again. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
(Itotatlonal Itjmrtnunt. 
BY L. WETHERELL. 
FREE SCHOOLS-AGAIN 
Mr. Editor:— Perhaps no subject has 
ever been brouglit before the people for 
their approval or rejection, with so little dis¬ 
cussion as the Free School Law. The very 
title of the law had a delusive tendency, 
which prevented, in a good degree, a care¬ 
ful investigation of its character. The sub¬ 
ject of education from its intrinsic merit, has 
gained a deserved popularity. For this rea¬ 
son, unjust and oppressive laws, professedly 
to favor it, can easily, and as it were by 
stealth, in the absence of discussion, gain a 
majority of voters for their approval.— 
Moreover, the law in question, in a pecunia¬ 
ry point of view, was a direct appeal to the 
avarice of a large class of voters. There are 
no doubt hundreds who are willing to vote 
money out of their more industrious neigh¬ 
bors’ pockets into their own. Majorities ob¬ 
tained under such circumstances, can be no 
evidence of justice in the case in which they 
are obtained. 
“ Now it seems to us that the whole mat¬ 
ter of right to tax property for the support 
of schools, turns upon the point whether or 
not the State should provide the means for 
such intellectual, moral, and physical training 
as shall fit all to become good and industri¬ 
ous citizens.” 
That the State has a right to encourage 
intellectual training by an equal distribution | 
of all public funds for that purpose, none 
can dispute. That she should make a par¬ 
tial, and an unequal distribution is unjust. 
Therefore the Literature Fund, which is be¬ 
stowed on colleges, &c., for the benefit of the 
few, to the detriment of the many, ought 
to be added to the Common School Fund 
for the benefit of the many. But with re¬ 
gard to moral and physical training, God 
has made it the duty of parents to impart 
them. The injunction is positive—Parents 
bring up your cliildren in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord,” and consequently 
it is the undoubted individual duty and 
right of every parent in the land. The State 
of New York has no more authority to in¬ 
vade the domestic rights of parents, than 
the general government has to usurp State 
rights. Such deviations from the principles 
of correct government can but be attend¬ 
ed with bad consequences. 
It is in the lisping days of childhood that 
‘ the father and the mother sow the precious 
seeds of moral virtues, which adorn the fu¬ 
ture man or woman, and make them worthy 
members of state and society. The propri¬ 
ety as well as the right for i^arents to con¬ 
trol the moral instruction of their children, 
instead of the State, is apparent from the 
nature of things. Allowing an average of ten 
members to every family in the State, there 
are two parents to teach every eight chil¬ 
dren, bound to their pupils by the strong 
ties of parental affection, to discharge this 
important duty. Where is the State to find 
such a number of teachei-s, thus qualified, 
to take their places ? No where. The thing 
is impossible. 
Equally impossible would it be, to place 
the physical branch under the control of the 
State. The varied duties of domestic life, 
furnish the first lessons in this branch of ed¬ 
ucation. From the very relation which the 
God of nature has established between pa¬ 
rent and child, arise the duties of the pa¬ 
rent to bring up the child in habits of in¬ 
dustry. The race is doomed by the de¬ 
cree of heaven, to eat their bread in the 
sweat of their brow; and as a parent is 
bound to bring up his child in the way he 
should go, his duty is plain. The constant, 
unremitting care which the faithful dis¬ 
charge of this duty requires, makes it im¬ 
possible to consign it to the agents of State, 
even if the parent’s prerogative should not 
be invaded by the transfer. 
Next to parents, the religious instruction 
of the rising generation is under the care 
of such religious teachers as the parents see 
fit to choose. Perfect liberty is guaranteed 
by the constitution to every individual in 
this matter. Thousands are hero spent for 
the moral good of our race. But must tlie 
credit of the beneficial influences that flow 
from moral and physical education, be giv¬ 
en to the Common Schools to justify taxa¬ 
tion for their support, when it must be plain 
to ev'erv thinking mind, that neitlier of these 
branches has been, nor can be obtained in 
the Common Schools. I think not. 
