;e is a prodisal v\astc of the raw mat 'rials for education, by want of skill in the manufacture. The evil which we deprecate, and whose causes we propose to ex- plore, results almost necessarily from tlu present ciicumstances ef our country. Our countiy is compaiatively j'oung. \\ c are a nation of scattered agriculturists, embosomed and hidden in the midst of a boundless forest, upon whose breast all our labours hitherto, have only, here and there, made little spots of culture, bearing scarc< ly any proportion to the vast sylvan expanse which surrounds and ovtihangs them, and insulates each family from its neighbouis. Let any peison ascend one of our mountains, or even one of our loftiest spn\ s or cupolas, and look doAvn upon the prospect beneath him. fjc will be surprised to see how little fcrritory we have yet reclaimed from the Aviiderness — how diminutive appear the inipiessions which human hands have made, in so many years, upon the wide face of nature. He will see that we deserve yet to be denonrinated, in a great measure, a people of the woods. In such a state of society there will be a gjcat waste of raw mati rials of every description, of mind, no less than of wood, land and water. The lavish resources of such a country exceed the wants of its thin population, and therefore lie hidden from their view, or rot neglected under their feet. 1 heir innumerable tuts of stately timber, which, in a more advanced state of society would all be in demand, and all be fashioned into a thousand articles for domestjck convenience and embellishment, are now hewn down with unspa.ing hand, as an incumbrance, thrown into piles and burned. Its stit£ii,,s, which amid a dense population would be alive with wateimen . nd Ihiir loaded batteaux, or resounding with the lumbling of machinery, now wind their couise through the thickets unexploud by th^ mri- osity, and unvexed by the cupidity of man. Is it wohd^iful thut in such an ea;ly, incijaent stite of soeif-ty, miiui shoidd be v. ast e or nnempioycd as well as matter? In these circumstances, those c^uahtie^ of body and mind only wiU h'^ v ilu d nnd cultivat'-d wliidi nit- nrinif- diiit 'ly iipplicjlii ■ to r!i ■ \va it'i of lit''. .~-ur'i a]>iii(.|,, > itln, li.om- selv's I'iniirrants i'ioiii ix more iiiipioved coiiiif vy , or the diild ■ of such eniiffrant:;, will cany in th'ir niin it home and at school, and that contrast all in favour of home. Now this bfino; thi- case, parents have the remedy in their own lir.nds. This inequality must lie altered. The truant who goes home in dis- gra t- must be no gainer by the exchange. Let the sending of liini liom> !)e like the sending of him t) the penitentiary. Let him be made to put off his broad-cloth coat, in which he would be glad to go and see th ' you:ig ladi 's, and let him array hiuis df in a plantation suit from his mother's own loom, and let him tend his father's crop and . a in his dadv bread by the sweat of his b-ow. A. discipline of this kind wiuld so.m make school lose its hoirours, and perhaps a f . w months' labour atth plough orth"' hoi- would bring about an i^a/nest petition to b; per- mitted to return to school, with the [)vomise of diligence and goo> goal. AVh-^-reas in tho Northern States, few, comparativpiy. break ifT vftr on'"? Hoo-innins'. The r-^ason of this is the certaint of meeting from their parents th." treatment I have heen recommending, if they refuse to imp •ovi^ tli^mselves at seliool. One remarkable in- stance may be mentioned. It is told of the first President Adams, that when h^ was s-^nt to school he would not learn his Latin w -m- mar. His father, who seems to have been one of those plain sensible men that 20 by the old proverb, "a bird that can sinjr and w n't sin?" &c., took him home, and set him to ditching, an operation so lit- tle to the taste of the fntnre Chief Vrapistrate, that it made all the combined terrors of th< eiorht parts of speech appear as nothing in com- parison — and such sounds as quicuiique, qu(tcunque, quodcunquc, vel quilcimque, which once seemed as if they would break his jaws in the very utterance of them, he could pronounce as glibly as his a, b, c. This then, be it remembered, made John Adams, scnr. President of the Unit'^d States — the alternative, Latin or the ditch. We must make scholars by the same art that the Romans made soldiers. Their very name for army* was taken from the exercises daily required of the sol- diers, which exercises were more severe and oppressive in time of peace than in time of war. This made the Roman soldier sigh for a eampaign, as procuring him a holiday from the tedium of drilling. But it is not merely the love of home indulgence and home amuse- ments which damps the ardour and relaxes the exertion of the youthful scholar. There is a thought which often crosses his mind, while toiling at his daily college lessons, "Of what use is all this going to be to me ? I am to be a farmer, or a merchant, or at most a doctor, and every one knows it takes very little education to make a physician. Look at Drs. X, Y, Z, unknown quantiti'^s, to be sure, (as the Algebraists say,) but still in good practice — and although they thin the population a lit- tle, yet are certainly less destructive to the human species than either int-imperance or the cholera. If they get along with but a smaltcing of Latin, and no Greek or Mathematics, so canl."t This soliloquy is * '^xercitus. f I hope nothing hei'^ said can be so misunderstood as to be con- strued into disrespect for the medical profession. No one cherislies higher respect or a more aff.