Hints To A Schoolmaster :: :: University of Virginia Library

Hints To A Schoolmaster

Address'd To Revd. Dr. Turnbull. By Stephen Duck

Duck, Stephen (1705-1756)

[dedication]

[section]

HINTS TO A SCHOOL-MASTER.

Collapse All | Expand All expand section

HINTS TO A SCHOOL-MASTER.

I

Should You, my Friend, employ your Time
In teaching tuneful Pope to rhyme,
And harmonize his Style:
Or should our Poet cease to write,
And teach brave Vernon how to fight,
The wond'ring World would smile.

II

Not less absurd may I be thought,
Who bred, from Colleges remote,
In honest simple Truth;
Ne'er study'd Science at the Schools,
And yet presume to give You Rules
For educating Youth.

III

Yet if the Maxims I advance
May be of Use, or right by chance,
They cannot give Offence:
Forgive me then, for Reason's sake;
For Reason dictates what I speak,
And says, 'tis Common Sense.

IV

A Man of mod'rate Skill may teach
His Pupils all the Parts of Speech,
Perhaps old Homer's Songs:
But there are other things, my Friend,
Important things! that far transcend
This wond'rous Gift of Tongues.

V

O! skill'd in all the various Parts
Of Learning, and the lib'ral Arts,
That polish Human Kind,
Early instruct your tender Youth
In Heav'n's unerring Law of Truth,
Engrave it on their Mind.

VI

Ere Vice the spotless Paper foul,
Imprint the Volume of the Soul
With Vertue's noble Mark!
The Mark, extending by degrees,
Shall grow like Letters carv'd on Trees,
That widen with the Bark.

VII

As Virtue shall her Charms display,
(Charms! which increasing ev'ry Day,
Shall make her more approv'd)
Your Pupils shall adore the Dame,
Shall court her with a Lover's Flame,
As worthiest to be lov'd.

VIII

To make her Beauty more complete,
The Handmaid Sciences shall wait
Around her Day and Night;
To polish and adorn the Fair,
To make her pleasing Charms appear
In more conspicuous Light.

IX

Be Virtue, then, their chief Regard;
For Virtue is her own Reward,
Were there no other giv'n:
Let nothing mean their Souls entice;
Teach them to tremble more at Vice,
Than at the Bolts of Heav'n.

X

For conscious Merit is a Meed
That amply crowns each honest Deed
With Joy of acting well:
While conscious Guilt allows no Rest,
But stings and burns the Villain's Breast,
Worse than the Flames of Hell.

XI

A Sense of Honour, and of Shame,
Will best your erring Youth reclaim,
Whene'er they give Offence:
By gentle Methods guide your School,
Nor follow Busby's bloody Rule,
To flog them into Sense.

XII

No. Be not rigid, stern and sour;
Display your Mercy more than Pow'r,
And imitate your GOD;
For Tyrants cannot be approv'd,
They may be fear'd, but never lov'd,
Who daily use the Rod.

XIII

Teach them a reasonable Awe
Of true Religion, as by Law
Establish'd in the Land.
Yet never puzzle Truth with Lyes;
But leave all heav'nly Mysteries
For Heav'n to understand.

XIV

Avoid the Rock where Thousands split,
On purpose to display their Wit,
Or Folly to expose;
Where he who wrangles best, confutes,
And with rash Eloquence disputes
Of what he nothing knows.

XV

Beware your Pupils tender Age
Imbibe no superstitious Rage,
Which Fools Religion call;
Such narrow Principles remove,
Inculcate universal Love,
And Charity to all.

XVI

Bid them assert their Country's Cause,
Teach them our Government and Laws,
All servile Precepts shun,
Such as, contriv'd by holy Knaves,
Persuade us, Subjects are but Slaves,
And All were made for One.

XVII

The Law of Nature let them know,
Instruct their Bosoms how to glow
And pant for honest Fame;
Make it their Bus'ness and Delight
To vindicate the native Right,
Which free-born Britons claim.

XVIII

Yet shun the furious Zeal of such
Who act the Patriot overmuch,
And Monarchy invade;
Who mindless of their Laws at home,
Would copy those of Greece and Rome,
Where Commonwealths-men sway'd.

XIX

Where Civil Wars were often wag'd,
Where mad Ambition hotly rag'd,
While Public Spirit cool'd;
Where Tyrants now usurp'd Command,
Where now a Senate sway'd the Land,
And now a Rabble rul'd.

XX

Where, wanting Pilots at the Helm,
To guide and moderate the Realm,
The Bark of State was tost
By Waves of Faction to-and-fro,
Sometimes too high, sometimes too low,
And frequently was lost.

XXI

Our Fathers wisely dar'd to raise
Their Fabric on the triple Base
Of Commons, Lords, and King;
And hence Britannia's happy Fate,
Hence all the Music of our State,
Hence all our Blessings spring.

XXII

We see a Monarch grace the Throne,
Who makes our Happiness his own,
Our Property defends:
Maintains, in spite of Party Hate,
The well-pois'd Balance of the State,
On which our Bliss depends.

XXIII

Let Him be chearfully obey'd,
Instruct your Pupils how to aid
Their King with loyal Care;
That all may some Assistance yield,
For Council these, and those to wield
The Thunder of the War.

XXIV

So shall your School increase each Day,
And flourish like the verdant Bay,
Or branching Vine in Spring;
Your Youth be virtuously inclin'd,
Be real Patriots of Mankind,
And loyal to their KING.

XXV

But whither would my Thoughts aspire?
Rash daring Muse, resign the Lyre;
For Shame! be not so bold;
Nor useless Hints to Him impart,
Who knows so well to cast the Heart
In Virtue's genuine Mould.

FINIS.

Alluding to the Law of Nature and Nations, lately publish'd by Dr. Turnbull.