Bloomingdale. 
Hindsburgh, Orleans Co., N. Y. 
Remarks. —Whose fault was it that the 
Law complained of, was not “ discussed.” I 
It was not the fault of the Legislature, for 
the Law was published in the newspapers 
of the State, and afterwards in a separate 
pamphlet and circulated in every School 
District within the State—and also in the 
District School Journal, which is sent by 
the State Department into every School 
District in the State. The latter Journal 
contained discussions and reports on the 
subject of P’rce Schools to the exclusion of 
its usual variety of matter. The subject 
was discussed in the papers of this city, 
which have a wide circulation in Western 
New York. Resolutions were passed in fa¬ 
vor of the new act, by a number of the po¬ 
litical county conventions, in different parts 
of the State. Teachers’ Associations and 
Institutes discussed the subject with their 
fellow citizens, inviting all to attend, and es¬ 
pecially such as were opposed to Free 
Schools. In these discussions it was stated 
that the Schools were not to be free in any 
such sense as that they should cost nothing, 
but in the sense that they were to be open 
to all, whether children of the rich or poor, 
between the ages of 6 and 21 years. Who, 
again we ask, were in fault that more “dis¬ 
cussion” was not had on this subject 
In the same paragraph our correspondent 
says that “ the Law was a direct appeal to 
the avarice of a large class of voters—who 
are willing to vote money out of their more 
industrious neighbors’ pockets into their 
own.” Our correspondent seems to admit 
here that a large class of the v'oters did ful¬ 
ly understand the nature of the new Law, 
and voted for its adoption, not assigning 
liowever, the same motive for their voting 
thus that we should. 
We have space only for a passing remark 
on the principal topic of the communication 
referred to, which is that “ the parent is 
bound to bring up his child in the way he 
should go—and that the constant, unremit¬ 
ting care Avhich the faithful discharge of 
this duty requires, makes it impossible [for 
the parent] to consign it [duty] to agents of 
[the] State.” In this we understand our 
correspondent to deny, as well as elsewhere 
in his communication, to the State finy right 
or authority in matters pertaining directly 
to the educating of its citizens. We think 
that very few can be found in this or any 
other State or nation that will deny to Gov¬ 
ernment the right to provide some means 
for the education at least of some portion of 
its citizens. We shall refer to this subject 
Thk National Speakkr: Containing Exercises, 
Original and Selected, in Prose, Poetry and Dia¬ 
logue, for Declamation and Recitation; and an 
Elocutionary Analysis, exhibiting a clear explana¬ 
tion of Principles, with Rules for each element of 
oral expression. Practically illustrated in a sys¬ 
tematic course of Lessons; By Henry B. Mag- 
LATHi.iN, A. M. Fifth edition. Boston; Pub¬ 
lished by Robert S. Davis. 1850. pp. 324. 
The title page which we have copied gives 
an analysis of the book, which is one of the 
best of the kind yet published. The selec¬ 
tions for reading, declamation and recitation 
are mostly new: many appearing for the 
first time in print The author in compil¬ 
ing the book, selected and prepared pieces 
suited to pupils of both sexes and of differ¬ 
ent ages. 
The “Practical Elocutionist” is published 
separately, and with the “ National Speak¬ 
er ” may be had for $1,50 per dozen. 
We commend these works to teachers.— 
For sale by D. Hoyt, State st, Rochester. 
GOOD AND USEFUL BOOKS. 
What a world of trash now-a-days issues 
from the press, in the shape of cheap pub¬ 
lications, stitched in nice pink and blue 
covers! Have you read the last novels ?— 
No — and you never will, they fall so rap¬ 
idly from the binder’s hands. But you may 
have read much of the stuff with which our 
country is flooded What benefit have you 
derived from these works ? Are you wiser 
or better? 
