Nicholas Comenius

Preface

In the reminiscences of Nicholas Comenius, the aim has been to present a faithful picture of conditions in school life, which during the past forty years have come within the observation and experience of the writer but which now exist only in memory.

The book has been written, not to glorify the old nor to reflect unjustly on the new, but rather with the hope that it may deepen a love and inspire a more lasting veneration for the old schoolmasters of other days, around whose memory still linger, in the hearts of the older generation, so many endearing recollections of their boyhood days.

Believing that there was enough of good in the older dispensation to make it worthy of the younger — the 3 r oung men and women who have so recently entered the teacher's calling — some of its salient features have been thrown into contrast with the new order of things. If the comparison is not always to the advantage of the present, it is to be hoped that this fact may indicate the value of a closer study of the past.

If, upon the whole, the work shall be found to lean too strongly toward the old, at the expense of the new, fifty years of service in various relations to the school work, as pupil under one of the old masters, teacher,

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viii Preface.

director, and for a quarter of a century a member of that class of public benefactors whose services are not at all times recognized and appreciated, may plead the writer's excuse. But in view of the extravagant claims and concessions of the new order of development, perhaps such a slight leaning toward one's own generation may only serve to restore a just balance.

The few whose memory goes back with the writer's to personal relations with the old masters, will unite in blessing their memory; and we hope the younger, matter-of-fact reader, while he may smile at the grotesque side, will not overlook the other characteristics we have sought to portray.

The writer is little disposed to apply to the newer order the caustic criticism of a new book, that "what was good was not new and what was new was not good." Nor can such a spirit be justly attributed to this book, which aims to favor the liberal yet judicious doctrine: " Prove all things, hold fast that which is good. ' '

Wherein our pages deal with history we have tried to catch the spirit of the times, and need not apologize for our word of tribute to the great men whose self- sacrificing devotion to the cause of popular education should inspire their descendants to a more lasting appreciation of their deeds and services.

If the book shall help the reader to appreciate the

old without depreciating the new, to receive from those

who went before the truth they held, and apply it in

sifting wheat from chaff, the labors of the author will

not have been in vain. W. R.

Lancaster, Pa.

Nicodemus the Academician — The Free School Fight

— Giants of those Days 230

CHAPTER XX. Opposition to the System — Improved Election

Method— The Squire and the Old Masters . . 245

CHAPTER XXL Before the Examination — In the School-house—

The Old Masters Under Fire 260

Contents. xi

CHAPTER XXII. page

Examination in Arithmetic and Grammar— Mother Benton — The Spelling-book — The Old Masters Discarded 278

CHAPTER XXIII.

The New Teacher — The First Morning— Modern

Methods — Orlando Hoskins Indignant .... 296

CHAPTER XXIV.

Seeking Quarters — The General Washington—" Insubordination" — A Friend in Need 313

CHAPTER XXV.

Emden Fair Week — Orlando's Unfulfilled Prophecy 327

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Teacher on Trial — Mother Benton Interposes — Insubordination in the City— Change of Quarters— Village Gossip 344

CHAPTER XXVII.

Nature Study— Nicholas Appointed Superintendent

— Death of his Predecessor 359

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Another Date for Ascension— Orlando Mistaken

Again — Oscar Bently in the Old Fort .... 375

CHAPTER XXIX.

Robert Returns to Emden — Why did he Come Back ? — The Parson's Wife — Welcomed by the Directors 384

CHAPTER XXX.

President Lajkins in Full Dress — He Alarms Oscar

Bently — Ebenezer's Speech to Robert .... 396 xii Contents.

CHAPTER XXXI. page Parting with Hannah — The Holiday Season — Orlando BRINGS MAEINDA TO SCHOOL— ROBERT DE- NOUNCES his Doctrines 408

CHAPTER XXXII.