^ctionate regard than I do for the gmtle- men of that faculty — those soothers of human wo, those friends on whom we repose our throbbing hosoms in the most agonizing houis of life. So far from concu^-ring in the above ignorant and shallow notions of the intellectual cultivation requisite to the profession, I believe th'^ -e is no profession which requires more acuteness of mind, more pr jfound philosophical views, and more liberal information. So much do'-s human happiness depend ou physicians, that they surely, if any ni'?:! whatovee, ought to bring to th -ir aid, all the light and all the Strength which the best opportunities and the most perfect cultivation 11 apt to occur with a student somewhere in the course of his Sophomore or Junior yiur; when after moving on grudgingly thiouoh huA his term, the gcowing laboujs of th • way begin to sicken liis heart, and the feeling of incipient manhood to inspire the hope that he may be al- lowed to have the disposal of himself. Then farewell any fuithei im- provement! And next comes a letter from his father, authorizm<' his son to select his own studies. " Ah, glorious times now ! I shall have to recite only two or three tunes a week, and the rest of the tune 1 can do with as I please — range through the libraries, read novels and newspapers, and have plenty of tune to li on the bed and take naps, while the regulars, poor dogs, are digging after Greek roots, or Wiith- ing on angles as heart-piercing as a bayonet's point. But may b^ , I may conclude, when I get home, to be a doctor ; so a little touch of chnnistry before 1 leave college." And thus is a raw, undisciplmed mind suddenly transferred from a lower class up to a couise of scien- tifick study for which it is not prepared, and where it does little uiore than expose its incompetency, and furnish another illustration of tne maxim, that there is no royal road to learning. It may be thou lit that these animadversions on a partial and mutilated course of study at college, are foreign to my appointed subject, as they relate to the suivs.^quent and later part of education rather than to the elementary one. But it is to be feared tliat the frequent e.vamples of such inter- ruptions to a liberal education, have a malignant influence even on the ea:iii!r years of academical life, and encourage and increase the school- boy's distaste for Iris present studies which he anticipates will be drop- p^ d in a few years, and therelore need not be prosecuted noiv with much diligence. The remedy for tliis evil appears to be, that a youth sliould be given to understand, when he is sent to school, that he is to take a tho ough course ; tliat the pleasure and profit and credit of the latter pait of his course will depend essentially upon his improvement m the first part, and that his education is to be his livelihood. ;.nd if, instead of cutting short their sons' collegiate career, out of economy, parents Would more frequently give them their patrimony in an education, it migbthaveamost salutary effect on their scholarship and their morals, of tii^ mental powers can bestow. It is because I entertain such opin- ions of the piop< r qualifications for a valuable physician, that it seem- ed to me not amiss to expose to just derision the nanow conetptions of some who destine themselves for that most responsible vocation. jNor can it offend any of our elderly physicians of eminence, whose early oppo.tunities were limited, to insist on the necessity of a finished edu- cation to success and distinction in their profession. 1 hey niay, by the best use of their confined education, and by the aid of a sound unde.standing, have arisen to meiited celebrity , but they will not de- ny, thai, With a better foundation, they themselves would have reached a higher eminence with perhaps far greater ease. ^,12 2. A second cause, inju'ious to solid improvement, which tiiistrace& the f'lirest plans of t'v enlightened anil faithful pi •(• ptor, aur whicb is chariT'ahh^ upon the p)areiits, is the consultinp- of cheapness and des- patch. A teacher is chosen for the cheapn -ss of his terms, and the rapidity with which he can push boys foiwa -d for entrance into col- leg". Haste is n'l^y thins. ^Vhoever can get a boy throuijh the gr-'at'^st number of books, in a g^iven tinip, is the best teacher. I am foitunati^ in bein^ able to confirm my own o iseivations on this sub) ct^ by f' ■ testimony of so thorough a scholar aiul so distinguished a man as P'ofessor Stuart,, of Aiidover. "Our primary schools," says he, in a latf essay, "are, in a multitude of cases, verj' imperfectly reguhited. Stn '^ats are hurried