158 



®l)c JTcmmr's illontljlg Visitor. 



Coi!iiuo» School Ik-partiiient. 



CONDUCTED BV PROF. RUSTi 



From the Report ot" the N. H. Commissioner of Common 

 Schools. 

 Common School Education. 

 Great misapprehension exists in regard to tlie 

 nature of elementary education. A glance at 

 the etymology of the word will shed light upon 

 the subject. Education is derived from the Latin 

 word educo, and means to lead forth, to draw out. 

 Education, as applied to man, is the development 

 of the faculties, their direction to appropriate 

 objects and means of expansion. In connection 

 with the literal import of the word, we should 

 consider the constitutional elements of the child, 

 and then we may answer intelligently the oft- 

 repeated question " What is the appropriate edu- 

 cation of a human being?" 



A physical constitution is a prime element of 

 humanity. This must he trained, and its pow- 

 ers developed. Physical education embraces 

 that training of the body which will render it 

 vigorous, strengthen its parts, and enable it to 

 resist every artificial appliance of art, calculated 

 to injure ils structure. Nature is the great 

 teacher, and we should follow her as rigidly as 

 possible. The tyranny of misdirected fashion 

 lias so controlled mankind, that great care is re- 

 quisite to break up these bad practices and ha- 

 bits, and woo us hack again to primitive simplici- 

 ty. Peculiar importance is attached to physical 

 education, in view of the intimate connection 

 existing between the body and the mind. Of 

 what value to a frail, delicate physical constitution, 

 is a gigantic intellect, a brilliant genius, or a 

 highly cultivated taste ? So choice a gem as a 

 cultivated mind should he enshrined in the 

 most appropriate and beautiful casket ; at least, 

 in one that glows with freshness and vigor. A 

 neglect of physical culture has darkened the 

 flattering prospects ol many promising youth, 

 dashed the brightest lights from the pulpit, and 

 lias crowded our grave-yards with magnificent 

 ruins. The proper culture of the body includes 

 that process of development that may be neces- 

 sary to furnish a symmetrical, healthy, and ele- 

 gant mansion for the residence of the priceless 

 mind. 



Another prime element of humanity is intel- 

 lect. The intellectual education of a human be- 

 ing embraces all that influence exerted in the 

 symmetrical development and thorough training 

 of the faculties of the mind. It does not con- 

 sist merely in the acquisition of knowledge, but 

 also in rigid mental discipline. The latter is 

 pre-eminent in its claims. The mere acquisi- 

 tion of knowledge, though highly valuable in re- 

 gard to the practical purposes of life, sustains a 

 subordinate relation to that of thorough disci- 

 pline. This elicits the resources of the child's 

 intellect, and prepares him to think and act in 

 all the varied and conflicting exigencies of life. 

 It is by this discipline that our youth can secure 

 ability to govern their passions, restrain the 

 wildness of their imaginations, and devote their 

 attention to thorough investigation, regardless ol 

 the fiisciuatiorts of the senses. This power is 

 not the gift of creation, hut of protracted mental 

 discipline. Rigid training and close thought can 

 alone prepare the mind to unravel sophistry, 

 vanquish error, and defend the truth. Our 

 youth should he educated for the world of reali- 

 ty, prepared to grapple with life's bitterest foes, 

 and meet all the responsibilities peculiar to the 

 age with sterling ability and heroic courage. 

 The acquisition of knowledge is indeed an im- 

 portant item of intellectual education. A liimil- 

 iar acquaintance with the elementary branches 

 of science, a knowledge of the thrilling facts 

 and delightful phenomena of the natural world, 

 are acquisitions of great value. These inspire 

 the youthful mind with pleasing emotions, fur- 

 nish valuable material for contemplation, and af- 

 ford Increased facilities for the performance of 

 duty. That system of elementary education is 

 the most perfect which combines ti.is acquisition 

 with « In- most thorough discipline. A mind thus 

 trained is not only prepared to drive in the earth, 

 but to soar, in the heavens. It is fitted for fearful 

 conflicts and splendid achievements. It selects 

 the vast universe us the field of thought, <m<I 



plucks flowers from the pathway of revolving 

 worlds. 



