Chapter IX (2)

One of the grand aims of the infant system was intended to improve the system of moral training. The great deficiency in our systems of education, with respect to moral training, is truly lamentable, from the highest down to the lowest schools in the land. There is room for immense improvement in this matter, it is hardly possible to visit a school and witness proper efforts made on this important subject; and never will education produce the glorious effects anticipated from it, until this subject is legislated for and well understood by the public; and I pray to God that he will enable me to use arguments in this chapter to prove effective in the minds of my readers, so as to induce them to co-operate with me to produce another state of things. In these days there is much said about education; it has at last arrested the attention of parliament; and through them, the government, and, as it should be, through the government, the sovereign. Thus is truly encouraging and will act as a stimulus to practical men to develop a system workable in all its parts, and thus carry out the views and benevolent intentions of the legislature. Infant education, however, must be the basis, this is beginning at the right end; if errors are committed here the superstructure is of little avail. The foundation of moral training must be laid in infancy, it cannot be begun too soon, and is almost always commenced too late. Mere infants can understand the doing as they would be done by; no child likes to be deprived of its play-things, his little toys, or any thing which he considers his property; he will always punish the aggressor if he can, and if he cannot he will cry, or put himself in a passion, or seek aid from his parents, or any other source where he thinks he may get justice done to him. Little children have beautiful ideas on this subject, and would have, if properly trained, correct notions as to the rights of property; to teach them to respect the property of others, and even to respect themselves, is far preferable to cramming their memories with good rules in theory; this was the old plan; we have proof that it has not worked well. The new plan must operate upon the will, it must influence the heart of the child; this is the Scripture plan, which continually refers to the heart, and not so much to the head. Every opportunity must be allowed the child to develop its character; to do this it must be associated with its fellows; if the child is a solitary being, his faculties cannot be drawn out, it is in society only they can be beneficially acted upon, and it is in the company of its fellows, that it will shew its true character and disposition; hence the necessity of moral training. There should be temptations placed within reach of the children, such as fruits, flowers, and shrubs. The child taught to respect these will set due bounds to his desire, gardens will cease to be robbed, hedges will not be broken down, turnips and potatoes will not be stolen to the extent which is but too prevalent in the present day. And I am perfectly convinced that every pound the country spends in promoting a rightly directed education, will be saved in the punishment of crime, which in a political point of view, is quite sufficient to induce the country to call for a properly directed system of national education, which must ultimately be based on the oracles of eternal truth. If these ends could be obtained by theory, we have plenty of that in these days. All the writers on education tell us that such and such things should be done, but most of them that I have read, forget to tell us how to do it. They complain of the schools already in existence, they complain of the teachers, they complain of the apathy upon the subject; all of which is very easy. And I regret to say there is but too much cause for all these complaints; but this will not remedy the evil, we must have new plans for moral training; teachers must have greater encouragements held out to them; they must take their proper rank in society, which I contend is next to the clergy; and, until these things take place, we may go on complaining, as talented men will sooner devote themselves to any profession rather than to the art of teaching.

We will now endeavour to show how these things are to be remedied, so far as moral training is applicable to infants from twelve months old to six or seven years. In another part of this work, we have shewn what may and ought to be done in the play-ground; in this chapter we will endeavour to shew what may be done to this end in the school-room. In the pages on gallery teaching we have given specimens of lessons on natural objects and scriptural subjects. Moral training may receive considerable aid from gallery teaching also; the children must not only be continually told what they ought to do, but as often what they ought not to do; they must be told that they are not to fight, and the reasons must be given; they must be told that they are not to throw stones, and also told the consequences; they must be told not to strike each other with sticks; they must be told not to play in the dirt; they must be trained in cleanly and delicate habits; they must not only be told all these things; but they must be watched in their private hours, they must be encouraged to assist and love each other, and it must _be proved_ to them that this is the way to advance their own individual happiness. It is self-love that is the cause of half our miseries. Children cannot be told this too soon; it must be explained _and proved_ to them that evil, sooner or latter, brings its own punishment, and that goodness as assuredly brings its own reward. Opportunities will be continually developing themselves for giving moral training to the children, the judicious teacher will seize these as they occur, and always make the best of them for the good of the children. A school is a family upon a large scale; nay, 'tis a commonwealth, and no day will pass without facts shewing themselves, to enable the teacher to give sound moral instruction. It is true we want a better race of teachers, but we must have a better sort of schools first; for it is only from these that a better race of teachers can be supplied. The well trained infants of this generation, will make the efficient teachers of the next.

