(E^itjcationai. 
BY L. WETHERELL. 
EARLY EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. 
There are few tilings of more vital im¬ 
portance to tlie human race than the ju¬ 
dicious training of children. Upon the 
earliest mouldings of the infant mind depend 
in no small degree the usefulness and hap¬ 
piness of the man — the foundation is laid 
in childhood—and to the foundation the 
superstructure must be conformed. 
That the present system (if system it can 
be called) of early education is defective, few 
will deny—that it is radically so is equal¬ 
ly 7 true. Nature points out a course of ed¬ 
ucation far different from that commonly 
pursued, and as her teachings are unerring 
they should be heeded. The observing 
faculties are developed long before the re¬ 
flecting, hence arises the inquisitive dispo¬ 
sition and endless question-asking of chil¬ 
dren. This disposition was given them for 
use; they have much to learn and this fac¬ 
ulty is both an incentive to the pursuit of 
knowledge, and a direct means of obtain¬ 
ing it. 
Since nature has bestowed upon the in¬ 
fant mind this spirit of observation and in¬ 
quisitiveness, it is plain that it should be 
encouraged and cultivated. The questions 
of children should be answered and their 
attention directed to whatever will tend to 
increase their knowledge and confer the 
greatest ultimate benefit upon them. But 
i alas! for this method and also for the chil¬ 
dren ; this endless round of question asking 
and answering is a trouble — avast trouble. 
And as soon as possible, they ar<‘ hurried 
away to school—there to “ sit on a bench 
and say A”—to suffer confinement in total 
conflict with the laws, both of their physi¬ 
cal and mental organizations, and to be¬ 
come thoroughly imbued with a deep 
and lasting hatred of books and birch.— 
With this abhorrence instilled into their 
very being, they grow up, and if at last on 
arriving to mature years they should be 
inclined to cultivate the mind it will be, to 
say the least, a marvel. 
Again: from school room confinement 
and improper physical training, result seeds 
of disease, and, unsound in body and un¬ 
regulated in mind, they grow into imbecile 
maturity. It may seem strange, but it is 
nevertheless true, that the majority of the 
diseases and pains which make mankind 
miserable, have their starting point from 
causes laid in childhood. Could the defects 
in early training be remedied—could chil¬ 
dren grow into maturity with sound minds, 
in healthy and vigorous bodies, the results 
to humanity and civilization would be start¬ 
ling; and happiness (the aim of all men, 
and the poet’s theme) would become some¬ 
thing more tangible than a fleeting phan¬ 
tom. 
I would by no means be understood as 
undervaluing our primary school system — 
far from it. I hold it to be one of the 
greatest levers by which the progress of 
the age is effected, and a chief corner-stone 
in the fabric of republicanism. It is not 
the school which I deprecate, but the man¬ 
ner in which it is made use of. Parents 
place too much reliance upon it and consid¬ 
er the whole responsibility of “ bending the 
twig, and inclining the tree,” as transferred 
from themselves to the teacher. And this 
freedom from responsibility is so desirable 
to the majority of mankind, that to obtain 
it, they place their children in school from 
3 to 5 years sooner than it should be done. 
This practice is a tissue of error, for 
many and weighty reasons. The teacher 
can never assume the responsibility of the 
parent; the former lacks the influence over, 
and the sympathy for, the child, which the 
latter should have; neither can he possess 
that constant supervision which it is the 
province of the parent to exercise. The 
mother is the natural preceptress of the 
child, and under her teachings and guid¬ 
ance, it should grow up until at least eight 
years of age—in the course of which pe¬ 
riod she will have ample time and opportu¬ 
nity to store its mind with a fund of useful 
information and also to inculcate sound and 
pure moral principles. 
