MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
380 
! 
ill 
dtotational Itiiartment. 
BY L. WETHEIIELL. 
PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER 
DIFFCULTIES. 
We noticed in the last number of the 
Rural some of the difficulties under which 
many of the children and yOuth of farming 
communities seem to labor. These difficul¬ 
ties are not confined exclusively to rural 
districts. They are common to all classes 
of laborers throughout our happy land.— 
Yet, notwithstanding the difficulties which 
obstruct the pathway to eminence, multi¬ 
tudes in our land, as in other civilized coun¬ 
tries, haa’e risen to the highest offices of 
trust and honor. 
Of this class we have in our own State, 
to say nothing of. the other States of the 
Republican family, a noble representation. 
Martin Van Buissn, Millard Fillmore, 
WTlliam C..Bouck, John Young, and oth¬ 
ers, whose names will be suggested to the 
mind of the reader, when boys, enjoyed no 
better school privileges than Avefe enjoyed 
by nearly all the boys within the State pri¬ 
or to the late new school law. N’o better 
school advantages—no, the persons here 
named did not enjoy as good privileges as 
the State, with the co-operation of the citi¬ 
zens, provided for all the children during 
the last ten years under the old school law. 
The. average length of the schools was eight 
months—a longer average time than the 
common schools were kept open in any oth¬ 
er State in the Union, not excepting Massa¬ 
chusetts. 
We do not mean to be understood that 
the persons here named gained their emi¬ 
nence without knowledge—without mental 
discipline—without superior intellectual cul¬ 
ture—but as examj)les of men, some of 
whonj have attained the pinnacle of State 
and National fame, with no better advan¬ 
tages, when boys, to aid them in overcom¬ 
ing the difficulties and obstacles which ob¬ 
struct the patlnvay to eminence, than are 
enjo 3 ’-ed by nearly every farmer’s and me¬ 
chanic’s son in the Eastern and Middle 
States. 
We have alluded to the names of a few 
individuals who have distinguished them¬ 
selves as statesmen. We might allude to 
individuals engaged in other pursuits, who 
have also arisen to distinction. But these 
examples furnish ample demonstration of 
our position—to wit., that no young man of 
ordinary capacity neM say that the avenues 
to honor and usefulness are closed against 
him. There may be difficulties and obsta¬ 
cles in your way, but they are not insur¬ 
mountable. Resolve to overcome them— 
and effort, combined Avith industry and per¬ 
severance, will crown your labors Avith suc¬ 
cess. This is the language of history and 
observation. 
Edmund Stone, an Englishman, furnish¬ 
es an example of a self-taught man, so far 
as any one Avho uses books can be said to 
be self-taught, Avorthy of imitation. He 
was a celebrated mathematician. E dmund, 
when a boy, was employed by the Duke of 
Argyle as gardener. The Duke, one day, 
when Avalking in his garden, discovered a 
Latin copy of NcAvton’s “Principia” lying- 
on the grass, and thinking that it had been 
brought from his library, told some one to 
put it in its place. As the narrative pro¬ 
ceeds, Edmund, Avho was then in his 18th 
year, claimed the book as his OAvn.— 
“Yours?” said the Duke, “Do you under¬ 
stand Geometry, Latin and Newton?” “ I 
know a little of them,” said Edmund. This 
surprised the Duke who immediately en¬ 
tered into conversation with the young- 
mathematician. After satisfying himself of 
the accuracy of the boy’s knoAvledge, he 
inquired hoAV he came by his knoAvledge ? 
Edmund replied, “A servant taught me 
ten years since to read. Does any one 
need knOAV any thing more than the twen¬ 
ty-four letters, in order to learn every thing- 
else that one wishes?” The Duke’s curi¬ 
osity was now so increased that he request¬ 
ed a detail of the process by Avhich the boy- 
had become so learned. 
