MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
(EbutotiDiinl lB|iartraBnt 
BY L. E T H E K E L L. 
FREE SCHOOLS-A CASE. 
Eos. Nkw- Yorker : — J. observe a good 
deal of discussion is going on in tlie papers, 
and among the people of this State, and 
a good deal of feeling elicited on the sub¬ 
ject of the Free School Law^, and the 
propriety, justice, and benefits of its en¬ 
actment. I am in favor of the largest 
liberty, and fully believe that the strong¬ 
est fortification that can be erected to pro¬ 
tect society from delusion, heresies, and 
dangerous errors in morals or religion, is 
the school house — and Avill subscribe to 
any project that will bring about the gen¬ 
eral diffusion of light, knowledge, and uni¬ 
versal education in a (air and equitable 
manner, which shall not bear too heavily 
upon any one class of community. 
Permit me to state my individual case, 
and I presume there are others in the 
like situation. I reside on the borders of 
a little village of sufficient importance to 
become a little clanish, and to ape city 
fashions and follies. I have the misfor¬ 
tune, as I now think, to hold the title 
deed of a farm which I bought in the 
times of high prices, paifi ^ ^tid g^vq . 
a pretty heavy mortgage for the balance 
due. My family are composed mostly of 
the weaker sex, and consequently, the 
most of my labor has to be performed with 
hired help,—which, with some misfortimes, 
sickness and bad crops, ^ 
t er tie harr- greSt- 
. difficulty been able to keep down 
the interest on the mortgage and support 
my family, which, to keep up with the 
times, fashion, and the example of those 1 
the world call my poorer neighbors, has 
only been done by the most untiring indus¬ 
try, econom)’^ and self denial of that last, 
best gift, my bethir half. I have the reputa¬ 
tion, on the tax-roll, of being worth j^ve or 
six thousand dollars, when, in fact, from the 
mortgage on my property, and a fall in value 
since I purchased, I am not worth a dollar. 
My neighbor N. has a lai-ge family, is a 
carpenter and builder by trade, employs 
eight or ten hands, and is extensively en- ^ 
gaged in contracts throughout the county. 
He owns a house worth one thousand dol¬ 
lars — is at ease in all his circumstances— 
lives well—dresses his family in good style, 
and his daughters are indulged with a piano 
and all the fashionable accomplishments. 
Mr. G., another neighbor, hires and keeps 
a large tavern house on a well traveled 
road, which he manages well, and makes 
and lays up money every year, and often 
loans small sums to his neighbors. He has 
a young and increasing familj'. 
Mr. C., our blacksmith, owns a shop worth 
two hundred dollars, and hires a house,— 
js an industrious and sober man, and makes 
money, and enjoys the good thing's of life, 
freely and liberally, with one of the larg¬ 
est families in this section. 
Mr. 0., our merchant, owns a lot, house 
and store, with perhaps $2,600, and is 
doing a large and profitable business.— 
He holds obligations against half the farm¬ 
ers in the county, but both parties find 
it convenknt to keep their own counsel, 
and he admits no personals. 
Every one knows how difficult it is for 
assessors to get at pei-sonal property — and 
how little investigation is made on the sub¬ 
ject, and how little appears on the assess¬ 
ment rolls, l^he real estate pays allthe taxes. 
Now, Messrs. Editors, is it right for an 
individual in my situation and position, 
(and I am not alone in this wmrld,) to 
pay for the education of my neighbors’ 
children — who are all in fact ten times 
as able to pay as I ihi — merely because 
I hold in my name the deed of a few 
acres of land, but in reality not a dollar’s 
right, interest or value in the real estate ? 
Poor, harrassed, and driven to the wall on 
all occasions to meet my necessities and 
engagements, I cannot but feel that the op¬ 
eration of the Free School Law is unequal, 
oppressive, and unjustifiable in the extreme. 