Shaky Hollow— A Mysterious Procession— Robert Disappears— Orlando Tried for Kidnaping— The Tost is Found 420

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Robert Vindicates Orlando — The Parson's Recantation—The Faded Flower of Shaky Hollow —Peace and Good-will . • 431

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The Old School-house Deserted— Robert is Wanted Elsewhere — Hannah as Teacher — May-day Festival— Their Wedding 443

CHAPTER XXXV.

Preparing to Leave Nicholas— Strangers Arrive — Nicodemus Escorts Them— Their Identity Revealed — Conclusion 462

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Nicholas Comenius Frontispiece.

Gov. Andrew G. CurTin xiv

The New and the Old xxii

Nicholas Leaving the Court House after his Defeat, i 2

Pestalozzi in his School at Stanz 14

Hospitable Cornelius 20

Zaccheus and the Telescope 23

The Map Agent 28

The Black Beauties 42

Nicholas Awakens Honest Stephen 86

Contents. xiii

PAGE

The Smith Shop 107

Blind Tom's School-house 112

Packet Line Mail Coach No. 10 120

In the Court House Corridor 146

Nicholas Invited to a Seat 160

Nicholas Entering the Sitting-room 196

Nicholas Taken by Storm 206

Nicholas Addresses the Institute 210

The School-house under the Oak 220

Gov. George Wolf 236

Thaddeus Stevens . 238

Gov. Joseph Ritner 240

Thomas H. Burrowes 242

The Old Masters under the Oak 266

The Ordeal Begins 268

Orlando Hoskins 308

Hannah Directs Robert to the Inn 312

Robert at the General Washington 314

" Closed for Insubordination " 323

Robert Sees Fmden Fair 328

Robert Defends Himself 341

Mother Benton Sets Aside the Verdict 346

Nicholas Commissioned Superintendent 366

Returned from the Churchyard 368

The Ascension Does Not Take Place 376

Oscar Returns to Amelia 381

Triai, of Orlando Hoskins 426

The Burial of Myra 440

" Blessed are the Peacemakers " 442

Wedding under the May-pole 45S

Friends Reunited 468

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GOV. ANDREW G. CURTlN.

Introduction

Sometimes one wishes there was less truth in the old saj-ing "of the making of books there is no end" (Eccl. xii. 12), so many books are made of nothing and for nothing and get nowhere. The book here presented is not of that class. In my judgment it is a valuable contribution to our educational literature, because the incidents and the pictures which it gives of bygone da}-s, show wherein true progress has been made. Every chapter bears evidence of the author's desire to preserve in the form of anecdote and story the things connected with our educational history which are rapidly passing into oblivion. In a pleasant way he seeks to teach the lesson that the new is not to be accepted without question because it is new, nor is the old to be rejected because it is old. True progress is made by pointing out and eliminating the defects of the present and by preserving and perpetuating at the same time the essence of what the past and the present have achieved and are achieving for the benefit of future generations.

The author is fond of the old, and seeks to do justice to the men of former days. He exposes their follies, prejudices and superstitions, and yet credits them with good sense in accepting the new after the}" saw its real

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xvi Introduction.

merit and superiority. If here and there he seems to lean too strongly toward the older period, it is an amiable weakness in contrast with the current methods of heralding what are claimed as discoveries and reforms.

The sketches strung upon the thread of Nicholas Comenius' narrative are true to life, as many of the older readers will recognize; to the younger generation they will be ancient history in a form that they too will enjo}f, and from which they can scarcely fail to draw the lesson which the author means to teach.

Here and there the characters may be somewhat exaggerated, especially where the humorous side of the author came uppermost, but even this adds to the originality and piquancy of the whole.

The stor}' of Robert and Hannah is suited to the taste of a class of readers— we are glad to believe a growing one — who do not read for excitement so much as for quiet enjoyment; and in this we find good judgment.

If the criticisms on some forms of our educational system seem severe, we may remember that the author knows whereof he speaks, and that in this as in other fields, " all is not gold that glitters."

The strictures upon the method of conducting the county institute deserve the attention of those entrusted with the management of these annual gatherings. Pennsylvania has the best system of institutes that can be found anywhere in the United States; but it would be folly to claim that no improvement is possible in the method of conducting them, or in the quality of the instruction that is given by the lecturers.

