THE SCHOOLMASTER AT HOME. 167 



stuff; the name of this useful book was the Gentleman Instructed. 

 The furniture was of a heterogenous character, bespeaking the 

 multifarious occupations of the pedagogue. In a corner by the 

 fire-side was his bed, over which were hanging sundry kinds of 

 fish, put to smoke or dry, over the door were nets and rods, along- 

 the walls were hanging a number of dead rabbits, and over the 

 game was suspended a bag full of foeted ferrets, all which bespoke, 

 that independent of his college, this worthy Principal, drew much 

 of his livelihood from the sea in summer, and from the sand hills 

 in winter. Then the quaint look of the Ludimagister himself; 

 his wig, that seemed to be made of the dag wool of the hairy sheep 

 of the island, grown small by scratching, hung on the left side of 

 his head, being pushed away by the pen which was fixed in his 

 right ear. With a magisterial scrape of the foot, and an important 

 bow, he bade us welcome. Sir, says the vicar, I am glad to see 

 a school established on the island, I hope you are doing well. 

 Oh yes. Sir, very well indeed, his Reverence the priest approves 

 of my method ; I came in order to please his Reverence, my 

 ^^ Magnus Apollo," and teach the natives not only the rudiments 

 of reading and writing, but also arithmetic, scientific and commer- 

 cial, gauging, surveying, and navigation, the use of the globes, 

 geography, and the mathematics, and I have left my late estab- 

 lishment in Courtmasherry, and the Lord will, I trust, prosper 

 me in the desire to communicate the liberal arts to the poor 

 islanders. Having delighted some of the little scholars by asking 

 them to spell a few words, and giving them half-pence, we 

 evacuated the academy, and my friend said on leaving it, I am 

 glad the new Priest is sufficiently liberal to allow a school to be 

 established here. The owner of the island some time ago built 

 a school-house, and offered to pay a master but the Priest, his 

 miraculous Reverence, said he would allow no School, they were 

 well enough without learning ; the fish were caught, and the 

 potatoes grew without it, and men could do all that man wanted, 

 eat, drink, and sleep. It was a happy little place, and he would 

 not alter things, or turn what was well enough inside out — such 

 were his authoritative reasons. He argued "if ignorance be 

 bliss, 't is folly to be wise ! ! " 