The old school law was the most perfect 
and equally operating law that^ ever was, 
or ever will be invented, and nothing short of 
a general state fund for the wants of the 
entire population, should be allowed to take 
its place. There are in the cities, where 
free schools have been in operation many 
years, as many idle, wandering children, 
as there were under the old law, and as far 
as my observation goes, our country schools 
are no more numerously attended than 
before — and I for one, will vote for its total 
annihilation, with all its loose, imperfect,, dis¬ 
jointed and tyrannical effects and provisions. 
Orleans County, August, 1850. J. B. McD. 
I REVIEW OF THE FREE SCHOOL LAW. 
I 8V H. D. BARTO, OK TO.Ml'KINS COUNTY. 
Strike, but Hear! 
i:.x i RACT from the Speech of the Mon. Daniel Webster, 
before the New Hampshire Fesiival, at Boston, Nov. 7, 
184f. 
“Gentlemen, two things are to be guarded. Onelgrcat 
truth is, that men in a conservative age are capable of self- 
government—that the enjoyment of equal rightsisa |)rac- 
tical thins, and that freedom is not a dangerous thing for a 
body politic. And the other is, that freedom from restraint 
is not Freedom — that licentiousness — the discharge 
from moral duties and that general scramble which leads 
the idle and the extravagant to hoi>c fbr a time when they 
may put their hands into their neighbors’ pockets — call it 
what you please — it i» tyranny. It is no matter whetlier 
the Emperor of Turkey robs his subject of his property — 
or whether under the notion of equal rights, the property 
earned by another shall lie taken from him by a majority. 
I should not choose the latter. On the contrary, give me 
Turkey, for I would prefer one despot to ten thousand.— 
Who would labor if there was not a security that what 
he earned would lie his own for his own enjoyment, for 
the education of his children, for the support of his age 
and the gratification of all his reasonable desires 7’’ 
Early in the history of our State, the people, 
ever enterprising and intelligent, were duly im¬ 
pressed with the importanpe of primary schools; 
and their desires on the subject were manifested 
by the establishment of such schools in most local¬ 
ities of the State, without coercion and without 
system, leaving their management to common law 
regulations. As early as 1800, however, provision 
was made by law, for the accumulation of a school 
fund, as an encouragement for the thoughtless 
and careless, to establish schools in localities where 
they did not exist. But what strikes us as a little 
curious, at this day, is, one of the means resorted to 
for the accumulation of those funds by lotteries, a 
speeies of gambling now justly condemned and 
punished by law. But this is a part of the his¬ 
tory of the times, and we should not so much 
wonder; and permit us to express a regret that all 
gambling in respect to school funds and school 
systems had not ceased.here, with this accumula¬ 
tion. 
lci2, the school system, which has been 
growing upon us, and increasing in puwer and in¬ 
tensity ever since, was established ; but, as bc.^O.re 
remarked, we had, in most localities, as good pri¬ 
mary schools as could have been expected with a 
people poor, and in many parts of the State, sparse¬ 
ly settled ; we had few churches comparatively ; 
and we are led at times to question, whether our 
schools, under the system, with governmental pat¬ 
ronage, have advanced with the growth and ad¬ 
vancement of every thing else calculated or de¬ 
signed for our moral or intellectual training, VTlth- 
out systems, and without patronage. Many things, 
we think, prosper better without the restraints of 
system, than with. 
In 1812, as before remarked, we established our 
school sytein, as a separate department, under one 
central head, at Albany; and Gideon Hawley, 
Esq., a man eminent for his attainments, unam¬ 
bitious of political power or distinction, was ap¬ 
pointed to fill the office. His ‘duties were multi¬ 
form, as may well be supposed, from the exten¬ 
siveness of the system, then first to receive its pro¬ 
jectile motion, and be put in operation, as will be 
seen by reference to the second section of the old 
school law ; and his salary was fixed at three hun¬ 
dred dollars a year, a mighty difference in the 
times, then and now, as regards salaries. 