through every thiig. Shortness of time and sinall- nesi of ;'xpense are, at present, gi-ne ally made essential ingredi'-nts in th • plan of preparatory education. Young men are urged on ov ra laro liiild with rapid step — the grand desideratum being to pass over the it nost possible ground in the least possible time. /;( ivhat wuyone travls, it matters little or nothing. Be it in a close carriage with a bandage over his eyes, it is all well if he has only traveled. Thus he is pushed through the academy, and pushed into college, when in fact he .niirht be taken up upon his elementary books, and found to be lialt- ing at ii^arly every step. But t'lis mist be overlooked — he has made rapid I Ivaac^s in as mil ti n? — i; bid=! fair to commertdthe scheme of economy in time and money, and at any rate, he will add to the gene- ral summary on the catalogue of college members, and help to support the ?.^ponses of the Institntion." Sucharethe remarks of a man whose statio:! as a theological Professor in one of our most eminent institu- tions, has given him large opp-irtunities of judging of the mode of le- ra -ntary instruction in this country ; and they serve to show us how exi'nsively the evil obtains in the United States — ihat it is not an .:vil of which the South has peculiar reason to complain, but exists in a degree which we should have hardly siispccicd, in the oldest and most improved section of the republick. And what is the result? Vvhy he assures us, that in a class of from 100 to 150, who come annually into his hands, by far the larger portion cannot declme their Greek nouns and verbs with any tolerable accuracy, and that he is obliged to set them to the study of their Greek grammais as a necessary prerequisite to the study of the Greek t-^stam.nt. Now in the maintenance of this literary quackery, as it may with propriety be termed, parents and teachers have a reciprocal action up- on each other. The parent calls for cheapness and rapidity. Thr pub- lick calls for cheapnf ss and rapidity. "Crowd as much as possiblt- into a small co npass," is thr" u livorsal demand and t!ie unive sal cry of this economical, labour-saving age, from the parent who has a son's of u tlauo'lifpr's 'ua'1 to hr fi'lrd v itl' k iiow!f(lir'\ to tho hooksrilor vvl)^. oft' y .'I ..' : >1 IW Ivi- Voilllll S of 111' '.111 ,.'. /"L.I^i.i '' . I. : \\ intii ,):i>>;ji..;inriir ochno. A'> In n tlh^re is ;i loiul I'lnund fo: ai,'\ ;i , w, liow vri (litHcult oi ini|).-actiral)lr its attainment, tin i will ai'w ; < s be pe.«o-is who will pof ss to fiiiiiish tlio dcsidi rattd aiticlf, \\\f tL- it. be to piovido a ilinni'i' of 'luininini! hrds a. id peacocks' ton;nis fj a Cliiripso niaiularin, oi to put cioht ounces of biain* in a skull wi'/re nature has left only cavit}' enouu j ej u- lalioi ;s 3 » l']\\\ iU' to-vv .sso small, t'lat tbeie is . t pat^onaf ' • !it.h for many scliools in the same place. To w arrant, then, the provision X 14 gt' commodious buildings, and tlie employment of a well qualified leacii- er, the patronage must be united and concentered. But instead ot that, what is the state of things in our towns and villages? instead of a puhlick union in maintaining a reputable academy, you see a number of litt'e, petty schools, kept up in various parts of the town — and thetov\n academy, if there be one, is drained of its resources. A few publick- spiiitcd individuals struggle for some years to maintain a good teach- er, at a heavy expense, but are at length discouraged by the apathy of the publick, drop the school, and send their sons to a distance. INow, it siiould be deemed the duty of every good citiz^'n to maintain a good school in the place where he resides, whether he is to receive an imme- diate personal benefit from it or not. He may have no children, or none large enough at present to profit by the school, but still he must have an indirect, an ultimate interest in the good education of the com- munity among whom he and his family are to dwell. Every man, therefore, ought to pay cheerfully, and as liberally as possible for the support of one good school in the place where he lives. Even the old bachelors, who often constitut' a numerous and respectable class in our towns, ought to indemnify the publick for their selfish and indolent celibacy, by contributing, for the benefit of the children of othei>, as mucn as they would have had to expend on a family of their own; and thus thty may serve society, by acting the part of stakes, which, though dry and fruitless themsrives, answer admirably well as sup- po.ts, on which the genial vine may lean and hang her clusters to the SUM. \ hilc on the subject of patronage, it may not be amiss to mention one species of pationage which would materially benefit all our schools froii! the lowest to the highest. It is the patronage of notice. It is the flattoiing attention of the publick eye. xVjuch dep^ nds on this — more than IS generally thought of. Vv hatever attracts publick attention, and is th ■ suaject of popular conversation, will be estimated by the young as an important matter. tj.ow, then, can the