We will suppose the children to be seated in the gallery, the doors of the school closed, and every thing snug and quiet; _the teacher must be alone_, and there must be nothing to distract the children's attention. He must then bring out his store of facts which he has noted down as they occurred; he makes his selection according to circumstances, according to the state of his own mind; not forgetting the state of mind that the children may be in, and especially the state of the weather. The following little ditty may then be repeated, the subject being On Cruelty to Animals.

I'll never hurt my little dog,
But stroke and pat his head;
I love to see him wag his tail,
I like to see him fed.

Poor little thing, how very good
And very useful too;
And do you know? that he will mind
What he is bid to do.

Then I will never hurt my dog,
Nor ever give him pain,
But I will always treat him kind,
And he will love again.

If the children do not appear so bright as the teacher should desire, the before-mentioned ditty, after it has been repeated, may be sung. But the tune must be such as would be likely to operate upon the moral feelings; great caution and circumspection is necessary in selecting proper times for children, and this must be guided by the subject treated of. If the subject is exhilarating, a lively tune must be selected; if the subject is serious, a corresponding tune must also be chosen; but if the subject is intended to operate upon the feelings, what is usually called "_a love tune_" will be the most desirable. The tune having been sung, and the feelings operated upon as desired, the teacher may entertain the little pupils with some one of the numerous stories written about the dog. But before he does this, he must exhaust so much of the subject as appears in the before-mentioned ditty, by question and answer, similar to the other lessons mentioned before, something like the following:--

Little children; you have just sung that you would never hurt a little dog, can you tell me why not? Some of the children will be sure to say, Please, sir, because he has got the sense of feeling. Teacher. Right, a little dog has got the same sense of feeling as you little children have, and when it is hurt, how does it shew that it has got the sense of feeling? Children. Please, sir, it will cry out. Teacher. Yes, it can only tell us it is hurt by doing so. A poor dog cannot speak, and so we should never hurt it. Has a little fly the sense of feeling? Children. Yes, sir. Teacher. Right again, and so has every creature that God gave life to, and we should never give any of them unnecessary pain. In the song that we have just sung, you said you would stroke and pat the little dog's head. What would you do this for? Children. Please, sir, the little dog likes it, and he is not afraid of us when we do it, but loves us. Teacher. So he does, and will always love those that are kind to him; no one but a very bad boy would be unkind to a dog. You told me, little children, that a poor little dog cries out when it is hurt. Now when he is pleased, what does he do? Please, sir, he wags his tail, and his eyes look very bright. Teacher. So he does, which is the same as if he said, How happy I am to be with such good children who do not beat me as some wicked boys and girls would, but love me and pat my head, and feed me; for you, little children, you have said you liked to see your little dog fed, and remember, any of you that have a little dog, or who may have one when you get older and larger, that it is very cruel not to see it fed every day; the poor dog cannot ask for its dinner as a little child can, and that is the, very reason why we should always remember to give it to him. Will you all remember this? Children. Yes, sir, we will. Teacher. You sung in your song that the dog was very useful, tell me how? Children, Please, sir, he will mind the house, and bark when any one comes to steal anything. Teacher. Yes, you see how sensible the little dog is, he knows what a wicked thing it is to be a thief, and so he barks when he sees one. How else is a little dog useful? Children. Please, sir, they often lead poor blind people about. Teacher. So they do, and good faithful guides they are. When they see any danger they will lead their master out of it, and they will bring him safely through the crowded streets; and when they go home the poor blind man divides his bit of bread with his good dog; and dogs are useful in other ways, they catch hares and rabbits for their masters, and do many other things. You said also that the dog minded what he was bid to do, did you not? Children. Yes, sir, and they will often go back a long way for any thing they are bid, or stay all day minding their master's coat while he is at work. Teacher. Right, and little children when they will not do as they are desired are not so good as a little dog, and should take example by one. Do you remember what you said the dog would do if you treated him kindly? Children. Please, sir, that he would love us again. Teacher. Right. When we love any thing, a dog, or a horse, or a little lamb, it will love us again; for you know, little children, that love makes love, and if you all love one another, and are kind to one another, and never beat or strike each other with any thing, then you will all be very happy, no little children in the world will be more happy, or have prettier smiling faces than you will have; for when we look kind and pleasant we always look pretty, but when we look cross and angry, then we look ugly and frightful. Remember then, never be cruel to a dog, or any thing else, but think of this lesson, and the pretty song we sung. Now, little children, shall I tell you a story, a real true story about a very cruel boy? If the children say, Yes, the following may be related.