Introduction. xvii

The anecdote in which the book agent wins the School Board by the judicious present of a book, is inimitable. It is indeed difficult to determine where legitimate influence stops and bribery begins. The present of a drink or of a cigar, of a hospitable meal or of a free car ride, may be in essence of the same nature as the bribe which secures pernicious legislation or large appropriations. That this sin should have crept into our School Boards and thus poisoned the very fountains of our system of public instruction, may well cause the friends of popular government to sit like Marius and meditate upon the future of the republic.

Tricks at examinations belong to the lower type of school morality. A higher stage in the growth of the will is reached when the idea of right inspires the teacher and his pupils and enables them to say: " I would sooner fail than cheat." The school must cause those connected with our system of public instruction to value right above success; otherwise we cannot hope for the revival of an order of statesmen who " would sooner be right than President."

Ignorance is the mother of superstition. Although the early settlers of Pennsylvania never burned witches at the stake, they cherished many superstitions of which sad traces still remain in the life of the people. The closing chapters of the book show how a good teacher may revolutionize the thinking of a community; how sound knowledge gradually dissipates prejudice and superstition, and silently begets higher forms of piety and religious life.

The chief merit of the book lies in the fact that it xviii Introduction.

pours a flood of light upon the two most critical periods in the educational history of Pennsylvania. One of these culminated in a victory that was achieved not by the sword, but by the greatest speech Thaddeus Stevens ever made. The other came with the creation of the Count}' Superintendency and the establishment of our system of State Normal schools. While the Act of 1854 was pending, Henry Barnard examined its provisions and assured its friends that if it should become a law, Pennsylvania would have the best common school system of any state in the Union. Ex-State Supt. H. C. Hickock calls this period "one of the most disturbed and difficult and critical periods ever known in our school history. Its like can never be seen again." Effort after effort was made to abolish the office of County Superintendent.

The fact that Gov. Bigler had signed the Act of 1854 helped to defeat him at the next election, and his successor, Gov. Pollock, in speaking of the pressure upon him, remarked that it was about as much as a man's life was worth to stand by the County Superintendency at that period. It was also during Gov. Pollock's administration that the fight for Normal schools was made. The character of this fight is not as well understood as it should be, and a few details will help the reader to appreciate the situation. The Act creating State Normal schools was drawn in an emergency on a Sunday by Dr. Burrowes, and was put through the House by Andrew G. Curtin, then exofficio Superintendent of Common Schools, and by his deputy, H. C. Hickok, under the most adverse circumstances. It had passed the Senate without a dis-

Introduction. xix

senting vote. "It so happened," says Mr. Hickok, " that the bill could not be called up for consideration until the last day of the session on which bills could be considered, and there were a number of important bills in which leading members were interested that were before it. Mr. Curtin in consultation with the Speaker and Committee on Education, and other friends of the cause in the House, arranged to have the Normal school bill taken up on motion out of its order, and had as he believed secured votes enough to sustain the motion. . . . The leader of the House, Mr. Foster, a liberally educated gentleman of great influence, and a good common school man in a general way, had an important bill of his own on the calendar, and was not likely to yield precedence to the Normal school bill without a struggle, in which case the odds would be heavily against us. Although politically opposed, Mr. Curtin and Mr. Foster were warm personal friends, and Curtin took it upon himself to hold Mr. Foster in check if possible until the required forms of legislation could be gone through with. When the time came for action, Mr. Curtin and Mr. Foster were standing in the aisle near Mr. Foster's desk, engaged in earnest conversation. The motion to take up the Normal school bill was instantly challenged by a call for the yeas and nays, but being carried, the Clerk, Captain Jacob Ziegler, who was in the secret, proceeded to the second reading of the bill, which being a long one, took some time, although rapidly done. Mr. Foster became very restive before it was completed, and turned to the Speaker twice to move its indefinite postponement; but Mr. Curtin, with courtxx Introduction.

