MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
opposed to the union of School and State, 
than to the union of Church and State. 
Let the State fund for the aid of schools 
be apportioned by the State, to the districts 
—then let the schools be managed by their 
patrons alone, and the less interference by 
State, or county officers, or boards of edu¬ 
cation, the better for parents and children, 
and ultimately so, for the State. 
measure. Let its details be so adjusted as to bear 
equally upon all, oppressively upon none. Let 
every discordant element of strife and passion be 
removed from the councils of the districts, let the 
necessary assessment for the great object in view, 
be difFused over the vast aggregate of the wealth 
and property of the State. Then fot teachers, 
worthy of the name, teachers intellectually and 
morally qualified for the discharge of their high and 
responsible duties, dispense the benefits and riches 
of education, equally and impartially, to the eight 
hundred thousand children who annually congre¬ 
gate within the district school room. 
The children of the rich and the poor, the high 
and the low, the native and the foreigner, will then 
participate alike in the inexhaustable treasures of 
intellect, they will commence their career upon a 
footing of equality, under the fostering guardian¬ 
ship of the State, and will gradually ripen into en¬ 
lightened and useful citizens, prepared for all the 
varied duties of life and for the full enjoyment of 
all the blessings incident to humanity. 
CHRISTOPHER MORGAN. 
Superintendent of Common Schools. 
Albany, January 7, 1651. 
BY L. WETHERELL 
LIGHT IN THE DWELLING 
BY JOSHUA WILBER. 
There was a thick darkness in ail the land of Egypt 
three days; they saw not one another, neither rose f’rv 
from his place for three days; but ail the children of Israel 
had light in their dwellings.—[Exodus 10: 22, 23. 
In ancient times, when Israel felt 
The stern oppressor’s cruel rod, 
While all around to idol’s knelt, 
They owned Jehovah as their God. 
And when the Lord, with mighty hand, 
O’er Egypt spread a triple night; 
In Goshen’s highly favored land, 
The chosen people dwelt in light. 
Light in the dwelling still is given 
To those who serve the Lord with fear ; 
A blessed light—a light from heaven,—• 
To guide, to comfort, and to cheer. 
While ’mid the fogs and damps of earth, 
The pilgrim tracks the narrow way; 
A radiance of celestial birth 
Converts the darkness into day. 
My God ! while far from thee I roam, 
In the wild desert’s thorny maze ; 
Give light! give light! to guide me home 
Where thine eternal glories blaze. 
[Western Literary Messenger. 
lion which was not anticipated; but it is believed 
that it has grown out of the defects of the law, rath¬ 
er than from any prevailing hostility to the princi¬ 
ple of free schools. 
No law can be successfully and prosperously ad¬ 
ministered under our government, which does not 
receive the general approval of the people. It is 
the earnest desire, therefore, of the Superintendent, 
that the present law should be so amended as to 
produce greater equality, to remove all reasonable 
ground of complaint, and to render our great system 
of education more efficient and useful. 
The idea of universal education is the grand 
central ideaof the age. Upon the broad and com¬ 
prehensive basis, all the experience of the past, all 
the crowning phenomena of the present, and ail 
our hopes and aspiration for the future, must resL 
Our forefathers have transmitted to us a noble in¬ 
heritance of national, intellectual, moral and reli¬ 
gious freedom. They have confided our destiny as 
a people to our own hands. Upon our individual 
and combined intelligence, virtue and patriotism, 
rest the solution of the great problem of self-gov¬ 
ernment. We ahotffd bo untrue to ourselves, un¬ 
true to the memory of our statesmen aud patriots, 
untrue to the cause of liberty, of civilization and 
humanity, if wo neglected the assiduous cultiva¬ 
tion of those means, by which alone we can secure 
the realization of the hopes we have excited.— 
Tiiose means are the universal education of our 
future citizens , without discrimination. Wherever 
in our midst a human being exists, with capacities 
and faculties to bo developed, improved, cultivated 
aud directed, the avenues of knowledge should be 
freely opened, aud every facility afforded to their 
unrestricted entrance. Ignorance should no more 
bo countenanced than vice and crime. The one 
leads almost inevitably to the other. Banish igno¬ 
rance, and in its stead introduce intelligence, sci¬ 
ence, knowledge, and increasing wisdom and en¬ 
lightenment, and you remove in most cases all 
those incentives to idleness, vice and crime, which 
now produce such a frightful harvest of retribution, 
misery aud wretchedness. Educate every child 
“ to the top of his faculties,” and you not only se¬ 
cure the community against the depredations of the 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE SUPERIN¬ 
TENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 
IIa\ ing light, we seek to impart it. 