Nature is the book from which its first 
lessons should be learned. Of trees, plants, 
flowers and animals, it should be taught the 
names and properties. Observation of things 
and knowledge gained thereby, should pre¬ 
cede books, for thus an insatiable desire for 
wisdom will inevitably be created. Gam¬ 
bols in the fields—leaping upon the green¬ 
sward, and rambling through the forest 
will produce symmetry, health and vigor, 
both of body and mind. From such train¬ 
ing a foundation will result upon which no 
mean structure can be erected. 
Commending the subject to wiser minds 
and abler pens, I leave it in the sincere 
hope that it will yet attract the attention 
which its momentuousness demands, and 
that a reformation in the present system of 
early education will be effected at an early 
day. J. g. k. 
West Dresden, N. Y., Sept., 1851. 
CARELESS IMPRESSIONS. 
Much injury is often done by underta¬ 
king to tell what is only imperfectly under¬ 
stood. The blank idea is too often supplied 
by the imagination at the expense of the 
truth. Besides, when a person acquires 
fluency in relating incidents and impressions 
much of which is borrowed from imagi¬ 
nation he becomes less observant of the 
real facts, and too indifferent about the de¬ 
tails, to speak with a proper degree of ex¬ 
actness. 
A mistake illustrating this habit, occurred 
in our school a short time since. The 
teacher inquired of a boy, the title to the 
piece he had just spoken. 
“Perhaps of the 19th Century,” care¬ 
lessly replied the boy. 
“ What 1” inquired the teacher. 
“Perhaps of the 19th Century,” replies 
the boy. 
“ Whatoi the 19th Century?” earnestly 
inquired the teacher. 
“Perhaps, of the 19th Century,” replies 
the boy in clear tones. 
“ No, it cannot be,” says the teacher. 
“ That is what the book says,” rejoins 
the boy. 
“ Is it not, ‘ Paraphrase of the 1 9th 
Psalm.’ ” 
“ May be ’tis,” quietly responded the 
boy, and on examination such proved to be 
the case. 
This “Perhaps of the 19th Century,” is 
a type of quite too many mistakes, which 
are not always as harmless as the one given 
above. l. d. w. 
GOOD SPELLING. 
Eds. Rural: —I ha r e just been reading 
the report of the meeting of the Institute 
of Instruction at Keene, N. II. I am much 
pleased with the remarks of Messrs. IIagar 
and Leonard, but have only time to say 
that my experience confirms the opinion 
there expressed, that the great deficiency 
in our common school teachers is want of 
experience, and the great want of the chil¬ 
dren is proper discipline and right notions 
of order. In education, also, the first and 
most needed requisite is the ability to spell 
correctly. I am satisfied that no bad or blun¬ 
dering speller ever became a good reader, 
and, in my opinion, no blundering reader 
can make that proficiency in his studies he 
otherwise would. Therefore let it be im¬ 
pressed on the mind of every person who 
undertakes the arduous yet pleasing task 
of teaching, that spelling right is the found¬ 
ation of his own success and of his pupils’ 
progress. r. s . r. 
Butternut Hill, N. Y., Sept., 1851. 
NEW PTJBIICATIONS. 
Oi.endorff’s New Method of Learning to read, 
write and speak the French Language: With 
the Lessons divided into sections of a proper 
length for daily tasks, and numerous corrections, 
additions and improvements, suitable for this 
country. By V. Value. To which are added 
Value’s System of French Pronunciation, his 
Grammatical Synopsis, a new index, and short 
Models of Commercial Correspondence. New 
York: D. Appleton & Co. 1851. 
A Key to the exercises of this grammar 
is published in a separate volume. 
This is a well known, and popular text¬ 
book. Its general arrangement is so well 
presented on the title page, which we have 
copied, that not another word need be said. 
For sale at the Bookstore of Wanzer <fe 
Co, near the Arcade, Rochester. 
Harpers’ New Monthly Magazine for 
October, opens with Abbott’s third chap¬ 
ter, illustrated, on Napoleon Bonaparte. 
This number contains, as has its predeces¬ 
sors, a variety of good reading for its mill¬ 
ion of readers. Dewey has it. 
