Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L I UB \033 Library This book is DUE on the last date stamped below ftBl. A939 Form L-9-15rn-8,'24 THOUGHTS AND EXPERIENCES IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL BY JOHN B. PEASLEE, LLB., Ph.D., Ex-Superintendent of the Public Schools of Cincinnati. Ohio ACCOMPANIED BY LETTERS FROM LONGFELLOW, WHITTIER, HOLMES, AND OTHER AMERICAN AUTHORS Printed for the Author by CURTS & JENNINGS, CINCINNATI, OHIO 1900 MAY 1908 Copyright by JOHN B. PEASLEE, 1899 Education Library DEDICATION " My Boys and Girls," former pupils in Plaistow and Newton, New Hampshire, Groveland, Mas- sachusetts, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio : To you this volume is affectionately dedicated. May you find in it something to remind you of those happy days of your childhood and youth, when we were associated together in the public schools. Sincerely yours, JOHN B. PEASLEE. CONTENTS PAGE. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, ............... 9 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE, ...... 11 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, . 31 Mistakes in Teaching, ............. 34 Gems of Literature, .............. 40 How to Teach Gems of Literature, ....... 47 Teachers Should Familiarize Themselves with Good Books, ................ 51 Author-day Celebrations, ........... 51 How to Prepare for a Celebration, ....... 53 Declamations and School Exhibitions ...... 56 Children are Interested in Gem Learning, ... 60 Remarks of a Nonagenarian, .......... 61 Dime-novel Reading, .............. 63 The Importance of Reading Good Books, ... 66 Neatness and Beauty of Execution, ...... 67 School-room Decorations, ........... 71 Portraits for the Schools, ........... 72 Portraits of Webster, ............. 74 Bands of Mercy, ................ 76 Conclusion, .................. 78 MORAL INSTRUCTION THROUGH LITERATURE, . . 80 List of Selections Taught by a B Grade Teacher, ................ 88 Opinions of Principals and Teachers, .... 92 Report of the French Commission, .... 97 Boards of Education Should Act, ..... 99 Revival of American Literature, ...... 100 ORIGIN OF SCHOOL ARBOR-DAY, ........... 101 Organization of the Cincinnati Forestry Club, . 103 Visit of the Von Steubens, ........... 104 3 4 CONTENTS Origin of School Arbor-day PAGE. Colonel De Beck Conceives the Idea of Organiz- ing an American Forestry Congress, .... 107 Conference in Judge Higley's Office, 108 Organization of the Projectors of the Congress, 109 Superintendent Peaslee's Plan of Celebration Adopted, 110 Governor Foster Issues a Proclamation, .... Ill Board of Education and Board of Public Works Take Action, 112 Authors Selected, and the Schools begin Prep- arations, 113 The Procession and the Part Taken by Pupils in the Actual Planting, 114 Celebration in Author's Grove, 115 Ralph Waldo Emerson Dies 116 The Planting of the " Steuben Oaks," 116 The First Memorial Groves Planted in America, . 118 Cincinnati Arbor-Hain, 118 "The Cincinnati Plan" Popularized "Arbor-day," 119 "Arbor-day " Celebration of 1883, 121 Inscriptions on the Granite Markers, 122 Description of the Celebration by Mrs. Hardacre, 124 Sentiment of the Scholars in Regard to Trees, . 125 Celebration of 1884, 126 Names of Authors to whom Trees were Planted in 1884, 127 School Celebration of 1885 Held in the School- houses, 132 Celebrations Around the Trees More Effective, . 134 EXTRACTS PROM ADDRESSES, 135 Tree-planting and Forestry in Germany, . 136 Public Sentiment Must Be Created, .... 138 Let Memorial Groves Be Planted, 139 Tree Monuments, 141 Celebrations would Lead to Beautifying Our Cities and Towns, 142 CONTENTS 5 Origin of School Arbor-Day PAGE. Tree-planting Fosters a Love for Trees and Tree-culture, 143 The Gary Tree, 144 Old Liberty Elm, 145 "Washington Elm, 146 "Woodman, Spare That Tree, 147 DECORATED MANUSCRIPTS OF AMERICAN AUTHORS, . . 151 Letter of Mrs. Anna Fields, 155 List of Manuscripts, 157 EXTRACTS PROM LECTURE ON OHIO, 159 First Settlers, Soldiers of the Eevolution, . . . 161 Ordinance of Eighty-seven, 162 Growth of the Northwestern States, 165 Washington Irving's Letter, 165 Ohio, the Soldier State of the Union, 167 Settlement of Gallipolis, 169 General George Rogers Clark, the Napoleon of the West, 172 OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES, 177 CINCINNATI, THE UNIVERSITY CITY OP THE TWEN- TIETH CENTURY, 180 Co-education, 180 The Growth of Public Sentiment in Favor of Higher Education, 183 Present Educational Institutions, Apart from Our Public Schools, 185 Picture of the University of Cincinnati as She will be in the Latter Part of the Twentieth Century, 188 OUE EDUCATORS, 190 Literary Institute and College of Profes- sional Teachers, 193 GRACE AGUILAR SOCIETY 196 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 198 6 CONTENTS Occasional Addresses PAGE. REMARKS WELCOMING THE NATIONAL GERMAN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION, 199 GERMAN INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, . . . 202 Why a Child Can Study with Advantage Two Languages at the Same Time, 208 Too Many Hours of Tuition, 212 Why Select the German Language, .... 214 Germanizing the Children, 217 Organization of the German Department, . . 219 A Suggestion as to the Method of Teaching, . 223 German Methods of Instruction, 224 Conclusion, 227 PEDAGOGIC HINTS (for teachers), 229 THE "TENS' METHOD" OF TEACHING ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION. Introductory Remarks, 231 The Way in which the " Tens' Method " was Introduced, 233 General Directions, 235 Explanation. The Teachers' Manipulating the Objects, 237 Explanation. The Pupils Manipulating the Objects,- 239 Exercises without Objects, 241 TEACHING ACCURACY IN READING, 250 Opinions of Principals and Teachers, .... 251 PERCENTAGE SYSTEM, 253 FAREWELL TO THE SCHOOLS, 260 PERSONAL INCIDENTS, 263 The Fish I Did Catch, 265 My Spring, 267 Planting the Maple-tree, 269 Why I Became in Boyhood an Opponent of Cap- ital Punishment, 273 General Noyes and the Poet Whittier, 276 CONTENTS 7 PAGE. LETTERS FROM AMERICAN AUTHORS, OR THEIR REP- RESENTATIVES, RELATING TO AUTHOR-DAY AND ARBOR-DAY CELEBRATIONS, 281 From John Greenleaf Whittier, 283, 286, 288, 294, 300 Henry W. Longfellow, 284, 286 Oliver Wendell Holmes, 285, 287, 293, 301, 307, 329 From J. G. Holland, 289 W. H. Venable, 290, 305 John J. Piatt, 291, 326 Rev. Howard A. Johnston, 294 J. T. Headley, 295, 311 W. D. Gallagher, 296 Ellen T. Emerson (daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson), 301 Anna Fields (Mrs. James T. Fields), . . 155, 302 Elizabeth C. Agassiz (Mrs. Louis Agassiz), . 303 W. D. Howells, 304 Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, 304 Benson J. Lossing, 308 Moncure D. Conway, 312 Harriet Dennison Read (Mrs. T. Buchanan Read), 313 Mrs. Imogen Willis Eddy (Daughter of N. P. Willis), 314 William A. Mowry, 23, 315 General Samuel F. Gary (cousin of Alice and Phoebe), 316 B. Pickman Mann (son of Horace Mann), . . 317 Mrs. Mary H. Russell (daughter of Lydia M. Sigourney), 318 Lucy Larcom, 319 Miss Gabrielle Greeley (daughter of Horace Greeley), 320 Daniel Draper (son of Professor John W. Draper), 320 Mrs. Kate Holland Von Wagner (daughter of J. G. Holland) 321 8 CONTENTS Letters from American Authors PAGE. Miss Susan Fenimore Cooper (daughter of James Fenimore Cooper), 322 Dr. Edward H. Parker, 323 Edwin Percy Whipple (the Essayist), . . . 324 G. and A. Merriam & Co. (publishers of "Web- ster's Dictionary), 327 From James Grant Wilson 329 Joseph W. Miller, 330 Hon. John W. Andrews, 332 Arthur Gilman, 333 Eossiter Johnson, 334 Mrs. C. Emma Cheney, .- 335 Horace E. Scudder, 336 Horatio O. Ladd 336 OCCASIONAL VERSES, . 339 The School Flag, 341 The Heroes Who Rest 343 Advice to a Young Friend 344 In Memoriam. To Lou W. Peaslee, 347 'Neath the Maple-tree (by Mrs. Mary Peaslee Gardner), 348 Memories of Boyhood (by E. S. Peaslee), .... 350 Ode to Daniel Webster (by Rev. Wm. Carey Sheppard), 354 ADDENDUM. TESTIMONY OF TEACHERS ON THE METHOD OF TEACHING HISTORY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 357 NOTES, 367 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE 1. PORTRAIT OP THE AUTHOR," Frontispiece 2. BIRTH-PLACE OF THE AUTHOR, 11 3. THE " OLD PEASLEE GARRISON HOUSE," 16 4. THE " WHITTIER SCHOOL-HOUSE," 21 5. KENOZA LAKE, 30 6. SAMPLES OF FORMS RULED BY PUPILS ON SLATE AND PAPER (10 pages), 68 7. DANIEL WEBSTER, 74 8. AUTHORS' GROVE, 115 9. STEUBEN OAKS, - 120 10. WASHINGTON ELM, 146 11. GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, 172 12. UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, 179 13. THE " OLD MILL-POND," 266 14. THE GANO LOT, SPKIN& GROVE 347 9 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE JOHN BRADLEY PEASLEE was born in Plaistow, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. His paternal ancestor, Joseph Peaslee (Peasley, as the name was then spelled), came, with his wife Mary, from Eng- land, and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635. In 1645 he removed to Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he established a homestead of two hundred acres, becoming, in that year, one of thirty-two landholders of that place. In 1656 he removed to the adjoining township of Salisbury Newtown, and settled in that part of the township now known as Amesbury, Massachusetts, where he died December 3, 1660. Joseph Peaslee was a man of splendid physique, and of great force of character. He was, as is stated in the " History of Essex County, Massa- chusetts," "in many respects, a conspicuous man." The Church records of Salisbury, where he sup- plied the place of the minister as c, lay preacher, call him "the gifted brother," and the poet Whit- tier designates him as "the brave confessor." In his religious convictions he differed from the doc- trines of the Established Church, and was known as a " Come-outer." He began to preach before George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends (or Quakers as they are usually called), commenced 11 12 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE to proclaim his doctrines. The preaching of Joseph Peaslee, not being in accord with the established order, but detrimental to the same, the General Court decreed that he should be fined five shillings every time he exhorted the people in the absence of a preacher, and, also, that he should be fined five shil- lings every time he failed to attend the Established Church. This action of the General Court did not deter him from worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience ; and not long after- wards he, with his associates, organized, at what is now Amesbury Mills, a little band of believers to hold meetings and to preach. Again the General Court decreed that he should be fined as before. In 1653 he and Thomas Marcy were arrested, by order of the General Court, for "exhorting on the Lord's-day," heavily fined, and deprived of their "rights as freemen." This was done by the court notwithstanding the fact that the " exhorting " took place in their own residences. Joseph Peaslee, Jr., the only son of Joseph Peaslee, was a physician, and, like his distinguished father, a man of great mental power and of sterling worth; a Quaker in the highest sense of the term. "The old Peaslee-Garrison House," built by him in or near 1673, of brick imported from England, is still standing. It was constructed to serve both as a private dwelling and as a fort to protect the early settlers against the Indians. To this house the people of Haverhill fled for shelter at the time Hannah Dustin was carried away by the Indians, LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE 13 and also during the French and Indian War. In it the great-grandmother of the poet Whittier, who was the daughter of Joseph Peaslee, Jr., 1 spent her youth. In this house the first Quaker meetings in New England were held. Mrs. E. A. Kimball, in her book entitled "The Peaslees and Others of Haverhill and Vicinity," after quoting a letter to her, in which John G. Whittier states, "I have al- ways heard that the first Quaker meetings in this part of the country were held at Joseph Peasley's house," says: "In 1699, when the town voted 'that 7 / * the new meeting-house should in future be the place where the people should worship God, Joseph Peas- ley, etc., immediately moving that the town would allow him and others to meet at the meeting-house for and in their way of worship which is accounted to be for Quakers it was read and refused to be voted upon.' Whereupon, not being allowed to worship with his sect in the new house, Mr. Peaslee opened his own doors, and in his home the Friends met, holding there the first meetings of the society in this part of the county. In this house crowds were wont to assemble at their quarterly-meetings, coming from neighboring towns to listen to ad- dresses made by the most notable speakers of the sect." Among the descendants of Joseph Peaslee, Jr., are found the following : Colonel Nathaniel Peaslee, "the wealthiest and most influential man of Haver- hill," a member of the committee of the General Court on the boundary-line between Massachusetts 14 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE and New Hampshire ; Robert and John, brothers of Nathaniel, large land-owners, and prominent and influential men ; Judge Daniel Peaslee, of Washing- ton County, Vermont ; Rev. Reuben Peaslee, brother of Daniel, one of the most distinguished Methodist ministers of his day in New England, author of "Experiences, Christian and Ministerial, of Mr. Reuben Peaslee," and publisher of "A Choice Selec- tion of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Designed to Aid in the Devotions of Prayer, Conference, and Camp- meetings;" Joab Peaslee, brother of Daniel and Reuben, and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, the wealthiest and one of the leading men of his township, Plaistow ; Hon. Charles Hazen Peas- lee, a graduate of Dartmouth College, member of Congress of New Hampshire for three terms, and collector of customs, Boston, Mass., under President Pierce; Edmund Randolph Peaslee, A. M., M. D., LL. D., of New York City, graduate of Dartmouth College, great physician and lecturer, professor at Dartmouth, Bowdoin, New York Medical and Bellows Hospital Medical Colleges, author of med- ical works, a member and officer of medical societies of both continents, and trustee of Dartmouth Col- lege; J. P. Peaslee, New York City, author of "The Unique;" Amos Peaslee, very prominent Quaker preacher (Hicksite), Philadelphia; Abraham Peaslee, brother of Amos, a prominent Quaker preacher (orthodox) ; Judge William Jenkins Peas- lee, of the Circuit Court, Indianapolis; Rev. Eben- ezer Peaslee, Newton, N. H., Methodist preacher LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE 15 and very able debater; Moses B. Peaslee, one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Newton, N. H.; Edward H. Peaslee, M. D., of New York City, a graduate of Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., of Yale College, and of Bellows Hospital Medical College, and member of the Board of Education of New York City for six years ; Judge Eobert James Peaslee, justice of the Supreme Court of New Hamp- shire; Rev. Arthur Peaslee, A. B. (Bates College), A. M. (Harvard University), curate of Christ Church (Episcopal), Cambridge, Mass.; Daniel Peaslee, Plaistow, N. H., uncle of John B., mill-owner and large dealer in ship lumber; Hiram Peaslee, also an uncle, wealthy and prominent citizen of Haverhill, Mass. ; James E. Peaslee, brother of Daniel and Hiram, and father of Edward S. Peaslee, principal of Kirby Eoad School, Cincinnati, land-owner and farmer; Hon. Clarence Andrew Peaslee, M. D., "Wiscasset, Maine, a graduate of the Maine Wes- leyan Seminary, of the Medical Department of Bow- doin College, perfecting his medical studies at the New York Poly clinic, St. Thomas Hospital in Lon- don, and at the University of Vienna, a member of the Maine Academy of Medicine and Science, vice- president of the Medical Alumni of Bowdoin Col- lege, and member of the Board of Pension Exam- ining Surgeons; C. C. Peaslee, M. D., of Auburn, Maine ; Horace White Peaslee, one of the most es- teemed citizens and successful business men of Co- lumbia County, New York; Rev. Isaac Peaslee, of Sutton, N. H., Baptist minister; Rev. Arthur C. 16 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE Peaslee, of Leominster, Mass., Baptist minister; Charles E. Peaslee, prominent Quaker minister; Zacheus, Kobert, David, Abraham, and Jacob Peas- lee were soldiers of the Eevolution, two of them officers; Jacob, afterwards major in the New Hamp- shire State Militia, ' ' became very wealthy, and was the head and front of all public interests of his township, South Kingston, X. H. ;" his son, Captain Daniel Peaslee, was "active, energetic, and always in public affairs;" Captain Daniel's son, Luther Peaslee, "merchant, lumberman, is one of the wealthiest men in Southern New Hampshire ;" Dr. George L. Peaslee, formerly of Gilmanton, N. H., and afterwards of Wilton, Maine; John S. Peaslee, a prominent citizen of Newton, N. H., president of the "Peaslee Gathering;" E. E. Peaslee, Plaistow, N. H., lumber dealer and large mill owner; Joab Peaslee, Plaistow, N. H., and Haverhill, Mass., re- tired shoe-manufacturer, ex-member of the House of Kepresentatives of New Hampshire ; Charles E. Peaslee (Peaslee & Gaulbert Co., Louisville, Ky.)