3. We visit the school of much higher
pretension,
The blackboard here
claims undivided attention;
The walls, dark as Erebus,
first greet the eye,
Before them bright misses
and lads we espy;
And the sound of the
crayon’s irregular tappings
Reminds us of spirits’
mysterious rappings.
4. One has pictured a vessel, with
streamers unfurled,
Another is making a
map of the world;
A third has a problem
in fractions to solve,
A fourth is explaining
how planets revolve;
While a young physiologist,
skilled in the art,
Is sketching the muscles,
the lungs, and the heart.
5. In the midst of this bustle the
school-master stands,
And, lo! he’s
a crayon in each of his hands;
And the chalk in his
hand has a magical power:
A teacher might reason
and talk by the hour,
But naught would avail
all his reason and talk—
The truth is made plain
by the use of the chalk.
6. And the teacher of music the blackboard
employs,
The chalk must be used
e’en in training the voice;
Be it rhythm or melody,
accent or force,
He always insists on
the regular course;
Declaring the secret
of musical skill
Is found in the blackboard,
the chalk, and the drill.
7. See the chalk in the hand of the
artist. Behold
What beauteous forms
as by magic unfold!
The store-house of Nature
he swiftly displays,
Till the dazzled beholder
is lost in the maze;
Designs without number
appear to the view,
And show what the chalk
and the blackboard can do.
8. O wise PESTALOZZI! we place on
thy brow
A coronet, bright and
unfading; for thou
A legacy rich hast bequeathed
unto men:
Our one feeble
talent by thee is made ten;
We prize thy rare gift,
but we never may know
How much to thy matchless
invention we owe.
9. O chalk! What a powerful
monarch thou art!
In this age of reform
how important thy part;
Those minds that are
swaying the world unrestrained
In childhood and youth
in thy empire were trained.
Of the wonderful power
of the press we may talk—
It never can vie with
the blackboard and chalk.
10. An engine so powerful, so mighty to
aid,
So simple in structure,
so readily made,
A helper so potent in
training the young—
’Tis meet that
thy praise by the muse should be sung;
For though sages may
reason, and orators talk,
They can ne’er
make their mark without blackboard and chalk.
* * * * *
THE BURROWS BROTHERS COMPANY,
CLEVELAND, OHIO.
* * * * *
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.
ITS TRUTHS AND ITS ERRORS. BY THE REV. H. MELVILLE TENNEY.