■ 1 i m > 9 i i " i • ' i ' ~ ~ t 



WB— M 



126 



®hjc farmer's iltontljln bisttor. 



Common School Department. 



CONDUCTED BY PROF. RUST. 



A visit to the Female Seminary at New 

 Hampton. 

 Nearly four years have" elapsed since I took 

 up my residence in Northfield, which place is 

 only twelve miles distant from New Hampton. 

 Being connected with a similar Institution, I 

 have long been desirous to he present on an an- 

 niversary occasion, but such have been my en- 

 gagements at those times, that I have never been 

 able to attend until the present year. On the 

 morning of the 15th inst., the day of especial 

 note in New Hampton, I started from home in 

 company with an esteemed friend, to enjoy the 

 pleasure of listening to the examination and an- 

 niversary exercises of the New Hampton Female 

 Seminary. This department is entirely separate 

 from the male, and is located one mile from it. 

 It has been eminently prosperous tinder the 

 management of Miss Colby, the daughter of 

 Gov. Colby. She is highly accomplished and an 

 elegant scholar, and exhibits admirable tact in 

 the management of the school. Miss Colby is 

 assisted in the instruction of the school by seve- 

 ral efficient teachers, all of whom seemed deeply 

 devoted to the improvement of their pupils. 

 The examination was a good one. The classes 

 passed through the ordeal with credit to them- 

 selves ami honoi to their instructors. We were 

 highly pleased with the classes in mathematics; 

 these were familiar with the principles, and illus- 

 trated them with clearness. The period of time 

 allotted to the different recitations was quite too 

 short. The class in arithmetic was limited to 

 fifteen minutes, and you might as well attempt 

 to compress the earth into a nut-shell, as tho- 

 roughly to examine a class in this science in so 

 short a period. Why should so much import- 

 ance be attached to the embellishments, while 

 the essentials are treated so indifferently ? 



A young lady should not become enamored 

 with the accomplishments until .-lie has acquired 

 a thorough knowledge of the more humble ele- 

 mentary branches. The so-called common 

 brunches a;-e foundation stones, and it is perfect- 

 ly futile to attempt to place a finished education 

 on any other base. The time-honored method 

 of architecture, the laying a firm foundation first, 

 and then erecting the edifice and adding the em- 

 bellishments, should still be followed. The or- 

 der cannot be reversed without manifest injustice 

 to all interested. 



It is one of the greatest evils connected with 

 our schools, that the elementary branches are. 

 neglected, and the precedence is given to the 

 higher. 



The graduating class consisted of twelve, and 

 nearly all of them purpose to engage in the no- 

 ble work of teaching. We welcome them to 

 this our chosen profession. The duties are ar- 

 duous, but its reward is great. It is fit that wo- 

 man's gifted powers should be consecrated to a 

 work so elevated, and whose influence is so far- 

 reaching. 



TSe compositions of the graduates were well 

 written, and imbued with elevated morality. 

 We were highly pleased with the poem of IMiss 

 Towle, and the valedictory address by Miss 

 Fletcher. They contain brilliant thoughts, and 

 were characterized by purity of Style and chaste- 

 ne-s of sentiment. 



We were sorry to learn that Miss Colby has 

 been compelled, by the arduousness of her la- 



bors, to close her connection with the Seminary. 

 It is certainly to be deeply regretted that one so 

 admirably fitted for so commanding a position 

 should deem it her duty to tear herself away 

 from so many loving hearts and hallowed asso- 

 ciations. Our friend Sherman, a very successful 

 teacher of Dover, leads Miss Warner to the altar 

 of Hymen in a few days, and thus the friends at 

 New Hani|)ton are deprived of another splendid 

 teacher. We congratulate our friends at Dover 

 on this accession to their educational depart- 

 ment, and would suggest that her valuable servi- 

 ces be secured in the improvement of their com- 

 mon schools, as she is eminently qualified for 

 any post of usefulness that may be assigned her. 

 This Seminary is under the management of 

 the Baptists, and is worthy of their liberal pat- 

 ronage. It has exerted a wide-spread influence 

 in behalf of that denomination, and has been, 

 and still continues to be an efficient instrumen- 

 tality in the cause of education. 



Beautiful Sketch. 



The character of the Indian, the majesty of the 

 forests in which be roams, and the perfect free- 

 dom he enjoys from all restraints of civilization, 

 naturally inspire the mind with poetic concep- 

 tions, when pondering on his race and destiny. 

 At least such an effect seems to have been pro- 

 duced on Mr. Bancroft, our Minister to London, 

 if we may judge from the following beautiful 

 description which he has given of the Indian 

 mother and her babe: — 



"How helpless the Indian babe, born without 

 shelter, amidst storms and ice : but fear nothing 

 for him, God has placed near him a guardian 

 angel, that can triumph over the severities of na- 

 ture — the sentinel of maternity is by his side, 

 and, so long as his mother breathes, he is sale. 

 The squaw loves her child with instinctive pas- 

 sion, and if she does not manifest it by lively 

 caresses, her tenderness is real, wakeful and 

 constant. No savage mother ever trusted her 

 babe to a hireling nurse: no savage mother ever 

 put away her own child to suckle that of another. 