Our object at this time is to recommend 
good and useful bqpks. What is more val¬ 
uable, that costs so little, than a library of 
good books ? Every young man, and old 
one too, should have a few select Avorks, to 
which he could resort at his leisure mo¬ 
ments, to improve his understanding and 
mend his heart. With a small librarj’-, no 
one can be at a loss hoAv to spend his time. 
There are biographies and histories—works 
on mind and matter—Avhich can be bought 
loAV, but which arc exceedingly instructive 
and valuable. One page of a good book, 
Avell studied, Avould give you more informa¬ 
tion than fifty volumes of nonsensical travsh. 
—Portland Umpire. 
The more a man knows, the less he is apt 
to talk — discretion allays lus heat, and 
makes him coolly deliberate Avhen and Avhere 
^ is fit to speak. 
MARVELLOUS PHENOMENA. 
Snowing Worms. —A gentleman informs us 
that a large number of worms were found yester¬ 
day morning in Brighton, lying upon the new fal¬ 
len snow, having apparently come from the clouds. 
—Rochester Daily American, 19t/t. 
A Shower of what appeared to be flesh and 
blood occurred in Sampson county, North Caroli¬ 
na, 15th February'. It covered a space of about 30 
feet wide and 250 to 300 yards in length. The 
pieces that fell appeared to be flesh, liver, lights, 
brains and blood. Some of the blood ran on the 
leaves, apparently veiy- fresh.— Springfield Rep. 
Kaemtz, a German Meteorologist, states 
that it was formerly said that showers of 
sulphur-— of blood—of corn, and of animals 
were not of unfrequent occurrence: — red 
snow was not uncommon, although far more 
so than white, even in those regions where 
red snow is seen. TAvice within a year or 
two in this vicinity has it been reported, and 
even honestly believed by some, that it snow¬ 
ed worms—large angle-worms. The last 
storm of this remarkable kind occurred on 
Monday, the 18 th. On Saturday and Sun¬ 
day the weather was warm—the themom- 
eter on Saturday at noon standmg at 47; 
and on Sunday at noon 43. Saturday was 
Tair and warm; and on Sunday it was cloudy 
and a little rainy in the afternoon and eve¬ 
ning. On Monday morning early the the- 
mometer stood at 32 and it was snowing— 
wind east. The persons that maintain and 
believe that it snowed angle-worms, at this 
time, saw them about 8 o’clock A. M. 
Noav we suggest Avhat to us seems far 
more probable, viz., that these Avonns came 
up from the earth, and not doAvn from the 
clouds. But, say the objectors, perchance, 
that no holes were to be seen in the snoAv 
made by the Avorms in coming up to the sur¬ 
face, nor any marks on the snow to shoAV 
that they had craAvled upon it. Suppose 
no indications like these AA^ere seen, does it 
folioAv that they fell from the clouds ? How 
long Avould it take, suppose you, when snoAv- 
ing as fast as it did on Monday morning, to 
cover up a Avorm’s hole and trail ? That 
the worms Avere seen lying upon the snow 
which had fallen very rapidly to the depth 
of two inches or more, upon the Avet unfro¬ 
zen earth, we have no more doubt than of 
their having come up from the earth’s sur¬ 
face, which Avas in that condition most like¬ 
ly to render such a fact probable;—and the 
only objection to this view, is that it is not 
common forangle-AAmrmstocomeup through 
the snoAV and expose themselves on its sur¬ 
face to public vicAV—neither is it very un¬ 
common, Ave may infer, if it has occurred 
twice Avithin a short period. 
With regard to the showers of sulphur, 
mentioned by K., he says that it has been 
accurately demonstrated that the' yelloAv 
substance supposed to be sulphur Avas the 
pollen of flowers, swept off by the wind and 
precipitated with the rain. 
Showers of blood chronicled in the mid¬ 
dle ages, traced by superstition to the Divine 
anger, have been shoAvn and proved by mi¬ 
croscopic researches to be nothing more than 
the colorings of innumerable vegetables or 
animals that filled the Avaters. 