In this system, designed for good, and appa¬ 
rently innocent in its inception, and for many years 
was so, the powers by which it was operated, be¬ 
ing in more and wiser hands — in hands who had 
had more* experience, and knew more of the real¬ 
ities of life ; and brought home, nearer to the peo¬ 
ple, as all systems should bo, designed for 
their improvement. But even in this system, 
there were, in our apprehension, two fundamen¬ 
tal errors, both natural enough at the time. We 
allude to direct taxation for the support of schools, 
then, it is true, limited, and the provision for for¬ 
eign superintendence, then, also, extremely limited 
in power. The evils of this system, however, 
might never have been developed, if it had re¬ 
mained in discreet hands, with limited powers, as 
at first. 
As regards the principle of direct taxation for 
the support of schools, the inadequacy of the in¬ 
come of the funds, at that time without it, to ac¬ 
complish much for evil or for good, is what indi¬ 
cated it, and is the apolog}' for the Legislature in 
adopting it — they no doubt thought, as others 
thought before, and as others have thought since, 
that the end would sanctify the means. But we have 
seen in this, as in many other things, the great, if 
not fatal mistake, in adopting a wrong principle ; 
and if we shall be relieved now, it must be by the 
exercise of more wisdom and firmne.ss in the Leg¬ 
islature than has characterized those bodies for the 
last few years. Already, from the adoption of this" 
principle, the cry is loud in many quarters of the 
State, and this the motto, “ FTee schools for a free 
people!” Carry out the doctrine implied by this 
motto, free churches, free preaching, free proper¬ 
ty, free everything, and our land would be crim¬ 
soned all over by the blood of its citizens, within 
twenty-four hours; and it requires no foresight, 
no sagacity, to imagine what motto may next be 
adopted as a rallying cry. 
The primary, if not the only legitimate objects 
of government, are the protection of persons and 
property. The rights of individuals to personal se- 
atrity, to personal liberty and the right to acquire 
and enjoy property, are absolute rights; and they 
luii'e been frequently declared by the peoptle of this 
country, to be natural, inherent and inalienable .— 
These rights so dear to our ancestors, and these 
principles so salutary, nay, so indispensable to our 
existence as a government, have been lost sight of 
by the present generation ; and the right to acquire 
and enjoy property, has been violated, if not de¬ 
stroyed, by the adoption of the principle of direct 
taxation to support common schools. But the cli¬ 
max of absurdity seems to have been attained by 
the act entitled “An act for the support of free 
schools throughout the State,” submitted to the 
electors for their adoption or rejection, for their en¬ 
actment or repeal. 
Already, from the adoption of this law, the 
whole State, but of our cities, is in one universal 
blaze of indignation, .such as was never known 
before, and such as we never hope to witness 
again — neighbor against neighbor, and in many 
places the lines of separation are drawn broad and 
deep. It is true, our journalists, nor our Legisla¬ 
ture now in session, nor our Executive have heard 
but little about the matter, always the last to hear 
and redress the grievances of the common people, 
though always the first to mount any measure that 
becomes popular as a hobby. This law came to the 
people not much in the habit of doing hard jobs of 
legislation for the Senate and Assembly — and 
whether our sapient Superintendent had anything 
to do in the concoction of the matter or not, we 
have no means of knowing — under the imjiosing 
recommendations of one of the great political par¬ 
ties of our State ; and whether the merits of this 
important measure were fully discussed and con¬ 
sidered by this Convention hastily drawn together 
for other important purposes, and recommended 
with great unanimity, and because it was deemed 
just and politic, wo are entirely ignorant. But 
wo are certain there are thousands that were de¬ 
ceived by this recommendation, who are now 
cursing their political friends for the deception. 
We believe that what an individual acquires by 
I his labor and his jiains, is as much his, as his mem¬ 
bers, and faculties bj which his acquisitions were 
made, and that no earthly power has any right to 
take them from him. Living, however, under a 
government that affords him protection, he owes 
that government a debt—a debt in proportion 
to the protection it affords him, which he is 
bound to pay ; and if withheld, that government 
has a right to take it by coercion. We believe, 
moreover, that wild, theoretic speculations, as to 
what prudential measures may render men or 
masses sober, moral or religious, should not be in¬ 
dulged in by governments, so far as to induce 
them to a large outlay of the hard earnings of the 
people, to experiment. 
