r K o (; I-: j<: d i n ci s 
 
 or THK 
 
 AMERICAN LYCEUM. 
 
 NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1832. 
 
 WOS. V. & VI. 
 
 School Discipline. 
 
 Essay on School Discipline, read before the American Lyceum, May 
 
 5tii, 1832. 
 
 By John Guiscom. 
 
 Published by order of the Lyceum.. 
 
 The subject assigned to me, in the exercises of the present Anni- 
 versary, as I find it on the minutes of last year, is comprehended in 
 two words — ‘ School Discipline.’ 
 
 In reflecting for a moment on the nature of the duty thus prescribed, 
 it seems important to inquire into the meaning, both literal and fig- 
 urative, — of the term Discipline. Derived as it is, from the Latin 
 Disco, to learn, it has been employed by the masters of eloquence, in 
 ancient and modern language, with a latitude of application, corres- 
 pondent with the necessity which men have felt of becoming acquaint- 
 ed with their duties, in all the diversified conviction of their mental 
 and physical existence. Hence the terms Disciplina, and Discipline, 
 may be considered, in the various uses to which they have been appli- 
 ed, as synonymous with Instruction, Government, Law, Science, Cor- 
 rection, Chastisement, Moral Order, Religion, and other terms of 
 analogous import. Justified by such an extent of meaning, I might, 
 perhaps, consider myself at liberty, to ‘ expatiate free o’er all that 
 scene,’ which the nature of Education and Schools, would readily 
 present. Persuaded, however, that this would not be compatible 
 with a due regard to the patience of my audience, or the benefit of 
 our cause, and warned by the fact that numerous and valuable Essays 
 on Schools and Instruction, have recently issued from the presses of 
 Europe and America, I shall limit my remarks to such branches of 
 the subject as arise most prominently before me, and accord most 
 fully with my own experience. 
 
 That the judicious regulation and government of schools, is a vital 
 part of civil polity, and that it ought to claim far more attention than 
 it receives from lawgivers and philanthropists, will be admitted, I 
 5 
 
34 
 
 School Discipline. 
 
 trust, by all who are acquainted with the state of practical education 
 in this and in other countries. If the welfare of society is really con- 
 nected with the diffusion of learning, — if schools are absolutely ne- 
 cessary to a nation’s growth and elevation in all that adds dignity to 
 national existence, — if they contribute to family enjoyment, — to the 
 delights of social intercourse, — to the preservation of morals, — to the 
 interests of religion, — then, assuredly, ought schools to be rendered 
 universally, not only thoroughly efficient in the communication of 
 knowledge, and the right training of the juvenile mind, but they 
 should, to the utmost practical extent, be made attractive and delight- 
 ful. Indeed, the latter quality is, in a great measure, essential to the 
 former, — for(it is evidently a law of our being, that we can, and do, 
 from infancy to old age, pursue most successfully those objects which 
 yield us pleasure in the pursuit. In the early stages of pupilage, it 
 is more especially important that the paths of learning be strewed 
 with allurements, — that the nursery and the domestic circle be will- 
 ingly exchanged for the school room and its classes, and the future 
 man be drawn cheerfully and effectually into the folds of learning, 
 and gradually inured to that intellectual labor, without which, neither 
 the depths of learning nor the heights of science can ever be attained. 
 
 The time has been, when the general fault of schools was a severity 
 and monotony of discipline, which rendered them absolutely and 
 frightfully repulsive to the feelings of childhood. The lessons which 
 ^children were compelled to study, were wrapt in language so unin- 
 telligible, as to divest them of all attraction, and the physical re- 
 straints to which the young pupils were compelled to submit, were so 
 irksome to the natural activity of youth, as to occasion the name of 
 schools and lessons to become the bugbear of the nursery. In these 
 respects there has been of late years, at least in this country, a great 
 ^amelioration. Who now, that witnesses the hilarity and sparkling 
 intelligence of a good infant school, docs not believe that if he had i 
 been thus initiated in the mysteries of knowledge, his attachment to ! 
 learning would have been more early and effectually secured ? 
 
 There is danger, however, on the right hand as well as on the left. 
 
