* 
MARCH 15. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
89 
frucatut. 
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN CANADA. 
A few weeks since, we gave some interesting 
statistics extracted from the report of the Su¬ 
perintendent of Schools of Upper Canada, re¬ 
cently published, promising in a future number 
to pursue the subject further. 
The whole number of school houses in Upper 
Canada, as reported in 1854, was 3,172, of which 
169 were brick, 168 stone, 1,306 frame, 1,496 log, 
and 33 not reported ; increase during the year, 
ef 39 of the first class, 53 of the second, and 52 
of the third. The total number of students in 
the Normal School, for the year 1854, was 121 ; 
of whom 52 were males and 69 females. The 
whole number of applicants who have been ad¬ 
mitted to receive instruction since its com¬ 
mencement in 1847 to 1854, is 1,476, or about 
200 per annum. Of these 929 were males and 
547 females. 
The whole number of pupils attending the 
nine Colleges of the Province was 806 ; the 
nineteen Academies 866; the private schools 
4,607, and all the educational institutions, both 
public and private, 214,734; an increase over 
the year 1853 of 11,581 ; the aggregate of the 
yearly legislative aid in favor of the public 
schools amounted to £39,254 12s. 8d., and the 
local equivalent to £40,598 2s. 5d. 4.his is in¬ 
dependent of the large sums contributed by the 
people themselves through the trustee corpora¬ 
tions, amounting to £133,132 12s 7d„ or a total 
sum of £173,730 15s. 0d., contributed from lo¬ 
cal sources; making a grand aggregate of £212,- 
985 7s. 8d. expended in 1854, for the mainte¬ 
nance and support of the Grammar and Com¬ 
mon Schools of Upper Canada. 
Considerable feeling has been manifested in 
reference to the question of religious instruc¬ 
tion. The element of Roman Catholicism in¬ 
termingling with the various Protestant sects, 
more extensively than with us, has presented a 
rather formidable front of opposition to lay in¬ 
struction and Bible interpretation. I he follow¬ 
ing is the clause in the Provincial law upon 
this subject: 
As Christianity is the basis of our whole sys¬ 
tem of elementary education, that principle 
should pervade it throughout. The common 
school act of 1850, fourteenth section, securing 
individual rights, as well as recognizing Chris¬ 
tianity, provides, “ That in any model or com¬ 
mon school established under this act, no child 
shall be required to read or study in or from any 
religious book, or to join in any excicise of oe- 
votion or religion, which shall be objected to by 
his or her parents or guardians : Provided al¬ 
ways, that within, this limitation, pupils shall 
be "allowed to receive such religious instruction 
as their parents or guardians shall desire, ac¬ 
cording to the general regulations which shall 
be provided according to law.” 
The Council of Public Instruction have, on 
the strength of this statute, declared that reli¬ 
gious instruction is recognized within certain 
limits of restriction, and they have therefore 
adopted and recommended a form of prayer for 
opening and closing the schools, together with 
the reading of a portion of the Scriptures.— 
They further recommend that the Ten Com¬ 
mandments be repeated at least once a week, 
but that no pupil shall be required to attend 
against the wishes of his parents or guardian 
expressed in writing. 
We may give to our readers hereafter the 
form of these prayers. 
HIS SEAT WAS VACANT. 
“ ’Tis sweet in cliildhood, to give back 
The spirit to its maker : ere the heart 
Has grown familiar with the scenes of sin, 
And sown, to garner up its bitter fruit.” 
Four short weeks passed by, and when we 
again assembled in our pleasant little school 
room, the scat of one was vacant. AY e could no 
longer claim him as ours, as one of our number, 
for he was gone far away to that better land 
where the great Teacher careth for the little 
ones of the flock. But a few short years had 
the dear one enjoyed of life, when he was call¬ 
ed from childhood’s sports and schoolmates 
dear, to seek his chamber, there to lay down 
and die. 
But the summons came without fear to his 
soul. His “ bed of death” he shrank not from, 
but he counted well the cost. His burning fe¬ 
ver and racking pains he endured with the 
same mildness and resignation so peculiar to 
his nature. 