We happily have other sources of moral and 
religious training than by penal enactments. 
We believe that the rights and duties of all be¬ 
ing made plaiii, should be rejected and enforced 
by suitable laws. Wa believe, that the properties 
of citizens, should no more b^aken from them 
by coercion to support schoolsr.ffiau to build meet¬ 
ing houses and support preachers; the principle is 
the same in both case.s, and we"should not disagree 
about the application. If one man is compelled 
to,.support the children of another, equality is de¬ 
stroyed, and we cannot remain a homogeneous 
people. 
The apparent majority of the electors in favor 
of the new school law, is of no manner of impor¬ 
tance, w'hen the circumstances under which it was 
presented to them, and the means they had of ex¬ 
amining into the principles involved, and the temp¬ 
tation held out to some; and if, even then, the 
matter had been discussed, as all important mat¬ 
ters of legislation should be, we do not believe the 
law would have been adopte;!, by hundreds of 
thousands against are interested in main¬ 
taining our free ’.nstitutions, and a majority cannot 
be found fo'. destruction by any agrarian^ 
laic. 
. By this law,— if law it can be cailed,-^- the tax- 
’lig power, always to be vested and exercised with 
the utmost caution and discretion, is vested more 
unwisely than ever was that power %'ested before, 
by any government on earth. It is vested and to 
be exercised by a little school district majority, in 
many cases made up of the most ignorant and vi¬ 
cious in society, and upon whom the tax will fall 
but lightly, if at all ; and the proceeds of the 
tax to be applied to their supposed especial benefit. 
It is not possible, that the Legislature who grant¬ 
ed, or the Governor who approved, giving the 
power to the electors to enact a law, allowing one 
man to put his hand into the pocket of his neigh¬ 
bor, and take thence at will and without stint, du¬ 
ly considered what they were doing. The only 
apology for their subserviency to the people, is, 
that they thought the proposition too absurd to be 
entertained by the people themselves, a single mo¬ 
ment. While this enactment shall continue to 
disgrace our statute book,— we will not dignify it 
by calling it a law,— nothing better can be expect¬ 
ed, than constant Conflicts between tax-payers and 
non-tax-payers, constantly bringing the sysiCJn. as 
well as our schools, into disfavor, till soon -we may 
have no schools whatever. Before the adoptlim of 
the new school law, the burthens of the school fell 
principally upon the tax-payers ; and the schools 
were entirely indebted to them for their character. 
We believe it to be in accordance with the indi¬ 
cations of nature — it is done by the poor, dumb, 
untaught beast, as well as enforced by the Divine 
law — for parents to rear their offspring; and this 
creates in that offspring corresponding obligations 
of duty, to be reciprocated by the child when the 
parent becomes oW, infirm, and helpless, that no¬ 
thing else can ; and this duty in parents, and cor¬ 
responding reciprocal duty in children, cannot 
safely be dispensed with. If people are unfortu¬ 
nate, sickly and poor, then comes the obligation, 
and then the opportunity for the exercise of one off 
the brightest Christian duties, charity; and we' 
have no objection, that we should combine and 
give governmental sanction, form and efficiency 
to the exercise of this duty. 
But this is a thing entirely difierent from the 
principle involved in our school laws, and jt is ap¬ 
palling to the philanthropist, to contemplate the 
consequences—that may result from the adoption 
of this principle. 
We believe it to be the duty of government to 
keep obstacles out of the way of all alike, granting 
favors and throwing unnecessary burthens upon 
none, high or low, rich or poor, however this du¬ 
ty may have been performed by the government 
of the world. 
We believe if we are to have a self-relying peo¬ 
ple, they should not be encouraged to fix their 
gaze on government, and petition for a mean or 
large share of its bounty to help in the discharge 
of their private duties. It was not so with our 
Revolutionary fathers; they were, on the contrary, 
not only not furnished with free schools, free 
churches, free food, »&c., but they were neglected 
and their hard earnings were absolutely taken from 
themr to feed the avarice and gratify the ambition 
of royalty, and a purse-proud aristocracy at home 
and abroad ; and under such embarrassing cir¬ 
cumstances, without money and almost without 
men, they achieved our independence. 
