MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
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BY L. WETIIERELL. 
There are various callings and pursuits 
that occupy mankind during the period of 
this life. These all require more or less 
preparation by the persons engaging in them. 
Where the business chosen for life requires 
but little time for preparation, in order to 
do it well, the compensation for service ren¬ 
dered is usually small. Where the work to 
be done is difficult, and requires much skill, 
study and practice,, in order to do it well, a 
relative compensation is usually awarded. 
In our country, nine of every ten young- 
men who begin business for themselves at 
the age of twenty-one years, have no other 
capital than the skill that they have acquir¬ 
ed for doing some kind of business. One 
is a farmer, another a gardener, a third a 
mechanic and so on through all the voca¬ 
tions of life. He who has little capacity and 
less ambition and enterprize, will content 
himself with some one of the several call¬ 
ings requiring little skill, and, consequently 
yielding a very small income. Another, 
who is ambitious and enterprizing, will se¬ 
lect a calling that promises to be lucrative. 
So every station in life wall be filled. 
Educating a person, then, it w'ould seem, 
is fitting him for the duties and obligations 
of life—or in other words the preparation 
to enter upon his chosen calling. If the 
State provide means for the education of all 
to that degree that Ls called a “good com¬ 
mon education,” then all arc furnished alike 
as to capital. Let those who wish to pro¬ 
cure more, do it at their own expense, be¬ 
cause they are to be benefited and not the 
State as such. 
There are those that maintain the propo¬ 
sition that tlie State should furnish a classi¬ 
cal education to all who desire it. Others, 
there are, who do not yet claim this, yet 
say that the State should fit all who desire 
it, to enter college. The number that would, 
under any circumstances, procure a classi¬ 
cal education, is, relatively, very small.— 
Hence a large public expenditure for the 
benefit of a few*. Thus would this favored 
few be furnished at the expense of the citi¬ 
zens of the State, for the State has no boun¬ 
ty to bestow upon any, only as she obtains 
it by taxing the fruits of honest industry.— 
In thus providing for the liberal education 
of a few individuals desirous of it, the State 
furnishes a capital to each of this favored 
class—a capital that is w^orth from $600 to 
$2,000 a year. What would be said if the 
State should select another equal number, 
and furnish each with sums of money from 
the State treasury, wffiose annual interests 
should vary as the salaries of these educa¬ 
ted men ? Why, that the State had no right 
thus to give money to a few individuals to 
the neglect of the great mass of the people. 
What would be the difference between 
these two transactions? This chiefly, that 
the few, whose capital consisted of a supe¬ 
rior education furnished by the State, would 
have no taxes to pay on their capital, while 
the few who might receive the money -n-ould 
be obliged to pay taxes thereon to educate, 
not only their o^vn children, but to educate 
the children of the educated class whose 
capital is not taxed. In view of such do¬ 
ings, what becomes of the doctrine of equal 
rights, professedly guaranteed to all by the 
State ? For the reasons here stated, we are 
opposed to the efforts making to tax proper¬ 
ty which is the fruit of honest labor and 
frugality to furnish the means of a classical 
education to the few who have the time and 
taste to devote themselves to it. 
, The tendencies of the present age are to 
Socialism. And why should they not be ? 
The seeds of Fourierism have been sown 
broad-cast over our land, by agencies too 
well known to need naming. 
When it comes to that point that the in¬ 
dustry and frugality of an individual secures 
to him and his no better advantages than 
are provided by taxation for the idle and 
the indolent, and the frugal and industrious 
have the taxes to pay, how long think you 
will these virtues be cherished? Is it not 
one of the chief motives that prompts man 
to labor, that he can better his condition ? 
Secure to him these advantages and bless¬ 
ings without his care and labor, and will he 
labor think you ? 
One of the first and most important du¬ 
ties of the State, is, to protect each and eve¬ 
ry man in the enjoyment of the fruit of his 
uwn toil and frugality. And that State is 
the most happy, where this is done to the ' 
greatest perfection. Just in proportion as 
the State fails to do this will her produc¬ 
tiveness diminish, until property ceases to 
have any value. It becomes the State, then 
to take heed, that her public policy be such 
as to increase the productiveness of all her 
citizens. There is a way that seemeth right 
to a State, but the end thereof is the de¬ 
struction of all that the people hold dear.— 
Let us have more of the teaching that places 
responsibilities where they belong, and less 
of that w-hich would remove them from in¬ 
dividuals and place them upon the State, 
the school or the church. These are all 
good in their places, but should never be 
allowed to interfere with parental duties and 
obligations, in such a w'ay, as to seem to free 
parents from the obligation to train moral¬ 
ly, religiously and intellectually their chil¬ 
dren. 
