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No vigilant watch which it is possible for any teacher to exert will
prevent a vast amount of mere talk entirely foreign to the business of
the school. I tried this plan very thoroughly, with high ideas of the
dependence which might be placed upon conscience and a sense of duty, if
these principles are properly brought out to action in an effort to
sustain the system. I was told by distinguished teachers that it would
not be found to answer. But predictions of failure in such cases only
prompt to greater exertions, and I persevered. But I was forced at last
to give up the point, and adopt another plan. My pupils would make
resolutions enough; they understood their duty well enough. They were
allowed to leave their seats and whisper to their companions whenever,
_in their honest judgment, it was necessary for the prosecution of their
studies_. I knew that it sometimes would be necessary, and I was
desirous to adopt this plan to save myself the constant interruption of
hearing and replying to requests. But it would not do. Whenever, from
time to time, I called them to account, I found that a large majority,
according to their own confession, were in the habit of holding daily
and deliberate communication with each other on subjects entirely
foreign to the business of the school. A more experienced teacher would
have predicted this result; but I had very high ideas of the power of


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