Democratic Standard

THE FAMILY SCHOOL.
BY REV. R. W. BAILEY.

I once found living in a log cabin, a poor widow, with four sons and two daughters. On examining a slab by the wall, my attention was attracted by a Family library of one hundred volumes or more. The selection of these books indicated the exercise of taste and judgment. Among them were Latin and Greek authors, mathematical treatises and miscellaneous literature. I found the most of these books were read and understood by the eldest son and the eldest daughter. The history of the family, therefore, became a matter of curiosity and lively interest.

The mother, though of very limited education, was possessed of a strong mind and good common sense. She had, with great care and labor, procured her Family Library, and cultivated, in her children, a taste for reading. Their evenings were habitually spent at home, under a mother's watchful eye. By the light of a pine knot, one read aloud while the others were engaged in some productive labor. By the avails of this labor, one of the sons was at length sent to a neighboring Academy, who brought home every night, all the knowledge he could acquire, and imparted it to his brothers and sisters, where it immediately became common stock. By such a simple, silent natural process, this poor woman did, in effect, keep a Family School, giving to her children judicious direction where she could give them nothing more, so that they soon outstripped many of greater opportunities but less industry. Their intelligence and good behavior soon attracted towards them the attention of others. They began to command respect, to honor the mother that bore them, and educated them in habits of study and useful labor. I hope to be able to write the history of that family when all the results of their early education shall have been developed.

Such a school as this may be kept in every family in our land and by every father and mother, yes—by every poor widow though of limited education and slender means. She may give a profitable direction to the mental and physical energies of her children. She may, at a comparatively small expense avail herself, through the press, of the best labors of the best masters. Where the living teacher is not accessible, books may, to some extent, be substituted; and through these agencies, the mind may be made its own teacher.

Thus is every husband and wife united to keep a school for the religious and intellectual training of those immortal beings, whom the great Ruler may choose to colonize within their respective districts. In their official station, they exercise authority, and execute the laws He has prescribed for every separate community in this grand confederacy, which comprises in the aggregate, all the families of the earth.