OF EDUCATION 13 



thing. I had previously inquired of the chairman 



what I should do when the seats were all taken. He 



said " close the doors of course "; and I simply carried 



out the order. I could not see why a class in the 



grammar school should be divided and the poorest 



scholars sent to the high school and put to work in 



higher books, while the best ones were retained in 



the grammar school and put into lower books. But 



that is just what was done, and I have the means of 



proof. When, as a citizen, interested in the rights 



of the scholars in both schools, I raised a question or 



two about it, I was told that I had " nothing to do 

 about it ;" that I was " paid for my services, " and I 



" need not be so conscientious about it. " They 

 took it for granted that I was a hireling. I have never 

 acknowledged myself a hireling in educational mat- 

 ters, although the attempt has often been made to 

 compel me to act like one, and to give up all sense of 

 right, in order to please A, B, and C. Here is where 

 the difficulty all comes in. The three or four men 

 who have been so busy during the past few weeks, 

 never tell their real objection, but go about with 

 falsehood on their lips, telling what "they say." 

 These men have acted the part of ' ' coward calumny ' ' 

 that always ' ' stabs in the dark. " The only man who 

 has had the fairness to state his grievance publicly, 

 for the last ten years, is Mr. Xenophon Mills. He 



