Headmaster

“ If you come to think of it, a headmaster's only a sort of middleman between boys and parents. He plays substitute for the parent in his absence. I don't see why you should drag in the master at all here. ”

“ Though a Head still exercises enormous personal power, for good or ill, a school no longer stands or falls by its Headmaster, as in the old days, any more than a country stands or falls by its King, as in the days of the Stuarts. Public opinion, Housemasters, the prefectorial system—these have combined to modify his absolutism. But though a bad Headmaster may not be able to wreck a good school, it is certain that no school can ever become great, or remain great, without a great man at the head of it. ”

“ At the present day, the headmaster of a school is not only responsible for teaching certain specified subjects but [Pg 91] is also in general charge of the organisation, discipline and administration of the school. It is interesting to note that during the Middle Ages, the masters of grammar or of song taught the subjects entrusted to them and had no further duties. ”

“ A Headmaster no longer regards his office as a stepping-stone to a Bishopric. In the near future, as ecclesiastical and classical traditions fade, that office is more likely to be regarded as a qualification for a place at the head of a Department of State, or a seat in the Cabinet. A man who can run a great public school can run an Empire. ”

“ Arnold that eminent headmaster has been taken as the model of a great teacher and ruler of boys, the man who, while stimulating the intelligence of his pupils, was even more concerned to discipline and mould their moral natures. ”

“ I suppose that Kipling would reply that he has done full justice to the profession by giving us the figures of the Headmaster and the Chaplain. The Headmaster is obviously a figure which his creator regards with respect. He is fair-minded, human, generous; it is true that he is enveloped with a strange awe and majesty; he moves in a mysterious way, and acts in a most inconsequent and unexpected manner. But he generally has the best of a situation ”

“ The person upon whom the schoolboys' attention centred was, of course, the Headmaster. ”

“ I had on several occasions27 played mischievous schoolboy tricks, which would have brought upon me many a flogging had I not been careful enough to hoodwink the watchful eyes of the headmaster and his attendants. But on the occasion when I received my twenty strokes, I was detected while rather irreverently playing pranks during prayer-time. It was the custom for the headmaster to take all the boys every afternoon to a special hall for prayer, and to conduct the service personally. ”

“ One more quality is essential to the great Headmaster. He must possess the Sixth Sense. He must see nothing, yet know everything that goes on in the School. Etiquette forbids that he should enter one of his colleague's houses except as an invited guest; yet he must be acquainted with all that happens inside that house. He is debarred by the same rigid law from entering the form-room or studying the methods and capability of any but the most junior form-masters ”

“ Our then Headmaster was a man with a straight eye and a good deal of muscular energy, and it is probable that the talented Frederick, in spite of the passage of years, has a tender recollection of these facts. ”

“ At present, in Great Britain at least, the headmasters entrusted with the education of the bulk of the influential men of the next decades are conspicuously second-rate men, forced and etiolated creatures, scholarship boys manured with annotated editions, and brought up under and protected from all current illumination by the kale-pot of the Thirty-nine Articles. Many of them are less capable teachers and even less intelligent men than many Board School teachers. ”

“ The Catholic Hour states that in 1886 I was under an under-master at Grandholme School: that I had to leave my master-ship because I became Catholic. That is true in substance and absolutely false in connotation. I was an under-master: but as I also had charge of the school-house, I was called the house-master. You also perhaps may be aware that there is only one head-master in a school; and that all the rest are under-masters. But, when slander is your object, 'under-master' is a nice disgraceful dab of mud to sling at your victim for a beginning. ”

“ One day the head-master called at the shop. Now, to see a head-master walking about the town during school-hours is a startling spectacle, and is apt to give you the same uncanny sensation as when, alone in a room, you think you see something move which ought not to move. Mr. Povey was startled. Mr. Povey had a thumping within his breast as he rubbed his hands and drew the head-master to the private corner where his desk was. ”

“ Poor head-master! he is always the first at his post in the morning, waiting for the scholars and lending an ear to the parents; and when the other masters are already on their way home, he is still hovering about the school, and looking out that the boys do not get under the carriage-wheels, or hang about the streets to stand on their heads, or fill their bags with sand or stones. ”

“ There was but one interruption of our quiet habits, the brief engagement of an Irish master, a fine Greek scholar and vehement teacher, but of fantastic speech. He would open the class by saying, “there he goes, there he goes,” or some like words as the head-master passed by at the end of the hall. “Of course this school is no good. How could it be with a clergyman for head-master?” ”

“ Masters need not be in Holy Orders.
22. No person shall be disqualified for being a Master in the School by reason only of his not being, or not intending to be, in Holy Orders.
Masters not to be Governors.
23. No Master in the School shall be a Governor.
Head Master—Appointment.
24. The Head Master shall be a graduate of a University in the [Pg 268] United Kingdom or have such other equivalent qualification as may be approved by the Board of Education. He shall be appointed by the Governors after due public advertisement in newspapers and otherwise so as to secure the best candidates. ”

“ Scolding the schoolmaster, gibing at the schoolmaster, guying, afflicting and exasperating the schoolmaster in every conceivable way, is an amusement so entirely congenial to my temperament that I do not for one moment propose to abandon it. ”

“ The public grand honors are given by all the brethren.
The new Grand Master then proceeds to install the rest of the Grand officers, each of whom is introduced with the same ceremony before the pedestal, and presented by the Grand Marshal.
The Grand Marshal first introduces the Deputy Grand Master, saying:
Most Worshipful Sir, you here see present at the pedestal, Brother C. D., who having been duly elected to serve the craft as their Deputy Grand Master, now declares himself ready for installation. ”