young think their pro- git ss in school a matter of importance, when the publick, and even pa- rents themselves, will not attend the semi-annual examinations for a few houis a day, every half-year ? The teachers know what a stimu- lus it is to their pupils to expect this periodical inspection — they make pro<;lamation, they invite, they d g parents, relations, professional gen- tlemen, to attend, but with scarcely any success. INow and then a transient straggler comes in, but soon gets tired and withdraws, or if he possesses a more than common share of zeal and patience, finds a ha; p ;rfuoe f oni the srvi^ilty of his penance by a nap upon his iHow. Unhappy pupils, and still more unhappy teacher, doomed to all the 15 Worfifiration and flisrouracroinrnf of puhlick ncplpct ! It is !»aicl ijs apolopy for this ncsilcct, "wc arc too busy," or '' wo uncleistund no- thin? of the subjects of examination, and therefore can do no STood by our attendance" — or " it is too dull and wearisome to endure." In re- ply to these excuses it may be said, is the business you plead of greater impo tance than the impiovcment of your child ? Or if you have no child at the school, is the prosperity of the school in your town a matter not worth the giving of your attendance for a few hours twice a year? Admittinsf such attendance to be unpleasant and tedious, yet can you bear no self-denial for the sake of attaining a great publick good? — Will you sacrifice nothing to stimulate to industry and virtuous habits the dear youth of our country, who are the happiness of their parents, and the future rulers of the empire ? Parents and other citizens are not aware what a valuable effect their very presence has upon the minds of both teacher and pupil, or surely they would sacrifice a little time from more agreeable or more lucrative employments, to stimulate the o-ood scholar by their smiles of approliation, and to shame the sluggard and the truant by the stigma of their notice. Surely the faithful and laborious instructor, who is wearing out life in the cause of their chil- dren, might expect of the inhabitants of our towns, this little tribute to lighten his burdens and cheer the tedium of his way. He would re- pay it in increased endeavours to deserve their confidence, and his pu- pils would repay it to the puhlick by higher attainments in scholarship, and by doing less mischief to their pigs and poultry. In every village where there is an academy, this attendance on the publick examinations might be taken by rotation, so as to fall lightly upon each ; and the ladi'^s, who are fond of encouraging every thing good, and who are apt to take a livelier interest in the young than men do, could not do more good, in all their round of morning calls, than by a morning call af the academy. 3. The next cause of the imperfections of our primary schools, which I shall mention, is the scarcity of able teachers. They are in general too young and inexperienced. The weighty charge of training the minds, and managing the tempers, and forming the morals of the young, is confided, in a great many cases, to persons very little older than the pupils themselves, to half-educated young men, or to those who, if th"y have diplomas in their hands, must be confessed to have more Latin in their hands than in their heads. Of the graduates of our nu- merous colleges, many become teachers, who were among the most ordinary scholars. These, like other insects, propagate their kind with pernicious fecundity. They ^e^d out annually their little swarms as candidates for the several colleges, all carrving evident marks of • . 16 (ucir aca'l'^mical parentage, and ve'-ifyi'ig thft maxim of the anfMenf philosoph ■ s, tliat " w ni'nlo nihil fit." Tlicir .VLna hit,?: >■ n lot com:)! liaaf this; herp'i'daaofri'k sons a< not yi-'kling her back as inuc-h as they received, but reversiajr the apostolicli remark, slie may say to th"n, "ye carried nothinij out of this woild, and it is ceitain yc can biiiiT not!)in7v of nature, that the p'ogony of all the inf '.-ior tribes should fak' liut a f'^w months to attain th'' size of the parent animal. Should there be among my auditors any t achers w!io look upon the severity of tlie preceding remarks as an attack upcin themsolvc s, let them spare their resentment, by reflecting that t!ie present company is always excepted, and that criticks carry on a kind of Parthian waifure, disrha.fjinir th'ir shafts, not at those before tht ii faces, but those be- hind' their backs. But it ofiv 's me pleasure to stat":^ that many of our teachers are the flower of our graduates, and would it were the case that the pationage w^re liberal enoush to induce many more of such to choose foi the business of their lives this most useful and laudable occupation. As it is how'ver, oth'"^r prof ssions offer more tempting prizes to tlu'ir ta- lents, and they devote to sehool-keeping one or two of their g/een, in- experienced years, only as the means of enabling them to prosecute some more lue ative and less labo.ious profession, quitting theschool- roo n, just when improved scholaiship a d