“ I first learned to readi” said Edmund ; 
“ the masons were then at work upon your 
house. I approached them one day, and 
observed that the architect used a rule and 
compass, and, that he made calculations. I 
inquired what might be the meaning- and 
use of these things, and was informed that 
there is a science called arithmetic. I 
purchased an arithmetic and learned it.— 
On being told that there was another sci¬ 
ence called geometry, I bought the neces¬ 
sary books, and learned geometry. By 
reading, I found that there Avere good books 
in these two sciences in Latin; I bought a 
Latin dictionary and learned Latin. I un¬ 
derstood, also, that there were good books 
of the same kind in French; I bought a 
dictionary and learned French. And this, 
my lord, is what I have done; it seems to 
me that we may learn every thing, when we 
know the twenty-four letters of the al¬ 
phabet.”. 
Let no young person, then, despair of 
obtaining knowledge. Who has not in his 
possession young- Edmund’s key? Then, 
like him, unlock the storehouse of knowl¬ 
edge and seize upon its treasures and bear 
them along Avith you through life. They 
will give you honor in life, and cause you 
to be remembered when dead. 
PROFANITY. 
Profanity is as Avicked as uselsss. Pro¬ 
fane SAvearing confirms no man’s word. He 
Avho seeks to establish or confirm his veraci¬ 
ty by adding profane oaths to his assertions 
is almost sure of being disbelieved. It is 
vulgar to SAvear. It destroys self-respect. 
“ Maintain your rank: vulgarity de.spise: 
To swear is neither brave, polite, nor wise.” 
The following letter addressed to a Town 
Superintendent of Schools by the State 
Superintendent, sets before the reader the 
vieAvs of the head of the school department 
on the subject of profanity. It is none the 
Avorse for age: 
Secretary of State’s Office, ) 
Alrany, July 21, 1848. j 
Sir:— You desire to know Avhether ha¬ 
bitual profanity should be regarded a dis¬ 
qualification in persons presenting them¬ 
selves as candidates for school teachers. 
Among, the qualifications required for a 
school teacher, a good moral character is 
not the least important. He may be a pro¬ 
ficient scholar, and may possess undoubted 
ability to .impart instruction Avith success, 
but if his instruction is immoral in its ten- 
denej^, it is AVorse than ignorance. 
Profanity is not less a violation of moral¬ 
ity than falsehood, drunkenness, or theft.— 
It begets a recklessness of thought and ac- 
tion—a moral vacuum where eA'ery vice 
may find a sure receptacle, and in tender 
youth—a person entrusted with their char¬ 
acter, their prospects and their usefulness 
—it should not and cannot be alloAved. 
Your refusal to grant certificates to teach¬ 
ers Avho are addicted to habitual profanity, 
is therefore, in strict accordance with the 
rules of this Department, and meets my ap¬ 
probation. Christopher Morgan, 
Sup’t Common Schools. 
Mr. C. D. Keater, Town Sup’t. 
PRIMARY EDUCATION. 
Not long ago we conversed, in traveling 
with a lady, who at one period of her life 
had taught a class of young- girls, as many 
New England Avoman of high connections 
and comfortable circumstances think it no 
disgrace to do. “ Were I dying,” said she, 
“ and recalling- which act of all my life might 
have been ‘ doing good unto others,’ I 
should dwell only on that little time when the 
formation of the character of those j’^oung 
creatures Avas in my hands. I did try to 
educate their hearts as well as their minds, 
and I have been amply rewarded by the 
result.” 
And so much depends on those to Avhom 
this trust is given; more, as has been said a 
thousand times, than on any other associa¬ 
tion in life. There is the gentle encourage¬ 
ment, the leading into a right path Avhen 
the footstep slides, the reAvard of commen¬ 
dation, the reproof for carelessness and neg¬ 
lect, all that tell not only upon the present, 
but the future advancement of the pupil. 
