Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 431: Volume 17, New Series, April 3, 1852Various
General
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 431: Volume 17, New Series, April 3, 1852
Various
Periodicals
On observing these curious and far from pleasing peculiarities of the
school, the intelligent and humane clergyman easily accounted for the
spirit of destructiveness among the children; and his first step was
to induce the teacher to take his leather from the end of the cane;
and next, to turn the desks so that the boys sat with their backs to
the windows, and the teacher's path lay on the other side of the room.
Then the minister went frequently into the school, and examined so
severely, that both teacher and pupils had more to do than to give
their attention to the flies. As this was not yet entirely
satisfactory in its results, the minister took advantage of the hot
summer weather, to have instruction given only in the afternoon, when
the school was not so full of flies, and thus he gradually banished
the insects from the thoughts of teacher and children. But he knew
that it was of little avail solely to pull the weeds out of the young
mind. He obtained an unoccupied piece of land fit for planting, and,
not far from the school, laid out a school-garden. This pleased the
teacher, and the children willingly took part in the task, for they
had soon learned to like their new minister, who came and worked
amongst them. The garden was surrounded by a hedge planted with trees
and shrubs, and each child had a tree or shrub given him to take care
of. A nursery was soon laid out, and provision made for plenty of
larger gardens and orchards in the village. And, behold! the spirit
of destructiveness among the children soon passed away; and every
man's fruit and garden became safe, the youths even begging of their
parents that trees might be planted in the fields for them to take
care of. The new spirit was communicated from children to parents,
till it spread throughout the entire village; every family had its
pretty little garden; an emulation in cultivating flowers sprang into
existence; idle and bad habits disappeared; and gradually the whole
place was a scene of moral as well as of physical beauty.
This incident, the truth of which can be vouched for, has been
communicated to us by a lady of rank, who happens to have lately
become acquainted with the circumstances, and has thought that their
publicity may be advantageous. We have no doubt of the fact, that the
practice of amateur gardening is never associated with evil, but is
always a token of advanced tastes and correct habits. Let every one,
therefore, within his sphere, do what he can to promote this most
desirable pursuit. We would further say, let every school, so far as
it can conveniently be done, have its garden, not only for purposes of
amusement, but as an important engine of education.
FACTS AS TO OYSTER-EATING.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account