 It is possible so to flatter the senses and the fancies of children as to 
 excite a continual appetite for the mere play of the mind, and so to 
 render the exercises of a school a matter of social amusement, as to 
 create a disrelish for the essential business of abstract study, and close 
 individual application. Every judicious teacher will therefore en- 
 deavor to avoid the two extremes, of a dull and rigid formality on the 
 one hand, — and, on the other, of implanting the habit of a merely 
 superficial attention to those things which cultivate the imagination 
 at the expense of the reasoning powers. 
 
 Among the different heads under which the Discipline of Schools 
 may be regarded, we may consider, as of primary importance, the 
 relation which ought to subsist between teachers and employers. It 
 is probable that by far the greater number of schools in this country, 
 particularly in the northern and middle States, is under the dircc- 
 
I 
 
 t 
 
 V 
 
 School Discipline. 35 
 
 tion of trustees, or committees appointed by the inliabitarits of the 
 district or neighborhood, wlio are the proi)rictors of the buiJding in 
 wliicli the scliool is licld, Tlie trustees are, generally, invested with 
 power to employ or dismiss the teacher, and to prescribe rules for 
 ins government. While therefore it is expected, that the teacher 
 shali be solely responsible for the good management of the school, and 
 the improvement of the children in all their studies, he is himself 
 under the control of the board of trustees, and is perpetually liable to 
 their animadversions. He feels this restraint, and unless he receives 
 from them an open-handed and liberal course of treatment, it is 
 scarcely possible for him to allow the energies of his character to 
 gain their full developement, and to acquire that ascendancy over the 
 minds of his pupils which is essential to their rapid improvement, and 
 to the good discipline of his school. Disputes between school com- 
 mittees and teachers is a very common source of misgovernment, 
 and insubordination, and failure. It cannot be supposed that the fault 
 does not often lie in the mismanagement and disqualification of the 
 master. Too many there are by far, who undertake the responsible 
 duties of a school master, with a most defective amount of learning, 
 patience, self-government, and personal address; — and with a re- 
 dundant share of conceit, obstinacy, or vanity. It appears to be a 
 very general impression among us, that the most serious and prevail- 
 ing obstacle to the advancement of education, is the great deficiency 
 of qualified teachers. But, if I am not mistaken in my estimate of 
 the causes of failure in schools, which often promise well in the be- 
 ginning, thefe is quite as great a deficiency in the requisite number 
 of well qualified trustees of schools. „ 
 
 These defects are as various as the varying tempers, manners, and 
 dispositions of men. But a very general source of disqualification in 
 school committees is a frigid indifference to the concerns of the 
 school, and to the comfort and encouragement of the teachers. Visits 
 to the school are seldom paid, — examination of the scholar’s progress 
 rarely made with the needful patience and discrimination, — the 
 difficulties which the teacher has to encounter from the obstinacy, 
 ill temper, or unreasonableness of parents and children are too fre- 
 quently neglected, or contemned, — and, instead of interposing their 
 influence in the rectification of the mistakes and prejudices which 
 parents are so apt to fall into from the incorrect representation of 
 their children, and in the manifest^ion of sympathy for one to 
 whom they have committed so difficirf|t and important a trust, — the 
 influence of committees is too often exhibited only in the exercise of 
 authority over the master hims^f. I cannot perceive how it is possi- 
 ble, for a person who holds the office of trustee of a school, to be able 
 to fulfil with entire advantage, the duties which appertain to that sta- 
 tion, without such frequent visits to the school, as shall enable him to 
 discover with certainty the particular habits and qualifications of the 
 teacher, — his mode of classifying and imparting instruction, — the 
 spirit which animates him in his government, — and, if the school be 
 
36 
 
 School Discipline. 
 
