Page:The Mothers of England.djvu/160

Rh mode of instruction which is carried on from home, or rather, in other words, against being sent to school. Thus we often hear mothers say — "If you do not apply yourself to your lessons, or if you do not mind what I say, you shall be sent away to school." Yet even this threat is scarcely so influential upon the minds of children, as the feasting and revelry of home during the short season of holiday life which children sent to school occasionally enjoy, and which, when compared with the dull routine of daily tasks, and the plain substantial food it is necessary to provide where many have to be fed, during the rest of the year, presents a contrast by no means favorable to the scholastic view of the subject, though in reality the young pupil is often happier at school than at home.

Indeed, if we were to judge of happiness by healthy, cheerful looks, and by general contentment of appearance and manners, we should be compelled to say, that school had often greatly the advantage over home; for what with indulgence, over-eating, and want of regular employment, the holiday life is apt to close with little satisfaction beyond the feeling that it has come to an end; while the return to school habits and school discipline again, is attended with no other regret, than what may be traced to a spoiled temper, and a disordered stomach.

But treating the subject more seriously, I would ask, Is all this just, to those who take the children back under their care, about as much injured as it is possible to be in the space of time set apart for relaxation? Is it just, to permit children to think that home, if they might but be permitted to remain there, would be always the same as it appears to them during the holidays; and that school is a place of punishment, from which if they could but escape, they should be always doing as they liked, always eating good things, and consequently always happy? Is it just, to put them upon making comparisons, to elicit from them confessions as to what they endure in the way of privation, what things are mean, what things are wanting to comfort, and wherein they might easily be more indulged than they are? Yet all this is done again and again, and then it is regretted that children are not fond of school.

But is it really regretted? No; the secret lies here