But AYe are too apt to think it is no mat¬ 
ter Avith whom a child lays the foundation 
of the knowledge Avhich is to be the key of 
life to him; we look only for the verbal prep¬ 
aration necessary for entrance to our colle¬ 
giate institutions, or let them loiter over an 
unstable groundwork on which is to be reared 
a structure of brilliant accomplishments.— 
And this is all wrong. False views of life 
may be springing- up, bad habits of applica¬ 
tion, or rather a Avant of it indulged, and 
Avorse than all, bad principles to be acted 
upon unchecked, until they shall rule with 
a rod of iron in after years. 
Let a child U4derstand in the first place, 
that he studies not “ to please father,” or 
to get at the head of the class, but because 
knowledge is a gradual ascent, and if one 
step is missed, the climbing will be retard¬ 
ed; that happiness in this life and the next 
depends greatly upon it, and self respect 
will thus be cultivated, to act ever after as 
the key note of all social or domestic har¬ 
mony. It is folly to urge to a lengthened 
task, to seek to accomplish more than the 
child is -filling- to do. But let every step be 
cautious and Avell placed, and if very little 
ground is passed over, no parent of judg¬ 
ment or good sense will find fault Avith the 
slow but sure advance.—-P/wYa. Gaz. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
Manual of Mineralogy.— Including Observations 
on Mines, Rocks, Reduction of Ores and the ap¬ 
plication of the Science to the Arts. With 2G0 
Illustrations. Designed for the use of Schools 
and Colleges. Bynames D. Dana, A. M., Mem¬ 
ber of the Soc. Ca-s. Natural Cur. of Moscow, the 
Soc. Philomathique of Paris, the American Acad¬ 
emy of Arts and Sciences at Boston, etc.; Au¬ 
thor of “A System of Mineralogy.” Second edi¬ 
tion. New Haven : Durrie & Peck. 1850. 
This is a fine duodecimo volume of 418 
pages. The author has the reputation of 
being one of the best, if not*the very best, 
mineralogist now litfing. The book is such 
an one as we might expect from an author 
of the learning and reputation of James D. 
Dana. 
The author discusses the General Charac¬ 
teristics of Minerals—their Structure—their 
Physical and Chemical Properties—their 
Classification—their Description—Rocks or 
Mineral Aggregates. He presents a cata¬ 
logue of American Localities of minerals, di¬ 
recting the tourist where he may find good 
specimens of the differeht kinds—a notice 
of Foreign Mining Regions—Mineralogical 
Implements—Weights, Measures and Coins 
—Tables for the 'Determination of Minerals^ 
The book contains an Index and Glossary of 
Terms. We Qommend this Manual to all 
who desire to acquaint themselves with the 
important and useful Science of Mineralogy. 
For sale at Darrow’s, Main st., bookstore. 
We extract from the above work the fol- 
loAving ansAver 'to the question, 
WHAT IS A mineral. 
It has been remarked that Mineralogy, 
the third branch of Natural History, em¬ 
braces every thing- in nature that has not 
life. Is, then, every different thing not re¬ 
sulting- from life, a mineral? Are earth, 
clay, and all stones, minerals ? Is water a 
mineral ? 
All the materials here alluded to proper¬ 
ly belong to the mineral kingdom. The 
minute grains AA'hich make up a bank of 
clay or earth, are all minerals, and if their 
characters could be accurately ascertained, 
each might be referred to some mineral 
species. It is evident, hoAvcver, that the 
clay itself, unless the grains are all of one 
kind, is not a distinct species, though mineral 
in composition: it is a compound mass or an 
^-gregate of different mineral grains; and 
this is true of all ordinary soil and earth.— 
In the same manner very many rocks are 
aggregates of tAvo or more minerals in inti¬ 
mate union. Mineralogy distinguishes the 
species, and enables us to point-out the in¬ 
gredients AA'hicli are mixed in the constitu¬ 
tion of such rocks. It searches for speci¬ 
mens that are pure and undisguised, ascer¬ 
tains their qualities and their varieties and 
thus prepares the mind to recognize them 
under Avhatever circumstances they may 
occur. Water has no qualities Avhich should 
separate it from the mineral kingdom. All 
bodies have their temperature of fusion; lead 
melts at 012 ® F.; -water at 32 ° ; mercury 
at 39 ° . No difference therefore of this 
kind can limit the mineral kingdom. Ice is 
as properly a rock as limestone; and Avere 
the temperature of our globe but a little 
lower than it is, we should rarely see Avater 
except in solid crystal-like masses or layers. 