A child possesses a mo'al nature, and its com- 

 plete education implies the cultivation of its 

 moral powers. These susceptibilities require 

 early training and careful culture. The con- 

 science must he enlightened and exercised. It 

 is a law of our nature, that the proper use of a 

 faculty is necessary not only for its perfection, 

 but even for its preservation. In educating the 

 conscience, we should endeavor to secure its 

 early development and vigorous exercise, and 

 illumine the path of the child with the rays of 

 heavenly light. A child will no more grow up 

 to a perfect moral development without educa- 

 tion, than he will become a splendid linguist, or 

 a profound mathematician, without it. Parents 

 who expect their offspring to become models of 

 excellence and morality, without patient moral 

 culture, will be sadly disappointed. We might 

 as well expect a fine crop of wheat from an un- 

 sown field, or an elaborate discussion of some 



recondite branch of science from an illiterate 

 youth. Moral culture should receive special at- 

 tention in the district school. If it be neglected 

 in this early period of instruction, it may never 

 be obtained ; and the loss will be irreparable. It 

 is vastly easier and safer to pre-occupy the mind 

 with good principles than to allow bad ones to 

 take the precedence, and then impose upon the 

 educators of the rising generation the stupen- 

 dous task of breaking up aud eradicating them 

 before the mind can be prepared for the recep- 

 tion of correct ones. 



The great work of education, physical, intel- 

 lectual, aud moral, should be carried forward in 

 harmony, without giving any particular depart- 

 ment of culture the precedence, to the neglect 

 of another. Great care should he employed in 

 securing a healthy physical constitution, as this 

 furnishes a permanent foundation for all subse- 

 quent attainments; aud if health be sacrificed, 

 all other acquisisjtions, no matter how valuable 

 or brilliant they may be, are comparatively 

 worthless. Intellectual and moral culture must 

 not be separated. Their union is crowned with 

 the choicest blessings, anil their divorce would 

 be a catastrophe most deeply to be deplored. 

 Even elementary, intellectual culture, without 

 moral, may prove a curse rather than a blessing. 

 Reading may become a source of evil, by famil- 

 iarizing the mind with thoughts Calculated to 

 debase the imagination and corrupt the heart. 

 Arithmetic may become the science of dishon- 

 esty, rather than that (d' numbers. Geography 

 and Navigation may prove powerful auxiliaries 

 in the destruction of human hopes and happi- 

 ness. Brilliant talents and extensive intellectual 

 culture, without morality, will lessen personal 

 enjoyment, and may vastly increase the miser',' 

 of others. The mind may be imbued with the 

 Ime of ages, the imagination may revel amid the 

 splendor of her magnificent creations, but -id 

 these intellectual attainments, without moral in- 

 fluence, will in their effects resemble the sweep- 

 ing deluge, rather than the genial shower, aud 

 will bear in their path desolation and ruin, rather 

 than peace and happiness. The brightest beams 

 of knowledge have often gilded a corrupt heart 

 with dazzling light. Bacon was a star of the 

 first magnitude in the intellectual horizon, hut 

 for luck of moral principle richly merited Pope's 

 antithesis : 



" The greatest, wisest, meanest of mauUciuY' 

 Lord Byron, who "shot madly from his sphere" 

 and " from the zenith dropped like a meteor 

 star," is an illustration of defective moral culture. 

 Let those stars, which for a time shone so bril- 

 liantly in the firmament of intellect, but have 

 now gone down in darkness and gloom, remind 

 us of the stern necessity of recognizing the 

 moral nature of youth in our system of educa- 

 tion. 



It would he equally disastrous to cultivate the 

 moral nature alone, to the neglect of the intel- 

 lectual. Such a course would curse the world 

 with a swarm of bigots and fanatics, who would 

 make sad havoc Willi Ihn dearest interests ot 

 the community. 



Wherever ignorance enshrouds, the minds of 

 the people, superstition triumphs. Ignorance of 

 tin- laws of the natural world has converted the. 

 sublimes! movements into imaginary dangers. 