He anticipated not recovery, but only sought 
that sweet release from pain, that enduring rest 
with his Heavenly Father. YVhen, from excru¬ 
ciating pains,reason was dethroned, his thoughts 
still wandered to his school room, and the name 
of teacher and schoolmates, was often on his 
lips. Hope did at times fill the hearts of pa¬ 
rents and friends, that he might still be spared, 
but disease performed its work on that frail 
form, and as the first leaves of autumn were 
strewed upon the ground, he was carried to the 
place appointed for all the living; the grave 
received its own. The snows of winter now 
rest upon Ins lowly bed, and the winds in sad¬ 
ness sing his requiem. 
But a whisper of hope even now arises, a 
sweet promise of the future. So sure as the 
earth shall put on its mantle of green and live 
again in beauty, so sure shall he live again, a 
life of never-ending blessedness, we trust, “For 
of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” 
Fellow-teachers ! do we, can we measure our 
responsibilities ? Do we, first of all, seek for 
those committed to our care, “ the pearl of great 
price,” even “ life-everlasting ?”—C., in Com. 
School Journal. 
THE NEW SPEAKER. 
a bin Hi iJuKiup. 
MONPFAfSIR, AT PET PR HOFF. 
PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 
The intelligent educator of youth will con¬ 
sider the meie acquisition of information by his 
pupils as a secondary thing. The training of 
the intellectual faculties is best secured by the 
exercise of mind. A comprehensiveness 
pure 
of grasp, a clearness of perception, a power of 
command of language, and readiness in expres¬ 
sion, are qualities the most valuable in men.— 
A teacher’s greatest exertions, therefore, should 
be directed to developing and fostering them in 
children. A man may possess much informa¬ 
tion and yet be wanting in the power of con¬ 
cisely and comprehensively answering a ques¬ 
tion, of seizing on the cardinal points of a sub¬ 
ject, and may lack all delicacy of taste and dis¬ 
cernment. The end of education is to refine 
and elevate,—to train the whole man. No one 
faculty should be unduly worked and loaded, 
but all the mental powers must work together, 
one bringing another into exercise, as wheel 
acts upon wheel in a piece of well ordered ma¬ 
chinery .—Ottawa Citizen. 
The career of Mr. Banks is full of interest 
and hope, more especially to the young. He 
has risen to his present post from the humblest 
life. His early days witnessed him struggling 
with poverty, and when a boy of 15 years, 
working sixteen hours a day in the machine 
shop of the Boston Manufacturing Company, at 
YValtham. He was born in 1816, and is 40 
years old. His first appearance' in public, ex¬ 
cept in a dramatic club formed by the young 
men of Waltham, was a temperance lecturer, 
making his debut in Watertown. He read from 
manuscript before him. It was a creditable 
production. He subsequently obtained much 
skill as a speaker, in the debating club of the 
town. From that period some fifteen years, to 
the present, he bad engaged more or less in 
politics. His thirst for knowledge has always 
been very marked ; and to gratify it, while in 
the machine shop, he regularly spent the hours 
after work until midnight. 
In 1848, he commenced the study of law in 
the office of the late Robert Rantoul, Jr. In 
1849, ’50, ’51, and ’52, he represented his native 
town in our Legislature ; and in ’51 and '52 was 
chosen Speaker. He was also elected Presi¬ 
dent of the Constitutional Convention, one of 
the most marked gatherings ever held in Mas¬ 
sachusetts. He was elected to Congress in 1852, 
and again in 1854. On the last day of nine 
weeks’ continuous balloting, he is elected Speak¬ 
er of the House ; a culminating point, we hap¬ 
pen to know, of his oft-cherished ambition.— 
Boston Bee. 