Our atmosphere, and all gases occuring in 
nature belong for the same reason to the 
mineral kingdom. SeA’eral of the gases have 
been solidified, and we cannot doubt that at 
some specific temperature Qach might be 
made solid. We cannot therefore exclude 
any substance from the class of mineral be¬ 
cause at the ordinary temperature it is a 
gas or liquid. QuicksihTr Avith such a rule 
would be excluded as Avell as Avater. 
A mineral, then, is any substance in na¬ 
ture not organized by vitality, and having 
a homogeneous strxicture. The first, limita¬ 
tion here stated—not organized by vitality 
—excludes all living structures, or such as 
'have resulted from vital poAvers; and the 
second — a homogeneous structure — ex¬ 
cludes all mixtures or aggregates. The dif¬ 
ferent spars, gems and ores are minerals, 
while granite rock, slate, clay, and the like 
are mineral aggregates. This compound 
character is apparent to the eye in granite, 
for there is no difficulty' in picldng out from 
the mass a shining scaly mineral, (mica,) 
and Avith more attention, semi-opaque whitish 
or reddish particles (feldspar,) will be easily 
distinguished from others (quartz,) that have 
a glass}’ appearance. 
The farmer Avith “ Dana’s Manual of Min¬ 
eralogy” can make himself acquainted Avith 
the names of the rocks which are common 
upon his farm—also, Avith other mineral 
substances. A little effort made in this way 
will make a person acquainted Avith the more 
common minerals. 
Empty Minds. —Some men do wisely to 
counterfeit a reservedness, to keep their 
chests always locked, not for fear any one 
should steal treasure thence, but lest some 
one should look in and see, that there is 
nothing Avithin.— Fuller. 
One of the sublimest things in the Avorld 
is plain truth !— Bulwer, 
- Jlntiital liatori]. 
THE CARDINAL GROSBEAK. 
(Loxia cardinaUs, Lin. ) 
The cardinal grosbeak is one of -our most 
common cage birds, and is very generally 
known both in America and Europe. Num¬ 
bers of these have been carried over to 
France and England, in Avhich last country 
they are called Virginia nightingales. They 
have great clearness and variety of tones; 
many of them resemble the clear notes of 
a fife, and are nearly as loud. They begin 
in the spring at the first appearance of daAvn, 
and repeat a favorite stanza or passage, 
twenty or thirty times. His sprightly fig¬ 
ure and gaudy plumage, his vivacity, 
strength of voice, and the little expense Avith 
which he is kept, will always make him a 
favorite. 
This species inhabits America from Ncav 
England to Carthagena. In the Southern 
States they are the most numerous. They 
love to reside in the vicinity of fields of corn, 
a grain that constitutes their chief and fa¬ 
vorite food. The seeds of apples, cherries, 
and many other sorts of fruit, are eaten by 
them; and they are accused of destroying- 
bees. They build their nests in a holly, ce¬ 
dar, or laurel bush. It is constructed of 
twigs and Aveeds. They are hardy birds, 
easily kept, sing six or eight .months in the 
year, and are most lively in Avet Aveather.— 
They are known by the names of red-bird, 
Virginia red-bird^ Virginia nightingale, and 
crested red-bird. 
The others of this genus in the United 
States arc the pine grosbeak, the blue gros¬ 
beak, the rose-breasted grosbeak, the eve¬ 
ning grosbeak, and the spotted grosbeak. 
