1866, May 30. Gift of Epes Sargent Diswell. THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER. Vol. VI. No. 2.] ELBRIDGE SMITH, EDITOR OF THIS NUMBER. [February, 1853. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS. [A PRIZE ESSAY. BY MISS MARGARET BLISS, OF SPRINGFIELD.] INFINITE benevolence has made ample provision for the happiness of every living being. That not all are happy, is owing mainly to a want of disposition to be so, rather than to outward circumstances or any natural inability. Physical enjoyment is found in obeying the instincts of our nature; in eating, drinking, and sleeping. Such is the happiness of the brute. Intellectual enjoyment is obtained by using the faculties of the mind in acquiring knowledge, and in reflection. But the most exalted happiness arises from a love of what is truly excellent and worthy of love; in loving God, the source of all good, and in being like Him. He is the best educated, who, in the full exercise of his physical and intellectual powers, has also learned to be happy, and it is the duty of the parent and teacher so to control, advise, and direct those placed under their care, that this end may be accomplished. The physical education of children belongs more especially to the parent, whose business it is to provide in a well-ventilated school-room all the conveniences necessary for their comfort. By the increased attention given to this subject of late, it is manifest that this matter is well understood. It is but little that a teacher can do independent of the parent. * * But the training of the intellect has been considered the teacher's exclusive duty. To rouse the slumbering energies of the mind; to excite a thirst for knowledge that will not rest ungratified; to make the pupil feel his own strength, and be satisfied with no present attainments,-this is a teacher's duty. It has been said that a skilful artist sees the statue in a block of marble, and by vigorous strokes of the hammer and chisel, he causes the form of beauty to stand before him, like a thing of life. In like manner, the teacher sees in the youth before him the elements of a character, fitted, it may be, to regulate the affairs of nations, and he makes every exertion to bring the statesman out. And there is as much persevering toil, intense devotion, and all-absorbing love for the work, in the one case as in the other, and a joy at the result as much greater as a living man is better than a senseless stone. In accomplishing this, a judicious teacher will not allow the mind of the pupil to be distracted by a multiplicity of studies, nor discouraged by being too severely tasked. It may be said, that such is the natural indolence of many, and such their aversion to study, that there is but little danger that any will injure themselves by too close application. But that such is the fact we have the most painful evidence, and many a talented youth, too much encouraged by the vanity of the parent and teacher, has fallen a victim to his own ambition and desire to excel. But whilst the physical education belongs to the parent, the intellectual, to the teacher, there remains the training of the moral nature, the cultivation of the heart, which, belonging equally to both, receives too little attention from either. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, is the sum and substance of religion. In teaching this, we are not required to teach any particular set of doctrines, or system of theology. The religion that we want is that which will give the young enlarged and correct views of God as our Father; that will make them better sons and daughters, better brothers and sisters, and that will make them better citizens when they go out from home to act for themselves. How can such a religion be taught in school? In the first place, the teacher must himself be a man of refinement, of enlarged benevolence, and ardent piety. Here, as in the sciences, he must himself know what he would teach. The Bible must be his text-book. We are aware that some parents object to this. They do not believe it themselves, and they have no desire that their children should be taught its truths. Concerning such, we have nothing to say. Bet whilst we only pity their blindness, and indulge the deepest sorrow for their children, we will continue to regard the Bible as the best, the only guide to true happiness. In using the Bible as a text-book, it is not necessary that a portion of scripture should ever be given to a pupil to be learned as a punishment. This is not teaching religion. It does not require that the Bible should be put into the hands of a young child as a reading book, as soon as he can put three letters together; neither does it require the teacher to give an extended lecture once a week on religious subjects. All these may be done, and the end not attained. A teacher, wishing to discharge his duty in this particular, was in the habit of spending one hour every Saturday morning in enforcing some religious truth on the minds of his pupils. Besides this, they learned a passage of scripture every day, to recite at the opening of the school. These verses were selected with particular reference to a system of theology which the teacher had adopted. But one day he departed so far from his system as to give the following passage to be learned :— "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” After giving a word of explanation, alluding briefly to the long winter rain of a tropical climate, the teacher remarked, that poetry more beautiful could not be found in any other book. A little thoughtful girl, who had in her own composition all the poetry of feeling, though she had not language to express it in measured verse, listened in silence, but with the deepest attention. The weekly lectures had been heard with ill-concealed indifference; the passages of scripture had been learned and recited like any other task, and the system of theology was never understood, but the sweet melody of Israel's illustrious king touched a chord that produced the most delightful harmony. Since that time, the birds, the flowers, and the cheerful sunlight of a returning spring, fill her heart with a gladness before unknown; and she can scarcely refrain from uniting her voice with the joyous carol of the birds, as she wanders in the fields, or walks