> retired merchant and manufacturer, Louisville, Ky. ; Hon. Nathaniel Peaslee Sargent, a graduate of Harvard, member of the Provincial Congress, chief justice Supreme Court of Massachusetts; John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet; Hon. William Pitt Fessenden, United States senator from Maine; Major-General Joseph Badger, colonel of the 10th New Hampshire Eegiment, in 1771, an active and efficient officer in the Eevolution, member of the Provincial Congress and of the Convention that LIFE OF JOHN B, PEASLEE 17 adopted the United States Constitution, one of the founders of the Gilmanton (N. H.) Academy, and president of the Board of Trustees till his death (his son, Brigadier-General Joseph Badger, com- manded a company at Mount Independence, Lake Champlain, in 1776, and was present at the capture of General Burgoyne in 1779) ; Hon. "William Badger, governor of New Hampshire ; Nathaniel and Francis Cogswell, graduates of Dartmouth, and officers in the army one was killed at Chateaugay, N. Y., in 1813, and the other died in the service; Judge Thomas Cogswell, most prominent citizen of Gil- manton, N. H. ; Colonel Thomas Cogswell, son of Judge Cogswell, to whom a further reference will be made in these pages ; Amos Cogswell, of Dover, N. H. ; Dr. Joseph Cogswell and Dr. William Cogs- well, of Bradford, Mass. ; Dr. George Cogswell, of Bradford, Mass. ; General William Cogswell, of Salem, Mass., colonel of the 2d Massachusetts Eegi- ment in the Civil War, member of Congress from Essex County; Hon. Ira A. Eastman, of Concord, N. H., a graduate of Dartmouth College, member of Congress, justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, trustee of Dartmouth College from 1859 to 1880; Joseph Eastman, of Concord, who commanded a company at Crown Point ; Nathaniel Eastman, member of the Committee of Safety, served at Ticonderoga ; Moses Eastman, sergeant in the same company which his brother Joseph com- manded at Crown Point; Hon. Samuel C. Eastman, president of the New Hampshire Savings Bank; 18 LIFE OF JOHN S. PEASLEE Gertrude (Whittier) Cortland, cousin of John G. Whittier, a prominent educator and woman of high culture; Charles H. Jones, of Amesbury, Mass., former principal of Oak Grove Seminary, Maine, and of Union Springs School, New York, without question the most gifted minister of the Society of Friends in the Xew England Yearly Meeting; Dr. Daniel Peaslee Chase, of Hillsboro Bridge, N. H. ; James Davis, of Dover, X. H., colonel, judge, and large land-owner; Benjamin Thompson, who gave nearly $500,000 to the New Hampshire Agricultural College; Mary Thompson, sister of Benjamin, noted teacher and author, who left a library of 2,000 volumes; Hon. S. F. Xorris, of Batavia, Ohio, judge, and member of the Ohio Constitutional Con- vention of 1850; Anson P. Merrill, governor of Maine, 1855-57, and member of Congress, 1861-63; Lot M. Morrill, educated at "Waterville College, ad- mitted to the bar in 1839, member of State Legis- lature in 1854, president of State Senate in 1856, governor of Maine, 1858-60, United States senator, 1861-76, and was appointed Secretary of the United States Treasury June 21, 1876; Hon. Daniel J. Morrill, one of the chief owners and managers of the iron works at Johnstown, Pa., elected member of Congress, and moved in Congress the measure for the World's Fair at Philadelphia in 1876, and was chairman of the Executive Committee of the Exposition; Dr. Israel Peaslee Chase, of Manches- ter, N. H., editor and very skillful physician; Ab- ner Peaslee Collins, of Weare, N. H., "compiled LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE 19 the excellent genealogies for the history of Weare, a man widely known ;" Dr. Daniel Peaslee Webster, physician, Brattleboro, Vt. ; Eugene Alonzo Web- ster, Internal Eevenue collector, district of South Carolina; John Paige, of Weare, N. H., a widely- known Quaker minister; John Elwood Paige, of Lynn, Mass., clerk of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends highest public office in the society " a well-known and prominent man, a poet and writer, also business man;" Nathan C. Paige, formerly of Washington, D. C. ; Nathan Paige, well- known Quaker minister; George F. Beede, of Free- mont, N. H., writer on horticulture, prominent member of the Legislature of New Hampshire, au- thor of a number of bills relating to agriculture; Eev. Horatio N. Burton, D. D. ; Hon. John Peaslee Badger, of Malone, N. Y. ; Daniel Peterson Wood- bury, Weare, N. H., selectman for years, does a large amount of probate business; David Nasoii, Amesbury, Mass., postmaster and influential citizen; Edmund Johnson, cousin of the poet Whittier, large farmer and lumberman, retired from business in 1856, and lived in Charleston and Boston till 1876, when, with his daughters, Caroline C., Mrs. Abby Woodman, and Mary, he removed to Oak Knoll, Danvers, Mass., which was the old General Putnam place, where Ann Putnam and her witch friends used to hold their gatherings the Johnson sisters and Mrs. Woodman, where John G. Whittier made his home part of the time, were of Peaslee descent on both sides; William B. Cole, Lebanon, N. H., a 20 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE wealthy iron manufacturer ; Peaslee Dickinson, suc- cessful merchant and a leading citizen, Chelsea, Vt. ; Mrs. Louise Worthington Greene, aunt of Mr. Peaslee, wife of George A. Greene, one of the wealthiest men in Haverhill, Mass., and a poetess of local reputation; Hon. Peter Morrill Xeal, ex-mayor of Lynn, Mass., very prominent man both in public life and Church affairs (Quaker) ; and many other descendants of Joseph Peaslee ^ Jr. , who have lived lives of honor and influence. Mr. Beede furnished the greater part of the information relating to the descendants of Joseph Peaslee, Jr., given above. Mr. Peaslee's father, Eeuben Peaslee, also edu- cated at Dartmouth College, was for years chairman of the important Committee on Banking of the House of Representatives of Xew Hampshire, and was noted for his powers as a debater. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850, and it was through his influence that the Convention incorporated in the new constitution articles which abolished religious qualifications both for voting and for holding office. 2 Mr. Peaslee's maternal ancestor, Richard Willets, settled in Hempstead, Long Island, New York, on or before 1657. His mother, whose maiden name was Harriet Atwood Willets, was born in Xew York City in 1824, and was educated in the public schools of that city, having completed the entire course of study of those days. She was noted for energy and vivacity, and for her kind and generous impulses. Mr. Peaslee's ancestors on both his father's and B 5 I wl J? 3 o o = O ~ 3 ^ X t* x. " 1in u T x = ; P -o3* fc 5s-| hr4 _ v* S .sSlfis LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE 21 his mother's side were Quakers, and suffered by the religious persecutions of early times. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of his native town and of Haverhill, 3 Massachusetts, at Atkinson and Gilmanton Acade- mies, New Hampshire, and at Dartmouth College, where he was graduated in the class of 1863-4.* Of the members of the class now living, there are 16 lawyers, 11 professors and teachers, 8 min- isters of the gospel, 9 physicians, 7 merchants, 4 manufacturers, 3 farmers, 3 journalists, 2 New York brokers, 1 banker, 1 chemist, 1 paymaster in United States navy, 1 railroad president, 1 real-estate dealer, 1 fruit-raiser, and 1 chief of postal service, and they are distributed among twenty-one States and the District of Columbia. Mr. Peaslee's Commencement oration was on " The Polish Eevolutions," and it was so effectively delivered that the entire audience was aroused to enthusiasm, and he received high encomiums from New York and other Eastern papers. Even Ealph Waldo Emerson, who sat upon the platform, arose and congratulated the young man. Upon the recommendation of Dr. Nathan Lord, president of Dartmouth, and without Mr. Peaslee's knowledge or solicitation, he was elected principal of the North Grammar School, Columbus, Ohio, shortly after graduation, and in company of Judge Hutchinson, his classmate, mentioned later, who had been elected principal of the Columbus High School, he came to Ohio, reaching the State on his twenty-second 22 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE birthday. On October 3, 1864, he resigned his po- sition at Columbus, greatly to the regret of pupils, teachers, and trustees, and came to Cincinnati, to assume the duties of first assistant in the Third District School of that city, Congressman Outh- waite succeeding him as principal of the North Grammar School. In 1867 he was elected principal of the Fifth District School; in 1869, of the Second Intermediate (Grammar) School; in 1873, the Ninth District School was also placed under his charge; in 1874, Superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools, certainly one of the youngest, if not the youngest man who ever held the superintendency of so large a school system in this or any other country. During Mr. Peaslee's twelve years' super- intendency he inaugurated a number of important reforms in the schools, among which may be men- tioned the method of teaching addition and sub- traction in the primary grades, named by him the "Tens Method," but which was published in pam- phlet form by Professor John Mickleborough, former principal of the Cincinnati Normal School, as the "Peaslee Method;" also systematic forms in which the pupils were required to rule their slates and paper for all written work, thus giving the pupils a pride in beautiful execution, and inculcating thereby habits of neatness and order, the moral influence of which can hardly be overestimated; the devoting of fifteen minutes a day to the systematic teaching of Gems of Literature, and for this work prepared a course of study in which the selections for children LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE 23 in the lower grades consisted chiefly of entire pieces, and of such as are calculated to develop their emo- tional nature (the imagination, love of home and parents, kindness to dumb animals, etc.), and to give them correct rules of action; those for the higher grades consisting principally of brief ex- tracts, containing grand and ennobling thoughts, clothed in beautiful language, calculated to inspire them with higher aspirations in life, to lead them into pure fields of English literature, and to teach them to love and reverence great and good authors. "The plan of Mr. Peaslee," said a writer in the Cincinnati Gazette, "has proved a revolution, and those who have watched the growth of the little ones, relative to the thoughts imparted by the so- called * Memory Gems,' will agree with us in award- ing high praise to the conception." Of the same work, the Boston Literary World declared that, "in preparing the graded selections for memorizing, Superintendent Peaslee has done much to acquaint the public-school children with, and interest them in, the best authors." Dr. "W. A. Mowry, ex-president American Insti- tute of Instruction, and member of the National Council of Education, wrote to the author: "I have just finished reading through, from beginning to end, your little book of selections. It is charm- ing, delightful. I do not see how you succeeded so well in selecting such an admirable list of pieces. But the chief feature is, that they are so wonderfully well graded. Anybody can make good selections for 24 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE grown people ; but it is a different task to make, as you have made, a good list for the young children. Your success is complete." To the above notices may be added the follow- ing, from a chapter in the " History of Cincinnati," written by Dr. W. H. Venable, author of "The Teacher's Dream:" "Dr. Peaslee accomplished a distinguished and important service for the schools in the way of lit- erary stimulation. He introduced books to children and children to books. Authors and publishers owe him a debt of gratitude. "The beginning of this literary movement dates from the introduction of * Peaslee's Gems ' as a part of the course of education. These Gems are choice passages in prose and verse, to be learned by heart and recited by the pupil as a basis of further literary study. It is claimed that Dr. Peaslee was the first in this country to introduce into the schools a systematic and graded course of such selections from English literature. "The zealous impulse which led him to devise ways and means of aiding the young people to make a start in reading and loving good books, carried him on to a still more inspiring mode of enlighten- ing the children, and calling forth willing and profit- able efforts on their part. It was a happy thought of his to vary the monotory of school-life by occa- sional celebrations commemorative of the life and services of distinguished authors, statesmen, and others, whose word and example might serve to LIFE OF TOHN B. PEASLEE 25 stimulate the rising generation to nobler and better conduct. The first celebration of the kind was held on December 17, 1879, the anniversary of the birth- day of John Greenleaf Whittier. This was followed, in 1880, by the celebrations of Longfellow, Holmes, Emerson, and others. Commenting on the value of this feature in education, Dr. William T. Harris, the present United States Commissioner of Educa- tion, said that * it was the best thing that had been done for the schools of our country for fifty years.' The innovation proved popular as well as salutary, and was adopted throughout the whole country. In Cincinnati the movement found further develop- ment, by Dr. Peaslee's activity, as an adjunct to Arbor-day celebrations. " On April 27, 1882, under the direction of the superintendent, and as a part of the general civic Memorial-day, the school-children planted 'Authors' Grove,' a plat of ground six acres in extent, in Eden Park. A vast number of beautiful trees, each dedicated to some distinguished writer, were planted ; and granite tablets, with the names of the several authors, were afterwards placed near the trees. The visitor to Eden Park will now find 'Authors' Grove' one of the most delightful por- tions of the place." Superintendent Peaslee contended that the study of literature should not begin, as was the old cus- tom, with Chaucer, in the high schools, but with our American authors in the district schools; that our children should be taught at an early age the 26 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE love of reading good books ; that the only effectual way to keep the youth of our country from reading the pernicious dime novel is to interest them in good literature and its authors. It is gratifying to know that this great literary movement has revolutionized the public schools of our country in regard to litera- ture, so that to-day the demand for books by the schools, apart from the regular text-books, is so great that a half dozen firms are publishing long lists of such works for school youth, and our great American authors find loving place in millions of youthful minds and hearts that would otherwise know little or nothing of them. In connection with this literary and moral train- ing, Mr. Peaslee urged upon principals and teachers the importance of adorning the school-rooms with appropriate pictures, especially with the portraits of authors, statesmen, and philanthropists, and at one time he invested, from the proceeds of an enter- tainment, given by the schools, over seven hundred dollars in purchasing the portraits of Bryant, Long- fellow, Holmes, Whittier, Webster, Peabody, and others, for the high and intermediate and district schools. Eecognizing the importance of correct pronun- ciation, Mr. Peaslee introduced, both in the Cin- cinnati and in the State Board of Examiners for Teachers, Orthoepy as a distinct branch of study, upon which candidates for teachers' certificates are required to be examined. This important innova- tion has been largely followed by city and county LIFE OF JOHN ff. PEASLBE 27 Boards of Examiners, and, as a gratifying result, there has been a vast improvement in the pronun- ciation of both teachers and scholars in the Ohio schools. In this connection he advocated the intro- duction of the diacritical marks into our readers, which has been accomplished. DEGREES. In 1863, Dartmouth College con- ferred upon Mr. Peaslee the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1866, that of Master of Arts; in 1866, Cincinnati College, at his graduation from the Law Department, the degree of Bachelor of Laws; in 1879, the Ohio State University, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; and in 1869, the University of Turin, Italy, sent Mr. Peaslee a diploma of life- membership of that renowned institution of learn- ing, in recognition of the excellence of the Cincin- nati school exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Of this exhibit, Dr. John D. Philbrick, for twenty- five years superintendent of the Boston (Mass.) public schools, and United States Commissioner of Education to the Vienna, our own Centennial, and the Paris Exposition, said: "No other exhibit of scholars' work equal to that of Cincinnati was ever made in the known world." On October 18, 1889, the American Forestry Con- gress planted, near Agricultural Hall in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, a beautiful oak-tree, and dedi- cated it to Mr. Peaslee " in recognition of his distin- guished services in promoting the cause of popular forestry, and especially in introducing the celebra- tion of Arbor-day by the public schools of Cincin- 28 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE nati, and thereafter of the country." (From the resolution passed by the Congress.) The "Peaslee oak " is one of five, planted and dedicated at that meeting. PUBLICATIONS. First. A book containing gems of literature for young and old, entitled "Graded Selections for Memorizing, Adapted for Use at Home and in School," published by the American Book Company. Second. A pamphlet of 64 pages, entitled "Trees and Tree-planting, with Exercises and Directions for the Celebration of Arbor-day," published in 1884, by the Ohio State Forestry As- sociation and by the United States Government. Third. An address, "School Celebration of Arbor- day," delivered before the Superintendent's Section of the National Educational Association at Wash- ington, D. C., in 1884, also published by the Gov- ernment. Fourth. An address, "Moral and Lit- erary Training in Public Schools," delivered before the National Educational Association, at Atlanta, Ga., in 1881. Fifth. An address, "German In- struction in Public Schools, and Its Helpful In- fluence on Public-school Education," delivered before the National German-American Teachers' Association, at Chicago in 1889, and published by that body. Sixth. A poem, "Now and Then," read at the celebration of the eightieth birthday of Mrs. Louisa La Boiteaux, of Mt. Healthy, Ohio, in 1890. Seventh. An address, "History of the In- troduction of German Methods in the Public Schools of Ohio," delivered in the German language before LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE 29 the Ohio German Teachers' Association at San- dusky, in 1895; and twelve Annual Reports of the Cincinnati Public Schools. Besides the above, he has written many articles for educational journals and the public press, and delivered numerous lec- tures on American authors and literature, and on forestry, etc. Mr. Peaslee is a director of the University of Cincinnati, a trustee of the "Woodward High-school Funds, and member of the Cincinnati Union Board of High Schools ; was for two years president of the Ohio State Board of Examiners for Teachers ; for nine years trustee of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio ; for three, trustee of Wilberforce University, Wilber- f orce, Ohio ; for twenty years a director of the Ohio Humane Society; is life member of the National Council of Education ; life member of the National Education Association, and ex-president of one of its departments; an honorary life member of the Na- tional German-American Teachers' Association ; also, honorary life member of the Ohio German Teachers' Association; is a member of the German Literary Club of Cincinnati; a trustee of the Cincinnati Teachers' Pension Fund; treasurer of the Cincin- nati Free German Kindergarten Association; presi- dent for six years of the Ohio State Forestry Bureau; a member of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce ; and in 1890, a delegate from the same to the National Board of Trade ; an associate mem- ber of E. F. Noyes and R. L. McCook Post, No. 30, G. A. R. ; a member of the New England Society of 30 LIFE OF JOHN B. PEASLEE Cincinnati, and of the Dartmouth Alumni Associa- tion, also, of the Zeta Psi Greek Fraternity. In 1888, and again in 1891, Mr. Peaslee was elected, for the term of three years each, clerk of the courts of Hamilton County, Ohio. In 1895 he was candidate for lieutenant-governor of Ohio, on the ticket with Ex-Governor James E. Campbell, having been unanimously nominated by the Con- vention of his party. April 25, 1878, he married Miss Lou Wright, the daughter of Hon. Joseph F. "Wright, and great granddaughter, on her mother's side, of General John S. Gano, of the War of 1812, one of the first thirty-three settlers of Cincinnati. On the occasion of his marriage he was presented by his fraters of Hanselmann Commandery, Knights Templar who attended in a body in full uniform, and formed an "arch of steel," under which the bridal party marched from the carriages to the altar with one of the most beautiful and elaborate Masonic jewels ever manufactured in America. Mrs. Peaslee died July 18, 1894, and was buried in beautiful Spring Grove. She was a charming character, a lady of refinement and culture, one of the most popular women in Cincinnati. She was associate commissioner of the Centennial Exposition of Cincinnati in 1888. Mrs. Peaslee was one of the organizers and a director for years of the English Free Kindergarten Association; and while she was deeply interested in humane work, she was, at the same time, a patron of literature, art, and music. Moral and Literary Training in Public Schools EXTRACTS FROM AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE OHIO STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION IN 1880, AND FROM A TALK BEFORE THE AMERICAN HU- MANE ASSOCIATION, AT ST. LOUIS, IN 1884. 