God has undoubtedly made differences and dis¬ 
crepancies in men for wise purposes ; and it would 
be worse than vain for human legislation to recon¬ 
cile those differences and discrepancies, and they 
should not attempt it — it is no part of legislation. 
But suj^ose we were alike, morally and physical¬ 
ly, and each possessed an equal amount of prop¬ 
erty, would the human family be better off?— 
Where would be the chance for the exercise of 
charity ? Without mutual dependence, whence 
would flow mutual kindness ? Without mutual 
dependence, w'e should be as cold and frigid as 
the nether mill-stone. The rich are not necessa¬ 
rily happy; nor are the poor necessarily unhappy. 
The rich are no less depeodent on the poor than 
are the poor upon the rich, and this mutual de¬ 
pendence brings the poor and the rich together, 
and gives to each an opportunity for exercising 
kindness and good will, and makes of us one peo¬ 
ple, not entirely sordid and selfish. If the posi¬ 
tions here assumed be correct, and they are believ¬ 
ed to be,, w'hence the everlasting demagogical cry, 
“ Land for the landless,, homestead exemptions," 
Sfc. Better pass a law at once abrogating — 
not “impairing,” because that is forbidden by the 
United States’ Constitution—the obligation of all 
contracts, marital as well as others! 
We believe it to be more especially the duty of 
civil government, to wield the sword of justice, 
than to exercise the sceptre of religion, mercy or 
charity. Charity should be exercised by individ 
uals or a.ssociations upon principles of volition, 
rather than compulsion. Cold indeed would be 
the governmental charitj', exercised by a host of 
' mercenary officials, under systems whence they 
I derive their bread. The grand difficulties in the 
working of all the prelacies that have ever existed 
in the world, have arisen from the blending of 
governmental power, with the exorcLso of mercy, 
benevolence and charity. 
[^Conclusion next loeek.^ 
If ’tis happiness to be nobly descended, 
’tis no less to have so much merit that no¬ 
body inquires whether you are so or not 
XniiiM’ Ifjiartratirt. 
THE SLEEPING CHILD- 
BY LEIGH HUNT. y 
A BROOK went dancing on its waj'. 
From bank to valley leaping, 
.\nd by its sunny margin lay 
A lovely infant sleeping. 
The murmur of the purling stream 
Broke not the siiell which bound him, 
Like music breattiing in his dream, 
A lullaby around him. 
It is a lovely sight to view, 
Within this world of sorrow, 
One spot which still retains the hue 
That earth from Heaven may borrow ; 
And such was this — a scene so fair, 
Arrayed in summer brightness, 
And one poor being resting there — 
One soul of radiant whiteness. 
What happy dreams, fair child, are given 
'I’o cast their sunshine o’er thee ? 
What cord unites that soul to Heaven, 
Where visions glide before thee ? 
For wandering smiles of cloudless mirth 
O’er thy glad features beaming. 
Say, not a thought— a form of earth 
Alloys thine hour of dreaming ! 
Mayhap, afar on unseen wings. 
Thy silent spirit soaring, 
Now hears the burst from golden springs, 
Whero angels arc adoring, 
.\nd with the pure heliacal throng, 
Around their Makor praising. 
The joyous heart may join the song, 
Ten thousand tongues are raising ! 
CHARACTER OF WEST-INDIAN FEMALES. 
The white females of the West Indies 
are generally rather of a more slender form 
than the European women. Their com¬ 
plexion, which they are peculiarly careful 
to preserve, is either a pure white or bru¬ 
nette, with but little or none of the bloom 
of the rose, which, to a stranger, has rather 
a sickly appearance at first, though that im¬ 
pression gradually wears off. Their features 
are sweet and regular; their eyes rather 
expressive than sparkling; their voices soft 
and pleiising; and their whole air and looks 
tender, gentle, and feminine. With the ap¬ 
pearance of languor and indolence, they are 
active and animated on occasions, particularly 
when dancing, an amusement of which they 
are particularly fond, and in which they dis¬ 
play a natural ease, gracefulness, and agili¬ 
ty, which surprise and delight a stranger. 