NEW PTJBLICATIONS. 
The Annual of Scientific Discovf.ry, or Year 
Book of Facts in Science and Art for 1850.— 
Edited by David A. Wells and Geo. Bliss, Jr. 
Boston: Gould, Kendall & Lincoln. 
We have received, from an unknown 
hand, a copy of the second and corrected 
edition of this highly interesting, important 
and comprehensive summary of recent facts 
and discoveries in Art and Science. The 
valuable list of scientific publications, and 
the index to articles in scientific journals, 
have been considerably enlarged. No me¬ 
chanic can afford to be without this book. 
We again say that a copy of it should be 
placed in every school library in our coun¬ 
try. We observe that De-wey has this work 
for sale. 
Christian Review. —This Review is ed¬ 
ited and conducted by the Rev. Sew'all S. 
Cutting, assisted by Prof. Wm. Gammel, 
and with the advice of tlie Rev. Doctors W. 
R. Williams and A. C. Kendrick. All 
communications relative to the Review, 
should be addressed, x)ost-i>aid, to “ The 
Christian Review," New York. It is pub¬ 
lished quarterly on ..the first of January, 
April, July and October. 
We have only space for the contents of 
the last number: Coleridge and Southey; 
Sketch of the Life and Times of Justin 
Martyr; The East; Geology and Revelation; 
The Relation of the Christian Ministry to 
the State; Lord Campbell’s Lives of the 
Chief Justices of England; President Way- 
land’s Report on Collegiate Education; 
The Pope’s Return to Rome; Notices of 
New Publications; Intelligence. 
The next meeting of the “ American As¬ 
sociation for the Advancement of Science,” 
will be held in New Haven, Conn., com¬ 
mencing on Monday, August 19th, at 2^ 
o’clock, P. M., and will continue through 
the week. The meeting’s of this Associa¬ 
tion are exceedingly interesting to all lovers 
of Natural History. 
The General Sessions will be held in the 
College Chapel; the Section meetings will 
be held in the Lecture Rooms of the Cab^- 
inet Building. Prof. A. D. Baciie, Presi¬ 
dent; E. C. Herrick, Secretary. 
AMEEICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 
The twenty-first Annual Meeting of the 
American Institute of Instruction, ivill be 
held at Northampton, Mass., on the 13 th, 
14th, and 15 th of this month—August— 
The following is the Order of Exercises; 
On Tuesday—Remarks by the President; 
Introductory Lecture by Hon. Henry Bar¬ 
nard, of Hartford, Conn.; Lecture by Rev. 
J. P. Cowles, Principal of Ipswich Female 
Seminary; Lecture by Rev. L. Whiting, of 
Lawrence, on “The Schoolmaster’s Ori¬ 
ginals.” 
On Wednesday—Lecture by Barnum 
Field, of the Franklin School, Boston; Lec¬ 
ture by C. C. Chase, Principal of the High 
School, Lowell, Mass.; Lecture by J. D. 
Philbrick, Principal of the Quincy School, 
Boston, on the “ Characteristics of the True 
Teacher;” Lecture by Rev. R S. Rust, 
State Supt. of Schools in N. H. 
On Thursday—Lecture by Solomon Jen- 
ner, of New York, on the “ Importance of 
Early Training;” Lecture by Hon. A. 
Walker, of Brookfield, on “ Political Econ¬ 
omy as a study for Common Schools;” Lec¬ 
ture by Edward Wyman, of St. Louis; Lec¬ 
ture by Rev. E. S. Gannett, D. D., of Bos¬ 
ton. 
The principles of the several Lectures 
will be free for discussion, either immediate¬ 
ly after their delivery, or at any time fixed 
on by the Institute; and all gentlemen pres¬ 
ent are invited to take part in the discussions. 
He knows nothing of men who expects 
to convince a determined party,man; and 
he is but little acquainted with the world 
who despairs of the final impartiality of the 
public. 
BOTANY. THE LEAF — STRUCTURE AND 
FUNCTIONS. 
The leaf is considered a fundamental or¬ 
gan of plants. It is an expansion of the 
bark at the base of the leaf-bud, and con¬ 
sists of a midrib on each side of •which is 
a parenchymatous expansion, composed of 
a double stratum of cellular tissue, separa¬ 
ted by vessels. A simple leaf is that whose 
lamina or blade consists of one piece only, 
whatever the depth of its division ; as the 
maple, the apple, the grape: a compound 
leaf is that of which the cellular tissue is se¬ 
parated into several portions, each forming 
a complete blade by itself; as the ash, the 
butternut, the ailantus. 