31 MOKAL AND LITEEAET TKAINING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS " Live up to the best that is in you ; live noble lives, as you all may, in whatever condition you may find your- selves, so that your epitaph may be that of Euripides: ' This monument does not make thee famous, O Euri- pides ! but thou makest this monument famous.' " Ex- tract of Letter from Longfellow, written on the occasion of the Celebration of the Poet's Seventy-third Birthday by the Public Schools of Cincinnati. (See letter.) I SHALL not discuss the methods by which Eng- lish literature is now taught in our high schools and colleges, as the literary work which I shall advocate in this paper will not interfere in the least with that which these institutions are endeavoring to ac- complish, but will be additional and supplementary to their noble work. That my position may not be misunderstood, I desire to say in the outset that I am decidedly in favor of retaining the systematic study of English literature as a distinct branch in these institutions; and instead of substituting anything for this work, as some erroneously suppose, I would give much more of it. In my opinion, however, high-school courses of study in English literature should begin with the authors of to-day (American), 3 83 34 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING and go lack to Chaucer, instead of beginning -with Chaucer and coming down to the present time; and, moreover, the systematic study of literature should be begun in the first year of the high school instead of in the third, as is now almost universally the case in this country ; indeed, I thinly it should find place in the programs of the grammar schools. MISTAKES IN TEACHING Before entering fully upon my subject, I de- sire to call the attention of educators to some of the mistakes that must be corrected before the public schools of the country can reach the high- est standard of excellence in literary and moral training. One of these mistakes consists in giving a disproportionate amount of time to the subject of arithmetic. Arithmetic has been, and ever must be, one of the fundamental branches of a common-school curriculum. I yield to no man in my estimate of the importance of the subject, both in regard to what is usually considered its practi- cal bearing upon the business affairs of life, and its excellence as a means of mental discipline. Nor am I among those who would cut down the course of study in arithmetic to a few subjects ; to those only that are generally considered absolutely nec- essary for all to know; to that only which is so- called practical. Practical: there is a higher MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 35 practical than the mere use that some of us may make of it in adding up our grocer's bills, or, per- chance, in calculating discount and interest. The mental discipline, the strengthening of the mind, the intellectual power that the scholar obtains by the study of this subject, are the real practical, the higher practical. It will never do to confine our courses of study in mathematics to that only which popular opinion considers practical. I object not, therefore, that there is too much ground covered in the arithmetic, or that it is too well taught, but that there is too much time given to it. 6 You will remember that President Andrews, of Marietta, Ohio, who is known to be very careful and accurate in his statements, said, in an article published in the Ohio Educational Monthly some four years ago, that statistics show that sixty-two per cent of the entire time of the public schools of Ohio, outside of the cities and large towns, is given to the subject of arithmetic alone. Speak- ing on this subject to me a short time ago, Dr. Andrews said, that although there had been an im- provement in this regard since he wrote the article, still more than one-half of the school-time is devoted to arithmetic in our State. Think of it : more time, in this year 1880, is devoted to this one branch of study than to writing, spelling, geography, and grammar ; none to literature and composition ! Let the teachers of these schools cut down the time 36 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING given to this subject, to a period within the bounds of reason, and introduce composition, letter-writ- ing, and business forms. Let them stop working mathematical puzzles, which are about as profitable as the famous fifteen puzzle, and turn their atten- tion to reading, to improving themselves in litera- ture, to acquainting themselves with the lives and writings of great authors, and let them take the results of this work into their school-rooms, and they will revolutionize the country schools of Ohio. In our city schools, less time, to be sure, is given in the programs ; still, taking into consider- ation the amount of home work required of the pu- pils, and the extra time taken to ' ' bring up ' ' the arithmetic, it is entirely too much. A half hour per day in the lower grades, and forty minutes in the upper, are amply sufficient. But the teachers have been made to feel that high per cents in arith- metic are the sine-qua-non of their success ; hence, driving and cramming for per cents largely take the place of judicious teachings, to the great detri- ment of the pupils. Fellow-teachers, let us use all our influence against this cramming, stultifying process, this driv- ing for per cents, and learn to teach according to the natural, the objective, the developing method. Inspire pupils with higher and nobler aspirations than are to be found in monthly averages, and let the measure of time devoted to each subject, and MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 37 the methods employed in teaching the same, be determined, not by the question, How shall we ob- tain the highest per cents? but by what will best benefit our pupils in after life. This done, and there will be not only better instruction in all the branches, but much more prominence will be given to language, to composition and literature, and our youth will grow up under such tuition, to be more intelligent, useful, and influential citizens. Another mistake, and one that has a more di- rect bearing on my subject, as it affects the tastes of pupils for reading, is the pernicious method of teaching history usually pursued. I refer to the stultifying process of compelling children to com- mit to memory text-books on this subject. No his- torian, as no mineralogist or chemist, was ever made by committing text-books to memory. His- tory can not be taught successfully by the me- moriter plan. It destroys the life of the subject. It disgusts the pupils, and gives them a dislike for historical reading. As the pupils take no inter- est in the subject, it is soon forgotten, and there remains only the bitter recollection of tiresome hours devoted to what, if properly taught, brings profit and pleasure. As one of the principal ob- jects of this paper is to show how to interest youth in good reading, I will briefly explain, not only how history can be made intensely interesting and exceedingly instructive to pupils, but how a love 38 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING of historical research can be implanted in them that will remain with them through life, and very largely influence their subsequent reading. First, all written percented examinations in this subject should be abolished. What is said in the text-book should be read by the pupils under the direction of the teacher. The teacher should see that they thoroughly understand what they read, and at each lesson should question them in brief review of the previous lesson; should read, or cause to be read, parts of other histories, or reference books (encyclopaedias, gazetteers, etc.), that bear upon the subject of the lesson; should also give out questions, the answers to which the pupils are to find for themselves ; and should encourage them to relate anecdotes and short stories from history, and to give sketches of noted events to their classmates. But history should be taught principally by biography. Biography is the soul of history. The life of a great personage, as of Cromwell, Napo- leon, or Washington, contains nearly everything of importance in the history of the tune and coun- try in which he lived. Nothing is more entertain- ing to the young than the lives of the great men and women who have borne a prominent part in the world. I am not advocating a new theory. This method has been tried for two years in Cin- cinnati, and, in one school alone, more than five hundred historical and biographical sketches were MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 39 read within the past year, and in one class, sixty- four biographical sketches were given by the pupils to their classmates, and the constant allusions to other lives than those under actual discussion led to a wide field of further research. In a class in United States history, I would not confine the biographical work to our own country, but would encourage the children to read and recite sketches of noted per- sons of other countries and of different ages. If the method briefly indicated above be pursued, the class will become enthusiastic in the subject of his- tory, and will gain a vast amount of valuable in- formation of which they would otherwise remain in ignorance ; but, above all, they will form the habit of reading historical works, and this will re- main with them through life. In teaching geogra- phy a similar plan should be pursued. Gazetteers and encyclopaedias should be consulted, and books of travel should be read by the pupils. Another mistake consists in giving too much time in the reading lesson to mere imitatvve read- ing, and not enough to logical analysis and prac- tice in ascertaining the meaning of the words and sentences. Children should be impressed with the fact, that the principal object of reading is to ob- tain the ideas and thoughts of others, and, there- fore, they should early accustom themselves to discover the meaning of what they read, that no word, no sentence may be passed over without 40 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING being understood. The dictionary should be the constant companion of the pupil of grammar and high schools. Would you neglect the elocutionary side of the subject? I am asked. By no means. No one places a higher value on elocution, on the beautiful rendering of the reading lesson, than I do ; but I insist that it is the duty of the teacher to see that the passage is thoroughly understood by the pupils before she attempts to drill them in the elocution. GEMS OF LITERATURE Morality if under this head may be placed honesty, patriotism, and good-will to men ought ever to come within the scope of school work ; for morality, in this sense / is the dearest element of the good citizen, and the good citizen is the prime object of education. Our country has less lack of intelligence than of public honesty and private fair dealing ; less lack of knowledge than of in- clination toward a noble life, which facts show that something in the present order of society is either fundamentally wrong or deplorably weak. But where shall we seek a remedy? When and how begin to mend? The subject of moral prog- ress does not belong solely to the religious world. It is not altogether a matter of religion it is a matter of that good sense, that idea of public utility, which considers the welfare of the imme- MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 41 diate present, and looks with a benevolent eye to an improved manhood in the future. We can not serve the future of this world in a better way than in taking care of the present of the children. It is in our power greatly to elevate the world in morals. We can do this by introduc- ing into our educational system a factor whose ob- ject shall be to give the proper direction to the child's thoughts to implant in his mind correct conceptions of the world, and his place in it true ideas of his duty to his neighbor and his country, and of his relations to the inferior world around him. " As a man thinketh, so is he. ' ' Children should be led to think properly, that they may be enabled to act justly and generously. And it would be far safer, both for them and the community, if their acts were directed by fixed principles rather than by sudden and untrustworthy impulses. Now, as it is undeniable that to many the age of maturity does not bring with it those established ideas of right and wrong those healthy conceptions which characterize the model citizen I, for one, feel the necessity for a new feature in education, whose ob- ject shall be advancement in a moral way. I con- sider it our duty to attempt what I have here indi- cated. We owe it to the pupils as being our fellow-creatures ; to the State, as being essential to that good citizenship which is the first object of free education. 42 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING The question is as to the method. My idea, as many of you know, is to make use of the gems of literature. The literature of the world embodies a uni- versal moral creed. In its fullness, here and there, may be found the holy teachings of the Bible, in language pleasing to the ear of youth, and in form adapted to his understanding. A judicious selection of noble passages, though it may not be able to do all we could wish in a moral way, can certainly do much to raise men to a high moral, political, and social plane. It may not make men prayerful, but it can make them re- spectful and respectable. It may not give them the wisdom of statesmen, but it can make them in- telligent voters and fervent patriots. It may not fit them for a future life, but it can do much to- wards making this one pleasant to themselves and for their fellow-men. It can put a light into their hearts that will illumine many of earth's darkest places. Gems of literature introduced into the schools, if properly taught, will do this, partly by their own directive influence on the young mind, but principally as being such a draft upon the fountain of higher literature as shall result in an abiding thirst for noble reading. The right kind of read- ing will induce the right kind of thinking, and proper thinking will insure correct conduct. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 43 What harmony their introduction into our schools assures us ! The religious world can not object to it, for all such teaching runs in parallel lines with that of the Bible ; indeed, some of the selections should be taken from the Bible. The secular world will get from it nothing it can possi- bly object to. At the shrine of noble thoughts, the devotees of all creeds may bow as brothers. Let the public schools be the instrument of form- ing this common love for the noble and beautiful, and who will but acknowledge they have performed a work of greatest utility to man, and added many fold to their present value as factors in human progress? Too often the boy's education has been no broader than his business expectations ; his happi- ness as a man, and his worth as a citizen, have not been taken into account. The principles are too narrow for an age that is looking for good men as well as for good accountants and grammarians. They are unnecessarily narrow ; they leave, as it were, broad fields of fertile soil untilled ; and this soil must be tilled to bear fruit. For example, a man can not understand what it is to be a patriot in the highest sense of the word until he has been led to understand and value patriotism. But on abstract or grand subjects, like patriotism, there is an unwillingness or incapacity in most minds to think. Such minds must be enlarged before pa- 44 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING triotism can be anything to them but a barren name. But may not patriotic passages, under a wise teacher, promote the necessary growth? For who, even among the educated, has not felt a tinge of shame at the dullness of his own patriotism on reading Grimke's beautiful lines, beginning " We can not honor our country with too deep a rev- erence. We can not love her with an affection too pure and fervent. We can not serve her with an energy of purpose or a faithfulness of zeal too steadfast and ar- dent." Or Scott's, beginning : " Breathes there a man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, 'This is my own, my native land !' " Or "Webster's "Liberty and Union." The practice, therefore, of memorizing the choice thoughts of our best writers should be made a prominent feature of school work. Oliver Wen- dell Holmes says, "There is no place which an author's thoughts can nestle in so securely as the memory of a school-boy or a school-girl. ' ' It is, also, in accord with the advice of Arthur Helps, who says : " "We should lay" up in our minds a store of goodly thoughts, in well-wrought words, which shall be a living treasure of knowledge always with us, and from which, at various times and amidst all the shifting of circumstances, we might be sure of drawing some comfort, guidance, and sympathy." MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 45 The idea of its introduction is not new in the history of education. In a similar manner the Germans have long been in the habit of training their children in the knowledge and admiration of the literature of their own land. The Arabs, the most civilized nation of the medieval world, taught their young to repeat the undying thoughts of their poets, under the beautiful name of unstrung pearls. Plato pictures the boys on long benches, in the schools of Greece, receiving moral instruction through hearing and reciting the poetry of her classic authors. For the greater part, the selections for the younger children should consist of entire poems, and of such as are calculated to develop their emo- tional natures the imagination, love of home and parents, kindness to dumb