The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dominie in Doubt, by A. S. Neill

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Title: A Dominie in Doubt

Author: A. S. Neill

Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25306]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DOMINIE IN DOUBT ***

Produced by Al Haines

A DOMINIE IN DOUBT

BY

A. S. NEILL, M.A.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

A DOMINIE'S LOG
A DOMINIE DISMISSED
THE BOOMING OF BUNKIE

HERBERT JENKINS LIMITED

3 YORK STREET ST. JAMES'S

LONDON S.W.1

MCMXXI

DEDICATION.

To Homer Lane, whose first lecture convinced me that I knew nothing
about education. I owe much to him, but I hasten to warn educationists
that they must not hold him responsible for the views given in these
pages. I never understood him fully enough to expound his wonderful
educational theories.

A. S. N.

FORFAR,
AUGUST 12, 1920.

A DOMINIE IN DOUBT

I.

"Just give me your candid opinion of _A Dominie's_ Log; I'd like to
hear it."

Macdonald looked up from digging into the bowl of his pipe with a
dilapidated penknife. He is now head-master of Tarbonny Public School,
a school I know well, for I taught in it for two years as an ex-pupil
teacher.

Six days ago he wrote asking me to come and spend a holiday with him,
so I hastily packed my bag and made for Euston.

This evening had been a sort of complimentary dinner in my honour, the
guests being neighbouring dominies and their wives, none of whom I
knew. We had talked of the war, of rising prices, and a thousand other
things. Suddenly someone mentioned education, and of course my
unfortunate _Log_ had come under discussion.

I had been anxious to continue my discussion with a Mrs. Brown on the
subject of the relative laying values of Minorcas and Buff Orpingtons,
but I had been dragged to the miserable business in spite of myself.

Now they were all gone, and Macdonald had returned to the charge.

"It's hardly a fair question," said Mrs. Macdonald, "to ask an author
what he thinks of his own book. No man can judge his own work, any
more than a mother can judge her own child."

"That's true!" I said. "A man can't judge his own