A poor little dog was once going along the streets of a town, and a carriage which was coming up the street very fast, ran over it, and the poor thing was very nearly killed, but it had still strength to crawl over to a house where a boy was standing at the door, and it began to whine and looked up in the boy's face, as if to say, you see how much I am hurt, so please take me in and try and cure me; but the boy was a very cruel boy, and had no pity on the poor dog, but took a large pot of boiling water and threw it over the poor wounded little dog, so that it died soon after in very dreadful pain. But the chief governor of the place, that is, the person whom the king had put there to punish wicked people, heard of what a cruel thing this bad boy had done. So he brought him up to the market place, and he made a man take off this cruel boy's clothes, and lash him on the bare back before all the people of the town, in order that he might know a little of the pain that the poor dog had felt. From this story, little children, you may learn, that you must not begin to be cruel, if you do, the habit will grow up with you as it did with this bigger boy, and will never leave you, even when you are men.

Such lessons as these, given at proper times and when the infant mind is in a fit state to receive them, will do more to prevent what you wish to avoid, than any thing which could be possibly done at a more advanced age; this is indeed moral training, and when such is given generally in infant schools, we may look forward to a generation very superior to the present, in the genuine parts of Christianity, and in every moral and social virtue.

The beneficial results of moral training have been practically shown in every infant school where the subject has been properly understood and carried out, and numerous anecdotes illustrative of its beneficial effects might be here introduced, which would convince those who have any doubt on the subject, of the good effects of exercising kindness and consideration for others, in opposition to reckless mischief, hardheartedness, and cruelty, vices which render the lower orders dangerous and formidable; but as a complete collection of such anecdotes would form in themselves a volume, we will for the present lay before our readers a few taken at random, to illustrate the subject; they are from the appendix of the first report of the Edinburgh Infant School Society, the model school of which was organized by the author of this book.

"Two of the children, brothers, about five and four years of age, coming one morning late into school, were to go to their seats without censure, if they could give an account of what they had been doing, which should be declared satisfactory by the whole school, who should decide; they stated separately that they had been contemplating the proceedings of a large caterpillar, and noticing the different positions of its body as it crossed their path, that it was now horizontal, and now perpendicular, and presently curved, and finally inclined, when it escaped into a tree. The master then asked them abruptly, Why did you not kill it? The children stared. _Could_ you have killed it? asked the teacher. Yes, but that would have been cruel and naughty, and a sin against God. The little moralists were acquitted by acclamation; having, infants as they were, manifested a character which, were it universal in the juvenile population, would in another generation reduce our moral code to a mass of waste paper, in one grand department of its bulk.

"This anecdote illustrates the good effect of inculcating into the infant mind an abhorrence of cruelty to animals, which is too often a seed sown in the young heart, which goes on increasing daily with the growth of the child, until a fearful career of crime is ended by murder, and its necessary expiation on the scaffold. How many men who have suffered death for murder, could date their first steps towards it, from the time when in infancy they tortured a fly, or spun a cock-chaffer.