animals, etc. and to give them correct rules of action. Those for the more advanced pupils should consist principally of brief extracts, containing grand and ennobling thoughts, calculated to incite them to higher aspi- rations in life, to lead them into rich fields of Eng- lish literature, and to teach them to love and rev- erence great authors. In the selection of gems, especially for the younger children, poetry has the preference; for it inculcates a double beauty beauty as thought and beauty as composition. It is more easily committed to memory, and, as a rule, longer retained. "The taste for harmony, the 46 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING poetical ear, ' ' says Miss Aiken, ' ' if ever acquired, is so almost in infancy. The flow of numbers easily impresses itself upon the memory, and is with difficulty erased. By the aid of verse, a store of beautiful imagery and glowing sentiment may be gathered up as the amusement of childhood, which, in riper years, may beguile the heavy hours of languor, solitude, and sorrow; may enforce sentiments of piety, humility, and tenderness ; may soothe the soul to calmness, rouse it to honorable exertion, or fire it with virtuous indignation." " They who have known what it is," remarks "Willmot in "Pleasures, Objects, and Advantages of Literature, " " when afar from books, in solitude or in traveling, or in intervals of worldly care, to feed on poetical recollections, to recall the senti- ments and images which retain by association the charm that early years once gave them, will feel the inestimable value of committing to memory, in the prime of its power, what it will receive and indelibly retain. He who has drunk from the pure springs of intellect in his youth, will continue to draw from them in the heat, the burden, and the decline of the day. The corrupted streams of popular entertainment flow by him unregarded." The great Coleridge says : ' ' Poetry has been to me ' an exceeding great reward. ' It has soothed my afflictions ; it has multiplied and refined my en- joyments ; it has endeared my solitude ; and it has MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 47 given me the habit of wishing to discover the good and beautiful in all that meets and surrounds me.' HOW TO TEACH GEMS OF LITERATURE At least fifteen minutes per day should be given to this literary work in all the district, grammar, and high schools throughout the country. In Cincinnati a part of this time is taken from that assigned to morning exercises, and a part from Friday afternoon. However, this is left to the discretion of the teacher. I recommend eight lines as a fair amount for each week's work. At this rate the pupils, in pass- ing through the district and grammar schools, would commit 2,560 lines, and in passing through the dis- trict, grammar, and high schools, 3,840 lines, which is equivalent to 128 pages of one of our Fifth Headers. Who is there who would not be glad, to have his mind enriched by 3, 540 lines of the gems of literature? "Who would not be the better by having such a treasure of the purest, most beautiful and elevating thoughts of our American and English authors stored up in the memory? But important as it is, it is not enough that the selections be simply memorized. Each one of them should be made the subject of lessons given by the teachers. For example, suppose the teacher should select 48 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING for the pupils to memorize the following beautiful extract from Whittier's " Snow Bound :" 6 "Alas for him who never sees The stars shine through his cypress trees 1 Who hopeless lays his dead away, Nor looks to see the breaking day Across the mournful marbles play ! Who hath not learned in hours of faith The truth, to flesh and sense unknown, That Life is ever lord of Death, And Love can never lose its own !" The teacher should give a talk on the immor- tality of the soul, on the fond anticipation of meet- ing our dear ones beyond the grave ; should speak of the beauties of ' ' Snow Bound, ' ' the greatest American idyl, and give the connection in which these lines occur ; should bring out the meaning of ' ' the stars shine through his cypress trees ' ' and of every other figurative expression ; in brief, should see that the pupils understand every word and phrase ; that they give the substance of the passage in their own language, and make the proper appli- cation of the same, before requiring them to commit to memory. But, above all, he should endeavor to imbue their minds with the spirit of the extract. At least one lesson should be given on the beau- tiful life and character of the poet. Again, suppose a series of lessons are to be given to the pupils of one of the higher grades, on the importance of protecting insect-destroying birds MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 49 and lessons on this subject should be given in every schoolhouse in the land how could the instruc- tion be more impressively imparted than by telling the story of the ' ' Birds of Killingworth ' ' by Long- fellow, and drawing from it the lesson intended to be conveyed by the author, and then fixing that lesson in the minds of the pupils by having them memorize, after thorough preparation, the follow- ing lines of the preceptor : "Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these? Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught The dialect they speak, whose melodies Alone are the interpreters of thought? Whose household words are songs in many keys Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught? Whose habitations in the treetops even Are half-way houses on the road to heaven ! Think every morning when the sun peeps through The dim, leaf -latticed windows of the grove, How jubilant the happy birds renew Their old melodious madrigals of love I And when you think of this, remember, too, 'T is always morning somewhere, and above The awakening continents, from shore to shore, Somewhere the birds are singing evermore." Yes, in this beautiful world that God has made, " 'Tis always morning somewhere, and above The awakening continents, from shore to shore, Somewhere the birds are singing evermore." What an opportunity is given in this work for our teachers to impart moral and literary instruc- 4 50 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING tion ; to cultivate the emotional nature of children, to inspire in them a love of the noble, the good, and the pure ! Such instruction must bear beauti- ful fruit. After the selections have been thoroughly mem- orized, the attention of the teacher should be given to the elocution to the beautiful rendering of the same. This can be done well by concert drill. The concert should be supplemented by individual recitation, at the time set apart for declamation. If, however, for want of time, any part of the work indicated above is to be neglected, it should be the individual recitation ; for declamation is secondary to the committal to memory of literary gems. The name of the author I require the full name should be given at the close of each reading or recitation, in order to associate it with the selection. In connection with this work, sketches of the lives and writings of the best and most worthy authors should be given, at least to all the pupils above the fifth year of school, and they should be encouraged to find out for themselves interesting facts concerning authors and their writings, and to give sketches of the same to their classmates, as I have already recommended in connection with the lessons on history. Here I recommend that the teacher, or a pupil under the advice of the teacher, read the entire piece, when appropriate, from which the extract is taken, or some other selection from MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 51 the same author, as "Birds of Killing worth," by Longfellow ; * ' Snow Bound, ' ' by Whittier ; one of "Timothy Titcomb's Letters," by J. G. Holland; a story from Hawthorne's "Wonder Book," etc. TEACHERS SHOULD FAMILIARIZE THEMSELVES WITH BOOKS Moreover, teachers should familiarize them- selves with books adapted to the mental develop- ment of their pupils, and bring such books to school when possible, and talk about them, and have the children read selections from them. A little time say a half -hour per week could with advantage be set apart for this work in grammar and high schools. In the normal school much more time than this should be given to acquainting the students, who are themselves to become teach- ers, with the titles and contents of good books adapted to young readers ; indeed, this important work should be made a prominent feature in the programs of the normal schools of our country. AUTHOR-DAY CELEBRATIONS In connection with moral and literary training in public schools, and as an important part of the same, I urge the celebrations of the lives and writings of distinguished and worthy authors. These celebrations may consist of compositions on the life of the writer, of individual and con- 52 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING cert recitation of gems, of declamation, instru- mental music, of singing, and of appropriate talks by teachers and friends of the schools. Author-day celebrations interest the pupils in the writers and their works as nothing else can. They educate the whole community. The celebra- tion of the birthdays of Whittier and Longfellow, and of the Gary sisters, has caused an increased demand for their books, not only in Hamilton county, but in other and distant parts of the country; and every good book that goes into a family is a moral and educational force. I repeat, every good book that goes into a family is a moral and educational force. It has not only multiplied the number of their readers, but that of many other great authors in American and English lit- erature. Longfellow and "Whittier, names comparatively unknown to the children of Cincinnati two years ago (1878), are now as familiar to them as those of their own playmates. Hereafter they will be looked upon by the youth of that city, not only as great and noble writers, but as dear old friends, whom they fondly love. To me, this attachment of the children to those great and pure men is a touching and pleasing result of the celebrations. These celebrations, from year to year, should include, not only poets and prose writers, but also great statesmen, inventors, and others. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 53 "The poets who in song translate Emotions they alone have read ; The patriots stern who challenge fate, And walk with more than mailed tread ; The sages who the truth distill, Let these the child love if he will." JOSEPH W. MILLER. But we should celebrate those only who have led pure and noble lives, whose moral character and private worth will call forth the admiration of the children, and set them examples worthy of imi- tation. HOW TO PREPARE FOR A CELEBRATION I receive so many letters making inquiry re- garding Author-day celebrations manner of prep- aration, time given that I have concluded to make a plain statement on the subject at this time. A number of weeks previous to a celebration, I make selections, from the author whose birthday is to be celebrated, of gem-thoughts, to be mem- orized by all the pupils in the grades taking part, and issue instructions to the principals of the sev- eral schools to devote the regular time fifteen minutes per day given in the course of study to gem-learning, to teaching these or other appropriate selections that they may make from the same au- thor. No extra time, therefore, is taken by the pupils for this part of the work ; for they memo- rize selections from the special author instead of 54 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING those from miscellaneous authors. The composi- tions by the pupils, which are usually based upon talks given by the superintendent of schools, to all the pupils, on the life and writings of the au- thor, are written during the regular time set apart for compositions in the school programs ; the dec- lamations (individual recitations) are learned out- side of school-hours ; the songs are prepared dur- ing the regular bells for singing. It should be added here that, as a further preparation, the teachers and pupils usually decorate the black- boards with mottoes, and with "memory gems" from the author, in ornamental letters and in beau- tiful settings; also, with colored crayon sketches, etc., and frequently the walls of the school-rooms, with the portraits of the author and other pictures. This is apart from the temporary decorations by flags, flowers, etc. , for the occasion. In this con- nection, let me say, that but two general celebra- tions of authors' birthdays are held each year. In addition, however, the schools celebrate Christmas, "Washington's Birthday, and "Arbor-day," the preparations for which are made in a similar manner. Exclusive of ' 'Arbor-day, ' ' the greatest amount of time devoted to celebrations is four afternoons, or, including the recesses, ten hours per year, and except on these afternoons there is no interference with the regular recitations. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 55 Do the little children in the primary grades take part? I am asked. Yes, usually, all from the first year of the school through the high school. Of course, some of the celebrations, as those of the first settlement of Ohio, and of the birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson, are confined to the normal and high schools ; but all the schools take part in celebrations like that, for example, of Dr. Holmes, which will take place in December next, and for which preparations are now being made. Indeed, Mr. President, the reason why I was not in attend- ance upon this Convention yesterday was because I was engaged, and had been so for over two weeks, in giving talks on Dr. Holmes and his writings, to teachers and pupils of the Cincinnati schools. Of course, we do not expect the little folks in the primary grades to understand Dr. Holmes' s writ- ings; but we do expect to impress upon their young minds that Dr. Holmes is a great and good man, who has written beautiful thoughts that they should read when they grow up. In fact, the little ones take great interest in the celebrations, and re- ceive impressions which I doubt not will be life- lasting. Yes, thousands of the pupils may forget every exercise of * ' Holmes Day ; ' ' but the fact that they celebrated the day, and the impression of Dr. Holmes, made by the celebration upon their young minds, will never be effaced, but will re- main a pleasing and happy remembrance. 56 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING DECLAMATION AND SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS You are aware that years ago it was the almost universal custom for teachers to set apart Friday afternoon for declamation. But the exercise in declamation differed widely from reciting gems of thought, which latter I advocate. Then the pupils were permitted to commit to memory whatever they thought best. The result was that, in a majority of cases, the selections contained no literary or other merit. They were made from a desire on the part of the pupil to have something "new," or to create a laugh. The time spent in commit- ting such pieces was, in my opinion, worse than wasted ; for there was nothing in them worth re- membering. Their effect was to vitiate the taste of the pupils for good literature, rather than to give them a love of it. Declamation, a subject which has been sadly neglected in public schools of late years, is a valuable exercise. Its tend- ency is to give pupils confidence in themselves, to make them more self-possessed, and, above all, to make them better readers. These worthy objects can be accomplished better by reciting "gems" than by declaiming long pieces, as was formerly the custom; for every member, even of an entire class, can recite a short extract within the time of an ordinary recitation, and each learn from hearing the others declaim the same selection. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 57 An entire piece, now and then, is to be recom- mended. In this connection, I desire to speak of school exhibitions, and to condemn those in which girls are permitted to dress in ridiculous costumes, and recite gossip and other trash in dialogues ; and in which boys are allowed to play the drunkard or the buffoon upon the school platform. The school is no place for such exercises. I have ever looked on them as degrading in their tendencies. Certainly no one will say that they are elevating. Children can not imitate anything beneath them without be- coming the worse for it. When a lad of twelve years, I belonged to a debating club, and on one occasion the club gave an entertainment in "the old town hall ' ' for the purpose of raising money with which to purchase new books for the library. One of the numbers upon the program was a pan- tomime, in which one of the older boys played the part of a monkey, and he acted the part so well and naturally that the younger children of the audience thought that there was a real monkey upon the stage. I was delighted. The next morning, at the breakfast-table, I said : ' ' Father, you ought to have seen Tom play the monkey last night. He did it splendidly. You would have thought that he was a real monkey. ' ' My father looked at me steadily from across the table for a moment, and then, in a deliberate and serious tone 58 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING of voice, replied : * ' John, do you think it any credit to Tom to play the part of a monkey well?" and, pausing again, he added, "My son, never imitate anything beneath yon. ' ' That was one of the most important lessons I ever received, and that lesson will go with me to the grave. ' ' Never imitate anything beneath yon." O that I conld stamp that sentence of my revered father upon the heart of every school-boy and school-girl in the land ! Only a few months ago a father, residing outside of Cincinnati, appealed to me for advice in regard to what he should do in the case of his boy, who had been suspended from school by the principal because he would not consent to take a low comic part in a dialogue at the school exhibi- tion. I said to him : " Stand by your boy ; he is in the right. It is time that teachers who have no more judgment or refinement of character than to compel aye, even to permit their pupils to play the buffoon or the drunkard, upon the school plat- form, were out of the school system of this coun- try. They are not the proper persons to have charge of the education of the young." Do not misunderstand me. I do not condemn exhibitions properly conducted ; on the other hand, I believe them to be productive of great good. Speaking from the platform, especially before large audiences, is an excellent practice. It gives the pupils that training and that confidence in them- MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 59 selves that will enable many of them in after years to stand before public bodies and express their own views. It also makes them better readers, and not infrequently arouses the ambition of boys to make something of themselves when every other school exercise had failed to do so. But all these and other good results can be obtained better through elevating and refining exercises than through the low, comic performances which have no literary or other merit, but which are placed upon the pro- gram to create laughter and clamor in the audience. The sooner school superintendents, principals, and teachers appreciate the importance of teaching their pupils to memorize only what is worth remember- ing, that which is enobling in its character, that which tends to develop a love of the good and pure in literature, to the end that they may grow up into a worthy manhood and womanhood, the better it will be for their pupils in after life. The sentiments expressed in this article have been given by me again and again in talks to teachers and pupils of the schools, and it gives me unusual pleasure to bear testimony to the remarkable improvement, I may almost say revolu- tion, that has been made in the character of the school entertainments. Reciting trash and act- ing the clown at school entertainments have been abolished in the Cincinnati schools, and I hope forever. 