 not very large, — the names and characters of some of the best, — and 
 some of the most unmanageable of his pupils. A trustee who is thus 
 attentive to his appointment, has it in his power to interpose most 
 effectually between the teacher and those parents who conceive un- 
 favorable impressions of his ability or government from the partial 
 statements of their children. He may, by timely and judicious ad- 
 monition to the one or the other, restore the feelings of alienated 
 friendship, rectify the errors of domestic government, strengthen 
 the hands of the master, improve his qualifications, and elevate the 
 character of the institution over which he is the appointed guardian. 
 It is scarcely possible, perhaps, for a person to form a just conception 
 of the nature of such services, who has not had some practical ex- 
 perience in the difficulty of governing a school. But where shall 
 men be found possessed of such qualifications, — or, if possessing 
 them, who can afford the time, — or who are disposed, con amort, to 
 bestow such services as these ? Such men do, indeed, occasionally 
 appear; — but, a John Wood is almost as rare a philanthropist, as a 
 John Howard. The one has produced a reformation in prisons; — 
 the other is working, we trust, in Scotland, and indirectly in other 
 countries, — a reform of as great importance in the management of 
 schools. 
 
 ‘ Wherever a seminary, (observes this writer in his excellent ac- 
 count of the Edinburgh Sessional School.) is under the manage- 
 ment of Directors, its success or failure, may, in a great measure de- 
 pend upon the manner on which they discharge their important duties. 
 By cold indifference on the one hand, they may, to a certain degree, 
 damp the ardor, even of the most jealous teacher. By officious in- 
 terference, on the other, they may paralyze his best exertions.’ 
 
 The prevailing errors with respect to the duties of a trusteeship of 
 schools, appear to lie in this, — that men who accept this appointment, 
 often, perhaps reluctantly, not having a right perception of the nature 
 and true spirit of the office, and yet feeling themselves clothed 
 with authority, are disposed to legislate within their sphere. They 
 form opinions of the merits or demerits of the teacher on vague in- 
 formation. They are swayed in their judgments without a due in- 
 vestigation of facts, and thus difficulties and disorders, which might 
 have found a perfect remedy, if judiciously treated, become at length 
 uncontrollable, and end in the disruption of tlie school. 
 
 It would be unreasonable t® •expect that there are many men to be 
 found, who have sufiicient leisure, and who possess the requisite dis- 
 positions, thus to take upon themselves the guardianship of a school ; 
 and we need not be surprised to find, that there are many towns and 
 neighborhoods, wdierc not one sucli individual would present himself 
 to notice. The benefits which trustees of riglit qualifications may 
 confer upon the institutions under their patronage, are incalculable. 
 They form a connecting medium between teachers and parents, and 
 their friendly suggestions will be listened to, when prejudice or 
 passion has almost stifled the corre.spondence between those on 
 
School Discipline. 
 
 37 
 
 whose cordial intcrcourso the welfare and improvement of tlic cliihi 
 so much depend. 'Phe mistakes and incapacity of teachers may not, 
 in many cases, admit of remedy. Tlicir want of self government, 
 may alienate tlie regard of children and parents ; but these and other 
 indiscretions often arise from the absence of that experience with 
 the world, and knowledge of human nature, which to many persons 
 are of slow and difficult attainment. But this deficiency is not incom- 
 patible with many other redeeming qualities, and by a little of the 
 kind interposition of committees, the qualifications of many a teacher 
 may be enhanced, and his talent cultivated, and his services may 
 be retained, and he may become the ornament of a profession, which 
 notwithstanding its matchless importance to the community, numbers 
 so few, comparatively, who are accomplished in the multifarious du- 
 ties which it necessarily imposes. 
 
 But how unfortunate is the condition of that school which is under 
 the control of a board of trustees who have neither the time nor the 
 inclination to bestow upon it that parental and conciliatory agency 
 to which we have alluded. Dependent upon their favor, and subject 
 to their laws, yet unaided by their counsels or encouragement, the 
 teacher of such a school dwells in an atmosphere of mist, which he is 
 unable to dispel. His proceedings are liable to continued misrepre- 
 sentation, — his judgment is constrained, — he is not the master of his 
 own powers. His discipline will be accused by some of undue 
 severity, by others of too great laxity, — with some he will be a decided 
 favorite, — and by others he will be disliked, while his efforts may be 
 conscientiously directed to the impartial discharge of all his duties. 
 