They are fond of music, and there are few 
who have not an intuitive taste for it, and 
fine voices. They are accused of excessive 
indolence; and exaggerated examples of 
this are given by those whose object is to 
exhibit them to ridicule. These exaggera¬ 
tions, like all others of a national description, 
savor more of caricature than truth. The 
heat of the climate, joined to the still habits 
of a sedentary life, naturally begets a lan¬ 
guor, listlessness, and disposition to self-in¬ 
dulgence, to which the females of more nor¬ 
thern climates are strangers. The daily 
loll in bed, before dinner, is so gratifying a 
relaxation, that it has become almost as 
necessary as their nightly repose. To sum 
up in a few words, the character of the 
Creole ladies, they are so excessively fond 
of pleasure and amusements, that they 
would be glad if the whole texture of hu¬ 
man life were formed of nothing else; balls, 
in particular, are their great delight; they 
are averse to whatever requires much men¬ 
tal or bodily exertion, dancing excepted; 
reading they do not care much about, ex¬ 
cept to fill up an idle hour; and diligence 
industry, and economy, cannot be said to be 
among the number of their virtues.— Slew- 
art's Jamaica. 
BUSTLE AMONG THE LADIES. 
Ambition among the women is going up. 
They seem determined to be kept under no 
longer. Among the schemes advocated by 
the- female reformers of the present day is 
one that aims at the overthrow of distinc¬ 
tion in the costume of the sexes. A lovely 
girl,. Miss Webber, is out, boldly and inge¬ 
niously recommending the male attire as 
the “ most appropriate vesture for single fe¬ 
males” Miss Webber is a graceful and 
vigorous writer, and treats li'er subject with 
apparent fairness. She adduces authorities 
to prove that, in early ages, men and wo¬ 
men dressed precisely alike; and that the 
distinction in dress which now exists, “ was 
arbitrarily drawn by the male sex, in the 
tyrannical exercise of power which they 
derived solely from the greater physical 
superiority.” 
Her plan is to restrict girls to their frocks 
until the completion of their education.— 
Upon their entrance into society, they are 
to dress precisely like males in a similar 
condition, and continue to wear male attire 
until the day of their marriage. Widows, 
at the end of the mourning season, are to 
resume men’s apparel, unless they are de¬ 
termined never to marry again. In effect, 
this is a scheme to distinguish marriagea¬ 
ble females from married women and con¬ 
firmed widows. Ilcgarded in this light, it 
has at least one merit, and may on that ac¬ 
count, claim the friendly countenance of 
the bachelor fraternity. It would save 
them a vast deal of trouble in ascertaining 
the domestic rank of a new lady acquaint¬ 
ance, and prevent tliem from committing 
the now common error of falling in love 
with married women.— Archimedean.. 
INTERESTING STORY. 
“Cast thy bread upon the waters, and 
after many days it shall return to thee;” 
this is a scripture truth, which, like all truth, 
has been verified a thousand times. The 
following story may serve to illustrate the 
variety of this text. Allow me to premise 
thai my story is a true one in all particulars: 
Some thirty years since, a lad of one of 
our Eastern States, about ten years of age, 
was sent by his employer to carry a basket, 
heavily laden with wares, to a purchaser. 