acquired experience Save fitted them for their work. The publiek ouvht to see this, and ought to provide against it, by setting before such young men the prosper t of honourable remuneration. Then you would see our academies sought aft^r by the first scholars among our graduates, and sharing, with the oth M- liberal professions, the genius and learning of the land. Th n a school would not be considered, as it now too often is, a meic step- ping-stone to some other station more lucrative or more honourable, but would be embraced as an eligible business for the whole of life. Thus our children would have the advantage of the matured wisdom and 'experience of a life-time spent in the same occupation. In otaer things we deem it of prime importance to have the services of a man Ion r oactised in his p'-of^ssion, f-om the farrier who shoes our ho.se, up to t'l ■ phvsi-iii, to who n vv ■ >>it'ust our hves, and t'\'3 judge who sits upon the fortunes of the publiek. In teaching alone, we are con- ir tente-'l witli Ac services of tyroes and novices. A pliysician shall not prfsci-ili :■ tor your .-:v);i i;i ;i fever, a lawyer shall aot lhw adviir rcs- pc;-tiiiT th.it, SD I's property, unless they both be men of tried know- Ic.lii^. But that son's intellect, tliat son's temper, that son's moral character, the determination of what kind of a man that son is to be — all these vital matters are rashly committed to younij men of v<.'ry slcn ier experience. Now, is the tuition of the voim^ mind and the manaiiement of thi' younjj heart, tlr.' only art in which no app;entice- ship is required, no years of praitic'^ are necessary? Does not every man who has tried th ■ business of leaching know that he lams so'ue- thi 1? important every year, either in the subji'cts on which he in- stru'^ts, or in the human nature on which he acts, and that he is worth fivefold as much to his employers at thirty years of age as he was at tw nty ? Let a young teacher, therefore, be ever so clever and faith- ful to his undertaking, h^ wants that which nothing but time can give him, and how seldom we find one of such promise sufficiently reward- ed to continue in this laborious business until time, which ripens wine and cheese and friendship, shall ripen his magisterial faculties, nn-Uow the crudeness of his knowledge, soften the sharpness of his temper, and (to keep up our similitude of old Madeira) give him a body of Sound knowledge and good sense, from which his pupils may continu- ally drink in strength and virtue. Let m'- now, with deference, sussest to my brethren in the task of instructing youth, some improvnnents which have occurred to me, and particularize some faults which my observations on vrrious schools have brought under view. The first and most glaring defect in the conduct of our classical schools, is the neglect of the common rudiments of English education. It is quite usual for young men to be sent from the academy to colhgc so deplorably deficient in orthography and penmanship, as would dis- grac" the urchin of an old-field school. Many a sad hour havel spent over eolleeiate compositions, in deciphering hideous hieroglyphicks, and in restoring to their proper English physiognomy such monsters as wriirfit and ron^, kneighborhood, hanous,foilage, sep/rate, colleilge, jenius, tu'-'-ible, persuit, &ic. This is a serious evil — itistheveiy thing to brmg classical learning into discredit. Plain, uneducated people are com- petent judges of such blemishes as these, and may very justly com- plain of a course of instruction which, professing to communicate the higher parts of learning, leaves the young man so shamefully untaught in spelling and writing liis mother tongue, that he cannot pen a com- mon epistle without danger of dis;.'iucmg himselt. There should then, c IS be a eompfiteiit l/'af^hfiv of English attached to every s;rammar school, into vvhos" 'laads the hoys shonl-i pass for an hour or two ev ■; y 'lay, to i)'^ o'-actised in the several Enghsh hranches. This is bettoi ^loae in eoajunction with their classical course, because it only introduces a relieving variety of occupation, and cannot advantageously either proc°de that course, or be delayed till that course is considerably advanced. A second practice of our preparatory schools, against which T must be pemitt'^d to inveigh, is, the omission of a great part of the prescribed classical course. Of this th- faculty of the TTaiversity have reason to speak with much feeling. A certain quantity of Greek and Latin is reqnii-f>rl to be read in order to admission into college. It is as little as is at tII consistent with respectability — less than what is demanded by most of our colleg'-s. But in the payment even of this pittance, vv^ are not fairlv dealt with. P'^w academies render us honestly the full d. bt. One t'^acher clips off a little here, another a little there. For example: we '-cquire the whole seven books of Csesar's Gallic War ; but one youth comes prepared only on five, another on four, another only on two. Ve require the whole of Virgil's .Eneid, or Ovid Expurgata,* as nn equivalent for