10G 



&!)c Jfarmcr's iHontljly Btsitor. 



collated 1*10111 the State surveys ; diagrams and 

 maps of a physical character, exhibiting the 

 depth nl' sens, elevations of mountains), sectional 

 views of canals, lakes, &c. in tlie United States 

 and elsewhere — accompanied occasionally with 

 brief historical sketches, specimens of needle- 

 work, plain and ornamental writing, comprising 

 evti acts from American oratory, patriotic senti- 

 ments, &c." 



While the children of the Empire Slate and 

 of the Old Dominion are thus kindly greeting 

 each other, shall the children of Little Rhody 

 he ignorant of what is doing? Shall they he 

 idle spectators of the interesting scene? We 

 trust not. Inspired by the nohle example thus 

 set them, we believe that the children of litis 

 Slate will co operate with the children of New 

 York and Virginia in this common object. 



Prospect Hill, Fairfax Co., Va. ? 

 November, 13, 1848. $ 

 To the Children of the Public Schools of the 

 City of New York. 



]\ly young friends : — In behalf of the children 

 of Virginia, and particularly those in that sec- 

 tion of the State where where I reside, I desire 

 to express to you, through Mr. Seton, their grate- 

 ful acknowledgement and most sincere thanks, 

 for the many tokens of your kind regard, for- 

 warded by our excellent friend Mr. Holhrook, 

 anil by him exhibited, and piesented to them 

 since his arrival here. The beautiful specimens 

 of drawing, painting, writing and composition, 

 the various minerals, and especially the interest- 

 ing workmanship of the pupils of the " Institu- 

 tion for the Blind," have been extensively exam- 

 ined and every where admired. Animated by 

 the generous and noble example you have set 

 us, we shall endeavor, at as early a period as 

 may he practicable, to forward you some of the 

 fruits of Southern industry, ingenuity anil skill. 

 In the mean time, Mr. Holhrook and myself de- 

 sign visiting Richmond and other portions of the 

 Slate, where We hope to be able more generally 

 to diffuse a knowledge of your exertions, and (o 

 interest in the great cause of Common School 

 education, the minds and the hearts of the legis- 

 lators and statesmen of this important portion 

 of our common country. 



I should do erpial injustice to my own feelings 

 and to the warm hearts and generous spirits of 

 the children of Virginia, if I liiiled to express to 

 you, my dear young friends, some of the reflec- 

 tions which this novel and interesting embassy 

 from the children of the North to the children 

 of the South has excited. In my judgment, it is 

 destined, under the blessing of Divine Provi- 

 dence, to exert a stronger, more beneficial and 

 enduring influence upon the integrity and per- 

 petuity of our glorious Union, than any, and per- 

 haps than all other agencies combined. While 

 the incessant agitation of exciting political topics 

 in the council halls of the nation, and through- 

 out the length and breadth ol our laud, threatens 

 to shake the foundation of that noble structure 

 erected by the patriots mid statesmen of the rev- 

 olution — while drifted far from the moorings of 

 those elevated principles inculcated by the great 

 and good Washington, trot a few of the ablest 

 anil strongest men of both the North and the 

 Souili are " calculating the value " of that Union, 

 which has hitherto been to us the sheet-anchor 

 of our political existence. And while the minds 

 of good men in every section are seriously 

 alarmed, lest in an evil and iiiennsiilciale hour, 

 some rash hand may he put forth to sunder the 

 bonds of brotherhood, which have joined us to- 

 gether as one people, and are to us our only 

 safeguard and highest treasure — the spectacle of 

 forty thousand children from the Empire State 

 in the Ninth, extending the hand of fraternal 

 amity and kind regard to their brethren and sis- 

 ters of the Old Dominion in the South, affords a 

 sure guaranty for the jndivisihilily and perpetuity 

 of the Union. That precious legacy which, 

 amid the furious storms of panizan exitement 

 and political passions, might rashly and incon- 

 siderately he forever forfeited, shall yet he pre- 

 served undiimiicd and untarnished by the young 

 hands aid the young hearts of our beloved re- 

 public. And is it not a most auspicious omen, 

 that the first offering on this noble altar of the 

 Union, " one and indissoluble," should be pre- 



sented here, in the immediate vicinity of Mount 

 Vernon, on the hanks ol that Potomac where 

 sleeps the honored dust of Washington? Will 

 not Ins pure spirit smile heiiignnuily upon this 

 hallowed enterprise for ihe dissemination of 

 knowledge, tor the strengthening of the hands 

 of that Union, for which, with his dying breath, 

 be invoked the continued efforts of bis country- 

 men ? 



