 | The works of Washington Irving |  |
THE SCHOOL.
But to come down from great men and higher
matters to my little children and poor schoolhouse
again; I will, God willing, go forward orderly, as
I purposed, to instruct children and young men
both for learning and manners.
Roger Ascham.
Having given the reader a slight
sketch of the village schoolmaster, he
may be curious to learn something concerning
his school. As the squire takes
much interest in the education of the
neighbouring children, he put into the
hands of the teacher, on first installing
him in office, a copy of Roger Ascham's
Schoolmaster, and advised him, moreover,
to con over that portion of old Peachem
which treats of the duty of masters, and
which condemns the favourite method of
making boys wise by flagellation.
He exhorted Slingsby not to break
down or depress the free spirit of the
boys, by harshness and slavish fear, but
to lead them freely and joyously on in
the path of knowledge, making it pleasant
and desirable in their eyes. He
wished to see the youth trained up in
the manners and habitudes of the peasantry
of the good old times, and thus to
lay a foundation for the accomplishment
of his favourite object, the revival of old
English customs and ch