 To the cradle, consisting of thin pieces of light 

 wood, and gaily ornamented with quills of the 

 porcupine, and beads, and rattles, the nurseling 

 is firmly attached, and carefully wrapped in furs; 

 and the infant thus swathed, its hack to the mo- 

 ther's back, is borne as the topmost burden, lis 

 eye now cheerfully flashing light, now accompa- 

 nying with tears the waitings which the plain- 

 tive melodies of the carrier cannot hush. Or, 

 while the squaw toils in the field, she hangs her 

 child, as spring does its blossoms, on the bough 

 of a tree, that it may be rocked by the breezes 

 from the land of souls, and soothed to sleep by 

 the lullaby of the birds. Does the mother die, 

 the nurseling — such is Indian compassion — 

 shares her grave." 



Respect for Genius. — Genius, stivctly speak- 

 ing, is only entitled to respect when it promotes 

 the peace anil improves the happiness and com- 

 fort of mankind. What should we think of the 

 gardener who planted his flower-bed with hen- 

 bane and deadly nightshade? What should we 

 think of the general who, being entrusted with 

 an army, and a plentiful supply of military 

 stores, applied these powers to degrading and 

 enslaving his own country? Ho should he visit- 

 ed with sL'orn, and punished as a traitor. And 

 why should the man who directs the artillery of 

 his genius, delegated to him for high and holy 

 purposes, to shaking those foundations on which 

 the happiness of his species rests, and who ap- 

 plies the divine spark within him to the kindling 

 of low and debasing passions, he allowed to hear 

 his plaudits swelled in proportion as his powers 

 ol doing mischief become apparent ? Talent is 

 always accompanied with the responsibility of 

 using it rightly; and the neglect or pity of the 

 virtuous is the penally which the child of genius 

 pays, or ought to pay, for its abuse. However 

 splendid tulents may compel our admiration, 

 they have no right to claim the general esteem 

 of mankind when their possessor exercises them 

 without regard of what is due to the well-be- 

 ing of society and himself 



The Scriptural Accouut of Creation. 



The Scriptural account of Creation is in strict 

 analogy with the prevailing character of the Di- 

 vine arrangements. To have spoken scientifical- 

 ly of t.'ie subject — in other words, to have made 

 science the subject of revelation, would have 

 been to degrade the character of revelation by 

 making it minister to man's curiosity; to defeat 

 its unique design by diverting his attention from 

 the permanent to the passing aggravating the 

 very evil it was meant to remedy by absorbing 

 him in the interests of the present; for if it ex- 

 pounded science, why not also art, political 

 economy, and all the formula; of civilization ? 

 and to reveal some of the deep-laid laws of the 

 Divine plan, and as such, to impugn the Divine 

 origin of the revelation ; for the entire scheme 

 of things is constructed with a view, not to ex- 

 empt man from effort, but to invite him to it ; to 

 enable him to make discoveries for himself; to 

 engage his powers so as to reward them, and by 

 engaging to augment them. But the sacredness 

 of its origin is Reducible from more than analo- 

 gical grounds. Even in a literary respect it is 

 unique. Ease, simplicity, and grandeur charac- 

 terize its statements. 



Fable and speculation are unknown to it ; the 

 historical element predominates. No other an- 

 cient cosmogony will sustain a comparison with 

 it. While philosophy was still breathing mist 

 and living ill a chaos, the opening sentence of 

 the Bible had been shining on the Hebrew mind 

 for centuries, a ray direct from heaven. Nor has 

 science been able to transcend that sublime af- 

 firmation. It is loo spiritual for materialism to 

 embrace; too personal and substantial for pan- 

 theism to dispute. True, the narrative of the 

 Adamic creation which follows that primary an- 

 nouncement, wears a peculiar form ; the spirit is 

 clothed to mortal vesture; but the divine image 

 shines through. Obscured though it may some- 

 times have been by the false glosses of its 

 friends, the transfiguring power of the in-dwell- 

 ing truth cannot be concealed. Science has had 

 to recall her imputations on if, and to confess 

 herself forestalling in her own department. 

 Modern skepticism may be safely challenged 

 even to imagine a more credible account of cre- 

 ation. As science multiplies her ascertained re- 

 sults, new accordances with the Biblical narra- 

 tive come to light. The higher deductions of 

 reason harmonize with it. Nor can fhe time be 

 hopelessly distant, when in the blended radiance 

 of revelation and science, nothing shall be left 

 for their mutual friends to deplore but the long 

 want of that wise, confiding patience, and that 

 candid forbearance, which would have hastened 

 their union, and have added to their lustre. — 

 Man Primeval. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Achievements of Scieuce. 



Who can stand before the tombs of the illus- 

 trious dead, and think of the influence which 

 ihey exerted while moving among the busy 

 crowds of earth, without asking why this im- 

 mortality of name ? Thousands were their co- 

 temporaries who apparently possessed as much 

 native talent as they, but passed away and were 

 forgotten. 



Why then, this fame that hovers over the 

 graves of buried greatness long after the casket 

 has mouldered and the gem departed to the 

 world of spirits? 



'■ 'Tis knowledge : knowledge to the soul U power and 



lib^rly and peace, 

 And while celestial ages roll the joys of knowledge shall 



increase." 



'Tis true, some ride to distinction by military 

 prowess, or some other casual circumstance. 

 But as a general thing', all those who write their 

 names upon Fame's glittering parchment have 

 passed their days in the flowery fields of litera- 

 ture, and have drank soul-refreshing draughts 

 from the deep, clear fount of knowledge. 



Newton formed from the falling apple his 

 beautiful theory only after long years of study, 

 for which he has received a world's gratitude 

 and a name as imperishable as gravitation's laws. 