 It fills the head with puerile notions and foolish 



whims; the atmosphere with frightful appari- 

 tions, and graveyards with ghosts; — in a word, 

 it transforms this beautiful world into a dismal 

 wilderness. The true idea of education em- 

 braces the harmonious development of the three- 

 fold nature of the child, and this important truth 

 should exert a controlling influence in the in- 

 structions of every teacher in the State. 



The great desideratum of the State, is a more 

 period system of Common Schools, and it will 

 contribute more to her permnnent prosperity 

 thun any other measure that can be adopted. 

 Let some of the States boast, if they will, of 

 their internal improvements ; others that the 

 sails of their commerce whiten every sea, and 

 furnish us with the luxuries of every clime. 

 Let some pride themselves upon the amount and 

 character of their manufactures, and the ingenu- 

 ity of their artisans; and others in the advance- 

 ment of their agricultural interests ; hut let out- 

 great glory be, that we have been foremost in 

 furnishing the mind of a nation; that we have 

 made liberal provision for the education of our 

 youth. While neighboring States are distin- 

 guished by valuable facilities for commerce and 

 internal improvements of a varied character, do 

 not our past history and future prospects indi- 

 cate that eminent success will crown our efforts 

 in cultivating mind ? 



In no other way can we retain our influence 

 in the councils of the nation, and perpetuate the 

 blessings of religious liberty, but in the eleva- 

 tion of our district schools, and the general dif- 

 fusion of knowledge. In this department of la- 

 bor, New Hampshire may compete with the 

 world. Our climate and scenery arc admirably 

 adapted to develop bold, gigantic intellect, sterl- 

 ing integrity, aud an indomitable Jove of free- 

 dom. Mountainous countries are universally 

 distinguished for vigor of thought and activity of 

 mind. Our children have been endowed by 

 nature with all the elements of greatness ; they 

 are inure I to healthy employments, aud are in- 

 vigorated by the mountain breezes. 



The noblest intellects of the age, whose bril- 

 liant light now enlivens the hemisphere, and ex- 

 cites the admiration of the world, a few years 

 since emitted only a flickering ray in one of our 

 obscure district schools. And even now in the 

 common schools of New Hampshire may be 

 found intellects so vast, so far reaching, that, 

 with appropriate culture, they will call forth the 

 admiration of the nation. Let the district school, 

 located in the verdant valley, or on the rock- 

 ribbed hill, be so improved that it may afford all 

 ri qui.ite facilities for the thorough education of 

 our youth, surrounded by so many propitious 

 circumstances, and the Slate shall heroine dis- 

 tinguished for the number, as well as the great- 

 ness, of her great men. God designs that New 

 England shall be a fountain of moral and intel- 

 lectual power. By thoroughly educating the 

 rising generation, we may erect the most SUCH 

 cessful barrier against crime, add the greatest 

 security aud dignity to the State, and fill a 

 bright and cn;i~| ieuous chapter in our future 



IlislolT. 



Douele your .iio.NKV. — By taking an interest 

 in jour schools and Jour children.--' proficiency, 

 you can double the value of your school money 

 and make one dollar worth two. Let children 

 see that their parents feel a deep interest in their 

 improvement, and they will be likely to feel the 

 same. Talk with lliein — see if they learn tho- 

 roughly — encourage them, and always visit the 

 school. Half a day spent for that purpose vvSH 

 be worth mine than a five dollar hill to lengthen 

 out the school. Why not make the most of 

 your money ? 



But if the scholars' mind become too intensely 

 absorbed in the studies, check it even if he or 

 sin' must be. taken from the school. It is danger- 

 ous to health and life. Such cases, however, are 

 comparatively few. 



As gold is liiost frequently found in small 

 grains and sfltlorr) in large masses, so with 

 fcaowlerlge: He who would gather much and 

 become rich, must he content wit b obtaining a 

 grain at a time, lint let him not become wea- 

 ried, or discouraged, because of the slowness of 

 his gains; for he may rest assured that by pa- 

 tience and perseverance he will, in time, a muss 

 as much us he vents. 