No man is fit to govern great societies 
who hesitates about obliging the few who 
have access to him for the sake of the many 
whom he will never see. 
mm bm 
THE ANGORA GOAT. 
THE ANGORA GOAT. 
The Angora Goat is found in Asia Minor, 
and is distinguished from the European, by 
the greater size cf its ears, though it is only 
a variety of the same species; they mix and 
produce together, even in our climate. The 
males have horns almost as long as the com¬ 
mon goat, but the circumference and direc¬ 
tions are very different, and they are of a 
dazzling white color; they are extended 
horizontally on each side of the head, and 
form spirals, somewhat like a worm. The 
horns of the female are short, and first turn 
round backwards, then bend down, and turn 
round before, so much, that they end near 
the eyes; and in some their circumference 
and direction vary. The male and female 
goat of Angora, which we have seen, are 
such as we have described. These goats, 
like all the animals of Syria, have the hair 
very long and thick, and so fine that stuffs 
have been made of it, almost as handsome 
and glossy as our silks. It is, in fact, what 
is commonly termed mohair. The stuffs 
made from the hair of this goat are known 
by the name of camlet.—Library of Nat. 
History. 
THE TOAD.—(Bufo vulgaris.) 
The toad is a well known animal belong¬ 
ing to the Reptile race, and is classed in 
the order, Batrachia, with frogs, lizards, 
&c. The common toad is about three inch¬ 
es in length, and measures from three to 
five inches around the body. They are 
sometimes nearly black, but generally dark 
brown, and their backs are covered with 
dark, wart-like protuberances. The under 
part of the body is a dirty white, some¬ 
times approaching yellow. The hind legs 
are about three inches long—their fore 
legs one inch. The mouth is large, and 
the tongue two or three inches long, and 
half an inch wide at the end. With it 
they catch their food, consisting of insects 
of various kinds. Their eyes form their 
only handsome feature, and it is really 
such, with its golden iris encircling a beau¬ 
tiful black pupil, peeping from under a 
heavy lid with a mild beam of innocence 
in its glance, winning the admiration of all 
who observe it. 
This animal is torpid in winter. Their 
notes are heard early in spring, and are a 
welcome sound, as announcing the depart¬ 
ure of winter. They lay their eggs the 
latter part of April or first of May, which 
soon hatch into tadpoles. They do not 
ram down, as has been supposed—and as 
is still believed by some, but after under¬ 
going the transformation from the tadpole 
into the toad, leave the water in great 
numbers and seek a home on the land.— 
This most generally occurs after a rain, 
which accounts for the popular idea. 
Notwithstanding the repulsive appear¬ 
ance of the toad, it is not only a harmless 
animal but a very useful one, frequently 
working benefit to those who hate their 
sight and kick them from their paths.— 
They destroy great numbers of flies, bugs 
and other insects—the pests of the garden, 
and never do the least harm. 
—The following true story, shows that 
though grave and sober in appearance and 
demeanor, the toad sometimes becomes a 
toper in habit, and shares a topers fate :— 
Many years ago, when it was quite a gener¬ 
al custom for every farmer to keep a bar¬ 
rel of whiskey in his cellar, (thank God, it 
is not so now) —a toad chanced to make 
his home there as they often do, and hap¬ 
pening to pass the barrel just as a drop 
fell from the faucet, he mistook it for a fly 
and caught it with his long tongue. As it 
did not taste very unpleasant (if he tasted 
it at all) he caught the second and third, 
<fec., until drunk and satisfied he retired to 
recover from his dram. 
Soon after he was seen at the barrel 
again, and the faucet was suffered to leak 
on, to ascertain what his toad-ship would 
do. He caught the drop as before, until 
he had got enough, and then went to his 
corner and turned on his back to sleep off 
the effects. He learned, at the click of the 
door-latch, and the well-known tread of his 
fellow tippler, to arouse and urge his way 
to the barrel for his dram also, till he 
finally became a bloated drunkard, and 
died. m . 