Besides the blade, the leaf consists of the 
petiole or leaf-stalk and a pair of stipules: 
the latter is a leaf-like organ attached to 
the base of the petiole : it is not unfre- 
quently wanting. When the leaf has no 
petiole or leaf-stalk it is said to be sessile— 
that is, setting upon the stem or branch. 
The leaf is composed of the cellular and 
woody parts. The cellular portion, says 
Prof. Gray, is the green pulp or parenchj^- 
ma : the ivoody is the skeleton or frame- 
w^ork which ramifies among, and strength¬ 
ens the former. The fibrous portion per¬ 
forms the same office as in the stem of the 
plant already considered. The green col¬ 
oring matter of the leaf is called chloro- 
phylle. 
Leaves usually expand horizontally, pre¬ 
senting one surface toward the sky and the 
other toward the earth. The folloiving 
figure gives a very good view of the struc¬ 
ture of the leaf. 
Fig. 13. I 
'' € e ee 
Fig. 13. This is a magnified section of 
the leaf of the lily. The upper surface 
(a) consists of flattened cells of the epi¬ 
dermis, arranged in a single layer. Just be¬ 
neath this {b) is the more compact part of 
the parenchyma, consisting of a layer of 
oblong cells placed in such a position that 
their longer axis is perpendicular to the 
leaf’s surface. Next below is the parenchy¬ 
ma of the lower surface (c) composed of 
oblong cells arranged longitudinally, and so 
loosely compacted as to leave larger empty 
spaces between. Lastly is represented the 
epidermis ((/) of the under surface, ivith sto¬ 
mata {e e,) opening into air chambers (/.)— 
This description is according to Wood. 
Fig. 14. This figure shows 
— -7 — the stomata (c c) or 
L T v4\ openings through 
the epidermis or out- 
1 ^ covering of the 
Vn. leaf into cavities in 
the subjacent tissues, 
stomata are 
LZ- 21 —A-1— found on the under 
side of the leaf According to Prof Gray 
stomata varies from 800 to about 1V0,000 
on the square inch of surface. 
The common functions of leaves are ex¬ 
halation, absorption, respiration and diges¬ 
tion. Exhalation takes place through the 
stomata, and proceeds only in the presence 
of light. 
Absorption is performed both by the 
roots and the leaves. 
“ Respiration is analagous to breathing in 
animals. It consists of the absorption of 
oxygen from the^atmosphere, accompanied 
by the evolution of carbonic acid.” It is 
the most active during the periods of ger¬ 
mination and flowering. 
Digestion, says Wood, consists of those 
changes effected by the leaves in rendering 
the crude sap fit for nutrition; the process 
consists in the decomposition of carbonic 
acid by the green tissues of the leaves, un¬ 
der the stimulus of the light, the fixation of 
the solid carbon, and the evolution of pure 
carbon. I 
The two kingdoms of nature, viz: the 
animal and the vegetable, mutually sub¬ 
serve the growth and well-being of each 
other. The animal in respiration gives off 
carbonic acid gas, or in other words, the an- 
mal expires the aforesaid gas and the plant 
inspires it as one of the chief ingredients of 
its growth. Thus an All-wise Providence 
has so constituted these two kingdoms that 
they are, as it were, mutually dependent 
upon each other for nutrition — thus exhi¬ 
biting the strongest proof of design in the 
works of creation. 
NEVER FRIGHTEN CHILDREN. 
A SCHOOL-MISTRESS, for some trifling of¬ 
fence, most foolishly put a child in a dark 
cellar for an hour. The child was terrified, 
and cried bitterly. Upon returning to her 
parents in the evening, she burst into tears, 
and begged that she might not be put into 
the cellar. The parents thought this ex¬ 
tremely odd, and assured her there •vi’as no 
danger of their being guilty of such an act 
of cruelty; but it was difficult to pacify her, 
and ivhen put to bed she passed a restless 
night. On the following day she had a fe¬ 
ver, during which she frequently exclaimed, 
“ Do not put me in the cellar!” The fourth 
day after, she was taken to Sir Astley 
Cooper, in a high state of fever, with de¬ 
lirium, frequently muttering, “ Pray, don’t 
put me in the cellar.” When Sir Astley 
inquired the reason, he found that the pa¬ 
rents had learned the punishment to which 
she had been subjected. He ordered what 
w^as likely to relieve her; but she died in a 
week after this unfeeling conduct. 