by the way-side, for she can sing with more understanding than they, "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." Another teacher had before him a class of boys. They were reciting a lesson in Ancient History, the topic for the day being the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, under Joshua. The teacher alluding to the stratagem of the Gibeonites, as it is recorded in the Bible, one of the class inquired where that was to be found, and said that he had never read it. On being told, as soon as the recitation was over, he found the story, and read it with as much avidity as he had ever perused the fictitious tales which constituted his library. At another time, the lesson for the day was that part of the history of France, relating to Napoleon and his unparalleled suc teacher's exclusive duty. To rouse the slumbering energies of the mind; to excite a thirst for knowledge that will not rest ungratified; to make the pupil feel his own strength, and be satisfied with no present attainments,-this is a teacher's duty. It has been said that a skilful artist sees the statue in a block of marble, and by vigorous strokes of the hammer and chisel, he causes the form of beauty to stand before him, like a thing of life. In like manner, the teacher sees in the youth before him the elements of a character, fitted, it may be, to regulate the affairs of nations, and he makes every exertion to bring the statesman out. And there is as much persevering toil, intense devotion, and all-absorbing love for the work, in the one case as in the other, and a joy at the result as much greater as a living man is better than a senseless stone. In accomplishing this, a judicious teacher will not allow the mind of the pupil to be distracted by a multiplicity of studies, nor discouraged by being too severely tasked. It may be said, that such is the natural indolence of many, and such their aversion to study, that there is but little danger that any will injure themselves by too close application. But that such is the fact we have the most painful evidence, and many a talented youth, too much encouraged by the vanity of the parent and teacher, has fallen a victim to his own ambition and desire to excel. But whilst the physical education belongs to the parent, the intellectual, to the teacher, there remains the training of the moral nature, the cultivation of the heart, which, belonging equally to both, receives too little attention from either. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, is the sum and substance of religion. In teaching this, we are not required to teach any particular set of doctrines, or system of theology. The religion that we want is that which will give the young enlarged and correct views of God as our Father; that will make them better sons and daughters, better brothers and sisters, and that will make them better citizens when they go out from home to act for themselves. How can such a religion be taught in school? In the first place, the teacher must himself be a man of refinement, of enlarged benevolence, and ardent piety. Here, as in the sciences, he must himself know what he would teach. The Bible must be his text-book. We are aware that some parents object to this. They do not believe it themselves, and they have no desire that their children should be taught its truths. Concerning such, we have nothing to say. Bet whilst we only pity their blindness, and indulge the deepest sorrow for their children, we will continue to regard the Bible as the best, the only guide to true happiness. In using the Bible as a text-book, it is not necessary that a portion of scripture should ever be given to a pupil to be learned as a punishment. This is not teaching religion. It does not require that the Bible should be put into the hands of a young child as a reading book, as soon as he can put three letters together; neither does it require the teacher to give an extended lecture once a week on religious subjects. All these may be done, and the end not attained. A teacher, wishing to discharge his duty in this particular, was in the habit of spending one hour every Saturday morning in enforcing some religious truth on the minds of his pupils. Besides this, they learned a passage of scripture every day, to recite at the opening of the school. These verses were selected with particular reference to a system of theology which the teacher had adopted. But one day he departed so far from his system as to give the following passage to be learned: "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." After giving a word of explanation, alluding briefly to the long winter rain of a tropical climate, the teacher remarked, that` poetry more beautiful could not be found in any other book. A little thoughtful girl, who had in her own composition all the poetry of feeling, though she had not language to express it in measured verse, listened in silence, but with the deepest attention. The weekly lectures had been heard with ill-concealed indifference; the passages of scripture had been learned and recited like any other task, and the system of theology was never understood, but the sweet melody of Israel's illustrious king touched a chord that produced the most delightful harmony. Since that time, the birds, the flowers, and the cheerful sunlight of a returning spring, fill her heart with a gladness before unknown; and she can scarcely refrain from uniting her voice with the joyous carol of the birds, as she wanders in the fields, or walks by the way-side, for she can sing with more understanding than they, "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." Another teacher had before him a class of boys. They were reciting a lesson in Ancient History, the topic for the day being the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, under Joshua. The teacher alluding to the stratagem of the Gibeonites, as it is recorded in the Bible, one of the class inquired where that was to be found, and said that he had never read it. On being told, as soon as the recitation was over, he found the story, and read it with as much avidity as he had ever perused the fictitious tales which constituted his library. At another time, the lesson for the day was that part of the history of France, relating to Napoleon and his unparalleled suc |