A CHAPTER ON SCHOOL-HOUSES. 267 



sight. To be convinced of this, it is only necessary to inquire, and 

 it will be found that in the homes of many of the pupils of the for- 

 lorn-looking school-house, the utmost propriety, order, and method 

 reigns. Nay, even within the school-house itself, "heaven's first 

 law " is obeyed, perhaps to the very letter. But to look at the ex- 

 terior, it would appear that the " abbot of unreason," and not the 

 " school-master," was " abroad." The truth seems to be simply this. 

 The school-master does not himself appreciate the beautiful in rural 

 objects ; and, content with doing what he conceives his duty to the 

 heads of his pupils, while they are within the school-house, he 

 abandons its externals to the juvenile " reign of terror." 



Nothing is so convincing on these subjects as example. We 

 saw, last summer, in Dutchess County, New- York, a free school, 

 erected to fulfil more perfectly the mission of an ordinary district 

 school-house, which had been built by a gentleman, whose taste 

 and benevolence seem, like sunshine, to warm and irradiate his 

 whole neighborhood. It was a building simple enough, after ah 1 . 

 A projecting roof, with slightly ornamented brackets, a pretty 

 porch, neat chimney tops ; its color a soft neutral tint ; these were 

 its leading features. But a single glance at it told, in a moment, 

 that the evil spirit had be#n cast out, and the good spirit had taken 

 its place. The utmost neatness and cleanliness appeared in every 

 part. Beautiful vines and creepers climbed upon the walls, and 

 hung in festoons over the windows. Groups of trees, and flowering 

 shrubs, were thriving within its inclosure. A bit of neat lawn sur- 

 rounded the building, and was evidently an object of care and re- 

 spect with the pupils themselves. Altogether, it was a picture of a 

 common district school which, compared with that we before de- 

 scribed, and which one every day sees, was a foretaste of the mille- 

 nium. If any stubborn pedagogue doubts it, let him come to us, 

 and we will direct him on a pilgrimage to this Mecca, which is only 

 eight miles from us. 



It appears to us that a great error has taken deep root in the 

 minds of most parents and teachers, regarding the influence of or- 

 der and beauty on the youthful mind. Ah ! it is precisely at that 

 age in youth when the heart is most sensitive, when the feelings 

 are more keenly alive than at any other ; it is precisely at that age 