Another case from the same authority 
may be here cited. It is the case of a child 
ten years of age, who wanted to write her 
exercise, and to scrape her slate-pencil, went 
into the room in the dark to fetch her knife, 
when one of her school-mates burst from 
behind the door to freighten her; she was 
much terrified, and her head ached. On 
the following day she became deaf; and, on 
the next, so much so as not to hear the 
loudest talking. Sir Astley saw her three 
months after this happened, and she contin¬ 
ued in the same deplorable state of deaf¬ 
ness. 
A boy fifteen years of age was admitted 
an inmate of Dundee Lunatic Asylum, hav¬ 
ing become imbecile from fright When 
twelve years of age, he w'as apprenticed to 
a light business; and, some trifling article 
being one day missing, he was, along with 
others, locked up in a dark cellar. The 
children were much alarmed; and all were 
let out ■with the exception of this poor boy, 
who was detained till past midnight He 
became from this time nervous and melan¬ 
choly, and sank into a state of insensibility, 
from which he will never recover. The 
missing article was found on the following 
morning, exculpating the boy from the guilt 
with which he had been charged. 
PROSPECTUS OF THE FREE SCHOOL CLARION 
Shall, or shall not, New York have Free 
Schools ? This question is to be decided by the 
electors of this State, at the polls, in November 
next. It is admitted by all, that the question is one 
of immense and absorbing importance. 
Yet this question has never been discussed be¬ 
fore the People of New York. It was not discus¬ 
sed in 1849. It was never discussed within the 
borders of the State, except at the State Superin¬ 
tendent’s Convention, in 1846, and at the State 
Free School Convention at Syracuse, which ad¬ 
journed yesterday. No county or town or neigh¬ 
borhood meetings have been held, at which the 
Principle, the Right, the Policy, the Economy, or 
the Superiority of Free Schools was discussed.— 
The Press of the State has not discussed it. The 
Pulpit has not discussed it. In no form have the 
important facts and arguments which control this 
great question, been presented to the people at 
large. 
The object of the Free School Clarion is to 
meet this state of the case. It will contain a full 
account of History or the Common School system; 
its Organization; its Results. It will also give 
every view that the best minds of the State can 
present for and against Free Schools. It will con¬ 
tain all the reasons why the change should be 
made ; why the late system does not meet the de¬ 
mands of the present age. In our opinion, the 
Clarion will be found most valuable for preserva¬ 
tion, as furnishing interesting matter not to be 
found in any existing Publication. It is almost 
superfluous to say, that this information and argu¬ 
ment are indispensable to the right decision of this 
cause at the election. 
Each number will contain an able article writ¬ 
ten by some Opponent of Free Schools. Oppo¬ 
nents, as well as friends, will read the Clarion 
with interest, for both sides will be persented. The 
object is to have the question understood. 
The Free School State Convention, held at Sy¬ 
racuse on the 10th and 11th July instant,—-which 
was the largest and ablest School Convention ever 
held in New York, if not in the Union—unani¬ 
mously adopted the following resolution, offered by 
S. S. Randall, of Albany :— 
“ Resolved, That we approve of the establish¬ 
ment of the Free School Clarion, at the city of Sy¬ 
racuse, for the purpose of disseminating as widely 
as possible information in reference to the Free 
School question :—and recommend its general cir¬ 
culation, together with that of the Address adopted 
at the Onondaga County Teachers’ Institute at its 
last session, and the Address of Chas. B. Sedg¬ 
wick, Esq., at a previous session, of the Institute, 
among the friends of Free Schools throughout the 
State.” 
The first number of the Clarion was issued on 
the 10th of July. The second will contain the 
Address of the Convention fron the pen of Horace 
Greeley, and the Resolutions. It will bo printed 
on good type and paper on these terms:— 
Single copy,...$0,25 
Four copies, one address. 1,00 
Ten do. do. .2,00 
Fifteen do. do. 3,00 
Twenty-Rve do. . 5,00 
Ffty, do. do. .8,00 
It will be issued weekly, in Quarto Form, and 
one number will be issued after the Election giv¬ 
ing the returns, and such suggestions as shall nat¬ 
urally arise from the result. Address 
W. L. CRANDAL. 
Syracuse, July 12, 1850. 
By relying on our own resources, we ac¬ 
quire mental strength; but when we lean 
on others for support, ive are like an invalid 
who, having accustomed himself to a crutch, 
finds it difficult to walk without one. 
Happiness is like wealth; as soon as we 
begin to nurse it and care for it, it is a sure 
sign of its being in a precarious state. 
LEARNED BIRDS. 