the latter half; and we require these authois not onlv to be construed and parsed, but scanned. But this requisition is ii most cases not complied with, and all we can exto't is the hist half of the ^Eneid, read without any attention to prosody. He- e at on^- ■ is Latin enough to fill up a whole year, of which the pupil is cheated bv this system of literary fraud. Another has read the Gospel of Tohn in Greek, but has not looked at the Acts, and surely we must be hard and austere men to insist upon more than half of what is pre- scribed in the course. A third has gone no further in his arithmitick than factions, and df-pends on making up the deficiency after he enters college. A fourth has not studied geography. Labouring nn- de • one or another of thes ■ deficiencies, a youth comes to the univer- sity, perhaps from the extremity of the State. The faculty are then * Ovid Expurgata. Since the appearance of Mr. Gould's beautiful and chastened edition of this author, there can be no proper obj' . t on to his ri-storation to a place in our schools. The richness of his P'tty, the vivacity of his descriptions, and his entertaining stories, cannot fail to render him a pleasing and improving companion, whib t;io ancient mythrdogy, arrayed in such drapery, must he much Ixtti • le- ni":nbered than when searched out piecemeal in the dry pag' s o'' a di'tionary. This edition of '\Tr. Gould is fu ther recommended, by its containing some beautiful selections f oni the Hf)-oitles, to initiat- the- stndiiit into n-">ta''e!e- vt-rsi, of which he would otherM'isc remam \^- norant through his whole course. 19 jjlaocd in this pai'itu! dilrninia : tlicy must nithcr dcpa'-f from their prDilaiui'd t^iins, i.i \;'ilatioii of their const inicf an(! of i.in liotit v . or th"\ ;nust tiini away this youn^r ukui, \\ hu- piis, to (>xpose them to this mortifying; repulse? Is it doing justiri to thi cause of classical learning, of which they are' tlie professed atlvo- cat s, to subtract thus largely from a quantum in itself sufticitntly meager? We hope this app. al will not be made in vain. * Among the imperfections of oih school system, 1 maybe pardoned fo'- numbering the want, in many teachers, of an advantageous manner of communicating their instructions. There is often discoverable in the teacher, a tamentable want of animation and vivacity of manner, a want of spirit and energy in conducting business. If instruction is imparted with spirit and life, it «ill be received with spirit and life. If t'le master keeps wide awake, his pupils will also. But if he be listless, languid, speaking scarcely loud enough to be heard, and allow- ing them to answer in the same style, why the whole school will be pervaded by the same listless, hum-drum, careless manner, which sickens a spectator just to witness it for one half-hour. The manner of a school-master should have in it much of the promptness, eneigy and decision of a military officer giving the woal of command to a company of soldiers. Then he will leceive the same prompt ol)edi- + From this censure and complaint, let me be permitted to except the present able and estimable .vaster of the fiillsborough Latin School. This gentleman deserves much of every friend of solid edu- cation in the State. Possessing one of those sound, judicious minds, andgeiitle, well-regulated yet firm tempers, to which youth can be so saie'ly committed, he has devoted to this useful but laborious profession, talents which might have earned him more splendid distinction, and ain- pl :' emoluments in other walks of life. A continually increasing number of pupils shows that tiie publick appreciate his merits. iViay well- earned competency long induce him to continue his useful toils ; and in the evening of his days, if he is not able to make the boast of the famous Dr. Parr, tliat his potent arm has placed many a bishop on the bench, he will proba!)ly have the honour and the comfort of seeing many of his pupils adorning the halls of legislation, and the chaiis of the liberal prof ssions. To have paid this small tribute, in passing, to a gentleman whose proximity to the University, and whose well-trained contributions to its class s, enable the v/riter to be peculiaily w II acquainted with his merits, will not, he hopes, be consid'ied as invidious — oth i t'-ailurs, more r: mot", may des* rve as well, of whom personal knowledge will •not enable him to speak with equal confidence. 20 ence. Then each boy will be always on the alert, have all his wits* abinit 'iiiii, and liai;i to have all his knowledive rcadj- at coinuiaijcl, lo march at a moment's warning. In this way not only would thi inttl- lert !)t' sharpened and the memory key)! l),inn the manner of 'b livery after the youth comes to college ; it is by that time incu- rable. 