We quote all that K. says of shoAvers of 
animals;—“Small animals, such as frogs, 
fish, snails, &c., sometimes appear to fall Avith 
rain: at least they are found in great num¬ 
bers in fields after rain; but they are animals 
carried by the wind, drifted by the rains, or 
invited out of their retreats by the moisture. 
It has lately been maintained that these an¬ 
imals actually fall from the sky, even in calm 
weather. To all these assertions I knoAv no 
other answer than that Avhich one of the most 
distinguished naturalists of the age made to 
some one who assured him that he had seen 
one of these phenomena with his oAvn eyes. 
‘ It is fortunate,’ said the distinguished na¬ 
turalist, ‘that you have seen it, for noAv I 
believe it; had I seen it myself, I should not 
have believed it’ ” ^ 
We are quite Avilling to confess that bur 
credulity is not morbid enough to believe 
that Ave have shoAvers of frogs, lizards, fish¬ 
es, snails and the like; nor, that we have 
snow storms of angle-Avorms because they 
were found upon the surface of the snoAV 
Avhich fell upon the wet and unfrozen earth 
in the spring season, Avhen all nature is, as 
it Avere, bursting into life and action. 
Conversation Statistics.— The ReA'. 
Mr. Gannet, of Boston, reckons that each 
individual averages three hours’ conversa¬ 
tion daily, at the rate of a hundred words a 
minute, or tAventy pages of an octaAm a'oI- 
umc an hour. At tliis rate, avc talk a vol¬ 
ume of four hundred octavo pages in a Aveek, 
and fifty-tAvo A'olumes in a year.- 
Dr. Franklin, in speaking of education, 
says: “ If a man empties his purse into his 
head, no one can take it from him.” 
Sunbaij Utahing. 
THE ANGEL WATCHER. 
A daughter watched at midnight, 
By a dying mother’s bed ; 
For five long days she had not slept 
And many tears were shed ; 
A vision like an angel came, 
Which none but her might see, 
“Sleep, duteous child,” the angel said, 
“ And I will watch for thee !” 
Sweet slumber like a blessing fell. 
Upon the daughter’s face ; 
The angel smiled, and touched her not. 
But gently took her place ; 
Ah! O, so full of humane love, 
Those pitying eyes did shine. 
The angel guest half mortal seemed. 
The slumberer half divine. 
Like rays of light the sleeper’s locks, 
In warm, loose curls were thrown — 
Like rays of light, the angel’s hair. 
Seemed like the sleeper’s own ; 
A rose-like shadow on the cheek, 
DissolAong into pearl; 
A something in the angel’s face. 
Seemed sister to the girl. 
The mortal and immortal each. 
Reflecting each were seen. 
The earthly and the spiritual. 
With death’s pale face between. 
THE TWO OLD MEN. 
_ 
It Avas a day of holy rest — a bright and 
beautiful Sabbath. 
At the sound of the “ church-going bell,” 
hurrying feet sped with alacrity to the ap¬ 
pointed places for the worship of God. 
Among those consecrated places of wor¬ 
ship was one fair and goodly church — it 
matters not to the reader Avhether it was 
brick, stone, or marble — it was an edifice 
“ meet for the master’s use.” There sat 
the grave, and the gay, and the devout and 
decent, aAvaiting the entrance of the officia¬ 
ting clergyman. 
FelloAv pilgrims; here they have met to¬ 
gether for a brief moment, to enjoy rest 
and refreshment on this oasis in the Avorld’s 
desert; here they may quaff from the pure 
fountain of Truth; here they may gain 
strength for the pilgrimage heavenward. 
The gauds and glare of earth, the pomps 
and A^anities of this wicked Avorld, are ex¬ 
cluded from the holy place where man 
humbles himself in the presence of his 
Maker, and learns his duty to his felloAv 
man. 