 It would therefore, I conceive, be a point gained in favor of the 
 good discipline of those schools which are under the direction of 
 trustees, few, if any of whom, have it in their power to bestow much 
 attention upon it, if the teacher were considered as a member of their 
 board, and allowed to take part in their deliberations and decisions. 
 No one can possibly be so well acquainted with the circumstances of 
 the school as he, or be so well qualified to offer explanations, and to 
 suggest the best means for the removal of difficulties. A candid and 
 open line of treatment toward him, would thus be secured, and 
 various causes of disaffection be at once removed. He would derive 
 encouragement or admonition from the observations of his equals in 
 authority, and a wider channel of communication with parents would 
 be established. On questions, involving his own immediate interests, 
 or reputation, he would naturally decline to attend, or would other- 
 wise act as discretion or decorum should dictate. 
 
 I have dwelt at some length on this topic, from a persuasion that 
 the cause of education sustains much injury, and that the prosperity 
 of schools is much impeded, from the want of a greater reciprocity o 
 sentiment and feeling between trustees and teachers. Complaints 
 of this nature are everywhere heard ; and better, in general, would it 
 be that teachers should be left to their own enterprize and be respon- 
 sible only to the parents of their scholars, than be subject to the 
 
38 
 
 School Discipline. 
 
 direction of school committees who have not the time or the ability to 
 act the part of faithful and enlightened guardians of the charge com- 
 mitted to them. 
 
 But with respect to the discipline of schools ; — whatever may 
 be the external advantages with which they are. favored, unless the 
 mind of a teacher be itself well disciplined, his school cannot exhibit 
 the perfection of order and good government. The fountain of all 
 true authority in schools, is that unfailing benevolence which cannot 
 be subdued or depressed by misconduct or ingratitude, — that untiring 
 solicitude for the happiness and improvement of every scholar, which 
 puts forth its manifestations in almost every look and action ; and by 
 its almost insensible, but powerful influence, works its way into every 
 mind. There is indeed much, in the employment of a teacher, to damp 
 the ardor of his benevolence. The volatility, and the obduracy, the 
 dullness and the mischievousness which are almost surely to be found 
 in a school of considerable numbers, make continued drafts upon 
 the kindness of the master, and will oft times exhaust it, unless the 
 fund be inexhaustible. But, if he possess that depth of good sense 
 and good feeling, which enables him to regard all these errors of 
 childhood, as diseases of the mind, as incidental to human nature, 
 as a constitutional head-ache or a defect of vision, is to the body, and 
 as requiring an equal share of patience and skill iti the removal of 
 them ; the evidence of this skill and judgment will, in time, come to 
 be universally acknowledged by his juvenile patients, and he will 
 thus acquire an unbounded empire over their good opinions, and 
 secure most effectually their obedience to his prescriptions. 
 
 It needs scarcely perhaps be observed, that how favorable soever 
 may be the natural temperament of a teacher for the exercise of 
 patience, in a persevering endurance of opposition to reasonable au- 
 thority, ‘there is nothing which can so effectually secure him in the 
 possession of that powerful virtue, as a pervading sense of religious 
 obligation. What consideration or principle can so thoroughly fortify 
 the mind against the discouragement of obstinacy and ingratitude, 
 and all the baser propensities which children may bring with them 
 from ill-governed families, as a conviction, that although we are 
 laboring upon a stubborn soil, we may nevertheless be successful not 
 only in eradicating plants of noxious growth, but in cultivating those 
 which are destined to bloom through all futurity? Every teacher 
 whose mind is imbued with the true spirit of Christianity, is a gospel 
 agent, who looks to the end of his ministration, only through the vista 
 of revolving ages; and whose toil is cheered by the celestial illumin- 
 ations which break through the gloom of his darkest hours. And 
 wherever this spirit is tlie presiding genius of the discipline of a 
 school, it will scarcely fail to melt down the bulwarks of opposition, 
 and subject everything to its peaceable dominion. 
 
 Just in proportion, then, as the minds of teachers can be brought 
 into the discipline of that excellent charity, which ‘ suflereth long 
 and is kind, which is not easily provoked, which thinketh no evil, 
 
1 
 
 School Discipline. 39 
 
 which beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things,’ and, 
 ^ ‘which never faileth,’ — in the same proportion will the obstacles to 
 a perfect government of schools be found to subside, and a Christian 
 influence be diffused through the land. 
 