eous insistence, persuaded him to let the reading go on, as the bill would be through in a very few minutes. Tha House was very still during the reading, and many curious eyes were turned toward those two distinguished gentlemen conversing so earnestly, but very few knew what that colloquy meant. They had before them the remarkable spectacle of the premier of an administration standing on the floor of an opposition House, holding the opposition leader under moral duress against his will while passing a bill over his head — a piece of diplomatic audacity, skill and success without a parallel in parliamentary history that I ever heard of. . . . If the bill had not passed at that session, it would not have been passed to this day; because by the next session combinations would have been made amongst the higher institutions of learning and some potential friends of education to compass its defeat or make sweeping changes in its character and provisions, whether for the better or not cannot here be discussed."

Two Governors, Wolf and Bigler, failed to be re-elected largely on account of the stand which they had taken in the interest of common schools. In each instance, their successors, Ritner and Pollock respectively, although of opposite political faith, took up the work in spite of popular clamor and the most bitter opposition, and carried it forward to the lasting benefit of posterity. Thaddeus Stevens, although elected on an anti -school ticket, saved the system by his eloquence and his logic, and proved that although a poor plank in a platform may be helpful in stepping into office, it is not a good thing to stand on after the ship

Introduction. xxi

of state is moving forward. At a later day, Andrew G. Curtin, by work more effective than oratory, saved the County Superiutendency and paved the way for the establishment of our splendid system of State Normal schools. If a politician differs from a statesman in that the former looks forward to the next election, while the latter looks toward the next generation, then surely Wolf and Ritner and Stevens and Curtin deserve to rank as statesmen.

Through the epoch-making period in which these men were the moulding factors of our educational history, the author of this book asks the reader to follow the narrative of Nicholas Comenius, who was an interested eye-witness of the first examination in which the County Superintendent took the place of the Squire and the Committeemen of former days. That other states are now following the Pennsylvania plan of prescribing literary and professional qualifications for those who hold the office of County Superintendent, argues well for the wisdom of the men who framed the Act of 1854, and lends additional interest to the portions of the book which bear upon this epoch in our educational history.

The author of Nicholas Comenius deserves the special gratitude of those who feel an interest in rescuing from oblivion the factors that gave us our beneficent system of Common Schools.

Nathan C. Schafffer.

Department of Public Instruction, Harrisburg, Pa., July 13, iSgj.

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THE NEW AND THE OI«D.

NICHOLAS COMENIUS.

Chapter I. From The Old To The New

IT was the year that marked the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Common School System in Pennsylvania. Around the old Court House in the metropolis of Blackwell county had congregated, on a bright, crisp November morning, a throng of young men and women, exchanging greetings and congratulating themselves upon the prospect of a week of professional work and entertainment. They were teachers gathered from all parts of a great county, in attendance at the Annual Teachers' Institute.

Beyond the mirth in store for them and the fond dreams of pleasant associations to be found, their thoughts did not seem to wander. They had severed the ties of the school-room, at least for a season, and come forth with joyous hearts to enter a new field of intellectual activity.

The cosy, well-equipped rural school far away on some lone hillside, and the numerous little temples

i of learning dotted here and there over the broad acres of Blackwell county, stood deserted and forsaken during this bounteous Thanksgiving week. The merry voices and the gay shouts of laughter of the little ones were no longer to be heard on the playground. Their books were resting high up on the shelf in the sitting-room of the unpretentious homestead, out of reach ; while the boys and girls, forgetful of their daily tasks, were playing hideand-seek around the shocks of golden fodder.

Only an occasional constituent, on his way to partake of a neighbor's Thanksgiving hospitality, would stop in front of some deserted school-house and wonder how the teacher's stock of new-fangled notions was to compensate for the increased tax-rate and a week's time frittered away at the teachers' meeting. But the young educators of Blackwell county, buoyed up with the last month's salary and the pleasures that only a week's professional enjoyment can give, gave little heed to their far-off routine of duty.