“ Our schoolmaster is just the very reverse of this amiable official. He has been one of those men one occasionally hears of, on whom misfortune seems to have set her mark; nothing he ever did, or was concerned in, appears to have prospered. ”

“ The brethren rise. Master. If the great light is the token of the dawn of day, and we are all Secret Masters, it is time to begin our labors; give notice that I am about to open a Lodge of Secret Masters by the mysterious number. The Inspector obeys. The signs of the degrees from Entered Apprentice to Royal Arch, inclusive, are given with that of silence, which belongs to this degree. The Master places the two forefingers of his right hand on his lips. This is answered by the brethren with the two forefingers of the left. All clap hands seven times. ”

“ When the time drew near for their quitting the college, the smaller and greater assistants [58] , and the inferior director of the board, put down those who had not attended to their instructions, and reported them to the Grand director, who in turn reported them to the king. The king ordered the three ducal ministers, his nine (other) ministers, the Great officers, and the (other) officers, all to enter the school (and hold an examination) . ”

“ In the Lodges for conferring the preparatory degrees, the High Priest presides as Master, the King as Senior Warden, the Scribe as Junior Warden, the Captain of the Host as Marshal, or Master of Ceremonies, the Principal Sojourner as Senior Deacon, the Royal Arch Captain as Junior Deacon, the Master of the First, Second, and Third Veils as Junior, Senior, and Master Overseers; the Treasurer, Secretary and Tyler as officers of corresponding rank. The Chapter is authorized to confer the degrees by a charter, or warrant from some Grand Chapter. ”

“ A head-master who makes his boys live at their highest level and act on their noblest impulses, because he does it himself, is a person of supreme value to the State. It would be well if we cleared our minds of cant, and acknowledged that such a man alone is truly able to educate ”

“ The master is to see that the scholars are neat and decent in dress, and that they pay due respect to the officers of the yard when they meet.
Article XIII.
The scholars are to be instructed in writing, arithmetic, drawing, navigation, gunnery, fortification, and other useful parts of mathematics; also in French, dancing, fencing, and the exercise of the firelock. The master is to settle a plan for a regular course of studies, subject to the approval of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. ”

“ As soon as he is raised to his feet they step back, and the Master whispers the word Mah-hah-bone in his ear, and causes the candidate to repeat it, telling him at the same time that he must never give it in any manner other than that in which he receives it. ”

“ The Major in command of the new arrivals proves to be an old and none too amicable acquaintance of our Major’s, their mutual esteem having been obscured by a law-suit some time in the past which resulted in our Major’s being forced to part with a considerable sum of money. To make himself more welcome the new Major has introduced innovations. ”

“ Much depends now on the spirit which my prefects show. I believe, myself, that if they take a proper view of the situation, we may weather the storm. But the new order of things hits them harder than anyone else, for it excludes them from football, cricket, and the sports; and I fear it is too much to expect that they will even try to make the best of it! I begin to feel that a master, after all, if he is to do any good, must be a sort of head boy himself, and I would be thankful if my seniors let me into their confidence, and we were not always dealing with one another at arm’s length. ”

“ We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a "new fellow," not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk. Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if just surprised at his work. ”

“ The master is a person of an excellent disposition, and is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline. This circumstance, added to his well known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage him. ”

“ Master, I've filled my contract, wrought in Thy many lands;
Not by my sins wilt Thou judge me, but by the work of my hands.
Master, I've done Thy bidding, and the light is low in the west,
And the long, long shift is over ... Master, I've earned it—Rest. ”

“ The Master said, 'What the superior man seeks, is in himself. ”

“ As in the presence of the Master, the Servants are equall, and without any honour at all; So are the Subjects, in the presence of the Soveraign. And though they shine some more, some lesse, when they are out of his sight; yet in his presence, they shine no more than the Starres in presence of the Sun. ”

“ I will give Mr. Freeland the credit of being the best master I ever had, till I became my own master. ”

“ The Master said, 'The commander of the forces of a large state may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him.'
CHAP. XXVI. 1. ”

“ The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in the female circle of a rural neighborhood, being considered a kind of idle, gentleman-like personage of vastly superior taste and accomplishments to the rough country swains, and, indeed, inferior in learning only to the parson. ”

“ The discipline of colleges and universities is in general contrived, not for the benefit of the students, but for the interest, or, more properly speaking, for the ease of the masters. Its object is, in all cases, to maintain the authority of the master, and, whether he neglects or performs his duty, to oblige the students in all cases to behave to him as if he performed it with the greatest diligence and ability. It seems to presume perfect wisdom and virtue in the one order, and the greatest weakness and folly in the other. ”

“ The Master said, 'The superior man wishes to be slow in his speech and earnest in his conduct.' CHAP. XXV. The Master said, 'Virtue is not left to stand alone. ”

“ Being a king, an emperor or a president is mighty small business compared to being a mother, or the teacher of [26] children, whether in a public school or in a Sunday school, and they fill places so great that there isn’t an angel in heaven that wouldn’t be glad to give a bushel of diamonds to boot to come down here and take their place. Commanding an army is little more than sweeping a street or pounding an anvil compared with the training of a boy or girl.” ”

“ I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I am more than ever convinced that if we were to take the directions of our Master and the assurances He gave to His first disciples more fully as our guide, we should find them to be just as suited to our times as to those in which they were originally given. ”