Go on, then, my young friends, in the blessed 

 work you have so efficiently begun. Let your 

 voices be heard in affectionate greeting and 

 brotherly and sisterly love, from the broad and 

 beautiful Hudson mi the North, to the banks of 

 the Rio Grande on the South — from the shores 

 of the Atlantic on the East, to the waters of the 

 Pacific on the West. And doubt not that the 

 warm and enthusiastic blood of the South, the 

 restless enterprise and energy of the. West, will 

 respond to that appeal, in tones which shall 

 thrill and vibrate through every nerve and artery 

 of the great American Republic! 



I have only to add, ihat in conjunction with 

 Air. Holhrook, it will always afford Lie the great- 

 est pleasure to aid in forwarding an enterprise 

 so beneficent as that, of which the first fruits 

 are now in process of distribution throughout 

 our State: and our common and esteemed 

 friend, Mr. Sfton, will, I am sure, he at all times 

 read to receive and transmit to us, these priceless 

 treasures of ihe intellect and the heart, which 

 beyond all others, will serve to bring in Hose 

 connection and companionship, those who are 

 so soon to become the inheritors of all our insti- 

 tutions, and the administrators of our extended 

 government. 



Very truly and sincerely, your friend, 



S. S. RANDALL. 



TO THE TEACHERS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



The importance, and interesting purport ol 

 the foregoing letter, induces me to remind the 

 teachers into whose bauds it may come, of the 

 valuable advantages they may s",cure to their 

 pupils, hy cordially acting upon the plan of sci- 

 entific exchange ii so high'y commends. These 

 advantages may be considered in the following 

 relations: Incentives to mental improvement, 

 moral development, and the consequent eleva- 

 tion of character. Efforts to please and improve 

 others hy our skill add ability, always result in 

 large improvement — because such efforts are 

 made under circumstances the most favorable to 

 mental development. Pure motives to ac*li< u 

 also, will equally stimulate to benevolent effort. 

 and moral improvement be its result. These 

 combined influences will give firmness and ele- 

 vation to character, and prove the best and 

 strongest incentives lo mental and moral nd- 

 vancemeni. The advantages Ihat have already 

 resulted lo our pupils from their frequent efforts 

 of the kind herein contemplated, have been al- 

 ready \fiy great lo themselves, and equally so 

 to others. But, as you are informed on ibis sub- 

 ject, ii is inn necessary here to particularize. 1 

 therefore immediately invite your attention to 

 die preparation by your pupils, of specimens for 

 the following objects: Maps of the State of Vir- 

 ginia, and Distiict of Columbia, to distribute to 

 members of the State Legislature of Virginia ; 

 specimens of linear drawing; &c, for the 

 schools; maps of Ihe several Slates lor distribu- 

 tion among the members of Ihe present Con- 

 gress — all these lo be sufficiently small to admit 

 of their being enclosed in a letter envelope. 

 The above to be for wauled to my address as 

 soon as possible. Larger and more varied speci- 

 mens are lo he in gradual preparation for exhi- 

 bition at a National School Fair, contemplated 

 to be held at Washington, during the session of 

 tlje next Congress. — Eflbrls are making to se- 

 cure a general attention to so interesting an ob- 

 ject. Such a measure, it is hoped, will be a 

 school incentive of die most powerful character; 