A CURIOUS FACT. 
Thk crocodile, in feeding on the banks of 
the Nile, or in basking- in the sun, is very 
much annoyed by Avhat Herodotus calls 
bdella. The inside of his mouth is lined 
Avith them. All birds, one alone excepted, 
fly from the crocodile; but that bird, the 
trochilos, on the contrary, flies to him Avith 
eagerness, and renders him a great service; 
for every time the crocodile lands to rest 
himself, and stretches himself out, with open 
jaws, the trochilos enters his mouth, which 
it clears of the bdella it finds there. The 
crocodile is grateful, and never does any 
injury to this little bird, from which it re¬ 
ceives so good an office. This was, till re¬ 
cently, discredited as a fiction of Aristotle 
and Pliny, but recent inquiries establish the 
fact. The term bdella does not signify a 
leech, as was supposed, but is a kind of 
gnat, myriads of Avhich insect swarm on the 
banks of the Nile. These insects strike their 
trunks into the orifices of the glands Avhich 
abound in the mouth of the crocodile, and 
its tongue being- immovable, he cannot get 
rid of them. It is then that the trochilos, 
a kind of little ring-plover which pursues 
the gnats everywhere, hastens to his relief 
and dislodges his troublesome enemies, and • 
that Avithout any danger to itself; the croc¬ 
odile always taking care, Avhen he is about' 
to shut his mouth, to make certain move¬ 
ments which Avarn the bird to fly aAvav. 
"Wonderful Sagacity of a Horse.— 
The following incident is related by the 
Long Point (Canada) Advocate: A few 
days since, as Ave w'cre leaving our residence 
on our usual visit to the Advocate office, a 
■ sorrel horse belonging- to us, galloped up 
and caught our arm, and made an attempt 
to pull us in the direction he Avished to go.- 
He then left and Avent oft’ at a quick gait 
towards a pasture near our residence. In 
a fcAV minutes he approached us again, mak¬ 
ing- an unusual noise, and seemed by his 
actions to desire us to follow him. This Ave 
did, and when we reached the pasture Ave 
obs.rvcd t ie mate of the horse entangled 
in a bridge Avhich had broken through Avith 
him. After we had extricated his compan¬ 
ion from his dangerous position, the horse 
which had given us notice of his compan¬ 
ion’s danger, came up and rubbed his head 
against us, showing evident signs of great 
satisfiiction. 
The design of language is to give ex¬ 
pression to thought—that style of writing, 
therefore, must necessarily be the best 
which most rapidly, clearly, and perfectly 
conveys to the reader’s mind Avhat the Avri- 
ter intended he should understand 
iUtibai] Htnbing. 
DEATH AND IMMORTALITY. 
The folloAV'ing beautiful extract is from 
Giles’ new work, “ Christian Thoughts on 
Life,” published by Ticknor & Co., of Bos¬ 
ton. Like the author’s writing generally, it 
is replete with healthy sentiment and great 
thought, elegantly expressed: 
Death is certain, and is silent. We walk 
upon a grave, and the clay of mouldering 
generations on Avhich we tread has neither 
sound nor voice. Our hearts are hoav ac¬ 
tive with many desires; ere long their 
chords will melt into ashes. We enter into 
a festive room, bridal, or baptismal; faces 
are glad, and lights are brilliant; but soon 
these faces will vanish from earth, even as 
the lights die upon the finished banquet. 
. The sublimest spectacles the world offers, 
are men in their thousands and their might. 
Grand, though with melancholy grandeur, 
is an army wdth banners, an array of mar¬ 
tial manhood in its courage and its prime, 
treading to the note that pierces the ear, 
and that swells the heart; yet, in the most 
potent host Avhich the sun ever saw collect¬ 
ed, he Avould not. have accomplished many 
rcA'olutions, Avhen there would be few ears 
to listen and fcAv hearts to bound. 
