Voice of the People: Daily Life in the Antebellum Rural Delaware
County New York Area
Education |
THE BEGINNING.
One pleasant Monday morning, Rollo came to the door which opened upon the
platform behind his father’s house, and looked out into the little garden yard,
and across to the garden. Then he looked over towards the barn. He seemed to be
looking for somebody. Then he turned round, and took down a small ivory whistle
which hung in the entry, by the side of the door. It was hung upon a small nail
by a green silk ribbon.
He stood out upon the platform and blew the whistle loud and long.
In a moment he heard a voice, which seemed to be out behind the barn, answer,
“Aye, aye.”
He looked in that direction, and presently a large boy came around the corner of
the barn and walked along towards him. His jacket was off, as if he had been at
work, and he had a little hatchet in his hand.
“Come, Jonas,” said Rollo, “mother wants you to go with me to school.”
Jonas looked and saw that Rollo was dressed very neatly, and that he had a book
and slate in his hand. He said he would come as soon as he had put on his
jacket.
So Jonas put the hatchet away in its place, and put on his jacket, and then went
around to the front door, where he found Rollo waiting for him; and they walked
along together.
“Did you ever go to school, Jonas?” said Rollo.
“Yes,” replied Jonas, “I went once.”
“Don’t’ you wish you could go now?”
“Yes,” said Jonas, “I think I should like it better than you will.”
“Better than I?” said Rollo, looking up surprised; “why, I like it very much
indeed.”
“You haven’t tried it yet,” said Jonas.
“Oh, but I know I shall like it.”
“You can tell better by and by,” said Jonas. “Boys don’t generally like going to
school very well.”
“But I do,” said Rollo.
“They all like it the first day; but afterwards they find a great many things
which they do not like very well.”
“What things?” asked Rollo.
“Why, sometimes you will get playing after breakfast, and when school time comes
you will not want to go. Then your studies will be hard sometimes and you will
get tired of them; and then some of the boys will be cross to you, perhaps.”
Rollo felt somewhat disappointed at hearing such an account of the business of
going to school, from Jonas, He had expected that it was to be all pleasure, and
he could not help thinking that Jonas must be mistaken about it. However, he
said nothing, but walked along slowly and silently.
Presently they came down to the little bridge that leads across the brook on the
way to the school-house, where they had found a bird’s nest some time before,
and Rollo proposed that they should go and look at their bird’s nest.
“No,” said Jonas, “we must not go now. It is never right to stop by the way,
going to school, without leave.”
“Why?” said Rollo.
“It will make us late,” said Jonas.
“Oh, but we will not stop but a minute,” said Rollo, lingering behind a little,
and looking towards the tree.
Jonas laughed, but kept walking on., looking around to Rollo, to see if he was
following. But Rollo stood by the side of the bridge, looking at Jonas as he
went along.
“Just one minute, Jonas,” said he.
Jonas shook his head and walked on. Presently he turned round and walked
backwards, facing Rollo.
Rollo, finding that Jonas would not stop, began to follow him slowly, but he
looked very much vexed. He thought that Jonas was very ill-natured not to stop
for him just one minute.
By the time Jonas had got to the top of the hill, Rollo overtook him , and then
he walked along in silence for a few minutes. A last he said pettishly, “I will
stop when I am coming home, at any rate.”
“I advise you not to,” said Jonas.
“Why not?” said Rollo.
“Because your father told you that you must not stop, going or coming.”
“Well, I am not going to stop; I shall only go and look at the bird’s nest, and
then walk on; it won’t take any time at all.”
“That is the way I have known a great many boys to get punished,” said Jonas.
“How?” said Rollo.
“Why, they stop a little going to school to play, and think they are only going
to stop a minute; but then they forget, and play about a great deal longer than
they meant to, and so get very late.”
“And then do they get punished?” said Rollo. “My father would not punish me, if
I only stopped a minute.”
“Perhaps he wouldn’t but then if you stop at all, you will be likely to stop
more than a minute.”
By this time they came in sight of the house where the school was kept. It was a
farm-house standing among some trees, by the side of the road. There was a very
pleasant yard on one side, with a wagon in it, and some woodpiles and chips, and
some barns and sheds on the other side of it.
“Is that the school-house?” said Rollo.
“The school is kept in that house. That is where Miss Mary lives, and she keeps
the school in the orchard room.”
“The orchard room?” said Rollo.
“Yes, the room leading out into the orchard, on the other side.”