The antiquated Court House, in which many a hotly-contested legal battle had been fought, around which tradition still lingers, was the center of attraction. Within its time-stained walls had congregated a fair percentage of the teaching force of a great Commonwealth. Its interior was tastefully decorated with choice flowers and evergreens, while directly over the judicial altar was suspended the American flae — emblem of our cherished liberties.

But aside from these decorations, the old flag, and a few patriotic remarks, was there anything of such special importance as to give to this reunion precedence over that of the year previous ? At all events, it was such a gathering of enthusiastic teachers, as in the judgment of the young superintendent was best adapted to the county in which it was held. The programme was of the pre-arranged stereotyped order, and when set in motion by the presiding officer, moved with the regularity of well-adjusted mechanism. The list of professional instructors was in many respects the best the Literary Bureau could command or the institute afford ; while the only conditions imposed upon the members were first, the annual membership fee, and second, prompt daily attendance.

Some years previous, a change had taken place in the management of the schools of the county. Nicholas Comenius, who had held the position of Superintendent, with the exception of a short interval, for nearly a quarter of a century from the date of the act creating the office, having failed to keep in touch with the advanced public sentiment the spirit of the times seemed to demand, had been ruthlessly thrust aside, and a young Normal School graduate elected in his place. At many consecutive elections in that long series of years, Nicholas Comenius had been his own worthy successor; but after his defeat the tenure of each superintendent was limited to a single term. This triennial rotation, in a most responsible office, was due in part to the large number of political aspirants, with whom qualification is always of secondary importance, but in the main to that peculiar tendency in the human mind to oscillate from one extreme to the other ; to that untiring zeal after the unattainable, that causes men to transcend the bounds of experience and prudence. One class proposed to root out the very last remnant of old-fogyism, whether relating to teacher or director, to make room for the new ; to remove the landmarks set by the wisdom of the past, and erect them on new lines of advanced thought. Another, and the more numerous class, argued that no system of education was useful except the practical kind — that which had for its ultimate object and aim, pecuniary gain. A few, however, believed that education based merely on the accumulation of wealth was in direct conflict with the spirit, if not the letter, of the act creating the common school system. Between these conflicting opinions the constituents of Blackwell county found themselves at the close of the official career of Nicholas Comenius.

Whatever may have been the shortcomings of Nicholas, he was in the broadest sense of the word one of the pioneers of the system. There was neither system, classification, nor unity of action on the part of the directorship, nor a progressive public school sentiment on the part of the masses. There were times, indeed, when Nicholas was wont to say, "Truly the lights are dim, the foundations insecure, and nothing seems certain save the uncertainty that everywhere prevails." To harmonize conflicting opinions, to go forth like the early missionary, preaching the light of the new doctrine on highway and byway, among the rich and the poor, the ignorant and the learned, was the mission of Nicholas Comenius. The wrath which the various acts of the Legislature passed from time to time had engendered among the masses, found vent at times and fell with crushing force on the head of this public benefactor. He, however, never took a backward step, but like a faithful pioneer, kept straight on in the line of his professional duties as he understood them.

Nicholas Comenius, who claimed to be the lineal descendant of the distinguished John Amos Comenius, had received more than an average education. Being a favorite with old Jimmy, the master of the school at Emden, he continued to plod along within its dusky walls until he had passed well into his teens. It was then that fortune favored young Nicholas, despite the general protest, of the rural population. After leaving the village school, Nicholas Comenius fell heir to the proud distinction of being the only country lad of Emden who had ever been permitted to attend a distant academic institution. This special privilege accorded him was due more to the noble name he bore than to any special desire on the part of his parents to favor such a course of instruction. Indeed, the tendency of the times was directly the opposite; for the thrifty settlers at that early day were content to live within themselves and for themselves, having their own peculiar customs, traditions and local history, and caring little for the bustling world without. A common bond of good fellowship, a generous hospitality, a deep affection for all old-time customs and a marked respect for old age, were virtues of which these people could rightfully boast. It was this reverence for the traditions of other days, and especially for that staid old philosopher of the sixteenth century, that gave to young Comenius a standing in the community that he could have attained in no other way. It was but natural, then, that Nicholas as he grew in years should appreciate the distinction accorded' him, for the name of Comenius was a household word, revered by these sturdy tillers of the soil.