"The teacher mentioned to the children one day, that he had been occupied about a boy and a girl who had no father or mother, and whose grandfather and grandmother, who took care of them, were bed-rid and in great poverty. The boy was seven years of age, too old for the infant school, but some gentlemen, he said, were exerting themselves to get the boy into one of the hospitals. Here he purposely stopped to try the sympathies of his audience for the girl. He was not disappointed, several little voices called out at once, '_Oh! master!_ What for no the lassie too?' he assured them the girl was to come to the infant school, and to be boarded there; which intelligence was received with loud plaudits."

Here we see the seeds of philanthropy sown in the young mind, beginning, even in infancy, to burst and blossom forth, giving promise in after years of a glorious and abundant harvest. The germ of love and mercy is in every breast, and cannot fail to be developed, if early called into action; and by the blessing of Almighty God, who is the great First Cause of all good results, the day is fast approaching, yea, is now at hand, when the fierce passions, the love of self, the long catalogues of debasing crimes, which have so long disgraced human nature, will give way before a golden age of true Christianity; when man will not be arrayed against his fellow-men, but all will go hand in hand together in the bond of love, seeking to do good, and to accomplish the purposes for which they were created by an all-wise and all-benevolent God.

The following anecdote illustrates the subject still further:--

"One day, when the children were in the play-ground, four boys occupied the boys' circular swing, while a stranger gentleman was looking on with the teacher. Conscious of being looked at, the little fellows were wheeling round with more than usual swiftness and dexterity, when a little creature of two or three years made a sudden dart forward into their very orbit, and in an instant must have been knocked down with great force. With a presence of mind and consideration, and with a mechanical skill,--which to admire most we knew not, one of the boys, about five years old, used the instant of time in which the singular movement was practicable, threw his whole body into a horizontal position, and went clear over the infant's head. But this was not all; in the same well employed instant it occurred to him that that movement was not enough to save the little intruder, as he himself was to be followed as quick as thought by the next swinger; for this he provided, by dropping his own feet to the ground, and stopping the whole machine the instant he had cleared the child's head. The spectator of this admirable specimen of intellect and good feeling, which was all necessarily the thought and act of a moment, had his hand instinctively in his pocket for a shilling, but was stopped by the teacher, who disowns all inferior motives for acts of kindness and justice. The little hero, however, had his reward, for the incident was related by the teacher in a full school, in the presence of the strangers, and was received with several rounds of hearty applause."

We will quote another anecdote illustrative of the good effects of exercising the kindly feelings.

J.J. accused H.S. of having eaten up J.J.'s dinner. It was proved by several witnesses that H.S. not only appropriated the dinner, but used force: the charge being proved to the satisfaction of the _jury_ (the whole school), the same tribunal were requested by the teacher to decide what should be the consequence to the convict. One orator rose, and suggested that as H.S. had not yet eat his own dinner, he ought to give it to J.J. This motion, for the children always welcome any reasonable substitute for corporal punishment, was carried by acclamation. When one o'clock came, and the dinner was handed over, "_coram publico_," to J.J., H.S. was observed by him to be in tears, and lingering near his _own_ dinner. They were by this time nearly done, but the teacher was watching the result. The tears were too much for J.J., who went to H.S., threw his arms round his neck, told him not to cry, but to sit down and take half. This invitation was of course accepted by H.S., who manifested a great inferiority of character to the other, and furnished an example of the blindness of the unjust to the justice of retribution, which they always feel to mere revenge and cruelty. He could not bear to see J.J. even sharing _his_ dinner, and told him with bitterness that he would tell his mother. "Weel, weel!" said the generous child, "I'll gin y'd a' back again." Of course the teacher interfered to prevent this gross injustice, and in the afternoon made their school-fellows perfectly aware of the part each had acted. It is not easy to render a character like H.S. liberal, but a long course of such practice, for precept is impotent in such cases, might modify what in after life would have turned out a selfish, unjust, and unsocial character.

This selfish principle it is the great object of moral training to combat against. We may trace almost all the misery in the world to it; and until it ceases to exist to the extent which it now does, little can be done to accomplish any good or great purpose. But lessons like the above, and received into the infant mind when in a receptive state, will, if proper advantage be taken of their occurrence, prove in the hands of the Almighty a powerful engine for the removal of selfishness; and we know of no method so effectual to accomplish this object as the drawing infants into societies, which is done only in infant schools.