An aged man, leaning upon a staff, slow¬ 
ly totters through the long aisles. The 
venerable stranger has passed on nearly the 
whole length of the aisle, and no hospita¬ 
ble door Avas opened, no one bids him be 
seated. 
And now another old man, whose hair is 
like the frost, passes up the same aisle Avith 
rapid steps. Surely benevolence has given 
him the alertness of youth! He is about 
to offer the stranger a seat in his pew. 
Alas, no! 
He rushes by the feeble old man, enters 
his peAV, carefully fastens the door, and then 
kneels — and prays. 
The stranger leans upon the pew door, 
covers his face Avith his handkerchief, and 
— he weeps ? God forbid 1 
Why does he stand in the aisle, Avliile the 
other guards his peAV as though it were a 
besieged castle ? 
Ah, there is a vast difference, in the eyes 
of the Avorld, betAveen these tAvo men.— 
The poor sheep, from Avhich the coat of the 
aged stranger Avas made, had the misfortune 
to be covered Avith very coarse wool. Did 
his felloAv sheep, of finer avooI, despise and 
avoid him on that account ? Silly sheep I 
They had not an inkling of man’s AA'orldly 
wisdom, and did not discriminate betAveen 
a covering of aristocratic fineness and one 
of plebian coarseness. But the old man, 
the peAV OAvner, knows the difference. He 
complacently smooths his fine beaver hat as 
he places it carefully under the seat, and 
contrasts it Avith the hat of muskrat, or some 
other loAV quadruped, which intrudes itself 
OATr the peAV door — a hat whose OAvner 
hcis no right to a seat in the house of God! 
Alas! has it come to this ? The religion 
whose distinctive glory was that “ the poor 
had the gospel preached to them”—has it 
come to this ? 
“ From all blindness of heart; from pride, 
vain glory, and hypocrisy; from envy, ha¬ 
tred, and malice, and from all uncharitable¬ 
ness,” solemnly sounds from the lips of the 
clergyman. 
The rich old man audibly responds— 
“ Good Lord, deliver us.” 
“ From all inordinate and sinful affections, 
and from the deceits of the world, the flesh 
and the devil.” 
Again the rich man loudly responds— 
“ Good Lord, deliver us.”. 
The poor man also responds — “Good 
Lord, deliver us.” 
Aside from the sheep’s avooI and the 
muskrat, of which both, pensioners upon the 
bounty of the Creator, availed themselves, 
aside from these, and a few other externals, 
Avhat was the mighty difference between these 
tAvo “ grey haired voyagei-s to eternity ?” 
Were they not born equally dependent 
and helpless ? Have they not alike felt the 
ills that flesh is heir to ? ' Is not the uner¬ 
ring dart of Death alretidy aimed at both ? 
Will they not soon lie down together be¬ 
neath the green sod ? But then souls — 
their nev'er dying souls !—There mav be 
an infinite difference between them. "God 
knoAvs. We can folloAV them no further. 
THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS. 
Physical evils being removed, the ine¬ 
quality of human condition, or the possess¬ 
ion of less or more Avealth, is of so little 
importance as to be unworthy of a thought 
Every class deceives itself in this matter. 
Those who can make fifty pounds a year 
fancy they should be in perfect ease if they 
made a hundred. They who make a hun¬ 
dred Avish it Avere two or three; the fortu¬ 
nate possessor of three are equally longing 
for five, or a thousand; and so on to the top 
of the scale; while the truth is, that (as 
far as this is concerned) they are all on 
equal terms. The power to five independ¬ 
ently on Avhat we have or can make, being 
granted, and the removable evils of poverty 
being annihilated, our well being depends 
on the inner life solely; on the development 
of the individual nature, and on the degree 
of harmony into which it has brought itself 
Avith the great center of life. 
All the best gifts of the Creator to us. 