Death is silent. In the city, Avhile men 
are braAvling and busj^ in the croAvded street, 
death is entering the secret chambers, and 
friends sit pallid by the couches of the 
breathless, or love is drinking in the sigh 
which bears the soul to heaven. Death is 
silent: those whose very looks spoke to us 
in life, pass from our sight as the shadow 
from the dial, and the music of their words 
become sad echoes in the distance of our 
memory. Death is silent Living hatred 
thunders in the strife of war, but Avhen the 
contest is over. Death, grim and speechless, 
is the monarch of the field. Death is si¬ 
lent Tempests shriek madly upon the 
ocean, and many are they who sink with 
this requiem into their fathomless grave; 
but from the depths of that sublime sepul¬ 
chre, no sound comes back to tell of those 
who perished. Death is silent, yet not so 
entirely: silent it is to tluj ear, but not al- 
Avays to the heart; our brethren are still 
bound to us, though dead, they have not 
ceased to be. There is much to be felt and 
learned Avhere'they rest. ' 
Humility has instruction from the proud 
man’s monument, and content a lesson from 
the vanity that overlies his clay. There is 
pathos in the solitude AA-here the stranger 
sleeps; there is mute eloquence on his un¬ 
lettered grave; there is beauty in the poor 
man’s epitaph, inscribed honestly by aft’ec-: 
tion;-there is sublimity in the rude sculp¬ 
ture of the peasant’s tomb, when it is the 
effort to symbolize an immortal faith. And 
it is such faith Avhich takes terror from the 
power of death, and despair from the silence 
of the grave. There is that in us Avhich is 
not all clay. That which belongs to earth, 
must go to earth, but Avhen the earth claims 
and gets back its atoms, God gathers up and 
calls home his spirits. 
More prolific is the Creative Power in 
minds than in matter, and the universe is 
more filled Avith souls than with AA-orlds.— 
Within every human form there is an exist¬ 
ence destined for eternal relations and eter¬ 
nal progress. While my senses rest upon 
the mortal, my faith tells me of the immor¬ 
tal. If I lean over the couch of my last 
earthly friend, I may Aveep, but I Avill not 
despair. If I see the aged fall in the ripe¬ 
ness of their years, and the young cut down 
in the fullness of their prime, I shall con¬ 
sider the diff'erence nothing in the birth of 
endless being. . When I behold the man of 
great and developed poAvers levelled Avitli 
the least of his brethren, the speculation of 
a godlike reason extinguished in the eye, 
the ecstacy of a sublime imagination palsied 
in the breast. I do not lose my confidence; 
I am persuaded of a sphere beyond the 
present, Avhere his reason may seek for loftier 
truth, and this imagination steep itself in di¬ 
vine bcautjL 
LIFE’S SECOND MORNING. 
^ There are not many more beautiful lines 
in-the English language, there are certain¬ 
ly none so beautiful in the Avritings of their 
author, as those of Mrs. Barbauld, which 
the poet Rogers is fond of repeating to his 
friends, in his fine deliberate manner, with 
just enough of tremulousness in that grave 
voice of his, to give his recitation the effect 
of deep feeling. 
“ Life 1 we’ve been long together, 
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather. 
’Tis hard to part when friends are dear, 
Perhaps ’twill cost a sigh, a tear. 
Then steal away, give little warning, 
Cl'ooso thine own time ; 
Say not good niglit, but, in some happier clime. 
Bid me good morning.” 
It makes'the thought of. Death cheerful 
to represent it thus, as Life looking in upon 
you Avilh a glad greeting, amidst fresh airs 
and glorious light. The lines I infer were 
Avritten by Mi's. Barbauld in her old age, 
and I do not Avonder that the aged poet, 
Avho some yeara since entered upon the tifth 
score of his years, should find them haunt¬ 
ing his memory.— Bryant. 
The envious love nothing but the dead, 
and them they only pardon. 
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