NORMAL SCHOOL. 
i) “ This institution is steadily progressing in use- 
\ fulness and popular favor. During the past year 
j a large and commodious edifice has been erected 
) for its use from the funds appropriated for that pur- 
| pose by the Legislature at its last session, and be- 
\ tween four aud five hundred pupils from every 
( section of the State annually avail themselves of 
) the valuable course of instruction there comrnuni- 
I cated. At the expiration of their respective terms 
these pupils, thoroughly prepared for the work of 
instruction,go into the several school districts where 
their services may be required, and, with but few 
exceptions, diligently devote themselves to the busi¬ 
ness of teaching as a permanent profession. It is 
difficult to estimate the value of the services thus 
rendered by this institution in elevating the stand¬ 
ard of qualifications of teachers of our common 
I schools, in diffusing over the entire surface of the 
State a higher appreciation of the work of educa¬ 
tion, and enlisting a deeper feeling in behalf of our 
elementary institutions of learning. The perma¬ 
nent footing on which it is now placed is a matter 
of sincere gratulation to every friend of education.” 
/ Thus speaketh the State Superintendent 
) of Common Schools, in his last annual re- 
> port, concerning the State Normal School, 
( The word normal is from norma, a rule— 
\ relating to rudiments or elements—teaching 
( rudiments or elements. Normal School is 
< a school where the rudiments of an educa- 
| \ tion are taught; also, an attempt is made to 
; teach or to communicate the art of instruct- 
} ing children or others who are desirous of 
being taught 
> Many have had doubts concerning this 
jj attempt to imitate despotic Prussia. An 
;; institution that may be well suited to the 
j / wants of a monarchy, may, for this, if for no 
|) other reason, be ill adapted to a government 
/ like ours. If the schoolmaster be found 
( abroad in a country ruled by a king, the 
J king has only to dictate what shall be taught 
j This being the fact in Prussia, the govern- 
‘ ment at once organized formal Schools for 
■ teachers, so that they might teach what 
\ government allowed and nothing more. 
{ It is true of Normal Schools in our coun¬ 
try, that thus far, they have been nearly 
s powerless either for good or evil. Whether 
they will always remain so, is a matter of 
) doubt That they can never do much good, 
■ is a fact, that will be questioned by few.— 
) That they may be the cause of evil there is 
j reason to fear. 
“ It is difficult to estimate,” says the Su- 
\ perintendent, “the value of the services 
HOW TO MAZE WRITING PLEASURABLE. 
No one should choose a subject to write 
upon, which is at once intricate and imper¬ 
fectly understood by him; since to arrive 
at right conclusions, requires study and a 
due appreciation of the thing under notice. 
If this rule be not pursued the production 
will be frigid and uninviting ; and if it be 
not clear to the mind in its investigation, it 
will be limited by a cold and stupid igno¬ 
rance which kills its vitality. But the mind 
should be clear and comprehending, the 
subject understood through all its ramifica¬ 
tions touching the world, society, passions— 
everything necessary to a full consideration 
of the theme ; then will the composition 
be warm and living, stirring with the spirit- 
genius of its creator. 
“ Thoughts that breathe and words that 
burn,” will glow in every line, and diffuse a 
life of real interest within the heart of the 
reader. No true writer will sit down to 
pen an article when his mind is not prepar 
ed to grasp the extensive, and battle with 
the mysterious, although it is true, one’s 
mind warms with his theme, from the pleas¬ 
ure of writing. Let this be the case, and 
thoughts will come unbidden, bright as the 
noonday’s radiance,—fancy will paint reali¬ 
ty in a coloring of beauty, and all will shine 
before the mind’s vision like glittering stars 
above a sleeping sea. 