60 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING Before leaving this subject let me say that the custom, adopted in some of the high schools of the country, of having the scholars of the upper grades of these schools organize debating clubs among themselves, is a commendable one and should be encouraged. Of course, the principal of the school, or teacher, should be present at the meet- ings to see that order and decorum are main- tained, and to advise and direct, when neces- sary. Hon. Charles Sumner was once asked, in the lobby of the Senate of the United States, how he accounted for the fact that so many members of Congress were born in New England. There were at the time, if I remember aright, thirty-six who were natives of Vermont alone. "Is it, Senator," asked the questioner, "because of her great colleges and universities?" "I think not," replied Mr. Sumner, and added, "It is due to her debating societies." CHILDREN ARE INTERESTED IN GEM LEARNING I have never known anything hi school work that interested the children more than this. The interest is not confined to the upper grades, but pervades all classes, from the first year of school through the high school. Children love to commit to memory beautiful selections, and recite them at home and at school. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 61 They love to learn of the lives and writings of good authors, and to talk about them to their fathers and mothers. REMARKS OF A NONAGENARIAN Here, I desire to call your attention to the re- marks of Mrs. Elizabeth Gale, of Mt. Healthy, O. , as they present the subject of memorizing selec- tions in another light. Mrs. Gale is the aunt of J. G. Holland. ' ' Dear old aunt ! ' ' writes Dr. Holland. ' ' She is the only living link that binds me to the last gen- eration." Mrs. Gale, though ninety-two years of age on the 17th of last December, 1879 Whit- tier's birthday is bright and intelligent. It was one of the happiest moments of my life when that dear old lady, then in her ninety-third year, holding in her hand a pamphlet of selections I had sent her, said to me : " Mr. Peaslee, you do n't know how much good you are doing by introducing these selections into the schools. You do n't know how the children, when they are old, will appreciate them. What a source of consolation they will then be to them! How they will love to say them over and over again ! Why, ' ' said she, ' ' thinking over and repeating the little poems I learned in childhood is one of the greatest comforts left me now." She then recited a number of selections. 62 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING Among them was one entitled, " To My "Watch,'* which she learned at home when a child only four years of age. I wrote the piece from her dictation, and had it printed, with the change, suggested by Dr. Holland, of a single word, the word "arrows" to errors : TO MY WATCH Little monitor, by thee Let me learn what I should be ; I '11 learn the round of life to fill, Useful and progressive still. Thou canst gentle hints impart How to regulate the heart ; When I wind thee up at night, Mark each fault and set it right ; Let me search my bosom, too, And my daily thoughts review. I '11 mark the movements of my mind, Nor be easy when I find Latent errors rise to view, Till all be regular and true. This incident needs no comment from me. It tells, stronger than any words of my own, how wonderfully the memory retains little pieces com- mitted to its precious care in early childhood. Yes, these beautiful selections will be remem- bered, and will influence our children for good, when the technicalities of their grammar, the ab- strusities of their arithmetic, and the obscure loca- tions of their geographies, are forgotten. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 63 DIME-NOVEL READING Among the greatest powers for evil are the low and degrading writings that our boys and girls read. Even educators, I fear, are not fully aroused to the terrible influence this reading is exerting upon the lives and character of the young. In a lecture on "Fiction," before a Boston audience, the late James T. Fields said that he had visited the Pomeroy boy in prison, and asked him if he ever read much. "Yes," replied the boy, "I have read a great deal. " ""Well, what have you read ? " " Principally dime novels. " " "What novel did you like best?" The boy mentioned a flashy fiction, "full of murders and pictures of murders." Doubtless this boy is by nature de- praved ; but the immediate cause of his commit- ting his horrible acts of cruelty was the reading in which he indulged. Not long ago a number of lads from wealthy and refined families of New York City, through the degrading influence of dime-novel reading, organized themselves into a band of burglars. Only recently two youths mur- dered an old gentleman in Ohio, from the same cause. How frequently we read in the daily pa- pers of boys running away from home, with cards, revolvers, and dime novels in their pockets ! Yet, compared to the vast numbers of our youth who are demoralized by pernicious reading, the cases 64 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING that are reported in public print are the exceptions. The influence of this reading is seen in the slang language in which youth indulge, in their disrespect for parental authority, in their treatment of the aged, in the wrong ideas of life which they enter- tain, and in a general spirit of insubordination. Let us look at the circumstances in which our youth are placed in regard to literature. At the homes of a large part of them there is scarcely a book, except the text-books of the children them- selves. At the homes of a majority of those re- maining, may be found a few books upon the parlor table, which are usually considered by the parents as too nice for the children to read. It is safe to say that very few indeed of our youth have access to a good home library. That child who is trained at home to a love of reading good books, is the ex- ception. Is it any wonder, then, that the young yield to the temptations to read the worst kind of story papers and novels, which are everywhere thrown around them? In addition to other enticements, we find, near all the large school-houses of our cities, shops which keep, besides pens, pencils, and school-books, a large assortment of trashy story papers and novels. What a comment on the public schools ! The venders of these papers place those having pictures of murders and Indian outrages, etc., in the windows. MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 65 The children, attracted by these pictures, get the papers and read the stories. They soon become intensely interested in the stories and in the slang language in which they are written. The boys and girls buy novels of the same or of a worse tendency, for from five to ten cents. These are purchased and devoured, and thus by degrees is formed the habit of reading this pernicious class of writings. The children are not to blame. There is noth- ing in their home surroundings to counteract these evil tendencies. The schools have been standing by, saying, "Don't touch, don't touch," but doing little or nothing to interest the pupils in good reading. In general, the above is a true picture of the schools of Cincinnati a few years ago ; but of late years, through this literary and moral training and through our method of teaching history, there has been a decided change for the better. Every school in our city has felt the beneficial effects of this literary and moral work. I have been in- formed by teacher after teacher in the interme- diate (grammar) schools that, while formerly they were frequently troubled by pupils bringing dime novels to school, they have not known a single instance of the kind since systematic in- struction in gem-learning and the celebration of authors' birthdays were introduced into the schools. 66 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF READING GOOD BOOKS Apart from the mere rudiments of an educa- tion, what our children are reading is of far more importance than what studies they are pursuing in school. In my opinion, a boy who leaves at the end of a common-school course with a love of reading good books is better prepared for a life of honor and usefulness than one who passes through a high-school course without that love; and he who has an ordinary high-school education com- bined with a taste for good reading is better equipped for the duties of life than the gradu- ate of the best college or university in the country, without such taste. The self-made men who have figured high in state and national councils have, with few exceptions, been men of extensive and judicious reading. In general, those who exert the greatest influence on the communities in which they live are the readers of good literature. ' ' From the hour of the invention of printing," says the essayist "Whipple, ' ' books, and not kings, were to rule in the world. Weapons forged in the mind, keen-edged, and brighter than a sunbeam, were to supplant the sword and the battle-ax. Books ! light- houses built on the sea of time ! Books ! by whose sorcery the whole pageantry of the world's history moves in solemn procession before our eyes. From their pages great souls look down in all their gran- MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING 67 deur, undimmed by the faults and follies of earthly existence, consecrated by time. ' ' Knowing from experience, as I do, that it is in the power of the schools to control almost entirely the reading of the pupils and to implant in them correct literary tastes, I appeal to boards of edu- cation, to superintendents and teachers, to take im- mediate and decisive steps to make this literary training in all the grades a prominent feature of school work; as the only effectual way to keep the youth of our country from reading the worse than worthless dime novel is to interest them in the writings of good authors, and, once interested in the good, they will not touch the bad. They will feel themselves above such reading. They will take a just pride in the fact that they read good authors, and will disdain to read the low and degrading writings of the day. And this must be done, if at all, by the schools. NEATNESS AND BEAUTY OF WRITTEN EXERCISES During my superintendency of the Cincinnati Public schools, I have endeavored not only to se- cure, as far as possible, cleanliness on the part of the pupils, but also neatness and beauty of execu- tion of all work done by them on slates or paper, and to insure the best results, introduced, on enter- ing upon my duties as superintendent in 1874, 68 MORAL AND LITERARY TRAINING systematic and attractive forms ^ to be ruled by the pupils for all their written work, one form for problems, another for spelling, etc. (See Forms.) On my visits of inspection to the schools, and I endeavor to spend the greater part of my time in them four days and a half of each week, as a rule I never enter a room of pupils in any one of the five lower grades without, in some way, calling the attention of the children to the importance of personal cleanliness, and without noticing the con- dition in which they keep their slates, pencils, desks, etc., and also the transcription of their written work on slates and paper; and, to en- courage cleanliness and beauty of delineation on the part of the children, I frequently write on slate or paper, as the case may be, the words "Good," "Very Good," or " Excellent," to- gether with my initials. The children take great pride in showing the neatness and beauty of execution of their written lessons upon slates, and the cleanness of the slates. Many of them take pains to scrub their slate-frames at home daily all are expected to do this twice a week and to keep their sponges, driers, pencils, and rulers always on hand and in order. It is a delight, to a lover of children, to watch the happy faces of forty, fifty, or more little ones as they are called upon to show their elate w A SAMPLE SPELLING LESSON Ruling and Text by Pupil SCHOOL SLATE-FIRST HALF Inside of a Doutle Slate as Usually Prepared at Horn; for " Problems" SCHOOL SLATE-SECOND HALF Inside of a Double Slate as Usually Prepared at Home for Spelling SAMPLE WORK IN ARITHMETIC S^U^im*0 sesv- ... s& er-i^t^oc* /y^z^Cd^c ^ 'O^a^c^f' ' **$$*$ ,^m ii^ * wra**sftg , i> /'X - ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^p fiff gte^, WSW. ^WMil^t- ^ ^^^ ^ V. ^ ^ ^ ^-^ T T. c-;/,T-t-- /ft^fZ(!^-rTs~ / +/ /^^y Jan. 26, 1885. ) JOHN B. PEASLEE, ESQ., Superintendent of Schools, Cincinnati, 0. : Dear Sir, Accept my thanks for your kindness in sending me a copy of your Eeport, wherein I learn that my humble work in the way of literature for the boys of America was remembered and hon- ored at the tree-planting last spring. I can not be indifferent to such kindly recognition of literary services that are well intended, however poorly per- formed. I only wish they were better, and that every boy who reads them could know how perfect are my sympathies with the impulses, aspirations, and struggles of the typical American boy. I have LETTERS FROM AMERICAN AUTHORS 335 become very much interested in the account of tree- planting and a suggestion, though it is quite probable that you have anticipated it. The devel- opment of American inventive genius has surpassed that of American literature, and seems to me it would be a graceful thing to plant trees, in such a park as yours, in honor of our inventors ; not qnly the great ones, like Fulton, Morse, and Edison, but many less noted ones in that army enrolled at the Patent Office, whose ingenious devices have placed the United States ahead of all other nations in the production of labor-saving and comfort-multiplying devices. Very truly yours, KOSSITEB JOHNSON. FKOM MBS. C. EMMA CHENEY. A . Jan. 23, 1885. 1818 INDIANA AVE., CHICAGO, ) ME. JOHN B. PEASLEE, Superintendent of Public Schools, Cincin- nati, Ohio: My Dear Sir, Eeceive my thanks for the pretty compliment which the schools of your city kindly pay the " History of the Civil War for Young Folks," by planting a tree in honor of its author. May no mildew blight it, no worm destroy it ! And when, some day, my good fortune leads me Cincinnati-ward, it will give me real pleasure to seek out the spot in Eden Park where my namesake stands. Yours sincerely, MBS. C. EMMA CHENEY. 336 LETTERS FROM AMERICAN AUTHORS FROM HORACE E. SCUDDER. CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 3 February, 1885. JOHN B. PEASLEE, Superintendent of Schools: Dear Sir, Somebody has had the kindness to send me a copy of your Annual Eeport, in which I have read of your admirable labor in connecting books, in children's minds, with growing trees. To do either thing to cultivate a love of literature, or to interest children in tree-planting would be worthy of praise ; but to connect the tree is a most happy stroke. I congratulate you sincerely upon the remarkable result of your thought. You were good enough to include my name among those which the children were to become familiar with. I am sincerely pleased to think that some one may some- time find a shady place under the branches of my tree. Let me hope that they may find some line in my books who find shade by my tree. Very truly yours, HORACE E. SCUDDER. FROM HORATIO 0. LADD. WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 26, 1885. HON. JOHN B. PEASLEE, Superintendent Schools : My Dear Sir, I received, a short time ago, the Annual Report of the Common Schools of Cincin- nati, for which I desire to thank you. It contains very much valuable information for any educator, and surprises one with the magnitude of the educa- tional work in a great city like yours. LETTERS FROM AMERICAN AUTHORS 33? I also gratefully acknowledge the honor con- ferred upon me by the youth in their celebration of Arbor-day. I hope I may yet lead their awakened interest to things strange indeed in that land which was old in a forgotten history, when Europeans traversed those wonderful plateaus of the South- west three-fourths of a century before the Pilgrims. With great respect, Sincerely yours, HOKATIO 0. LADD. 22 Occasional Verses 880 THE SCHOOL FLAG W "WE should endeavor to inspire the youth of our country with patriotism with a fervent and abiding love of the free institutions of America, and of the flag of the grandest Nation that ever rose to animate the hopes of civilized man. From every schoolhouse in the land, O let the flag of Union wave, And float aloft on every breeze, Above the heads of children brave ! From Northern bound to Southern gulf, From Eastern strand to "Western shore, Unite around that dear old flag The hearts of children evermore. Inspire Columbia's gallant youth "With fervent love of country grand, That when they reach man's proud estate, They '11 nobly by our Nation stand, 341 342 OCCASIONAL VERSES And guard her safe from every foe Of equal rights and freedom's cause; And keep for aye, inviolate, Her Constitution and her laws. CHORUS. Unfurl on high that banner bright, Fond emblem of our country's glory, And teach the children of our land Its grand and wondrous story : Of how, in early times, it waved High o'er the Continentals brave, Who fought and made this country free The one true home of liberty. THE HEROES WHO REST* AN ODE FOR DECORATION-DAY TUNE " Portuguese Hymn. " THE heroes who rest in their valiancy here Shall e'er be enshrined in our memories dear ; They volunteered all for our country's true cause, And fell on the field while defending her laws. Their names are enrolled in the lists of the brave, Who fought for the Union, our Nation to save ; The cause that they fought for, the rights they maintained, Shall aye through the ages be proudly proclaimed. Their valor shall be, to the youth of our land, Incentive for freedom and Union to stand. In honor of them, as the years roll around, We '11 garland with flowers each hallowed mound. Thus honoring them, we anew consecrate Our lives and our fortunes to Nation and State, And show ourselves worthy to ever be free The sons and the daughters of sweet Liberty. 