 But with the best moral dispositions on the part of the teacher, aided 
 by consentaneous movements in parents and trustees, are there 
 not certain internal regulations, — modes of classification and govern- 
 ment, — which greatly facilitate the good discipline of schools? All 
 experience must reply in the affirmative. A school has sometimes 
 been regarded as an epitome of a State. Without system, and law, 
 disorder would soon triumph over the best intentions of the rulers, 
 and paralyze all their efforts to promote the interests of the governed. 
 But in schools as well as in states — laws are more cheerfully obeyed 
 when accompanied with a general conviction of their utility and just 
 adaptation to the general welfare. Various attempts have latterly been 
 made to introduce into schools a kind of republican system of self- 
 government, in which the boys elect from their own number, judges, 
 magistrates, sheriffs, advocates, &/C., and condemn the disorderly by 
 jury trial, reserving however, to the master an appeal in the last re- 
 sort, and submitting the whole to his decision. The most remarkable 
 example of this kind of discipline which has fallen within my notice, 
 is described in a volume entitled, ‘ Plans for the government, and 
 liberal instruction of boys in large numbers, as practised at Hazle- 
 wood school.’ This institution is situated near Birmingham, and 
 the proprietors have since established a similar one in the vicinity of 
 London. The work is well written, and has been favorably criticised 
 in the Edinburgh Review, and in the American Journal of Educa- 
 tion. In a second edition, the authors after three years experience 
 remark, ‘ that with one or two unimportant exceptions, all we have 
 done has been to extend the principles on which we originally set out, 
 and not to change them. Of the modes in which those principles 
 have been carried into practice we cannot soy quite so mucli.' It is 
 probable, from this last expression, that the apparatus of courts and 
 bailiffs, and prosecutions, has been found rather too cumbrous for a 
 school. All, that could be expected from it, in point of discipline, 
 would be to exempt the masters of the school from any and every 
 imputation of unfairness in the infliction of penalties for breaches of 
 order. It is undoubtedly of great importance, that there should be a 
 general impression on the mind of a school, that the decisions of the 
 master are always the result of a sound and impartial judgment, and 
 as the pupils increase in age this conviction becomes the more neces- 
 sary. Now it is a truth, of which I think the experience of every 
 discreet teacher, who has given it atrial, will attest the certainty, that 
 whenever the unsophisticated judgments of scholars, on matters fully 
 within the scope of their understandings is fairly appealed to, their 
 decisions are given with the utmost candor and honesty. I have 
 known, in numerous instances not only the question of guilty or not 
 guilty, but also the nature and amount of punishment, referred to a 
 
40 
 
 School Discipline. 
 
 jury, one half of which has been selected by the culprit himself; and 
 in every instance witliin my recollection the verdict has been such 
 as would have done honor to men of mature and penetrating minds. 
 If there is any error, it leans, in general, to the side of severity against 
 the violation of known and established laws. A jury of his peers 
 will also investigate the circumstances of a charge against a student, 
 and examine witnesses, with greater accuracy, or with more of tact, 
 than most men would do who are not very familiar with the habits 
 and feelings of boys. I cannot therefore but believe, that as one of 
 the means by which the discipline of a school, and more especially 
 of a college, may be the most effectually supported, particularly in 
 cases wherein the guilt, or the right kind of punishment is a matter 
 of doubt, a reference of the case to a jury may be safely recommended. 
 To do this on frequent or trivial occasions, would occupy too much 
 time ; nor would it be advisable that the authorities of a school or 
 college should be bound to yield, in any case, their absolute powers. 
 But to receive a sentence of condemnation from a jury of his fellows 
 adds greatly to the humiliation of a student, and that heart must be 
 made of rebellious stuff, that does not quail under such a judgment. 
 By the occasional delegation therefore of authority to such a tribunal, 
 the head or heads of an Institution of learning may, it is conceived, 
 add to their influence, and strengthen the discipline of their estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 Connected with the subject of the government of schools by the 
 agency of the scholars themselves, and with the subjects of school 
 discipline in general, stands the question of monitorial tuition. It must 
 be admitted, that so far as monitors, selected from the more advanced 
 scholars, can be employed with advantage in a school, the use of 
 them, under right management, is favorable to discipline ; for every 
 good monitor becomes interested in the preservation of order, and is 
 invested, by virtue of his office, with a certain portion of authority in 
 preventing the violations of it by others. The feeling of responsibility 
 into which the appointment to this trust introduces the young officer, 
 cannot fail to produce in his mind a sense of the importance of self- 
 government to which he may before have been a stranger ; — and it is 
 truly refreshing to observe, how often this operates to the correction 
 of his own errors, and with what a manly sensibility and devotedness, 
 even very young monitors will address themselves to their sphere of 
 duty. 
 