His creatures, are free and priceless. They 
could not be bought by all the gold of all 
the mines hid in the earth. No money can 
purchase love. Yet the affections in all 
their varieties of tenderness, sympathy, dis¬ 
interestedness, deA'otedness, and intensity, 
and the soothers, blessers, and purifiers of 
our natures. It is the same with all real 
good—the sense of beauty, the preception 
of order, the faculty of imagination, the 
gift of genius, the pleasure of acquiring 
knowledge, of exercising the intellect, of 
sympathy Avith our felloAV creatures, of 
working for them, of giving pleasure, of 
mitigating sorroAv; above all, the happiness 
of aspiration toAvard the Infinite in religious 
feeling. What wealth, let it be repeated, 
could purchase one of these ? These are 
powers belonging to our nature, and with 
these poAvers the outward Avorld in Avhich 
Ave are placed is in harmony. Here prince 
and peasant are equal; nay, in some re¬ 
spects it is the peasant who has the advan¬ 
tage ; for the good seed is still, as it has ev¬ 
er been, liable to be choked by the thorns, 
the cares of this life, and the deceitfulness 
of riches. 
BENEVOLENCE OF 'THE DEITY. 
The Creator might have stored the earth 
with all that was necessary to man’s sup¬ 
port, and yet have AAdthheld from them eA'- 
ery vestage of beauty. Copper and iron, 
tin and coal, might have existed in abund¬ 
ance, though the darkness of the mine had 
remained unlit by a solitary gem. It is no 
more necessary to her existance that the 
jcAvels should blaze upon the broAv of the 
fair one, than it is that the flush of beauty 
should mantle on her cheek. Earth might 
have yielded plenteous crops, and golden 
harA-ests, though her quiet valleys and her 
mountain tarns had never blushed Avith the 
beauty of a solitary flower; the forests have 
yielded timber for the service of man, tho’ 
they had never been an orchestra of sweet 
sounds and .dEolian harpings, echoing with 
the melodies of myriad-throated song. A 
thousand streams might have glided past 
liis dAvelling, though the grandeur of the 
cataract, the music of the Avaterfall, the pla¬ 
cid beauty of the lake, and the hoary so¬ 
lemnity of the ocean, had remained for ever 
unknown. And the heaA'ens themselATs 
might have been a black funeral pall, in¬ 
stead of a jeAveled curtain, hiding the city 
of God! But the Creator has not content¬ 
ed Himself Avith simply ministering to man’s 
physical nature, but by flinging beauty Avith 
a lavishing hand over this gorgeous world. 
He has ministered to the higher and nobler 
desires of the spiritual. 
Vice .ynd Virtue. —The vicious may 
prosper for a season, but virtue will triumph 
at last The apparent success of the wick¬ 
ed shoidd not discourage those who endea¬ 
vor to live upright and consistent lives. If 
they liA^e to see the end of the unrighteous, 
they Avill not feel a particle of envy at their 
success. A man may live long—be vile 
and unprincipled—and prosper through all 
his days. But does this prove that it is well 
with the vicious ? Far from it Mysterious 
are the working’s of Providence. But the 
time will come when we shall see the wis¬ 
dom of all the dealings of God. It is the 
testimony of revelation—it is the opinion of 
the Avise and good of all ages—that the wick¬ 
ed shall not go unpunished. There is noth¬ 
ing like virtue to produce happiness nad 
perfect peace of mind. 
Clerical Advice.—A young clergyman 
once A’isited old Dr. Bellamy, with the in¬ 
quiry, “ What shall I do to supply myself 
Avith matter for my sermons ?” The Doc¬ 
tor quaintly replied, “ Fill up the cask — 
Fill up the cask; and then if you tap it 
anywhere, you will obtain a good stream. 
But if you put in but httle, it will dribble, 
dribble, dribble, and you must tap, tap, tap, 
and then you will have but a small stream 
after all. ‘Let the Avord of Christ dwell 
in your richly, in all Avisdom,’ and out of 
the abundance of the heart, thus stored 
Avith scripture truth, the hand will write, 
and the lips speak.” 
God and eternity are the two pillars^that 
up hold the universe. 