The boys walked along the road in front of the house, and when they had got just
beyond it, Jonas opened a small gate, which led under some trees by a little
path, around the other side of the house. A large orchard extended from the
house in this direction, with handsome trees in it, and fine green grass under
them. They saw a door here, leading into a room which projected out into the
orchard. There was a little portico before the door, and a large smooth flat
stone on the ground before the portico. The grass came up all around near to the
stone, except where the path came. Two children were sitting on the floor of the
portico, with their feet upon the flat stone. They had books in their hands and
their lips were moving. They looked up and saw Jonas and Rollo, but went on
studying.
As the boys passed by the window, which was open, they saw the scholars and the
teacher, in the room; and the teacher, whom the scholars always called Miss
Mary, saw them and came to the door, just as Jonas and Rollo stepped up into the
portico. She looked pleased to see the boys.
Jonas took off his hat as he came up to her and said,
“Here is Rollo.”
“Ah, Rollo,” said Miss Mary, “how do you do? I am glad to see you.” She took
Rollo by the hand and led him in, and Jonas turned around, put on his hat, and
walked away.
Miss Mary led Rollo into the school-room. He found that the children were just
taking their seats. Miss Mary led him to a seat at a little desk by the window.
The desk was long enough for two, and there was a boy sitting at one half of it
already. This boy was not so large as Rollo. He looked up very much pleased when
he saw Rollo coming to sit by him. Miss Mary told Rollo that his name was Henry,
and that they must both be good boys and not whisper and play. Then she turned
away to her own seat at a table, at one side of the room. By this time the
children all over the room had become still, and Miss Mary opened a little Bible
which she had on the table, and seemed as if she was going to read. All the
children sat looking towards her attentive and still.
She only read two or three verses, but then she stopped to explain them very
fully, so that the reading and her remarks occupied considerable time. One of
the verses she read was this:-
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
She explained this to the children thus: “God will not listen to us when we pray
to him, if he is displeased with us; and he is displeased with us just as much
when we have iniquity in our hearts, as when we exhibit it in our actions. A bad
boy was once walking along the street in a city, and he saws a basket of apples
at the door of a store. He thought he would put out his hand slyly, when he went
by, and take one. That was having iniquity in his heart. He had not done any
thing wrong, he was only intending to do something wrong.”
“Well, did he take one when he came to them?” asked Henry.
“No,” said Miss Mary; “when he got close to the basket, and was just putting out
his hand, he happened to look into the store, and he saw the man standing there.
So he hastily withdrew his hand and walked on, trying to look careless and
unconcerned.
“Now was there any thing wrong in this boy’s actions?” said Miss Mary.
“Yes, ma’am,” said the children.
“No,” said Miss Mary, “not in his action. He did not steal the apple. He walked
directly by just as he ought to do.
“Was there any thing wrong in his looks?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Was there anything wrong in his heart?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said all the children, for now they began to understand fully what
Miss Mary meant.
“That is right, said Miss Mary. “Now children in school very often cherish
iniquity in their hearts. Something prevents their actually doing the wrong
thing, but then they want to do it, they try to do it, they watch for an
opportunity to do it, and so they are guilty at heart.
“Now,” continued Miss Mary, “we are all going to pray to God to take care of us
to-day, but if any of you have any idea or intention of doing any thing wrong
to-day, or any thing which you think is perhaps wrong, God sees it. It is
iniquity in your heart, and he will not hear your prayer. We had better give up
all such iniquity, and determine to do what is right. Then God will hear us, and
take care of us, and keep us safe and happy.”
Now all the scholars listened very attentively to these remarks, but it happened
that there were two who took more particular notice of them than the others.
These two were Rollo and his cousin Lucy, who went to this school, and who sat
before another window across the room. Rollo began to think that perhaps the
intention which he was secretly entertaining, of stopping after school to see
the bird’s nest, might be cherishing iniquity in his heart. First he thought it
was, - then he thought it was not, because he was only going to stop a very
little while. Then he recollected that his father had told him he must come
directly home, and therefore it must be wrong for him to stop at all. He tried
to determine to go directly home, and thus give up the iniquity which was in his
heart, but he could not quite determine. He wanted just to take one peep at the
nest, and resolved to go home immediately after. He tried to satisfy himself
with this, but he could not feel quite easy.
Illustration: Rollo at School, New York: Crowell: 1855, p. 135
All materials on this website are for non-profit, educational use.