 I would not now be considered as advocating the system of moni- 
 torial instruction, as a specific system of school government, any fur- 
 ther than to show its connection with the moral discipline of a school. 
 That its natural tendency is to inculcate the necessity of a restraint 
 upon the turbulent and mischievous propensities of youth, I have not 
 the least doubt, and my own observation would lead me to believe that 
 in a school of 500 lioys well regulated under a plan of monitorial sujicr- 
 intendence, there would be less (|uarrelling, noise, turbulence, bad 
 language, or ill manners of any kind, than is usually witnessed in a 
 school of 40, which has no other supervision than that of the teacher. 
 
School Dibcijjline. 
 
 41 
 
 JVlucli may be dune by ins})iriiiir cliildrcn with tin; love of wjcial 
 order, — inducing tliein to regard the presence of each other as an 
 incitement to polite and gentlemanly conduct, — instead of an in- 
 centive to deeds of foolisli bravery and mischief, — and I would beg 
 leave to add very pointedly, my testimony to the value of the method 
 explained by Jacob Abbott, in his lecture on ‘ Moral Education,’ 
 delivered belbre the American Institute of Instruction, at its annual 
 meeting, held at Boston, in 1831. This lecture is contained in the 
 volume of printed lectures, delivered at that session of the Institute. 
 The great object of this method is to encourage that deep and invin- 
 cible regard for candor and truth, which will induce children and* 
 young persons to confess their owii faults, and not to connive at 
 or conceal the faults of others, when the good of the school requires 
 an exposure of them. The instruments by which the moral sense of 
 children is then strengthened and ennobled are love, kindness, and 
 moral suasion. For the method of proceeding, I must refer to the 
 lecture itself. When this sincere regard for truth and honesty is 
 once established, and becomes the prevailing temper of the school, the 
 business of disciplinary government is an easy affair, and a teacher’s 
 task is lightened of half its burden. 
 
 The subject of school discipline might very naturally lead me, 
 were it admissible so, to prolong the time of this lecture, — to an in- 
 quiry into the modes of promoting habits of industry and close ap- 
 plication, — and of course into the debatable question of the expediency 
 or inexpediency of emulation. 
 
 But few subjects in relation to education, have been argued, of late 
 years, with more zeal, than the advantage or disadvantage of making 
 use of this principle in our seminaries of learning. The time has 
 been when emulation was almost universally considered as an indis- 
 pensable stimulus to the industry of youth. And at the present time 
 the advocates of emulation appear to take the ground, that those 
 who oppose it and who profess to dispense with it altogether in their 
 practice, do not understand the meaning of the term, and are all the 
 while rendering the thing itself subservient to their cause. This dis- 
 crepancy of views with respect to the nature of the principle, may 
 have led into some mistakes. Some who think they have discarded 
 it entirely, may be insensibly availing themselves of its indirect in- 
 fluence upon the minds of their eleves ; while others, in the open and 
 undisguised employment of it, may inculcate sentiments which raise 
 the minds of their youth far above all the degrading and injurious 
 influences of mere personal strife. It seems to me to be a question, 
 whether in the pursuit of any valuable intellectual, or moral attain- 
 ments, we can possibly divest ourselves entirely of a tacit compatison 
 of ourselves with others, and of deriving a portion of encouragement, 
 not to say self-congratulation, from the belief that we are approaching 
 to the standard of some, and surpassing that of others, in knowledge 
 and goodness. If this feeling is essentially interwoven with our 
 nature, — if its effect is to animate us in our efforts either of active 
 