It is not, however, to the early period immediately preceding the adoption of the new school system, nor to that somewhat later period when Nicholas Comenius was monarch of all he surveyed, that I would now direct the attention of the reader, but rather to a time when the new conditions were pressing hard upon the old, and when self-preservation with him became indeed the first law of nature.

Opposition had now begun to manifest itself from a source wholly unexpected. If there was one thing in the work of Comenius on which he prided himself more than any other, it was his manner of conducting the County Institute. Economy with Nicholas was neither a penny-wise nor a pound-foolish theory. He was an ardent, firm believer in the principle that on all important questions pertaining to the practice and theory of teaching, careful, thoughtful conference of one teacher with another always produced the best results ; and in this view he was at all times sustained by the great majority, at least of the older teachers. Nicholas, in justification of his course, was at all times prepared to back up his arguments by excellent authorities, among whom none stood higher than his ancestor, John Amos Comenius, whose life and example he had ever held as the ne plus ultra of all that was truly noble and enduring. But Nicholas failed to realize that among the new conditions that were forging their way to the front, the teachings of that staid old philosopher had few advocates. And so, when the Literary Bureau directed his attention from time to time to the growing wants of the system and the beneficial effects resulting from the employment of a corps of highly eminent instructors from abroad, Nicholas only smiled, shook his head, and continued in the line of his professional work. It was strongly intimated in many of these gratuitous communications that the old man was steering dangerously close to the dead line, and that to prevent a fatal collapse or early disintegration of the entire educational fabric, a living, vital force was necessary.

It was also pointed out, in unmistakable language, that too great a percentage of old fossils was to be found in the ranks of the profession, in a county esteemed for its general intelligence in other directions. It was even intimated that a radical change in the personnel of the institute was most desirable ; and that the pruning-knife should be brought into service, and much of the dead timber that for years had proven a hindrance to a vigorous, healthy growth of the system, should be lopped off. In fact, the day came when the institute of Nicholas Comenius was spoken of at all moderuly equipped teachers' meetings, as "a thing of the past," notwithstanding the fact that the practical results attained, as shown in the various schools of the county, were of the highest order. While Nicholas Comenius, now well up in years, had a profound respect for the young Normal School graduate, there lingered in the bosom of this faithful public servant a mine of pure love for the little army of old schoolmasters who had grown gray in the service. Nicholas was in no sense of the word " a back number." He fully appreciated the growing wants of the system, but he was, at the same time, loath to break in on a class of old teachers in any single locality, when he felt assured that honest service was being rendered alike to rich and poor. Nicholas Comenius, in the goodness of his rugged nature, may have discriminated at times in favor of some old veteran, with a big heart and a growing family ; but he always satisfied his conscience with the thought that the young could afford to wait, at least until they had reached the years of discretion. But above all these minor considerations, to Nicholas important in themselves, there were other binding ties — associations of a personal nature — that he could not overlook. For had Comenius not lived through that exciting period that gave birth to the Common School system? Was he not the same Nicholas who was a living witness of the first public examination ever held in the little red sandstone school house at Emden, in 1854, by one who held the position of superintendent but one short year, and who, in the discharge of the duties of his office, had laid down his young life for the cause he so much loved? Had he not seen the eight old masters thrust into the cold world by one sweep of the pen, to make room for an equal number of New England professors? Could these early impressions ever be entirely eliminated from his memory ?

Dear reader, have you ever taught a district school in some remote place, far away from kind friends and among strangers, where a familiar face is seldom if ever seen ? If so, can you recall the first visitation by the county superintendent — more especially if he were one of those big-hearted men whose very presence is an inspiration to all that is io Nicholas Comenius.