In Paris, during the Revolution of 1830, an
officer observed a boy of twelve insulting the soldiers, and
'though the action was then raging, merely struck him with the
flat part of his sword, as the fit chastisement for boyish
impertinence. But the boy had been taught to consider his person
sacred, and that a blow was a deadly insult; he therefore
followed the officer, and having watched his opportunity, took
deliberate aim at him with a pistol and murdered him.' Such were
the alarming results of insufficient whipping.
Dr. Arnold did not apply this doctrine to the Praepostors, but
the boys in the lower parts of the school felt its benefits, with
a double force. The Sixth Form was not only excused from
chastisement; it was given the right to chastise. The younger
children, scourged both by Dr Arnold and by the elder children,
were given every opportunity of acquiring the simplicity,
sobriety, and humbleness of mind, which are the best ornaments of
youth.
In the actual sphere of teaching, Dr. Arnold's reforms were
tentative and few. He introduced modern history, modern
languages, and mathematics into the school curriculum; but the
results were not encouraging. He devoted to the teaching of
history one hour a week; yet, though he took care to inculcate in
these lessons a wholesome hatred of moral evil, and to point out
from time to time the indications of the providential government
of the world, his pupils never seemed to make much progress in
the subject.
Pages:
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265