42 
 
 School Discipline. 
 
 beneficence, or self-denial, and if it be a feeling not inconsistent 
 with Christian humility, — then do not those theorists go too far, who 
 assert that emulation is a vicious principle, and ought not to be used 
 as an instrument in education ? Admitting even that emulation may 
 be styled a selfish principle, — that is to say, so far selfish as to urge 
 us to the greatest possible acquisitions in knowledge and virtue,- — 
 does it necessarily imply an inward gratification at the depression of 
 others, — or a sentiment of dislike at their elevation ? May not an 
 ardent desire to be equal to the foremost in the race of virtue, consist 
 with the benevolent desire that all our fellows may keep us company 
 in the pursuit ? In short it appears to be impracticable to sustain a 
 logical argument on the question of emulation, without a previous 
 accurate definition of the term ; — and, in relation to our present sub 
 ject the jnain question is, whether children ought to be excited to 
 diligence by such arrangements in classes and recitations, as shall 
 induce each one, to compare his own doings with those of others, — 
 and whether, in case of inertness or negligence, the example of any 
 of his class mates should be held up to his view as a stimulus to 
 greater exertion. That we cannot divest ourselves entirely of a dis- 
 position to make those comparisons, I think must be granted. If 
 they are never to be indulged, we deprive ourselves of the benefit of 
 example ; and without the incitement of example, what advancement 
 would be witnessed either in the corporeal dexterity, or in the intel- 
 lectual or moral attainments of children? Example or imitation is 
 the great lever by which children are led on to almost every attain- 
 ment beyond the impulses of mere animal instinct. 
 
 But comparisons, even in the mind of a child, may become invidi- 
 ous. They may mingle with the baser passions of the mind, and the 
 association may become so familiar, as to injure the moral qualities. 
 That such a consequence may be avoided, — that the generous feel- 
 ings of many minds, and the gentleness of many others, utterly 
 repudiate, in their emulous desires after excellence, every malign 
 sentiment toward those whom they are striving to excel, there can be 
 no doubt; — but it may in turn be urged, that with such generous 
 natures as these, the stimulus of emulation, as it is ordinarily em- 
 ployed in schools, is not necessary ; that knowledge will be loved and 
 acquired for its own sake, and from a sense of the benefit which it is 
 capable of conferring. May we not then arrive at the conclusion, 
 that as it respects the discipline of schools, a faithful, talented, ami 
 pious teacher has it in his power, to use the principle of emulation M'ilh 
 such discrimination as to subserve a valuable purpose without injury ; 
 and, that he has it also in hispoivcr, to inspire his pupils with an 
 ardent thirst for knowledge without resorting to such a stimulus. 
 
 If we consult the opinions of those who have distinguished them- 
 selves as writers on education, we shall find a contrariety of views on 
 this important subject. In practice, the instances, I apprehend, are 
 comparatively few, in which schools and colleges have excluded 
 those arrangements which foster the principle of emulous exertion. 
 
School Discipline, 
 
 43 
 
 The sentiments of Dr. Lindsley, as contained in his letter wliich has 
 been read to this board, are, however, very pointed on this subject, 
 and the example and experience of so able and excellent an instructor, 
 is almost sutlicient to excite the emulation of others to pursue the 
 same course. Examples of this nature it is hoped will be multiplied 
 in our own country, and that the fruits of such experience will become 
 generally known. 
 
 There are various other points of consideration within the scope of 
 my subject, which would admit of enlargement; — but excepting to 
 those who are practically interested in the details of a school, they 
 would not afford sufficient interest to justify any further encroach- 
 ment of the time of this meeting. I will merely observe, in conclu- 
 sion, that the discipline of a school is greatly facilitated by the preva- 
 lence of good taste, and good domestic government in the vicinity 
 around it, and that we may reasonably cherish the expectation, that 
 the establishment .and support of Lyceums may become a powerful 
 auxiliary, in this respect, to the cause of general education.