This would seem to be scarcely the place 
for a notice or a display of the intelligence 
of birds which we have lately had the op¬ 
portunity of witnessing; but there is some¬ 
thing so unique in the exhibition, so little of 
the commonplace, and so much that pro¬ 
vokes curious and interesting thought, that 
it really falls within the province of art— 
and that of no ordinary kind. We cannot 
describe the details of the exhibition better 
than they have been given in a notice which 
appeared in the Chronicle. We should 
premise that the exhibitor is a young Bel¬ 
gian lady, Mdle. Vandermeersch, and that 
there appears to be no trickery or charla¬ 
tanism in the extraordinary influence she 
exerts, or in the means by which she dis¬ 
plays it, over the grateful little creatures 
who obey her slightest suggestion. 
“ The young lady who, en passant, be it 
observed, is strikingly handsome, lady-like, 
full of esprit, and not more than seventeen 
years of age, enters any saloon where her 
attendance may have been desired, with a 
cage, containing four compartments, in each 
of which is a bird—a cardinal, a goldfinch, 
or some other variety. The cage is simply 
placed on the table. In front is put a little 
trough, in which is ranged some hundred 
and fifty or two hundred cards exactly sim¬ 
ilar in shape and color. These cards are 
closely serried, their ends only being visible. 
Each card bears on its surface some inscrip¬ 
tion, either the ordinary court and common 
cards, or a letter of the alphabet, the num¬ 
bers simple and compound, the days of the 
w^eek, the months, the seasons, and others 
we do not remember. These inscriptions 
are necessarily hidden •wdiile the birds are 
making their selections. Mdle. Vander¬ 
meersch does not touch the cards or the 
birds during the performance. She ap¬ 
proaches some individual in the company 
and asks the time by her watch. He tells 
her, sotto voce. She then approaches the 
cage, speaks to one of the birds aloud, and-, 
requests him to tell the time. The door of 
the cage being opened the little bird hops 
out, and jumps along the platform of cards, 
apparently deliberating. At length he fi.xes 
on one, which after immense tugging he 
pulls up from the pack. Suppose the time 
to be a quarter past three, this card would 
be inscribed with a “ three.” Again the 
little fellow is set to work, and after a simi¬ 
lar display of reflection and physical strength, 
out he tugs a “fifteen,” ivhich he tosses in 
amusingly cavalier manner on the platform, 
and then hops back to his cage. Should 
he by accident turn the card with its face 
downward, he is made to come back, and 
present it in due form to the' spectators.— 
The tricks of which this is a specimen, are 
very numerous. Following the same man¬ 
ner, the birds tell you the day of the week, 
the month, the season of the year, any let¬ 
ter you may pick out of a book, any day, 
month, season, or year you may choose to 
name, any court or common card you may 
fix upon, and, what is still more extraordin¬ 
ary, if you think of a word, either of these 
birds will spell that w'ord for you, letter by 
letter, always provided that any one letter 
is not repeated in the -n’ord chosen. Of 
course you communicate to the young lady 
■ndiat it is you fix upon. This brings the 
exhibition out of the range of conjuring into 
the more interesting field of the practical.— 
As Mdle. Vandermeersch does not touch 
either the cards or the birds, and as her ad¬ 
dress to the birds is made aloud, it is puz¬ 
zling in the extreme to conceive what is the 
nature of the influence by which she exer¬ 
cises such a singular control over these lit¬ 
tle animals. The exhibition excites surprise 
wherever it is seen. Mdle. Vendermeersch 
has been honored by the Duchess of Sun¬ 
derland with a special request to perform' 
at one of her soirees: as also by otlier dis¬ 
tinguished personages. She has performed 
in the presence of the Marquis and March¬ 
ioness of Londonderry, the Marquis and 
Marchioness of Westminster, the Duke of 
Devonshire, Lord F. Fitzclarence, Lady 
Blantyre, Lady Constance Gower, Lord and 
Lady Dufferin, &c., and from some of her 
patrons she has written certificates, couched 
in terms of unusual admiration. Her per¬ 
formances here, it would seem, are confined 
to the soirees and matineei of the nobility 
and gentry, at least for the present. From 
the description we have given, it will be 
seen that there is nothing of commonplace 
trickery in the exhibition, but that it ap¬ 
peals to a higher kind of taste.” 
All this is strictly true, and stated without 
the least exaggeration.— London Examiner, 
Hours have wings and fly up to the Au¬ 
thor of time* Commonplace people are 
content to walk for life in the rut made by 
their predecessors, long after it has become 
so deep that they cannot see to the right or 
left This keeps them in ignorance and 
darkness, but it saves them the trouble of 
thinking or acting for themselves. 
It is at home indeed, that every man 
must be known by those who would make 
a just estimate either of his virtue or felicity; 
for smiles and embroidery are alike occasional 
and the mind is often dressed for show, in 
painted humor and fictitious benevolence. 
Sincerity is the parent of TrutL 