While staggering under its weight up a 
somewhat steep hill, a gentleman of about 
thirty years proffered his assistance, and 
beguiled the tediousness of the way by a 
pleasant anecdote, good advice, and kind 
words. They parted—fifteen years passed 
away—the senior of these two, now nearly 
fifty years of age, sat in his study with a 
melancholy countenance and a sad heart 
His door opened and his young and fascin¬ 
ating daughter, just blooming into woman¬ 
hood, entered to announce that a gentle¬ 
man desired to see her father. “ Show him 
I in my darling daughter, and do you, 
my child, leave us to ourselves.” She 
obeyed. The old gentleman entered.— 
“ Well, sir,” was his salutatioh, “ have you 
considered my proposition ?” “ I have, and 
have determined, happen what may, I will 
not force or sway, by any act of mine, the 
will of my child. She shall be left to her 
own free choice.’' Then, sir, to-morrow, 
by three o’clock, your property must go 
into the hands of the sheriff, unless you 
find some friend to pay the tweD^ thou¬ 
sand dollars.” This he said with a snecIV 
and coldly bowing left the house. The 
poor father’s heart was racked. “lam a 
beggar—my daughter is homeless—I have 
no friend to offer assistance in this hour of 
my severest trial.” 
In the midst of these bitter reflections, 
again his daughter entered, introducing a 
gentleman of some twenty-eight years of 
age—a stranger. “Am I in the presence 
of Mr. G. ?” was his opening remark; which 
being affirmatively answered, he continued 
by saying that he was a successful mer¬ 
chant of New York, had heard of the mis¬ 
fortunes of Mr. G., and came on purpose 
to ask the amount of his liabilities, that he 
might loan the necessary funds to relieve 
his wants. Nor was he shocked at the 
mention of the large amount of twenty 
thousand dollars. He handed him his 
check, which was duly honored—the father 
was once more a happy man—his daughter 
was not houseless—he had found some 
friend to pay, despite the sneer of his hard 
hearted creditor. “ But pray, sir,” said he, 
agitated, “to what am I indebted for this 
munificent kindness, from an entire stran¬ 
ger ?” “Perhaps you have forgotten,” was 
the reply, “ that some eighteen years since 
you aided a friendless boy, of ten years of 
age, to carry his loaded basket up a hill— 
that you gave good advice and kindly 
words ? I am that boy. I followed your 
advice—I have lived honestly—I have 
gained wealth—and now, after many years, 
I have come to return to you, kind sir, the 
bread which you then cast so freely upon 
the waters.” 
DOWN EAST GIRLS. 
Speaking of Barnum’s Chinese lady, who 
is holding court at Amory Hall, and who 
boasts a foot only two a half inches long, 
the Post observes that—“In some countries 
one thing, and in other countries something 
else indicates beauty. “ What a splendid 
woman!” says the Hottentot, “ she weighs 
over 300!” In .^nerica it is, “What a 
lovely girl, her waist is only a span!” In 
China it is, “What a lily! hf’r foot is only 
two inches!” So we go. Which is the 
best?” 
To this the Avag of the Belfast (Me.) 
Journal, who is evidently as shrewd a con¬ 
noisseur of female beauty, as the Moor 
whom Shakspearc has immortalized, replies 
in the following satisfactory style: 
“ Nature of course. We can show you 
some specimens down-east, who have not 
been deformed by liver squeezers nor tight 
shoes, fatted after the manner of Hotten¬ 
tots, or starved a la mode in cities. They 
have grown up according to organic laws, 
dieted on beef steak and corn bread, exer¬ 
cised as the Greeks used to; are up and 
coming like a flock of partridges with a 
pointer among ’em; can wash the tea 
things, go out and milk the cow, and jump 
over a five rail fence with the pail full and 
never spill a drop. Needn’t ‘rap;’ wc have 
seen ’em do it” 
To Young Ladies. —In endeavoring to 
avoid everything like display, young ladies 
especially should be careful not to fall into 
the opposite extreme —that of prudery.— 
There is more sincerity, if there be less 
nicety, in the conduct of a really virtuous 
woman than there is in that of a prude; 
and some degree of freedom, so far from 
being incompatible with the strictest virtue, 
is one of its principal privileges. If a lady 
is obliged to receive company en dishabille, 
it is a sign of her good breeding if she ap¬ 
pears perfectly at case, and makes little or 
no apolog'y for her appearance. 
Gratitude for favors shown, is the dis¬ 
tinguishing trait of a truly noble mind. 