I’enfield N. Y. 1851. 
ANECDOTE OF A DOG. 
A writer in the Boston Journal relates 
the following curious anecdote : 
We have a fine dog of the mastiff breed, 
who takes great interest in all home affairs, 
and he seems to think that the poultry (of 
which we keep a great many) are under 
his especial protection; and woe to the un¬ 
lucky rat, weasel, cat or skunk, who dares 
venture within the precincts of the yard. 
One morning this summer, I was in my 
room, and hearing a commotion in the 
yard, I looked out, and observed a fine 
speckled hen of the Dominique breed in 
great distress, running from a deep earthen 
water jar to the dog, (who was asleep about 
a rod from the jar,) and back again. This 
she repeated two or three times. I saw 
that one of her chicks, [a few days old,] 
had fallen into the jar, and was about going 
to its relief, when the dog sprang up and 
ran to the jar ; he seemed to deliberate for 
a moment, then put his nose deep into the 
jar, and not succeeding in taking the chick¬ 
en out, placed his paw upon the edge of 
the jar and upset it, when the chicken ran 
off and joined the brood, much to the re¬ 
lief of the old hen. The dog, after delib¬ 
erately lapping his paws, quietly returned 
to his nap : and I, thinking that such 
“instinct” was worth recording, wrote it 
down at the time in my diary ; and you 
may, if you please, give it to your readers- 
FISHING OTTERS. 
The Otter is a very expert fisherman, and 
a writer remarks that it seems strange they 
should not have been more frequently- 
caught, and made, subservient to man’s 
pleasure. Bewick relates, that Mr. James 
Campbell, an Englishman, possessed a young 
one, which had been trained by him with 
such success to catch fish that, in a single 
day it would sometimes take ten salmon.— 
When wearied with its hunt, it would de¬ 
cline further exertion, and receive its re¬ 
ward in an ample repast on the fish it had 
taken, and fall almost instantaneously asleep, 
being generally conveyed home in that 
state. It would fish in the sea as well as 
in the rivers. 
The late Bishop Heber noticed in India, 
a number of otters tethered by long strings 
to bamboo stakes on the water’s edge, and 
was informed that it was customary to keep 
them tame in consequence of their utility 
in driving the shoals of fish into the nets, 
as well as bringing out the larger fish with 
their teeth. Those Bishop Heber saw were 
almost as tame as dogs, and were enjoying 
themselves, some in swimming about, as far 
as their strings would admit—others in 
rolling and basking on the sunny bank.— 
Hunting otters was quite common in old 
times, in Scotland. Talking of hunting, it 
is a healthful exercise, and people who in¬ 
dulge in it are generally strong and rugged. 
A REMARKABLE FACT- 
The sea-birds, the puffin, guillemot, and 
the razor-bill, cannot fly over the land at all, 
although they can rise from the surface of 
the sea with equal facility, and amount to an 
indefinite height, fly with amazing rapidity 
so long as the sea is immediately beneath 
them, but no sooner do they fly above dry 
ground than they drop as if shot. During 
a strong wind from the sea, it not unfre- 
quently happens that these birds, in mount¬ 
ing higher than the edge of the cliff, are 
suddenly blown a few yards over land, 
when they immediately fall, and can regain 
their natural element only by crawling to 
the edge of the precipice, when new vigor 
seems to inspire them, and they at once 
soar away with their usual velocity. 
For the Rural New-Yorker. 
THE DIADEM OF LIFE. 
A simplf. thought of casual birth 
Made light my heart with influence sweet, 
As down I bent the busy street, 
Now wrapt in gloom—now lit with mirth. 
Where shines the brightest gem of Time 1 
Where is the “ silken down” of soul ? 
Lies it beneath a hidden shoal ? 
And what the name, and where the clime ? 
