Produced by Al Haines
REVERIES OF A SCHOOLMASTER
BY
FRANCIS B. PEARSON
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION FOR OHIO
AUTHOR OF "THE EVOLUTION OF THE TEACHER," "THE HIGH-SCHOOLPROBLEM," "THE VITALIZED SCHOOL."
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. IN MEDIAS RES II. RETROSPECT III. BROWN IV. PSYCHOLOGICAL V. BALKING VI. LANTERNS VII. COMPLETE LIVING VIII. MY SPEECH IX. SCHOOL-TEACHING X. BEEFSTEAK XI. FREEDOM XII. THINGS XIII. TARGETS XIV. SINNERS XV. HOEING POTATOES XVI. CHANGING THE MIND XVII. THE POINT OF VIEW XVIII. PICNICS XIX. MAKE-BELIEVE XX. BEHAVIOR XXI. FOREFINGERS XXII. STORY-TELLING XXIII. GRANDMOTHER XXIV. MY WORLD XXV. THIS OR THAT XXVI. RABBIT PEDAGOGY XXVII. PERSPECTIVE XXVIII. PURELY PEDAGOGICAL XXIX. LONGEVITY XXX. FOUR-LEAF CLOVER XXXI. MOUNTAIN-CLIMBING
REVERIES OF A SCHOOLMASTER
CHAPTER I
IN MEDIAS RES
I am rather glad now that I took a little dip (one could scarce callit a baptism) into the Latin, and especially into Horace, for thatgood soul gave me the expression in medias res. That is a forcefulexpression, right to the heart of things, and applies equally well tothe writing of a composition or the eating of a watermelon. Thosewho have crossed the Channel, from Folkstone to Boulogne, know thatthe stanch little ship Invicta had scarcely left dock when theywere in medias res. They were conscious of it, too, if indeed theywere conscious of anything not strictly personal to themselves. Thisexpression admits us at once to the light and warmth (if such therebe) of the inner temple nor keeps us shivering out in the vestibule.
Writers of biography are wont to keep us waiting too long forhappenings that are really worth our while. They tell us that someone was born at such a time, as if that were really important. Why,anybody can be born, but it requires some years to determine whetherhis being born was a matter of importance either to himself or toothers. When I write my biographical sketch of William Shakespeare Ishall say that in a certain year he wrote "Hamlet," which factclearly justified his being born so many years earlier.
The good old lady said of her pastor: "He enters the pulpit, takeshis text, and then the dear man just goes everywhere preaching theGospel." That man had a special aptitude for the in medias resmethod of procedure. Many children in school who are not versed inLatin would be glad to have their teachers endowed with thisaptitude. They are impatient of preliminaries, both in the schooland at the dinner-table. And it is pretty difficult to discover justwhere childhood leaves off in this respect.
So I am grateful to Horace for the expression. Having started rightin the midst of things, one can never get off the subject, and thatis a great comfort. Sometimes college graduates confess (or perhapsboast) that they have forgotten their Latin. I fear to follow theirexample lest my neighbor, who often drops in for a friendly chat,might get to wondering whether I have not also forgotten much of theEnglish I am supposed to have acquired in coll