The following anecdote, bearing on the same subject, came under the observation of the author of this work, very early in his labour for the extension of his system. He gives it here in the same words as he communicated it to a friend at the time of its occurrence.

A few days since I went to the Boston Street school; the children were in the gallery, and the moment I entered, they rose to receive me. When the school was over, the children came around me, as they usually do, saying, When will you come again? and so on. I told them I could not tell, but that I would come as soon as I could. This answer would not satisfy them, and I talked to them until near six o'clock in the evening. One little girl, about four years old, kept looking stedfastly at me the whole time, not letting a single word or gesture escape her notice. At last I finished my observations, and desired the children to go. The infant in question immediately took hold of my hand, and said, "We shall never see you any more, you must come home with me." I replied, "What do you want me to go home for?" The child answered, "I have nothing to give you, but if you will come home mother will give you some tea." I patted the child on the head, telling it I could not go. The child went home, as I thought, and I remained some time talking to one of the ladies of the committee. On walking down the street I saw the same child crying bitterly, and surrounded by many other children. On inquiring the cause, I received for answer, "_You would not come home to tea_." If only one half the invitations that are given amongst _men_ were given with as much sincerity and disinterestedness as was manifested by this _infant_, I am much mistaken if we should not see a very different state of _society_.

"Moral education," writes Mr. Simpson in his "Philosophy of Education," "embraces both the animal and moral impulses. It regulates the former, and strengthens the latter, whenever gluttony, indelicacy, violence, cruelty, greediness, cowardice, pride, insolence, vanity, or any mode of selfishness shew themselves in the individual under training, one and all must be repressed with the most watchful solicitude, and the most skilful treatment. Repression may at first fail to be accomplished, unless by severity; but the instructor sufficiently enlightened in the faculties, will, in the first practicable moment, drop the coercive system, and awaken and appeal powerfully to the higher faculties of conscience and benevolence, and to the powers of reflection: this, done with kindness, in other words, with a marked manifestation of benevolence itself, will operate with a power, the extent of which in education is yet, to a very limited extent, estimated. In the very exercise of the superior faculties the inferior are indirectly acquiring a habit of restraint and regulation; for it is morally impossible to cultivate the superior faculties without a simultaneous though indirect regulation of the inferior."

It is indeed a melancholy truth, that moral training is yet, to a very limited extent, estimated, and this is mainly owing to its not being understood by the generality of those selected for the office of teachers of infants, nor can it be expected that persons of sufficient intellect and talent to comprehend and carry out this great object, can be procured, until a sufficient remuneration is held out to them, to make it worth their while to devote their whole energies to the subject. It is a fatal error to suppose that mere girls, taken perhaps from some laborious occupation, and whose sum total of education consists of reading and writing, can carry out views which it requires a philosophical mind, well stored with liberal ideas and general knowledge, to effect. They may be able to instruct the children in the mere mechanical part of the system; and as long as they confine themselves to this, they will go on capitally, but no further than this can they go; and though the children may appear to a casual visitor, to be very nicely instructed, and very wonderful little creatures, on a closer examination they will be found mere automatons; and then, without a thought on the subject, the system will be blamed, without once considering that the most perfect figure of mechanism will not work properly in any hands, except those that thoroughly understand it.

Enough may have now been said on this subject, and my earnest prayer is, that by God's help, these remarks may produce beneficial results; and if my endeavours to make the subject of moral instruction more easily understood, and to demonstrate its importance as clearly as possible are successful, the results will soon shew me that the hard labour of three-and-thirty years has not been entirely in vain, and this will be to me a greater reward than all the praise, distinction, and honour that it is in man's power to confer.

Whenever an infant is detected in any of those animal impulses, to regulate which is the great end of moral training, a gallery lesson should be immediately given, having a tendency to excite an abhorrence of the fault on the minds of all the children. An opportunity of this description should never be let pass. These are the very best times to implant virtuous and moral sentiments in the minds of the young pupils. These are the golden opportunities of bringing into action the higher faculties of conscience and benevolence, and the powers of reflection.