 and he productive of general good to the cause 

 of education, now so greatly occupying public 

 attention in all the Stales. For this occasion, it 

 would be desirable lo have prepared, Specimens 

 of artistic skill from the pen, Ihe pencil and the 

 penknife; Slate maps — with staple commodities 

 and products pictured oh their margins; County 

 maps, in the same manner, surrounded with in- 

 lerestiug and remarkable natural scenery, repre- 

 sentations of organic remains— geological pro- 



files, with synoptical descriptions of their groups, 

 collated from the State surveys ; diagrams and 

 maps of a physical character, exhibiting ihe 

 depths of seas — elevations of mountains— sec- 

 tional views of canals, lakes, &c. in the United 

 States and elsewhere — accompanied, occasional- 

 ly, with brief historical sketches, specimens of 

 needle-work, plain ami ornamental writing, com- 

 prising extracts from American oratory, patriotic 

 sentiments, &c. Should the contemplated Na- 

 tional Fair fail to take place, these products of 

 your schools would then be highly useful for 

 Slate lairs of a similar character, that may be 

 held under ihe patronage of some of the numer- 

 ous " Teachers Institutes" and associations, con- 

 stantly being held in New York and other States. 

 Notice of the maturity of any of these plans, 

 will be communicated through the various edu- 

 cational journals of the country. Though the 

 foregoing is of a local character, all Common 

 Schools, and other Institutions, are invited to co- 

 operate in these measures of general improve- 

 ment. 



S. W. SETON, 

 Agent for the Public Schools, 



City ofJVeiv York. 



EXCHANGE DEPOSITORIES AND FAMILY MUSEUMS. 



In connection with Schools in New York and 

 Washington cities, the one the Commercial, the 

 other the JYalionat Metropolis of our country, 

 rooms are provided, as places of resort for the 

 friends of science and general education ; also 

 lor depositing', exhibiting, and exchanging mine- 

 rals, shells, plants, varieties of wood, writing, 

 drawing, painting, needle-work, mechanism, and 

 other productions of nature and art. 



The object of these Depositories is to aid and 

 he aided by similar establishments, not only in 

 our principal cities and large towns, hut in small 

 villages, ami especially in the 80,000 schools and 

 5,000,000 of families in our republic ; and through 

 them, in schools and families in all nations. 



Under such aid, one school in New York, in 

 one day, furnished, by tlieir own hands, substan- 

 tial beginnings lor more than five hundred Fam- 

 ily Museums, composed of labelled minerals, 

 showing what the world is made of— and of 

 course an instructive lessen to every person in 

 the world. Asa similar beginning list" a muse- 

 um, or a cabinet of curiosities, can be made by any 

 school or family in the world, any day when the 

 teacher or parent shall encourage the young 

 bands under their control in finding some mine- 

 rals, or preparing some drawing, or oilier work 

 for the purpose. Persons receiving ibis notice, or 

 the circular of Messrs. Randall and Seton, are 

 invited to aid their young friends in such an ob- 

 ject. 



To hasten such measures for "self-education " 

 and mutual improvement, " scholars' /airs" are to 

 be held in all parts of the United Slates, and at- 

 tended by persons qualified to name and explain 

 minerals and other specimens exhibited a! them, 

 and otherwise aid all persons every where, by 

 taking a very simple step for their own improve- 

 ment, to unite with Exchange Depositories «t 

 the two great concentrating and radiating points 

 of our republic, and through them with similar 

 establishments, and with schools and families in 

 this and other countries, fur the priunutinu of 

 practical science, republican principles, and kind 

 reciprocations in this singularly interesting age 

 of ihe world. 



Communications on this subject, post paid, di- 

 rected to the subscriber, at f40 Giand street, 

 New Vork, or at Washington, D. C, will receive 

 due attention from 



JOS1AH HOLBROOK. 



Effects of being a good boy. — Joseph Rit- 

 ner, who was for some time a member of the le- 

 gislature of Pennsylvania, and afterwards gover- 

 nor of that Slate, was once a hound hoy to Jacob 

 Myers, an independent farmer, who brought him 

 up. While be was governor, there was a cele- 

 bration of the fourth of July, at which Mr. My- 

 ers gave the follow iug toast : " Joseph Ritner — 

 he was always a good hoy. and has slid grown 

 better; every thing he did, he always did well; 

 be made a good fanner and a good legislator; 

 and he makes a very good governor." All this 

 man's greatness was the result of being a good 

 boy. 