The fountain of the soul will flow forth 
with a winning eloquence, and its efferves¬ 
cent nature will mingle with the sweet cor¬ 
uscations of its own spirit-light—ethereali- 
zing and thrilling all things to a life of ma¬ 
jestic beauty and inspiring warmth. It is 
well known that many writers of the pres¬ 
ent day, write because compelled to it by 
obligation. Now it is an indisputable fact 
in the statement; necessity may lead to ac¬ 
tion, but it does not always prove happily 
successful, since it is not attended by a spirit 
of cheerfulness calculated to impart to that 
action a healthful rigor,—and here I have 
particular reference to the exercise of the 
mind. 
In the first place, then, let a desire to 
write, prompt the act; secondly, let a theme 
be chosen that is well understood ; and 
thirdly, give the mind an unchecked sway, 
an independent action, and the composition 
will not be mere abstraction or supposition, 
! but truth will glow in every line, and con¬ 
viction of its propriety, which should be its 
office, will carry power or force to the heart 
The genius of its author will be manifested 
in its nature; coldness or insipidity will find 
no dwelling there, for the whole meaning 
of the writer will be lodged in the warm 
eloquence with which ho will develop the 
importance of his theme. A composition 
of this character pictures a greatness which 
only a lofty mind can feel and know; it adds 
pleasure to profit, or interest to conviction 
of truth,—emblematical or text-worthy of 
the author’s mind, whose animation is 
equal to its happiness, and whose thoughts 
are co-extensive with the theme under con¬ 
templation. W. H. B. 
Royalton, N. Y., 1851. 
288,92 and receives only $16,931,96; the county 
of Kings with a population of 78,691 aud a valua¬ 
tion of about 40,000,000, contributes $47,940,21 
and received only $24,170,83, a diminution of 
nearly one-half; the county of Westchester with a 
population of 47,578 and a valuation of $20,018,- 
964, contributes $24,043,57 and receives only $14- 
613,12; and the counties of Livingston, Ontario 
and Queens, each receive a considerably less 
amount than they contribute. On the other hand, 
every other county in the State, receives an equal 
or a greater amount than it is called upon to con¬ 
tribute. The county of Allegany with a popula¬ 
tion of 40,000 and a valuation of $3,797,486, 
raises $4,567,39 and receives nearly three times 
that amount, or $12,312,25; the county of Che¬ 
nango with a population nearly the same, and a 
valuation of $10,786,131, raises $5,159,22 and re¬ 
ceives $12,265,73; the county of Delaware with a 
population of 37,000 and a valuation of $3,737,810 
raises $4,489,26 and receives $11,361,89; the 
county of Greene with a population of 32,000 and 
a valuation of $2,746,933, raises $3,300,00 aud 
receives $9,815,95; the county of Jefferson with a 
population of 65,000 and a valuation of $7,200,881 
raises $8,648,54, and receives $19,965,17; the 
county of St. Lawrence with a population of 62,- 
354 and a valuation of $3,587,629, raises$4,303,- 
88 and receives $19,152,73, between four and five 
times more than she contributes; the county of 
Schoharie with a population of 32,488 and a valu¬ 
ation of $1,817,804, raises $2,183,25 and receives 
$9,979,06, and excess of nearly five times the 
amount contributed; and the counties of Steuben, 
Tompkins and Ulster, receive from twice to three 
times the amount contributed by each. These dis¬ 
crepancies it is obvious, in a great measure, grow 
out of the existing inequalities in the respective 
standards of valuation adopted in the several coun¬ 
ties; and should the Legislature deem it expedient 
to charge the annual ■support of the schools, over 
and above the revenue of the school fund, upon 
the taxable property of the State, and to retain the 
existing mode of destribution, the necessity of de¬ 
vising some mode by which the standard of valu¬ 
ation should be as nearly as practicable uniform, 
throughout the Stale, will be apparent. If this can 
be «ccomp!ished, or if the distribution of the funds 
raised were directed to bo mudo upon tho same basis 
with the apportionment of the tax, there can be no 
doubt, in the judgment of tho Superintendent, that 
a State tax for the support of our common schools 
will prove the simplest, most efficient and benefi¬ 
cial mode of providing for the object in view; the 
establishment and maintenance of a system of free 
school education, in accordance with expressed 
wishes of the inhabitants of the State. 