1,1 t then the t. achers of our piimaiy schools take lessons tVotn the billing officer, and endeavour to exhibit in their own mannei, and to stamp upon their young nnlitia, the same quickness and en; .g}'. I kei,u- my p> t!;:L'(>giek b, thien can ::ay much in palliation of this fault. They will tell me that I talk like on< viho has had no experience in such things — that animation cannot be kept up amid the dull, dnily round of school-business — that it is a plaiit which cannot live in such an fitmosjihere, and they will wish me no other punishment fb. my censui e than to be condemned to go into the schoolroom after dinn r, in a 1 ot summer's day, and hear a class of little inarble-players lecitc a hssdu in Caesar, giving poor Julius, alas! more stabs than he ic- ceiv d from the daggers of all the conspirators in the Scnatt-house, and avenging the Gauls upon him for all his muiders. " Ifyou," they wi'l t- 11 me, "can keep the alge of your animation sharp upon sueh matnials, you must be made of better metal than a Damascus swcid- blade, or the farfamed penknives of Rodgers. The expense of nui- mal spirits and of lungs that would be incurred by such a lively mode of instruction constantly kept up, would wear any man out in a siiort time." To this I reply, that the thing is not imp'acticahle, is p oved by the fact that some teachers have exemplified it and shown its happy 21 efl'ects. This is particularly the f a^r in tho European prl:onls. '-i'licrti tlu, master outviRiipou his business with an rmp.'iasis and vivacity and gusto unlxnowa to most of oui Amfiican scniinaiies. To tluiii our manner would appear iVicid and spiiitless in tlie extreme. All de- pends upon the ti^aeliei's lica;t l)emr- stool and remembered. Lot me here suggest the expediency of the t:>'5t • s of oui several acadf mi.s tiking f.;-ins to pmi ii;e such appa- ratus for tho schoolroom. A common carpenter, under the dii action ^«*. of tlip toach"r, conM make nio'l Is fn instance, of Caesar's bridge^ and if s > 1 ■ )f t, 1 ' l-i -i 11 ;itri los of war , and thon that B. lit': f hap- ter, low the tenou. of schoolboys, would be as attiactive to t'.iem as it i'^ now formidable. They would not "come to the liver, all in a shiv T," but would thiak of -rossing the deep and rapid Rhine with as mui'h pl-^asure as they make ni!l-da ns over the rivulets that traverse th !■ paternal fields. It is unfo tunate that good maps and charts and pictures, for the illustration of our schoolbooks are cither not yet made, or are too costly to com;: within the reach of ordinary semina- ries. This is a desideratu n which ought to be looked into and sup- plied. There ought to be a general call from all the schools fo. such enij -avings, and such machinery, and then the booksellers could afford to hav them supplied at a reasonable price. It is to be hoptd that the a:t of lithography, which has been so rapidly improving within a few years, and has multiplied prints on such cheap terms, will, ere long, be employed to furnish all our schoolrooms with agreeabi- and striking delineations of all thoso parts of youthful study which can be exlii'iited to the eye. The proper construction of schoolhousos is another point which deserves distinct att ntion. AV'hen I have visited the classical scliools in our large cities, I have been stru k'witii the inconvenience under which they labour of being situated close upon the street, stunned the live-long day with the rumbling of drays, the rattling of coaches, the cries of market people, in slioit, the full diapason of discords winch co'ne upon the tortured car from the commingled voices of men, wo- rn- ri and children, dogs, mockino-birds and pianos, belonging to a great town. What an advantage, thought I, do we enjoy in th( soli- tud ;s of Carolina, where we can fix our academies in the quiet if rove, apart from all this pestif 'rous bustle, and where our boys can lead or play under a canopyfof maj stick oaks, surpassing those of Dodona oi of Bashan — where the dryads or the muses n ed not have scorjieu to dwell — skirted with a shrubbery of chinqiiepins and birches, tiiose quickeners of genius, those wonder-working wtapons of the faitnful pedagogue, possessing all the powers of the wand of -.iercuiy, save that of lulling mortals to sic p. In th. midstof such a grove stands the schnolhouse, the temple of Astrea herselt, stern goddess of justice whom, though the poets may feign, and the poor Uherokecs may r- aily suppose to have forsaken this world, yet here, if no where els« on earth, she holds her awful reign, seated on a throne of flint, with hickory sceptre in her right hand, and the faithful oalance in her iitl, to whose altar her high p.i si, the schoohiiustui, daily brings each pale delinquent, weighs him m the balances, and by her coiuuiaud ad- 23 jjiiiiisfofh! If) \ufi slioulficrs, b.ir-k, I' uvo oi' lii^ (iis^'rfs. But tlirso mirsprics of puerile .'j<'iiiiis and ]>i nit- iiTi- los of pueril- inis:;lenic:inors, our sclniullionscs, are not so torfunat'' in their const action and furniture, as t!i"V ar'- ii; tlieir location. They ought to he l)uilt witii a special eye to the pur]ioses to which tlioy arc to be applied, and turnislied with commodious seats, and desks, allc^-.s and doorp for inffress and enfress. Every pupil should have before him all accommodations for reading and writiiiij. a separate desk Under lock and key, where lie may secure all his hooks and his station- ary, which, in our schools now, is any thin" but stntiouiiry ; his in ns ink, ruler and pencil havintr to t av 1 all around th(^ room for the accommodation of liis fellows. The trust -e.? of each academy should see it provided with such conveniences, and if they will not, each parent ought to be willing to incur the expense of such furnitun' for his son's benefit, the own.