843 ADVICE TO A YOUNG FRIEND ON THE TWENTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH THROUGH youthhood years you longed to see This manhood day of life : O that the future e'er could be Free as the past from strife! "With manhood, cares and trials come, And griefs accumulate ; For this has been since birth of man The universal fate. But when to you misfortunes come, Bear them with royal will ; Yield not howe'er severe they be, Assert your manhood still ! The pious faith of fellow-man Ne'er ridicule, dear friend ; For noble life and happiness May on that faith depend. We walk in darkness here below ; Then scoff not nor condemn Man's trust in God and future life That will that darkness stem. 344 OCCASIONAL VERSES 345 Tour principles to policy Ne'er sacrifice, dear friend ; If thus you do, you will but rue Your action in the end. For lose you will that self-respect, That purity of heart, With which a man of sterling worth Can ne'er afford to part. Besides, dear Fred, you '11 sacrifice Opinions good of friends ; For character once lost and gone One ne'er can make amends. No motto is more clearly true- Go, carry it about Than word in sacred Scripture found, Man's sins will find him out. Be true, be honest, and be just, Sincere, until the end, Then surely you will nothing do Your friends can not defend. Then can you view a life well-spent, A life both pure and true, The best of earth's inheritance For those who follow you. 346 OCCASIONAL VERSES May full returns of natal day Be yours on earth below, And faithful friends and relatives On you their love bestow ! And may you then lie down at last, When scenes of time are o'er, In happy and consoling trust In life for evermore! IN MEMORIAM TO I,OU W. MY dearest one, you left me here, One weary year ago ; The tears of love that then broke forth Have never ceased to flow. Yes, dearest one, you left me here Sad, weary, and alone; No honors that the world can give Can for thy loss atone. My depths of grief no one can know But Him who dwells above, "Who holds and keeps and blesses you In his eternal love. To-day I come, with saddened heart, But to commune with thee ; To strew sweet flowers o'er thy grave, And thee in spirit see. O, couldst thou call, I know thou wouldst, Me to the Heavenly Throne ; I 'd gladly leave these scenes of earth To be with thee at Home. 347 'NEATH THE MAPLE-TREE BY MRS. MART PKASLEE GARDNER ** THERE were four little boys 'neath the maple-tree, Just as merry as boys can be : They were John and Joe and "Will and Dan Whistling and shouting as only boys can ; Down in the meadow, over the hill ; Now in the brook that runs by the mill ; Watching the nest that the mother-bird leaves ; Out on the barn, hanging over the eaves ; Frightening the squirrels, chasing the bee ; Playing jacks 'neath the shade of the maple-tree. There were four little boys by a mother's knee, Just as tired as boys can be : With half -spoken words their prayers are said ; With a single bound they are snug in bed. Four curly heads on pillows of white ; Four childish voices, shouting, "Mother, good- night!" The angel of sleep hushes all of the noise ; The mother murmurs, " God, keep my boys!" An echo low, of "So may it be !" Comes back through the leaves of the maple-tree. 348 OCCASIONAL VERSES 349 There are four empty seats 'neath the maple-tree, As worn and battered as they can be. With cold, gray moss, Time has mottled them o'er ; But the four little boys we see them no more. Gone ! but the world claims four earnest men. But, amid life's stern duties, the tune will come when They will care not for riches, for fame, or for power Only their childish faith, just for an hour, When they were as happy as boys could be, Under the shade of the maple-tree. MEMORIES OF BOYHOOD BY EDWARD S. PEASLEK * WHEN ruthless duty presses hard, and life is fraught with ills, I haste me to my boyhood home among the Essex hills, I hear again the song of birds in old ancestral trees, And mellow low of distant kine borne on the balmy breeze. The hills look down with welcome gaze, the church, too, at their base, Whose heaven stretched arm and face serene, were silent means of grace ; The orchard blossoms scent the air, old scenes de- light the eye, And over all in tender love low stoops the sum- mer sky. 350 OCCASIONAL VERSES 351 The brook that bathes my father's farm, the mill- dam's distant roar, The lake and its alluring boats, the miller's busy door, The river's marge I helped to mow, the hay-cart's spreading frame, The sultry hay-mow's dizzy loft that types the heights of fame, How rapid memory calls them back ! My heart is pressed with joy, For depths of rapture now I feel, I felt not when a boy, And memory keeps the twin graves fresh, though twenty years have flown, And culls with tender touch the pinks the hand of Jove has sown. O brook that bounds my father's farm, though years and miles from thee, More sweet than when a romping boy, thy song still comes to me ! O bridge that spans the sylvan stream, my moth- er's love and mine, O'er thee on fancy's foot I pass the stream of "AuldLang Syne!" 352 OCCASIONAL VERSES O rustic road and shady path where oft I loved to stray, More plain to me thy windings are than those I tread to-day ! For then I lived with thee alone ; my brothers were the trees, The brooks and birds and grassy slopes, the sun- light and the breeze. Though other hands now till the soil, the same dear forms I see Parental voices greet my ear and old time child- ish glee ; Still follow the meandering path the cows I called my own, The petted kitten naps and wakes upon the old hearthstone. Still lives the horse that patient drudged the long- est summer-day, Yet showed the pride of gentle blood upon the broad highway; And oft I hear the yeomen round in careless pos- ture ranged, Lament the sturdy days of old for later times ex- changed. OCCASIONAL VERSES 353 Deprive me, Fortune, if thou wilt, of every other far, But ofttimes let me tread the paths that knew me when a boy ; Let memory give the burdened heart repose from present care, And seek the sunny land of youth, its meadows fresh and fair. 23 ODE TO DANIEL WEBSTER BY REV. WILLIAM CAREY SHEPPARD * O FAIR New Hampshire's noblest son, The mighty, glorious, and great, Most cherished of thy native State, The immortal and the godlike one ! To thee we rear the modest token Of love and gratitude and praise, And offer speech and song and lays ; But speak and sing in accents broken. We praise thee for thy strong right arm, On which the Nation leaned secure ; Thy heart so tender, fond, and pure, That loved her with a love so warm ; And for thy tongue so eloquent, And full of sweetest melody, Whose tones rang out from sea to sea, Enrapturing a continent ; Thy hand Columbia's lyre swept o'er, And made all jarring notes agree ; Awoke the strains of liberty And unity for evermore. 354 OCCASIONAL VERSES 355 What though thy body 's by the sea, Beneath the Pilgrim's hallowed hill, Thou ever livest, livest still, Enshrined in grateful memory. Within thine arms the Nation lies ; Thy mighty heart-throbs yet she feels ; And still the same thy music peals Throughout the land, along the skies. Descend, ascend, ye cherubim, Upon the ladder of his glory, And bear aloft to God the story, Our thanksgiving for the gift of him TTim J him ! Columbia's greatest son, The mighty, glorious, and grand, Most cherished of his native land, The godlike and immortal one ! Addendum Testimony of Teachers on the Method of Teaching History in the Public Schools 857 ADDENDUM To SHOW the gratifying results obtained by the method of teaching history described in this article (page 38), a few extracts from the written reports of the principals of the schools are given here. Principal G. A. Carnahan in 1881 reported as follows: " The method pursued in teaching history is entirely in accordance with your views expressed in your last re- port. The results have been very satisfactory. J have been particularly gratified with the interest the pupils have taken in gathering supplementary historical and biographical information. You know from personal inspection of the work done by my pupils, and the success we have had in writing historical abstracts and biographical sketches." In 1882, Mr. Carnahan reported to me as follows : ' ' The subject of United States history was excellently taught in the A Grade, and has yielded most satisfac- tory results. The ' topical method,' requiring historical research and investigation, combined with the writing of biographical sketches and descriptions of historical events, has formed the groundwork of the instruction. The frequent warm commendation of visitors, who ex- amined the work done by the pupils, has been a source of much gratification to the earnest teacher, Miss Henrietta Reuschel." In his report for the school year 1885-1886, Mr. Carna- han says : " The method of imparting instruction in the subject of American history the same as described in former re- ports was used with most gratifying success. It may be justly asserted that the pupils studying history are ' im- 359 360 ADDENDUM bued with the spirit of historical investigation,' and are pos- sessed of a real love of the subject. The pupils no longer dread, the dreary task of memorizing answers to long lists of questions. They are not now compelled to load their memories with numberless names, dates, and irrelevant facts of little interest or value. The instruction is now made delightful, and the pupils seek with avidity for informa- tion from all available sources. The small library of refer- ence books and biographical dictionaries in our school is almost worn out by the constant use that is made of it by the classes in history." "It may be truthfully asserted," says Mr. Carnahan, in another report, " that the old memoriter methods of teaching American history have passed away, and will never again And a place in our schools. A more rational method prevails, and the study is now a pleasure instead of a dreaded task." Principal E. H. Prichard, of the Third Intermediate Schools, says: " The answers given by the pupils show that the teach- ers have followed a progressive, common-sense method in teaching the subject, and have interested the pupils in a won- derful manner in reading good books bearing upon the sub- ject of history." Principal George F. Sands, of the Fourth Intermediate Schools, reports : " I am pleased to report that history has been taught in a profitable manner in this school. The pupils were intensely interested in the subject. In Grades A and B [these are the only grades in which history is taught], hundreds of historical and biographical sketches have been written and recited by the pupils. The principal battles of the War of the Rebellion and of the Revolu- tion were thus reviewed. A remarkable interest has been displayed in reading books of history. In these grades the pupils have read about three hundred books during the year of history and biography. I attribute this good result to the correct teaching of the subject. The lessons' are the ADDENDUM 361 most interesting in the course of study. I should very much regret to see the old verbatim method again introduced." Principal George W. Burns, of the Eighteenth District and Intermediate Schools, reports: '' Pupils were encouraged to read historical works ; and the study, instead of being dry, tedious, and uninterest- ing, has been one of exceeding interest, and the pupils always looked forward with pleasure to the hour for recitation in history. Their demand for books from the Public and Mercantile Libraries was for historical works ; and they took pleasure in showing their books to the teachers, and talking of what they had read and were reading. I am more than ever convinced this is the proper way to teach the subject ; and the intelligence with which the pupils enter into a discussion of historical subjects shows that a love for such reading was awakened that would have been stifled under the old plan." Principal R. C. Yowell, of the Twenty-fourth District and Intermediate, says : " The subject of American history has been a pleas- ing, entertaining, and instructive study in the A Grade of this school. Abstracts of events and biographical sketches have formed a leading feature in our composi- tion work for these two grades. A taste for better reading is rapidly growing among our children. It is to be hoped that the present method may obtain generally, as the results warrant us in saying history may be made delightful, and even fascinating. "The following is only a partial list of books read by the A and B Grade pupils of this school, but enough to show the character of the reading done by children out- side of school hours. Some of the volumes were read by as many as fourteen pupils (the number of pupils re- maining in these grades at the close of the year was sixty-eight): "Life of Washington, Life of Garfleld, Life of Colum- bus, Young Americans in Japan, History of Ohio, Boys of 362 ADDENDUM '76, History of England, Life of Benedict Arnold, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Drifting Round the World, A Child's History of the United States, Tanglewood Tales, Wonder Story for Boys and Girls, Life of Grant, Young Folks' Book of Astronomy, A Child's History of Rome, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Life of Mary Bunyan, Boys of '61, The Iroquois, Pocahontas, Hiawatha, Little Women, Old-fashioned Boy, Old-fashioned Girl, Lewis and Clark's Expedition Across the Rocky Mountains, Boys of Other Countries, Alexander the Great, Conquest of Grenada, American Revolution, Heroes of Three Wars, The French and Indian War, King Philip's War, Rise of the Dutch Republic, Story of the 6th Ohio, Sweden and Norway (History), Lapland, The Great March, United States Navy, Patriot and Tory, Through the Dark Continent, Boy Travels in China and Japan, Zigzag Journeys Through Europe, Zigzag Journeys Through Classic Lands, Zigzag Journeys in the Orient, Zigzag Journeys in the Occident, Zigzag Journeys Round the World, Women of the Orient, Rollins's Ancient History, United States History (Ander- son), United States History (Eclectic), United States History (Bryant) in parts, United States History (Will- ard), United States History (Ridpath), History of Ohio, History of England (Dickens), Life of LaFayette, Life of Benjamin Franklin, Life of Peter the Great, Life of Madi- son, Life of General Marion, Life of James Monroe, Life of President Lincoln, Life of Mary of England, Life of Mary of Scotland, Life of General Fremont, Life of Beethoven, Life of Haydn, Life of Captain John Smith, Life of Willard, Life of Paul Jones, Life of Princess Jose- phine, Life of Queen Hortense, Life of General Custer, Life of Joseph Bonaparte, Life of Daniel Boone, Life of Queen Henrietta Maria, Life of President Hayes, Life of Queen Elizabeth, Life of Alfred the Great, Life of Joan of Arc, Lives of Illustrious Women, Life of the Tone Poets, Plutarch's Lives, Life in London, Building the Na- tions, Vanquished Victors, Old Times in the Colonies, ADDENDUM 363 Green Mountain Boys, Prison Life in the South, Iron Age of Germany, Heroes of Holland, The Pen and the Sword, Sights and Scenes in the Far East, Drifting Eound the World, Down the Amoor, The Ancient Saxons, Trojan War, Age of Fables." Principal I. H. Terrell, of the Fourth District and In- termediate School, in his report, states that "the oral examination of the Intermediate Department in history shows that the pupils are developing a taste for reading his- tory and biography which can not be too highly commended." Principal Geo. W. Nye, of the Walnut Hills Twenty- second District and Intermediate School, sent, in con- nection with his report, the following list of books read by the pupils of these two grades of his school: "Lives of Lincoln, Garfleld, Webster, Van Buren, Put- nam, Washington, Andrew Johnson, J. Q. Adams, Daniel Boone, Wayne, Franklin, Longfellow, Julius Caesar, Rich- ard the Third, Mary Stuart, Wm. Pitt, Stonewall Jack- son, John C. Calhoun, Frederick the Great, Robert Bruce, Marie Antoinette, Peter Stuyvesant, James K. Polk, Levi Coffin, Benedict Arnold, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Sumner, Columbus, Queen Elizabeth, Oliver Cromwell, Ferdinand and Isabella, Philip the Second, Patrick Henry, Lady Jane Grey, George the Third, William the Fourth, Empress Josephine, Charlotte Corday, LaSalle, De Soto, Raphael, M. Angelo, Queen Anne, LaFayette, Charles the Second, Charles the First, Paul Jones, Marco Polo, Joseph Brant, William the Conqueror, Warren, General Taylor, General Fremont, Jefferson Davis, General U. S. Grant, William Penn, Sir William Johnson, Sir Walter Raleigh, Cyrus, Alexander the Great, Alfred the Great, Captain John Smith, John Adams, General Greene, Aaron Burr, Robert Fulton, Major Andre, Peter the Great, Dr. Kane, and Lord Cornwallis. " Constitution of the United States, Signers of the Declaration, and Musical Composers; Histories of Rome, Greece, France, Germany, Japan, China, England, the 364 ADDENDUM World, and the Civil War ; several histories of the United States, Thalheimer's Ancient History, Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, Prescott's Conquest of Peru, The Boys of '76, Motley's Dutch Republic, Carlisle's French Revolution, Macaulay's History of England, Ohio in the War, Los- sing's Home of Washington, Men of Our Times, Travels in Europe, History of the Huguenots, Farragut's Naval Commanders, Cooper's Naval History, and Stanley in Africa." Principal Geo. W. Oyler, of the Twenty-first District and Intermediate School, states that the following is a list of books read by the pupils of Miss Anna Brown's room, Twenty -first District and Intermediate School: " Anderson's, Bonner's, Child's, Higginson's, Lossing's, Sheah's, Willaon's, and Willard's Histories of the United States. Also, the following biographies: Addison, Blen- nerhassett, Columbus, Cortez, De Foe, Franklin, Henry Hudson, John Hancock, King Alfred, LaFayette, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Robert Paine, Pirate Kidd, Queen Elizabeth, Preaoott, George Stevenson, General Schuyler, Washington, and . Irving. Also, the following miscel- laneous works: Manufacture of Musical Instruments, Glass, loe, etc. ; Whale Fisheries, Voyage to Cuba and Back, Glimpses of Spain, Indian Traits, Old Times in the Colonies, One Hundred Years' Progress in the Colonies, Life in the Sandwich Islands, Verne's Great Voyages and Discoveries, The Tories, New York Prisons in 1776, Stan- ley's Journeys, Murder of the Princes, The Baby King, LaFayetts's First Wound, The Fifer of Lexington, and Tall Pines. "Many of the above books have been read by two or morel-pupils. In addition to the reading done by the class, over one hundred sketches have been recited from memory in the class, or prepared and held in readiness." Principal S. L. Miner, Twenty-fifth District and Inter- mediate Schools, says: " The history lesson is one of the most enjoyable of ADDENDUM 365 the work. . . . Short biographical sketches of prom- inent persons are read by the pupils, the study of con- temporaneous history encouraged. In their researches, our carefully-selected library is an invaluable assistant, furnishing such books as The Boys of '76, Life of Wash- ington, Autobiography of Franklin, Self-made Men, Build- ing of the Nation, War of 1812, Events in History, Story of the United States Navy, Stories of the Old Dominion, Indian History, etc." E. S. Peaslee, first assistant in the Twenty-sixth Dis- trict and Intermediate School, says : " The great matters of our country's history are taken up separately and in their entirety; as biography, the slavery question, acquisition of territory, inventions, etc. . . . "Various works of history are kept constantly on my table, all of which are used by the pupils daily, and are read by me in connection with the lesson of the day. Compositions have been written about distinguished men, and pupils have been encouraged to bring to the room, for general reading, historical articles from papers and monthlies. The interest in the subject has been excellent." Notes 887 NOTES 1. Page 13. " Thomas Whittier was a contemporary of George Fox, and appears to have had much respect for the doctrines of the new Society of Friends. In 1652 he was among the petitioners to the General Court for the pardon of Eobert Pike, who had been heavily fined for speaking against the order prohibiting the Quakers, Joseph Peaslee and Thomas Marcy from exhorting on the Lord's-day. The meetings of the Quakers were held in their own dwelling-houses. A petition against the order had been signed by many of the residents of Haverhill. A committee of that body was appointed to wait upon the petitioners, and command them to withdraw it or suffer the consequences. Some of them did retract when thus called upon ; but two of the sixteen who refused were Thomas Whittier and Christopher Hussey, both of them ancestors of the poet. . . . Hia (Thomas Whit- tier's) youngest son, Joseph through whom we trace the poet's lineage married Mary Peaslee, granddaughter of Joseph Peaslee, the leading Quaker in town, and one of the exhorters for whom Thomas Whittier asked in vain the clemency of the General Court forty-two years earlier." Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier, by Samuel Pickard. "In this alliance with the family of a well-known Quaker, we recognize one of the influences which led the Whittiers to the new communion." John Greenleaf Whittier: A Biography, by Francis H. Underwood. 2. Page 20. The fact that this provision of the New Hampshire Constitution of 1850 was rejected by the vote of the people, does not detract from the noble work done by my father in the line of right, justice, and liberty. 24 369 370 NOTES 3. Page 21. The school district in which I was born and brought up, adjoins that of the poet Whittier, and one winter in my early boyhood I attended school in the schoolhouse which the poet has immortalized by his poem, "In School Days." This poem was pronounced by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes as the best school poem in the English language. 4. Page 21. Among Mr. Peaslee's classmates are Judge Jonas Hutchingson, of Chicago, former corpora- tion counsel of that city ; the late Judge Nathaniel H. Clement, of Brooklyn ; Judge Jesse Johnson, of Brook- lyn ; Colonel Thomas Coggswell, attorney, Gilmanton, New Hampshire, Mr. Peaslee's room-mate at Gilman- ton Academy and also at Dartmouth College, an officer in the Civil War, twice candidate for governor of New Hampshire, leader of his party in the Legislature of the State; Addison H. Foster, A. M., M. D., physician, Chi- cago, professor of Surgery and Anatomy, and active in college, hospital, and reformatory work ; the late Charles A. Pillsbury, the great flour manufacturer, Minneapolis, State senator, trustee of the State University ; Hon. Alfred K. Hamilton, lumberman, manufacturer, and capitalist, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; General Henry M. Baker, A. M., LL. B., member of Congress from New Hampshire ; Hon. Frank P. Goulding, of Worcester, Mass. , one of the great lawyers of the State, trustee of Clark University and trustee of the Worcester Polytechnic In- stitute, Presidential elector in 1888; Hon. Charles F. Kittridge, one of the leading municipal, banking, and corporation lawyers of Boston, former member of the New Hampshire Legislature, and aide-de-camp, with rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor Harrison, of that State ; Hon. Wilder'Luke Burnap, A. M., ona of the ablest lawyers of the State, and professor of Jurisprudence in the University of Vermont ; William P. Goodelle, LL. B., of Syracuse, N. Y., formerly the great criminal lawyer of Central New York, now the attorney for the New York Central Railroad; John Scales, A. M., journalist, editor, NOTES 371 and proprietor of the Dover Enquirer and the Daily Re- publican, the ablest Republican papers in Southern New Hampshire, and no man stands ahead of Mr. Scales as an editorial writer or general newspaper manager in the State. Mr. Scales is also trustee of the New Hampshire State Normal School. The late Hon. Evarts W. Farr, member of Congress' from New Hampshire ; Hon. Stephen Rand, paymaster of the United States Navy. The pay- mastership in the navy includes that of quartermaster and commissary of subsistence, an officejof great respon- sibility. Mr. Rand attends to purchasing guns, ammuni- tion, coal, and stores of all kinds for the fleets, which in- volves, in times of war, the payment of several millions a month. Rev. Azel W. Hazen, A. M., D. D., pastor of the First Church of Christ, Middletown, Conn. ; Rev. E. E. P. Abbott, A. M., D. D., Sierra Madre, California; Charles Bell Converse, M. D., physician, Jersey City; Amos W. Abbott, M. D., Minneapolis, eminent physician and surgeon, professor of Surgery in the Minnesota Med- ical College; Professor Homer T. Fuller, A. M., Ph. D., president for years of the Worcester Free Institute of Technology, now president of Drury College, Springfield, Mo.; Professor Isaac Walker, A. M., principal of Pem- broke Academy, Pembroke, N. H. ; Professor George W. Bingham, A. M., principal of Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N. H. ; Rev. Joseph C. Bodwell, A. M., Lyndonville, Vt., an honor man at Phillips Academy, Andover, elected class orator at Dartmouth, elected three years in succes- sion representative preacher for his class before the city at Hartford Theological Seminary, installed pastor of the First Congregational Churches of Stockbridge, Mass., Leavenworth, Kansas, and Bridgport, Mass. Mr. Bod- well is trustee of Lyndon Institute, Vermont, and past- chaplain Vermont Department G. A. R. Charles I. Par- ker, Chicago, 111., member of the Illinois State Board of Education; David E. Bradly, A.^M., Chicago, a success- ful business man, has retired to take care\>f his accumu- lations; Eri D. Woodbury, A. M., first lieutenant and brevet captain First Vermont Cavalry, severely wounded 372 NOTES while commanding a company at Appomattox, now presi- dent of Episcopal College, Cheshire, Connecticut. John S. Cameron, Salt Lake City 1867, chief engineer of the B. C. R. & N. Railway; 1870, contracting construction railways ; 1883, assistant to general manager C. B. & Q. Railroad ; 1889, assistant to the president of th eTJnion Pacific Railway ; 1890, chief of construction Union Pacific Railway ; 1891, president and largest owner Salt Lake Rapid Transit Company. Barton F. Blake, of Philadel- phia, for years Wanamaker's right-hand man, now part- ner in a large wholesale dry -goods business ; Jeremiah E. Ayers, A. M., Denver, formerly adjunct professor Latin Language and Literature, Washington University of Penn- sylvania. A. 0. Hitchcock, M. D. (Harvard), physician, Fitchberg, Massachusetts; enlisted as private in the 53d Massachusetts Volunteers ; wounded, losing sight of right eye, in the assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana; commissioned second lieutenant in 57th Massachusetts Volunteers, then first lieutenant, later captain; brevet major U. S. Vols. " for gallant and meritorious services in the field ;" served one year as aide-de-camp and pro- vost marshal on the staff of General Nelson A. Miles. Professor Aurin P. Somes, A. B., A. M. (Princeton), Dan- ville, Conn. ; Rev. George H. French, Park Hill, N. H., author of a " Historical Discourse of the Congregational Church in Charleston," New Hampshire, also of a " Souv- enir of Kimball Union Academy," of which he is a trus- tee ; the late Rev. Bernard Paine, A. M., Saybrook, Qon- necticut; the late Rev. Hollis S. Westgate, A. M., Westgate P. O., Kansas, former principal of the Colum- bus (Ohio) High School; Sanford S. Burr, A. B., LL. B., captain of the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry, merchant and inventor, Chicago, 111. ; Edwin Greene, A. M., LL. B., journalist and lawyer, South Dakota ; Rev. Albert Bow- wers, Ruggles, Ashland County, Ohio ; Rev. Joseph F. Joy, Frankfort, S. Dakota ; Professor Maitland C. Lam- prey, A. M,, principal of schools, North Eaton, Mass.; Professor George A. Miller, A. B., principal of schools, Burlington, Iowa; Professor Francis Savage, A. M., NOTES 373 Amesbury, Mass.; Frank A. Spencer, LL. B., lawyer, Washington, D. C., George A. Weaver, A. B., lawyer and capitalist, Urbana, O. ; Dr. Edwin A. Knight, physician, West Newton, Mass. ; Frank A. Putney, chief of postal service, Denver, Col.; E. P. Johnston, A. M., Philadel- phia, Pa. ; H. E. Howell, LL. B., lawyer, Springfield, Mo. ; C. W. Spalding, banker, Chicago; Dr. Samuel D. Dodge, M. D., physician, Little Rock, Ark., formerly physician to the State Institute for the Blind, also city physician; Gardner C. Pierce, M. D., physician, Ashland, Mass.; Martin V. B. Perley, A. M., journalist, Portsmouth, N. H. ; Colonel Wm. G. Cummings, merchant, Clinton, Iowa; severely wounded at the battle of Gettysburg; Zeeb Gilman, M. D., Beverly, Cal. ; Daniel 'N. Lane, A. M., Raymond, N. H. ; Clarence C. Moulton, A. B., merchant, New York City; William H. Preston, A. M., St. Johns- bury, Vt. ; Isaac N. Jenks, A. B., Northfield, Vt. ; Charles C. Marston, broker, New York City ; Dr. Isaac W. Hey- singer, manufacturer, Philadelphia ; the late Dr. Ephraim C. Meriam, physician, Washington, D. C. ; Professor John R. Blackburn, A. M., principal, Evansville, Ind., and others. From the Class of '63 more men entered the Union army than from any other class that ever entered Dartmouth College. Three of its number lost their lives in the Civil War. 5. Page 85. The attention of the reader is called to what is said under the subheading, " Why a Child can Learn with Advantage Two Languages at the Same Time," page 208; also, to what is said under " Too Many Hours of Tuition," page 212. 6. Page 48. In the Cincinnati schools, this extract is made the subject of at least five twelve-minute lessons, one each day for a week. Besides this, a little time is taken on Friday afternoon to see that the pupils have thoroughly memorized the selection. 7. Page 68. Forms to be ruled by the pupils for all written exercises originated in the Second Intermediate School in 1872, when I was principal of that school, and 374 NOTES Professor John Akels, the present principal of the Second Intermediate, was the first assistant. They were de- signed by Mr. Akels and myself. The occasion which led to their invention was that of the preparation of work for the Vienna Exposition, held that year. The Board of Education, on the recommendation of Dr. John Hancock, superintendent of schools, had decided, some weeks pre- viously, that the Cincinnati schools should prepare an ex- hibit of scholars' work for the Exposition, and for this purpose Dr. Hancock announced to the principals that he would hold a written examination of the schools in accordance with the rules prepared, I think, by the United States Commissioner of Education. One of these rules was to the effect that at the head of each manuscript the pupil should write the subject, the name of the school, and the grade of which he was a member; and at the foot of the manuscript his own name, Cincinnati, Ohio, and the date. After Mr. Akels and myself had decided upon the forms for the several subjects, permission was obtained from the superintendent to place all the items at the top, over the manuscripts, as a heading. Copies of the forms were then handed to the several teach- ers, who began at once to give the pupils practice in ruling them. This was only a few days before the ex- amination, but long enough to make the pupils very pro- ficient in this work ; so that when the examination was held their manuscripts presented a beautiful appearance. The Second Intermediate was the only school in Cincin- nati, and probably the only one in the country, that sent systematically ruled work to the Vienna Exposition. After this, the pupils of this school were required to rule their slates and papers in a similar manner, and to keep them as neat and clean as possible. After my election as superintendent of schools, these forms, as has been seen, were introduced into all the schools of the city. 8. Page 70. After pupils once get into the way of ruling forms for written work, and of keeping everything in order, much school-time will be saved. In the Cin- NOTES 375 cinnati schools all the pupils provide themselves with double slates, and below the grammar grades grades in which home lesson on slates are seldom required they bring their slates to school each morning, with two sur- faces ruled with pencil and ruler into the required forms, and with proper headings for two of the morning lessons (the heading for every-day work usually consists of the subject, the name of the pupil, the grade he is in, and the date). If there are more than two written lessons, the pupils use the other two surfaces of their slates, which, of course, are ruled in school, rather than rub out their work, which they are encouraged to keep for the inspec- tion of the principal or others who may drop in, and to take home and show their parents. The effect of this upon the pupils is excellent. 9. Page 97. The members of the French Commission were Mile. Marie Loizillon, inspectrice des Ecoles Mater- nelles, and Mile. Couturier, of Havre. The official re- port to the Minister of Public Instruction was written by Mile. Loizillon. It so happened that they were here at the time of one of our Author-day celebrations. Here I desire to express the great obligations I am un- der to Mr. Henry Probasco, not alone for the royal man- ner in which he entertained these noble women at his palatial residence in Clifton, but also for entertainments which he gave other distinguished visitors to the schools during my superintendency. 10. Page 109. Names of ladies and gentlemen who served on committees: GENTLEMEN. Fred H. Alms, Governor Charles Anderson, E. H. Austerlitz, Dr. Joseph Aub, Professor John Akels, J. M. Armstrong, Dr. M. J. W. Ambrose. Hon. Benjamin Butterworth, Governor R. M. Bishop, Judge Clement Bates, Hon. Warner M. Bateman, H. Wilson Brown, George W. Bishop, Judge M.L. Buchwalter, S. J. Broadwell, Louis Ballauf, W. T. Bishop, Hon. John 376 NOTES E. Bell, Colonel A. D. Bullock, B. 0. M. DeBeck, David Baker, E. 0. Boyce, General Charles E. Brown, Waldo F. Brown, Hon. Samuel Bailey, Hon. Leopold Burckhardt, Hon. J. H. Bromwell, William H. Blymyer, G. Bouscaren, Hon. A. S. Berry, T. F. Baker, Samuel Blair, Max Burg- heim, Colonel L. H. Bond, Major Flamen Ball, Dr. C. P. Brent, Hon. Nathaniel Bartlett, Simon Blair, Colonel Joseph Bunker, Colonel T. B. Barry, S. M. Barrett, Joseph R. Brown, Elias Block, General W. H. Baldwin, M. Bauer, F. S. Brown, David H. Bailey, Rev. Dr. Burnet, R. E. Barney, Rudolph Burgheim Dr. Thomas J. Biggs, J. D. Banks, A. Bamberger, Colonel Milton Blair. General J. D. Cox, Dr. P. S. Conner, W. B. Carpenter, Professor F. W. Clarke, Judge John S. Conner, Robert Clarke, Dr. M. T. Carey, John D. Caldwell, Hon. Edward Colston, Dr. A. L. Carrick, Professor Peter H. Clark, C. C. Cobb, Samuel Stevenson, J. P. Carbery, Hon. John A. Caldwell, Captain William H. Calvert, Judge Joseph Cox, John Carlisle, James R. Challen, A. J. Cunningham, Professor E. W. Coy, Professor G. A. Carnahan, Charles R. Chesley, W. S. Capeller, Joshua V. Coppola. Dr. John Davis, Governor William Dennison, Hon. Julius Dexter, Rev. Dr. S. W. Duncan, W. S. Dickinson, Dr. N. P. Dandridge, Dr. William B. Davis, General A. F. Devereux, Ex-mayor S. S. Davis, J. M. DeCamp, H. DeCamp, A. J. DeArmond, Daniel J. Dalton, Colonel L. M. Dayton. Hon. Benjamin Eggleston, Lowe Emerson, General John Egan, Henry Earnshaw, General M. B. Ewing, Thomas J. Emery, Judge Charles Evans. Governor Charles Foster, Judge M. F. Force, Robert M. Fraser, E. E. Foster, Judge J. W. Fitzgerald, Hon. E. A. Ferguson, Hon. James J. Faran, F. T. Foster, Abner L. Frazer, Dr. H. H. Fick, Francis Ferry, T. H. Foulds, Professor W. A. Fillmore, B. Freiberg, H. W. Fuller, George B. Fox, Julius Freiberg, W. M. Ferris, Albert French, Maynard French, Colonel George M. Finch, Dr. F. B. Hough. Hon. William S. Groesbeck, Sir A. T. Goshorn, James NOTES 377 N. Gamble, John A. Gano, Virgil G. Gilmore, General Kenner Gerrard, Dr. J. P. Geppert, F. A. Grever, J. W. Gosling, John Grossius, Z. Getchell, Colonel Jephtha Gerrard. Ex-President R. B. Hayes, Murat Halstead, Judge Samuel F. Hunt, Fred Hassaurek, Henry Haake, Judge Warren Higley, Hon. John W. Herron, General Andrew Hickenlooper, Thornton M. Hinkle, Captain C. M. Hollo- way, Dr. A. E. Heighway, Colonel William H. Hill, A. Howard Hinkle, Edwin Henderson, Professor George W. Harper, D. E. Holmes, Colonel C. B. Hunt, Joseph L. Hall, Colonel M. L. Hawkins, M. Hollingshead, James L. Haven, Captain W. H. Hughes, Dr. Hunt (of North Bend), W. P. Hulbert, H. Hemmelgarn, John J. Ho- verkamp, T. Q. Hildebrant, Professor George Hall (of Covington, Ky.), George Hafer. Hon. M. E. Ingalls. Colonel A. E. Jones, Hon. Isaac M. Jordan, George W. Jones, Moritz Jacobi, Herbert Jenney, Dr. G. S. Junkermann, Professor J. F. Judge, Bishop I. W. Joyce, Walter E. Jones, Dr. George E. Jones, Frank J. Jones, S. S. Jackson, E. M. Johnson. Hon. Rufus King, General John M. Kennett, Jos. Kinsey, Hon. Josiah Kirby, Chris. Kinsinger, Dr. A. T. Keckeler. Dr. Keckeler was vice-president of the Ohio State Forestry Association, and took a prominent part in the Arbor-day celebrations in Eden Park. Louis Kramer, John Kauffmann, Theophilus Kemper, E. L. KiddjEx- mayor Jacobs, George B. Kerper, Dr. A. C. Kemper, H. G. Kennett. Hon. Alexander Long, Hon. T. D. Lincoln, James H. Laws, Rev. Thomas Lee, Dr. Rabbi Max Lilienthal, Dr. Adolph Leue, Rev. S. K. Leavitt, M. Loth, Elias Longley, Hon. J. K. Love, I. N. LaBoiteaux, Judge Nicholas Long- worth, Colonel P. P. Lane, Joseph Longworth, H. A. Langhorst, William Lusby, Jr., E. Levy, Dr. George B. Loring, Clark Lane, Right Honorable James Little, K. B., Professor John H. Laycock, Wm. M. Litell, A. Lardo, P. Larota, 378 NOTES Hon. John R. McLean, Colonel Leopold Markbreit, Judge P. Mallon, Judge Isaac B. Matson, J. B. McCormick, Colonel R. J. Morgan, Henry Muhlhauser, Colonel D. J. Mullaney, Hon. S. N. Maxwell, Hon. T. J. Mulvihill, H. M. Moos, Paul Mohr, Robert Mitchell, George Moer- lein, J. H. McMakin, George W. McAlpin, Dr. John Mickleborough, Hon. Henry Mack, Henry Marks, Judge John P. Murphy, A. W. McCormick, Otto Marmet, Dr. Daniel Millikin, Joseph R. Megrue, Rev. F. G. Mitchell, General F. W. Moore, Joseph W. Miller, Washington McLean, Hon. Henry L. Morey, Colonel N. H. McLean, Florence Marmet, Ralph C. McCracken, Professor J. J. Maas, Richard Mirtz (of Juneau, Wis.), James W. Morgan, S. D. Maxwell, Dr. F. M. Mackenzie, Marion Mackenzie, H. Meroer, Robert T. Morris, W. H. McCoy, Captain G. H. Menke. Governor E. F. Noyes, Professor A. Nembach, Professor Richard Nelson, Joseph Niehaus. Hon. William J. O'Neil, Colonel W. L. O'Brien, Judge T. A. O'Oonner, Judge M. W. Oliver, D. S. Oliver, M. D. Osgood. Senator George H. Pendleton, Henry Probasco, E. H. Pendleton, Hon. Thomas W. Paxton, F. B. Plimpton, Hon. Chester M. Poor, Nelson Perin, Professor E. H. Prichard, Professor W. H. Parham, John B. Peaslee, Professor Benn Pitman, H. C. Powers, E. W. Pettit, Captain W. W. Peabody, Hon. J. M. Pattison, Francis Pentland, J. J. Pearce. Hon. Charles Reemelin, Major S. V. Reid, Julius Reis, Judge Emil Rothe, Dr. L. Robertson, General Michael Ryan, Dr. Joseph Ransohoff, Major J. A. Remley, J. M. Ray, Dr. John H. Rendigs, M. M. Reese, J. B. Renner, James L. Ruffln, Professor H. H. Rashig. Judge George R. Sage, John Simpkinson, Hon. Richard Smith, Judge J. B. Stallo, David Sinton, General Louis Seasongood, Reuben R. Springer, Gordon Shillito, Vincent Shinkle, Hon. Amor Smith, Albert Schwill, Adolph Strauch, William Sumner, Dr. William Stark, Dr. Alfred Springer, Rev. H. J. Stewart; Samuel Stevenson, L. L. NOTES 379 Sadler, Joseph Siefert, Hon. Luke Staley, Colonel D. W. Strickland, L. Schreiber, General W. B. Shattuc, Alfred Seasongood, Colonel A. C. Sands, M. C. Shoemaker, Charles Stewart, Dr. James Scott, Hon. Thomas G. Smith, H. R. Smith, W. J. Shaw, P. W. Schneider, Joseph Sater, George W. Stone, Hon. Bellamy Storer, T. A. Snider, Elder W. G. Stratton, Wm. Storms. Judge Alphonso Taft, Judge William H. Taft, C. W. Thomas, W. F. Thorne, Dr. William H. Taylor, Samuel W. Trost, Colonel Gustav Tafel, George W. Trowbridge, Dr. William Taft, Charles Truesdale, D. D. Thompson, F. A. Tucker, A. Torges. Hon. Henry C. Urner, Dr. J. W. Underbill, J. C. Ulery. Dr. W. H. Venable, Colonel A. M. Van Dyke. Dr. John A. Warder, General Durbin Ward, Reuben H. Warder, Hon. Lewis Wetzel, Hon. John W. Warring- ton, Captain J. M. Wise, Dr. Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, General E. P. Wilson, Hon. Joseph F. Wright, Judge D. Thew Wright, George Wilshire, Dr. C. O. Wright, Rev. Dr. C. W. Wendte, Levi J. Workum, Theophilus Wilson, Asa W. Waters, Colonel Smith A. Whitfleld, Augustus Wessel, Dr. E. Williams, Professor E. S. Wayne, Jabez Waters, Dr. George E. Walton, H. M. Warren, Hon. Gustav Wahle, David J. Workum, Professor W. B. Wheeler, Samuel Wolfstein, Henry Wielert, Captain W. T. Washington, C. S. Weatherby, C. F. Wilstach, General A. M. Warner, Edward Woodruff, Dr. J. M. Walton. Governor Thomas L. Young, Hon. John Zumstein, J. A. Ziegler. LADIES. Mrs. Larz Anderson, Mrs. Judge William L. Avery, Mrs. Judge Miller Outcalt, Mrs. Brent Arnold, Mrs. H. Andress, Mrs. John Allomong, Mrs. Professor John Akels, Mrs. L. A. Ault, Mrs. J. M. Armstrong, Miss Ander- son, Mrs. Colonel Albert (of Newport, Ky.), Miss Carrie Autcalt. Mrs. Governor R. M. Bishop, Mrs. A. H. Bugher, Mrs. Colonel A. D. Bullock, Mrs. S. J. Broadwell, Mrs. General W. H. Baldwin, Mrs. John Bonte, Miss Anna Brent, Miss 380 NOTES Anna Butterfield, Mrs. Dr. C. P. Brent, Miss Fannie Brent, Mrs. General Thomas P. Barry, Mrs. T. F. Baker, Mrs. L. Black, Mrs. Dr. R. M. Byrnes, Mrs. John P. Bonte, Mrs. E. Bonte, Miss Clara Brashears, Miss Delia Bur- roughs, Miss Louise Best, Miss Minnie Brown, Mrs. J. A. Bailey, Miss Ida Barker, Miss Bertha Barker, Miss Ella Baker, Mrs. Robert B. Bowler, Miss Belle Butterworth. Mrs. S. S. Cooper, Mrs. General J. D. Cox, Mrs. John W. Cotteral, Mrs. Dr. M. T. Carey, Mrs. Colonel T. C. Campbell, Mrs. E. A. Conner, Mrs. A. R. Clark, Mrs. M. H. Crane, Miss Lydia Carey, Miss Ida Crane, Miss Carlisle, Mrs. W. D. Chipman, Mrs. A. A. Clerke, Mrs. John Cochnower, Mrs. John D. Caldwell, Miss Anna Clayton, Miss Carrie Cope, Miss Mary Cochnower, Miss Minnie Clyde, Miss Mary Colburn, Miss Kate Coffin, Miss Annie Cotteral, Mrs. Cutter, Miss Ida Crane. Mrs. Dr. John Davis, Mrs. Richard Dymond, Mrs. General A. F. Devereux, Mrs. Dr. William B. Davis, Mrs. Dr. W. H. DeWitt (author of a poem written for the occasion), Mrs. Dr. W. "W. Dawson, Mrs. Colonel William L. DeBeck, Miss Sallie Dale, Mrs. Colonel L. M. Dayton, Mrs. Lambert DeCamp, Miss Carrie L. Douglass, Miss Sallie Dale, Miss Fannie T. Duke, Miss Mattie Davis, Miss Anna M. DeBeck, Miss C. D. Dolyns, Miss Bertha Devereux. ' Mrs. Thomas J. Emery, Mrs. Jacob Elsas, Mrs. William V. Ebersole, Mrs. Eaton, of North Bend. Mrs. Governor J. B. Foraker, Mrs. Judge M. F. Force, Mrs. Julius Freiberg, Mrs. W. H. Forwood, Mrs. Francis Ferry, Madame B. Fredin, Miss Nellie Fisher, Miss Florence Foraker, Miss Laura Fisher, Miss Kate Fitz- gerald. Mrs. Colonel John B. Gibson, Mrs. J. W. Gosling, Mrs. John Gates, Miss Nellie L. Goodrich, Mrs. James N. Gamble, Mrs. C. H. Gould, Miss Julia Gazley, Miss Hannah Gazley. Mrs. W. P. Hulbert, Mrs. Judge M. B. Hagans, Mrs. Judge Warren Higley, Mrs. Joseph L. Hall, Mrs. John W. Herron, Mrs. T. T. Haydock, Mrs. Murat Halstead, NOTES 381 Mrs. Frank B. Hart, Mrs. John B. Hart, Mrs. Colonel M. L. Hawkins, Mrs. Henry Haake, Mrs. James 0. Hopple, Mrs. Thornton M. Hinkle, Miss H. G. Hunnewell, Mrs. General A. Hickenlooper, Mrs. Otto Heinemann, Miss Mattie Hannah, Miss Haydock, Miss Sallie Hall, Mrs. Dr. H. H. Hill. Mrs. M. E. Ingalls. Mrs. Major Frank J. Jones, Mrs. Dr. I. D. Jones, Mrs. Bishop Isaac W. Joyce, Mrs. Colonel A. E. Jones, Miss Emily A. Johnson, Mrs. Thomas L. Jones, Miss Jennie M. Jones, Mrs. Dr. George E. Jones, Mrs. George W. Jones, Miss Jennie Jelke. Mrs. E. T. Kidd, Mrs. John Kilgour, Mrs. Dr. A. C. Kemper, Mrs. Adam A. Kramer, Mrs. Henry Kessler, Mrs. Keck, Miss Annie Kellum, Miss Carrie Kelly, Miss Fannie Kellum. Mrs. Judge Nicholas Longworth, Mrs. F. H. Lawson, Mrs. A. S. Ludlow, Mrs. George A. Love, Mrs. J. F. Lar- kin, Mrs. W. J. Lippincott, Mrs. David Lytle, Mrs. Robert F. Leaman, Mrs. Adolph Leue, Mrs. John A. Love, Miss Frances Lockwood, Miss Luella Latta, Mrs. L'Homme- dieu, Mrs. Rev. S. K. Leavitt. Mrs. Alexander McDonald, Mrs. Lawrence Maxwell, Mrs. Colonel C. W. Moulton, Mrs. Henry Muhlhauser, Mrs. Isaac J. Mack, Mrs. Henry Marks, Mrs. Washington McLean, Mrs. Joseph McGrew, Mrs. Dr. A. J. Miles, Mrs. Colonel N. H. McLean, Mrs. George W. McAlpin, Mrs. Robert T. Morris, Miss Grace Mayo, Mrs. Colonel D. W. McClung, Mrs. Mayor William Means, Mrs. Megrue, Mrs. Louis Myers, Mrs. Sarah B. McLean, Mrs. Dr. F. M. Mackenzie, Mrs. Marion Mackenzie, Mrs. Richard Mirtz, Miss Adelaide Nourse, Mrs. L. Marlin, Miss Carrie Maqua, Mrs. J. W. Miller, Mrs. Rev. F. P. Mitchell. Mrs. General E. F. Noyes, Mrs. Colonel George Ward Nichols, Mrs. Dr. O. D. Norton, Miss Dora Nelson, Miss C. Neave, Miss Netter. Miss Sallie A. Owens. Mrs. Aaron F. Perry, Mrs. Captain W. W. Peabody, Mrs. John B. Peaslee, Mrs. Joseph R. Peebles, Mrs. Judge 382 NOTES Price, Mrs. M. J. Pyle, Mrs. Henry Probasco, Mrs. T. A. Pickering, Miss Peebles. Mrs. Judge C. D. Robertson, Mrs. Dr. E. S. Rust, Mrs. J. H. Rhodes, Mrs. William L. Robinson, Mrs. Dr. L. Robertson, Mrs. J. M. Ray, Mrs. E. R. Reed, Mrs. Ring- gold, Miss Clara Ringgold, Miss Emma Ringgold, Miss Marie Ringgold, Miss Ella Rothe, Miss Maria Rothe, Mrs. Judge Emil Rothe, Miss Shipley. Mrs. General Louis Seasongood, Mrs. Dr. Alfred Springer, Mrs. General W. B. Shattuc, Mrs. John Shillito, Miss Seeley, Mrs. John Simpkinson, Mrs. Murray Shipley, Mrs. James W. Sibley, Miss Josie Stanford, Mrs. John Shillito, Miss Annie Simpkinson, Miss Minnie Stowe, Miss Jennie Sabine, Miss Sanford, Miss Saunders (of New- port, Ky.), Miss Adele Shellabarger, Miss Mamie Smith, Miss Lydia D. Smith, Miss Annie Sampson, Miss Elizabeth Shipley, Miss E. Sargent, Misses Seasongood, Miss Sachs, Mrs. Rev. H. J. Stewart, Miss Stern. Mrs. Frank G. Tullidge, Mrs. Joseph Thorne, Mrs. William F. Thorne, Mrs. George H. Thompson, Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Mrs. T. J. Thurman, Mrs. S. W. Trost, Miss Clara Louise Turner, Miss S. A. Timberlake, Miss Alice Thompson. Mrs. Dr. J. W. Underbill, Miss Ada Venable. Mrs. E. Court Williams, Mrs. Levi J. Workum, Mrs. Augustus Wessel, Mrs. Rev.' C. W. Wendte, Mrs. Dr. Charles O. Wright, Mrs. Bishop John M. Walden, Mrs. Dr. E. Williams, Mrs. David J. Workum, Miss Annie Webb, Mrs. C. W. Weaver, Mrs. Captain James S. Wise, Mrs. Dr. Walton, Mrs. F. P. Ward, Mrs. D. T. Williams, Miss Dora Wilson, Miss Jennie Wood and sister, Miss Clara Weatherby, Miss Mamie Wilder, Miss Agnes Walker, Miss Mary White, Miss C. Wright, Miss Ida Wiltsee, Miss Sallie Yoakley, Miss Mary Washington, Miss Dora Wilson, Miss Fannie Ward, Miss Mary Whitson. Miss Jesse Zane. 11. Page 113. The following are the names of the principals and special superintendents who were present NOTES 383 at the meeting, and who assisted in making School "Arbor-day" a success: Normal School, John Mickleborough Special Super- intendents: Music, G. F. Junkerman ; drawing, Henry H. Fick ; penmanship, A. E. Burnett. Hughes High School, E. W. Coy. Woodward, George W. Harper. Intermediate Schools: First, G. A. Carnahan; Second, William A. Fillmore ; Third, Ed. H. Prichard ; Fourth, George F. Sands. District Schools: First, James E. Sherwood ; Second, Abram S. Reynolds ; Third, Charles H. Evans; Fourth, Isaac H. Terrell; Fifth, C. J. O'Donnell ; Sixth, Noble K. Royse ; Seventh, Peter J. Fox ; Eighth, John H. Laycock ; Ninth, William S. Flinn ; Tenth, H. H. Raschig ; Eleventh, W. B. Wheeler ; Twelfth, John Akels ; Thirteenth, August H. Bode; Fourteenth, John Scheide- mantle; Fifteenth, William Mueller; Sixteenth, Benj. M. Weed ; Seventeenth, John S. Highlands ; Eighteenth, G. W. Burns ; Nineteenth, J. H. Hoffman ; Twentieth, C. C. Long; Twenty-first, George W. Oyler; Twenty- second, George W. Nye; Twenty-third, Henry Doerner; Twenty-fourth, Richard C. Yowell; Twenty-fifth, S. L. Miner; Twenty-sixth, M. S. Turrill; Twenty-seventh, Lewis Freeman; Twenty-eighth, E. A. Renner; Western District, Peter H. Clark; Eastern District, William H. Par ham. 12. Page 114. "Arbor-day " procession of 1882: FIRST DIVISION, Major J. A. Remley commanding. Currier's Band. Mounted Police, commanded by Captain Devine. Governor Foster and staff. Grand Marshal, Colonel Smith A. Whitfield, and staff. Major J. A. Remley and staff. First Regiment Band. First Regiment O. N. G. , Colonel C. B. Hunt com- manding. Carriages containing speakers, members of the Forestry Congress, and distinguished guests. 384 NOTES Band. Veteran Battalion, commanded by Colonel M. L. Hawking. George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R. Commodore Foote Post, G. A. R. Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Association. Tenth O. V. I. Association. Veteran Battery. SECOND DIVISION, George K: Duckworth commanding. G. K. Duckworth and staff. Band. Duckworth Club. Knights of St. James. Knights of St. Patrick. Knights of St. Thomas. Knights of St. Joseph. Knights of St. Maurice. Knights of St. John. Corryville Saenger Bund. Italian Society. Great Western Band. Emerson Forestry Cadets, Hughes High School. Everett Forestry Cadets, Woodward High School. National Forestry Cadets. Longfellow Forestry Cadets, Eleventh District School. Hawthorne Guards, High School pupils. Webster Foresters, Intermediate School pupils. And citizens unorganized. 13. Page 127. At the request of General John Eaton, United States Commissioner of Education, the electro- plates of the pamphlet were sent to the Bureau of Educa- tion at Washington, D. C. From these plates, the Govern- ment printed and distributed many thousand copies of the work. Five thousand copies were distributed to the Grand Army Posts of New York State in the spring of 1885, and on Decoration-day of that year memorial trees were planted in honor of her patriotic dead, in all parts of the State. That same year the authorities of Quincy, Mass., NOTES 385 planted, and dedicated trees in the streets of that city, to the soldiers who had passed away, as I was informed by letter from a member of the city government. 14. Page 162. The ordinance passed Congress July 13, 1787, by a unanimous vote of all the States. The article prohibiting slavery was added July 12, 1787, by Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, but the plan of govern- ment proposed by Thomas Jefferson, in 1784, contained a similar provision. Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, LL. D., of Massachusetts, one of the directors of the Ohio Company, though not a member of Congress, exerted a great influ- ence over the committee of Congress, and secured the insertion of a number of the provisions of the ordinance. 15. Page 163. Previous to 1787, Massachusetts is the only State that had wholly emancipated its slaves ; but Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, in the order named, had passed laws for the gradual abolition of slavery. 16. Page 165. This remarkably beautiful letter of Washington Irving is not printed in his works. I ran across it in an old pamphlet, in the Cincinnati Public Library ^containing celebration exercises of 1835. 17. Page 181. Mrs. General J. D. Cox. General Cox was the toastmaster of the evening. 18. Page 198. Professor Booker T. Washington is principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Insti- tute, Alabama. Professor Washington is the only colored man upon whom Harvard University ever conferred the degree of Master of Arts. 19. Page 239. Some of the teachers use numeral frames and lamplighters, or small match-sticks, distrib- uted among the pupils. During the past school year, 1881-1882, the Board has furnished most of the primary rooms with balls ten for each pupil, five red, and five black strung on a wire stretched across each desk in front of the pupil. I consider the balls and wire superior 25 386 NOTES to all other appliances. Of course, each teacher should have a numeral frame, or, what is better, have her desk furnished with the wire and balls. The credit of introducing this appliance for teaching Primary Arithmetic belongs to Miss Ada M. Wheeler, of the Twenty-fifth District School, now of Warner School. 20. Page 250. To supplement the reports of the prin- cipals, I will state that in May, 1886, I found among those examined by me, a number of very remarkable classes. In two of these the pupils of the entire class averaged over eighty lines, one hundred having been the maximum a pupil was permitted to read, and in each of the others, five of the six pupils called upon at random, read "Than- atopsis " and that part of " Enoch Arden " found in Mc- Guffey's Sixth Reader, without making a mistake. This plan was first tried in Miss Emilie A. Callaghan's class, Second Intermediate School. Robert Carrigan, of Grade E (Third Reader), read until he was stopped by the teacher, for fear of injury, and Mary Finn, of Grade G, read through the First Reader. 21. Page 297. The Adventure Galley was the first cov- ered vessel that ever floated on the Ohio River. 22. Page 341. The prose introduction and the verses were originally intended as a school declamation. I sug- gest that a pupil declaim the introduction and the first and second stanzas, and that the entire class or grade recite in concert the last stanza. The verses were set to music by Mr. W. T. Porter, of this city, and published by White-Smith Music Publishing Company, of Boston, New York, and Chicago ; also by Professor John Yoakley, of this city, and published by the George B. Jennings Company, of Cincinnati ; and by Professor Joseph Surdo, one of the music teachers in the public schools of this city, and published by the Groene Music Publishing Company, of Cincinnati. They were sung, Professor Surdo directing, by 3,000 public-school children at the National German Saengerfest, July 1, 1899. NOTES 387 23. Page 343. These verses were suggested by a visit to the National Cemetery Chattanooga, Tenn. They were set to a new tune by Mr. W. T. Porter, of Cincinnati, and published by the White-Smith Music Publishing Company, of Boston, New York, and Chicago. On Decoration-day, 1896, they were sung in Cincinnati Music Hall by upwards of fifteen hundred school children. 24. Page 347. Mrs. Mary Peaslee Gardner is my oldest sister. She was born in Plaistow, Rocking County, New Hampshire, and now lives in Haverhill, Mass. " The four little boys " referred to myself and my three broth- ers next younger. The maple-tree to which reference is made in the poem, is the one which I planted first. See page 269. 25. Page 249. Mr. Edward S. Peaslee is first cousin to me. Mr. Peaslee was born in Plaistow, N. H., but in his childhood he removed with his parents to East Parish, Haverhill, Essex County, Mass., in the neighborhood of the Poet Whittier's birthplace. The brook, to which reference is made in the poem, is called Country Brook, or Whittier Brook. It runs from Peaslee's Mill-pond through the "Whittier farm, and empties into the Merri- mac Kiver. 26. Page 353. The Rev. William Carey Sheppard, also a native of Plaistow, N. H., is my brother-in-law, the husband of my youngest sister, Anna Peaslee Sheppard. He is rector of the Church of Ascension, Cleveland, Ohio. This Ode to Webster was written for the occasion, and read by him at the unveiling of the statue of the great statesman on the grounds of the capitol, Concord, New Hampshire, on the one hundred and eleventh anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1886. The statue was modeled by Mr. Thomas Ball, and presented to the State of New Hampshire by the Hon. Benjamin Pierce Cheney. Index of Persons A LIST of the names of some of the prominent de- scendants of Joseph Peaslee, Jr., will be found on pages 13 to 20. Names of Mr. Peaslee's classmates at Dartmouth College, on pages 370 to 373. The names of persons who served on "Arbor-day" Committees in 1882, on pages 375 to 382. (As the Minutes of the projectors of the American Forestry Congress could not be obtained, access was had, through the kindness of Librarian A. "W. Whelpley and his assistants, to the newspapers containing the reports of the meetings, and while great care has been taken to verify the names, there may be a few omissions or other inaccuracies in the lists.) The names of the principals of schools who took part in the "Arbor-day" exercises, April 27, 1882, will be found on page 383. INDEX OF PEKSONS NAME, PAGE. ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS, 225 Adams, John, 174 NAME. PAGE. Brown, Miss Anna, 864 Bryant, Miss Julia, 117 Adams, jonn, H* ic'' vailL '' i :t r J f. a ,y ullc %' .-. ;,' Adventure Galley, . .297,298,886 Bryant, William Cullen, 26, , i ,_ irtrt ten .i,,. .>..r v^i vA Gti 1 17 1 Vx IXI Agassiz, Liouis, 73, 122, 163, 316, 826 Agassiz, Elizabeth C. (Mrs. Louis A.), 303 Agassiz Forestry Cadets, . . 303 Aguilar, Grace, 196, 197 Aiken, Miss, 46 Akels, John, 109,874 Alcott, Louise M., 124 Alden, Mrs. Isabella, .... 127 Alden, W. L 127 Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, . . 127 ^ op^co *?, Allen, Frederick 181 Carleton, Will. . . . . . . . Allibone, S. Austin 127 Carnahan, G. A., . . . 93, 859, 78,74,98,117,123,131, 163, 157, 291, 810, 313 Bryant Tree, 117 Burnet Woods Park, 105 Burns, George W., 861 Butterworth, Hezekiah, . . .127 CALLAGHAN, Miss EMILIE A., 386 Campbell, Alexander, .... 194 Campbell, Ex-Governor James E., 80 127 800 Carrigan, Robert, Cary, Alice, i, ia Cary, Alice and .Phoabe, 73, 144, 816, 317 Cary, Phoebe 123 Cary, Samuel F., 316, 817 Cary Sisters, , 52, 317 r\. jj^itrtvjn, u. x \j\j