If an instance of the too prevalent cruelty of the young to animals be detected, which often occurs from mere thoughtlessness, it may be prevented from again occurring by a few lessons like the one which we have given as a specimen. The same means may be taken for crushing the rudiments of gluttony, violence, pride, deceit, or any other vice. The gallery is the proper place for these lessons; and after the matter has been thoroughly _sifted_ in the play-ground, or wherever else it has occurred, the children should then be marched to the gallery, to receive a proper instruction on the subject. Cruelty, on the part of boys, is too prevalent; it is energy, enterprise, and high animal spirit, not legislated for on the part of parents and teachers, which descends to cruelty, first to animals, then to all which has life, that cannot defend itself. Children soon learn to distinguish those children and animals, who can, and will, resent cruelty, from those who will not; and therefore, speculate on the results accordingly, and become self-taught up to this point. A child should never be without a kind and wise guide at this period; that which in itself descends to evil, for the want of a moral guide, may be turned to good. The faculties mentioned, cannot be extinguished, but can be regulated. This is the office of the teacher. Too frequently we try to crush the powers that early want training and regulating. The same powers which run to vice, may be trained to virtue, but the activities cannot, and ought not, to be kept too much in abeyance.

Children are not naturally cruel, although they differ much in the propensity to annoy and reduce animals and each other under their individual control; the passive submit at once, but the energetic will not; it is then that the active assailant learns an important lesson, which can only be learned in society, and which to him, is of great importance. The difficulty on the part of the teacher, is to know when to interfere, and when to let alone. I have often erred by interference, of this I am quite satisfied; the anxiety to prevent evil, has caused me to interfere too soon, by not giving time to the pupil fully to develops his act. I hope others will profit from this; it requires much practice and long study of different temperaments, in children, to know when to let alone and when to interfere; but certain it is, that the moral faculties can and must be developed, in any system worthy of the name of education. Other vices beside cruelty are to be found in children. Moral training applies to these, and none are left to run their own course. Why should they? What are schools for? but to form the virtuous character--the being who can command self control--the orderly character, the good citizen, and, the being who fears and loves God. Ends less than these, cannot be worthy of the efforts of the philanthropist and the truly religious man.

There is another idea which has long been in my mind, and which I hope some day to see carried into practice, viz., a Religious Service adapted for children, in our various places of worship. No accurate observer of the young in churches during divine service, can have failed to witness the inattention of the numbers of children who are assembled on such occasions. The service is too long and inappropriate for them, as is also the sermon. It is addressed to adults, and sometimes the terms used by the preacher, is Greek to half the adults, in agricultural districts. Men cannot be too simple with the young and illiterate; there is much room for improvement in these things, and with regard to the young, I can answer for them that, if they are addressed in proper language, which they can understand, and are supplied with proper religious food for the understanding, suitable to its state of receptivity, and, if I may say, digestive powers; they, as a body, will shew us an example which will surprise many. With regard to the Church, there might be taken from the Prayer Book, a simple service adapted to the purpose. I am certain I could do it with ease, as I know what is adapted for children, or at least I ought to do. The next point, all the preachers should be men of peculiar temperament and great simplicity of manner. I do not care how learned they are; the more learned, the better; but it, need not be in languages but in spiritual things. There are thousands of passages in the Holy Word which are adapted, and I think, intended for the purpose, and there are many men now living who are able to do the thing, and more will be raised up. One thing, however, must not be forgotten, they must be _men advanced_ in life, not _lads_. To teach natural things properly to children, requires more knowledge than the generality of the public suppose. The younger the children are, the more knowledge it requires on the part of the instructor. But to teach spiritual things properly to children, men cannot know too much, provided they have the power to simplify that knowledge and reduce it to practice. An evening service will not do for children, it must be either in the morning or the middle of the day. So fully am I impressed with the importance of this idea, that I am determined shortly to take means to carry it out.