516 Jhrdahips suffered 



millions for the amount of taxes which 

 ate to cease; in the mode of payment 

 above dcsciiijed, tJie remaining sbtty 

 operate with a weight and pressure fully 

 equal to that which one hundred anrl 

 tweiiti/ millions did at the time these taxes 

 were imposed: and this fact will satisfac- 

 torily account for the dcstrnclion which 

 -taxation is at present spreading Ihrougli 

 the coniitiy ; and it affords strong corro- 

 boration of the opinion, now ])relty ge- 

 nerally expressed, that it cannot conti- 

 7tue te be borne. 



John H, Moogridge. 

 ' lAurumnfy ; Dec. 9. 



'^o. the Editor of the Monthhj Magazine. 

 •■-*H SIK, 



JIl S a friend to humanity, I beg leave 

 Xs. to plead tlie cause of the unhappy 

 school-hoy, in offering a few remarks on 

 tlie present method of education in our 

 public schools. I call him unhappy, 

 iiot because I think that the situation of 

 a school-boy is at all times a miserable 

 one whilst he is at school, but because 

 the neglect of his education will often 

 produce unhappincss after he has en- 

 tered into the world. This inattention 

 does not appear to lie witii his parents, 

 but with those under whose care he is 

 placed, after he has left his paternal 

 roof. 'J'iie master should be to him as a 

 father, since under that character he w ill 

 be able to ensure the esteem, the hum- 

 ble and willing obedience, of his pupils, 

 wliom we should then see returning with 

 eqnftl joy to their schools and tlirir 

 homes. I would not wish for the man 

 who is so easy and good-tempered as to 

 suffer himself to become the dupe of his 

 scholars, nor him who is so severe, and 

 of such a fiery temper, as to exercise the 

 part of a hursh tyrant, who corrects for 

 bis own pleasure, without consulting the 

 benefit of tlie transgressor; but him who 

 will be beloved and respected by his pu- 

 pils wliilst instructing them, and who, 

 after he shall have peiformed his duty, 

 may have the satisfaction to see that he 

 bath not laboured in vain. In order to 

 gain their esteem whilst he is employed 

 in their education, kindness and due at- 

 tention are necessary ; if these shall have 

 been properly bestowed upon them, the 

 itiasier cannot fail of securing the respect 

 due to him. He may be assured that, if 

 the seed has been carefully sown on good 

 ground, the sower will not be unre- 

 warded, and fluit, e\pn as is the root, so 

 wilUje the tree. 



Kttt the cultivation of tlie mind, the 

 carfe of the body, and tlic improvement 



by School-Boys. [Jan. 1, 



of the heart, should be all equally at- 

 tended to. 1'he first of these might be 

 advanced, if our worthy instructors were 

 to change their present plan, and, in- 

 stead of receiving so many pupils, and 

 of demanding so exorbitantly for each, 

 let their ninnber be diminished, ai^d 

 I will (hen grant them their usual salary. 

 By this alteration we should not hear of 

 the frequent advertisements for those 

 poor creatures who go under the specious 

 name of ushers, many of whom arc little 

 better than slaves, who are often inca- 

 pable of maintaining their dignity, as 

 ushers, with the senior lads of a schooj, 

 and almost too ignorant to teach (he 

 least knowing. 



Other remarks I might olTcr, relating 

 (o the improvements which niigiit be 

 made for cultivating the mind with 

 greater facility; but, as \ fear this paper 

 would, by such remarks, be piolongedto 

 a length not usually allotted for subject^ 

 of this kind in your valuable miscellany, 

 I will proceed to say a few words rclativp 

 to my second division : — On the neglect 

 ^^ Inch there too often is of the careof the 

 body, at our public schools, it is an evil 

 which deserves notice, and one wjiich 

 the poor school-boy often endeavorns (o 

 niclioratc by his ingenious exertions. 

 E\ery one will grant, that without food 

 we cannot exist ; and most persons know 

 from experience that, « itiiont good food^ 

 the health, as well as the constitution, is 

 endangered. This then I complain of, — 

 first of all, the scanty pittance of many a 

 school-boy, and next tlie imhealthy diet 

 which too frequently falls to his lot. 

 Nevertheless, it is not the luxmics of life 

 we are to look for at the table of school- 

 masters; this would by no means be 

 profitable to them, nor proper for their 

 pupils; but a plain, good, wholesome, 

 meal ought to be every school-boy '.s fare ; 

 he relishes it as well as his ma.ster, and, 

 (hough it might lake from the purse o^ 

 the latter, it vvonld add to his reputation, 

 and to (he health of the former. This is 

 among the great number of miseries at- 

 tendant upon a school life ; and this may 

 be added, that, were the teacliers to use 

 intreaties more fre(piently than (heir 

 threats, a single shake of the head, or a 

 frown, would soon have greater effect 

 than many repeated blows of a cane, 

 more suitable to sujiport tlie bending 

 frame of old age than to be applied to 

 the tender limbs of youth. Again, if 

 kindness and all'eclioi! wcie only substi- 

 tuted for severity and hatred, we should 

 find pupils attending more to the admo- 

 uitiou of Qiiinctiliaii when he tells them. 