1 ask’d of fashions gay gallant, 
He cast a look to shame akin: 
“ The eyes that light yon hall within— 
Ah, these arc they my heart enchant 1” 
I ask’d an honest laborer where, 
As deep he press’d th’ unwearied spade, 
He smiled—a cot was in the glade— 
And pointing, whisper’d: “ Health and there !” 
Silent upon the couch of death, 
The soul whose hope is Heav’n replied: 
“ To live with Him, my Heav’nly Guide, 
And bless Him with my latest breath.” 
There are who seek o’er earth and seas; 
There are who find their gems above: 
Those find a transient joy and love, 
Eternal founts of pleasure, these. 
And so methouglit each had a gem 
He deem’d the brightest pearl of Time, 
’Tis sought and found in every clime— 
On Earth in Ileav’n—a diadem. 
Caledonia, N. Y. J. II. McNauohton. 
PURIFIED AFFECTIONS. 
There is something inexpressibly beau¬ 
tiful in the manifestation of the affections 
which spring up and flow forth from the 
better feelings of our nature—in those 
traits of holy feeling which prompt a moth¬ 
er’s love, in the confiding spirit of the child 
toward its parents and chosen playmates, 
and in the influence of that passion which 
incites to harmonious union of soul with 
soul. There is something holy in the trust¬ 
ing confidence of woman’s love,—some¬ 
thing unfathomable in the depth and ex¬ 
tent of her influence in the world. The 
music of an angel’s song dwells in her gentle 
tones of affection, with a power to win from 
wrong and sin —to incite the noblest oour- 
age, and prompt the highest resolves. 
Cherish then the spirit of kindly affec¬ 
tion. Let the love of childhood find a re¬ 
turn, never repulsing the confiding tender¬ 
ness every child displays when surround¬ 
ed by kindly influences. Remember how 
much of the joy of life flows from the sym¬ 
pathetic mingling of congenial spirits, and 
seek to bind such to you closer and closer 
with the golden links of affection’s easy 
bondage. 
You who declaim so bitterly against the 
evils of worldly existence, and the wicked¬ 
ness of your brother men, could you but 
discern the beauty and harmony which now 
reigns around you unheeded, its power to 
make you happy unemployed —or would 
you call forth from the chambers of mem¬ 
ory some treasured joy, or dream of happi¬ 
ness known in other years, or rekindle some 
strong emotion, which has given sunlight 
to your path, methinks you would oftener 
thank Heaven for those blessings shared 
and possessed, and cease to desire what 
your unthankfulness places above your de¬ 
serts. 
The heaven-born gift of prayer is yours. 
How sweet amid the cares and trials of life 
to turn from the fickleness of friends—the 
evils of poverty, or the pains of sickness 
to that unchanging and steadfast Friend 
who heedeth the cry of supplication, and 
noteth every occurrence—even “ the spar¬ 
rows fall.” To Him we can pour out the 
sorrows which oppress our hearts, and re¬ 
ceive in return His sympathy, and the 
knowledge that He careth for our welfare. 
Oh ! at such times we feel as though an¬ 
gels were ascending and descending, bear¬ 
ing unto God the burden of our suffering 
and our sorrow, and bringing down from 
his blessed Home above, messages of joy 
and love, the strength and consolation of 
our wearied soul. Mattie. 
Trumansburgh, N, Y- 1851. 
True generosity rises above the ordina¬ 
ry rules of social conduct, and flows with 
much too full a stream to be comprehend¬ 
ed within the precise marks of formal pre¬ 
cepts. It sacrifices every passion, and adds 
grace to every acquisition of the soul; and 
if it not necessarily includes, at least it re¬ 
flects, a lustre upon 'the whole circle of 
moral and intellectual qualities. 
It was among the loveliest customs of 
the ancients to bury the young at morning 
twilight; for as they strove to give the soft¬ 
est interpretation to death, so they imagined 
that Aurora, who loved the young, had 
stolen them to her embrace. 
Do good with what thou hast, or it will 
do thee no good. 