^r being allowed, upon leavinir the school, to transfer it to a successor, for as near cost as its condition will mejit. In winter every schoolroom should be warmed by a stove. In no othr"- way can any degree of order be kept up ; each shivering urchin will he continually running to the fire, and when called to recite, he will have nothinsf at his fln^evs' ends but cold. Of the institutions which I have seen, those approaching nearest to my h'-nu ideal of a schoolroom are the celebrated Round Hill schtxil in Massachusetts, and the Newbern academy in this state. But if I might be indulged in the description of one of these little casth -:-in- the-air. with whose buildina T have sometimes amused myself, I VAould sav, I't this spot, where so many years (jf the sweet spring of lif • are to h" sp lit, be made as pleasant as possible to the senses. Let the dej cted bov, just banislied f:om the delights of home, as he approaches the schoolhouse for the fivc^t time, see every thing to exhilarate and ref esh the spirits, and form no dismal forebodings of meeting the Mi:iotaur as soon as ho steps over the threshold. Let it be one of those umbraffeous retreats which I before described, with ground smooth and a little sandy, to form a natural arena for his sports, free fro n those cruel enemies of youthful toes and incendiaries of youthful tempers, stumps, roots and stones — let the house be of an oblong shap-, with a door in front, from which leads a central aisle down to th'^ other extremity, where sits the sovereign of this little world, in insulated grandeur, on a slight elevation, sufficient to command a vk vv of ill his dominions. Let the floor be of brick,* to prevent noise, and * N^ota bene. The brick must '» laid upon a floor of boa'-ds, with air .irculatiig beneath, parti uialy ni a humid atmosphere, lest it should become damp and unwholesome. 24 let it slope sradually from the door down to the seat of the teacher. Let the vvhol • area lie covered with singla desi^s, one behind the other, witli aisles belvvceui the pupils, while at their desks, sitting witii their baci s to the master; this arrangement answering the same t nd as blind bridles upon carriage horses, that tiioy cannot see the danger from behind, but being in momentary expectation of it, will be alw ays on the alert. The throne, as I said, must be situated in the centre of the lower end. Before it, in a space left fo" the purpose, must be fixed a si;micircular bench for the class under recitation, from which, at the signal, one class can retire, and to which another can repair, wheeling in easv circles through the aisles, like well-trained battalions, wit'iout any confusion. The small 'st boys I would have to occupy the S'-ats nearest the focus of light and warmth, like the planet Vlercury, be- cause, having most mercury in their constitutions, they would be most apt to be flighty, if moving in a remoter orbit. If I durst add another appurtenance to my schoolroom, it shoukl be a small apartment in the rear, just behind the throne, made strong, with no exterior window for admittins the wliispers of sympathy, but only a grated window, openine into the schoolroom and affording sullicient light for study. Need I mention the pmpose of this mysterious apartment? It is for the accommodation of criminals and debtors, and by way of variety in tlie penal code, to relieve the right hand of the teacher from per- petual vibration, and to prevent the too rapid exhaustion of those birchen and chinquepin nurseries before mentioned. Here the dt lin- quont could, during play hours, repent of his offences in solitary me- ditation, assisted by fasting ; and here th' truant and the idler could be tasked and made to pay their debts, an advantage unattainod by th'" usual imprisonm >nt of del)tors, whose time is completely th.own away both to themselves and their creditors. A schoolroom thus eon- structed, would be attended with many advantages; the teacher ha vino- every facility both for communicating instruction and maintaining or- der, commanding, like Jupiter from the top of Olympus, his whole dominions with one glance of " tiiat eye whose bend doth awe the world," and ruling all by the tap of his ferula or the nod of his head. Shakes his ambrosial curls and gives the nod, The stamp of fat and sanction of a god. If any of my audience should here cha.ge me with an oversiorht in supposing a monarch to rule with a nod, subjects who sit with their backs to him, I can only say that such an objector k;iows not the marvellous flexibility of the iiuman neck, nor how often a schoolboy is found in the posture ot Lot's wife. 2i> I am scuh;il)le of the peril to which 1 am exposing myj^olf hv tiiest T>iig 4-ir