If, however, this were found impracticable, the 
same result may be obtained by requiring the board 
of each county of the State to raise twice the 
amount apportioned to the county, as a county tax. 
THE DIGNITY OF LABOR. 
Man in Eden was in a blissful state.— 
Uncalled to toil, he had spread around him 
all that could cheer his heart and render 
existence what God designed it, a state of 
perfect happiness. The sweetest perfumes 
of Nature were wafted on breezes soft as 
the earliest summer zephyr. Everywhere 
grew in profusion the choicest luxuries; and 
if hunger called, Adam had only to reach 
forth and pluck the delicious fruits; or, if he 
sought repose, Nature had spread for him 
a mossy couch beneath some sheltering tree 
overhung with vine-clad drapery, protecting 
from all chilling damps; where with Heaven 
born Innocence to guard him, Man’s great 
progenitor could rest; while cherub Sleep 
poured o’er his soul sweet songs of new¬ 
born bliss. 
But Man forfeited this life of ease; and as 
the angel Innocence with tearful eyes start¬ 
ed from earth to seek her native Heaven, 
Deity pronounced the destiny of Man. 
How simple, yet how full of meaning 
were the words, “ In the sweat of thy face 
shalt thou eat bread ’till thou return to the 
ground. Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt 
thou return.” Man’s history complete.— 
How truly “ in the sweat of his face” hath 
Man eaten his bread since that time. 
But, though a disgrace to Adam, it is not 
so to his children. God commands, and 
encourages labor; and crowns it with all 
those choice blessings which Adam lost by 
his disobedience. 
Yet, there are those who cannot bear a 
breeze that hath fanned a laborer’s brow; 
and affect to despise the occupation in which 
perhaps their fathers made the very wealth 
they now enjoy. Poor unfortunates! The 
laborer pities and tolerates your folly, but 
he knows your dependence upon him for 
almost every comfort of your life. 
The noblest and best of earth’s inhabit¬ 
ants in past ages, have been laborers, 
“ working with their own hands.” Envy 
not, then, the man or woman whose wealth 
amassed by the labors of others, enables 
them to drag out a life of idleness and 
ennui, but remember the laborer has illus¬ 
trious ancestors. Thank God, it is an honor 
to labor. The farmer may sweat at bis axe 
or his sythe,—the mechanic at his bench or 
his anvil—the sailor may mingle his sweat 
with the dashing spray of tempestuous 
ocean,—and when his toil is o’er, can wipe 
of his nature—ever; - capability of his being—and 
you iufuso a new and invigorating element into 
tho very life blood of civilization—an element 
which vvill diffuse itself throughout every vein and 
artery of the social and political system, purifying, 
strengthening and regenerating all its impulses, 
elevating its aspirations, and clothing it with a 
power equal to every demand upon its vast ener¬ 
gies and resources. * 
These are some of the results which mustfollow 
in the train of a wisely matured and judiciously or¬ 
ganized system of universal education. They are 
not imaginary, but sober inductions from well 
authenticated facts—deliberate conclusions from 
established principles, sanctioned by tho concur¬ 
rent testimony of experienced educators and emi¬ 
nent statesmen aud philanthropists. If names are 
needed to enforce the lesson they teach, those of 
Washington, and Franklin, and Hamilton, and 
Jefferson, and Ciihton, with a long array of patriots 
and statemen, may be cited. If facts are required 
to illustrate the connection between ignorance and 
crime, let tho official return of convictions in the 
several courts of the State for the last ten years be 
examined, and the instructive lesson be heeded.— 
Out of nearty 28,000 persons convicted of crime, 
but 128 had enjoyed the benefits of a good common 
school education; 414 only had what the returning 
officers characterize as a “tolerable” share of 
learning; and of tho residue about one half only 
could either read or write. Let similar statistics 
be gathered from the wretched inmates of our poor 
house establishments, and similar results would 
undoubtedly be developed. Is it not therefore in¬ 
comparably better, as a mere prudential question of 
political economy, to provide ample means for the 
education of the whole community, and to bring 
those means within the reach of every child, than 
to impose a much larger tax for the protection of 
that community against the depredations of the 
ignoraut, the idle, and the vicious, and for the sup¬ 
port of the imbecile, the thoughtless, and intem¬ 
perate? 
Every consideration connected with the present 
and future welfare of the community—every’ dictate 
of an enlightened humanity—every impulse of an 
enlarged aud comprehensive spirit of philanthropy 
combine in favor of the adoption of this great prin¬ 
ciple. Public sentiment lias declared in its favor. 
The new States which, within the past few years, 
have been added to the Confederacy, have adopted 
it as the basis of their system of public instruction; 
and the older States, as one by one they’are recon¬ 
structing their fundamental law’s and constitutions, 
are engrafting the same principle- upon their insti- 
j tutions. Shall New York, in this noble enterprise 
of education, retrace her steps? Shall she disap¬ 
point the high hopes and expectations she has 
excited, by receding from the advanced position she 
now occupies in the van of educational improve¬ 
ment? Ker past career, in all those elements■ 
which go to make up the essential wealth and 
greatness of a people, has been one of progress and 
uninterrupted expansion. Her far seeing legisla¬ 
tors and statesmen, uninfluenced by the skepticism 
of the timid, the ignorant, and the faithless, and 
unawed by tho denunciations of the hostile, pros¬ 
ecuted that great work of internal improvement 
which will forever illustrate the pride and glory of 
her political history. Tho rich results of the ex¬ 
periment thus boldly ventured upon have vindicat¬ 
ed their wisdom. Is the development of the intel¬ 
lectual and moral resources of her millions of future 
citizens an object of less interest, demanding a less 
devoted consecration of the energies of her people, 
and worthy of a less firm uncompromising perse¬ 
verance? 
Disregarding the feeling of the present hour, and 
looking only to the future, will the consciousness 
of having laid the foundation for the universal edu¬ 
cation of our people be a less pleasing subject of 
contemplation than that of having aided in replen¬ 
ishing the coffers of their wealth? 
In conclusion, the Superintendent can not feel 
that he has fully met the responsibility devolved 
upon him by his official relations to the schools of 
the State, were he to fail in again urging upon the 
Legislature the definite adoption of this benificent 
Little Opportunities. —Little opportu- < 
nities of doing good are neglected by many l 
who are waiting for an occasion to perform' > 
great acts of charity. But, few have both \ 
the will and the means for deeds of high j 
benevolence, hence none should forget that < 
the cup of cold water was commended and < 
written in Heaven, while the rich man’s > 
The Grave.— How gloomy would be 
the mansions of the dead to him who did 
not know’ that he should never die; that 
what now acts shall continue its agency, and 
what he now thinks, shall think on for ever. 
Those that lie here stretched before us, the 
wise and the powerful of ancient times, 
warn us to remember the shortness of our 
present states: they were perhaps snatched 
away, while they were busy like us in the 
choice of life. To me, the choice of life is 
become less important: I hope hereafter to 
think only on the choice of eternity. 
Good Advice. —All violent exercise 
ought to be refrained from during, at least, 
the active stages of a cold. Everything 
which hurries the breathing, whether walk¬ 
ing fast, ascending an acclivity, or reading 
aloud, has the same effect on diseased lungs 
that motion of the bone has on anfoiflamed 
joint. Many persons hurt them^^Bmuch 
more by the active exercise tlies^P^ie du¬ 
ring a severe cold than by the mere ex¬ 
posure to the weather. A person when 
suffering from a cold may go out for a short 
time, even in an open carriage, more safely 
than on foot 
It is popular now to praise Normal Schools 
—and because it is, these thoughts of ours 
may be ?m-popular—but notwithstanding 
this, we. present them to our readers for 
reflection. We should not be surprised if 
within a few years these schools should be 
suppressed by the State governments that 
have established them. We are no less 
The habit of being always employed is 
a great safeguard through life, as well as 
essential to the culture of almost every 
virtue. 
Treat a child as a brute, and it will be¬ 
come more brutish than a brute; but treat 
it as a rational and moral being, and maturi¬ 
ty will show such a being. 
He who h.is endured evil, knows best < 
what is good. > 