Among the most interesting sights in the vi¬ 
cinity of St. Petersburg, are the old palaces and 
towers of the earlier Czars at Peterhoff; and 
included among them is the Monplaisir, in 
which Peter the Great closed his eventful 
life. According to an account of this edifice j 
given by the Rev. John O. C houles, who visit¬ 
ed the Baltic in the year 1853, it is a moder¬ 
ately-sized, plain house, not unlike, both exter¬ 
nally and internally, many of the old Dutch 
farm houses on the banks of the Hudson. It is 
beautifully situated on the shore at flic head of 
the Gulf of Finland, and in full view of the for¬ 
tress of Cronstadt. 
It was here Peter the Great was accustom¬ 
ed to view with pride the growing Russian 
navy, which had risen from nothing to a respec¬ 
table power under his own eye and supervision. 
The house is surrounded by noble old trees, 
and a terrace with paved walks and balustrades 
extends quite down to the water’s edge. The 
Monplaisir, together with the old palace and 
other royal buildings at Peterhoff, are now un¬ 
occupied, although, with the grounds surround¬ 
ing, they are kept in perfect order and relig¬ 
iously preserved. The room in which Peter 
died, and the bed on which he breathed his last, 
are held as sacred relics of that great man. On 
the pillow repose his cap and night-clothes, his 
robede chambre lies upon the bed, and in a room 
adjoining are seen slippers, boots, and other 
articles of personal attire. Everything is in 
Schools of New Y ork. —We derive the fol¬ 
lowing statistics from the Message of Governor 
Clark Amount expended for teachers’ wages 
during the year, $2,301,411,25 ; for school li¬ 
braries, $55,216,31 ; for school house sites, 
school houses, and fuel, $863,990,53 ;—total, 
$3,220,618,09. School districts, 11,748; chil¬ 
dren of suitable age to draw public money, 
1,223,987 ; children in attendance upon district 
schools, 900,532 ; volumes in the district libra¬ 
ries, 1,105,370 ; school houses, 11,038,—of which 
9,356 are framed buildings, 715 ol brick, 576 
of stone, and 381 of logs. He recommends im¬ 
portant changes in the school system of the 
State. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
LIFE AND CONSCIENCE. 
I ask what Life is ? The reply 
That Conscience gives is, “ What am I ?” 
Truth tells me facts, and Conscience seals them. 
Faith rests in these, as God reveals them. 
Or Unbelief denies, despising 
All Wisdom, Truth, of God’s devising. 
Then ask what Life is? Conscience seared, 
Forbears the answer—“ God not feared, 
Is awful death Truth disesteemed. 
Is man unpitied, unredeemed.'” 
York, 1856. 
T. L. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
HEAVEN. 
the most simple style, and nothing is seen 
which indicates the place to have ever been the 
abode of royalty. 
In the youth and vigor of a State, everything 
assumes the form of a severe simplicity ; and it 
is only in older and more advanced communi¬ 
ties, and those too often bordering upon decay, 
that luxury, magnificence, and gorgeous display 
usurp its place. The Giant of the North, rising 
in his majesty to a position of strength and 
power among his compeers, was encumbered by 
nothing that, bound his limbs or impede d his 
progress. Compared even with the petty Gov¬ 
ernments of Middle Europe, the court, the pal¬ 
ace, and the personal appointments of Peter 
the Great, would sink into insignificance ; and 
yet, he laid the foundation of an empire, whose 
increasing magnitude excites the jealousy and 
arouses the combined hostility of two of the 
most powerful nations of the world. He had 
his faults and follies, which in the light of an 
enlightened’ Christianity, sully his reputation, 
but his untiring energies and success in found¬ 
ing such an empire, will place his among 
‘■The few, the immortal names 
Tbat were not born to die !” 
Peterhoff is situated about eighteen miles 
from St. Petersburg, on tbe left bank of the 
Neva,, and is approached by a well-paved road, 
affording one of the finest drives in the vicinity 
of the Capitol. The summer houses of many of 
the nobility adorn the route, and add to the 
beauties of the scenery. On the first of July, 
(old style,) a grand imperial fete comes off at 
Peterhoff, which is graced with the presence of 
the Czar and the royal family, and to which the 
city and the country around send in their thou¬ 
sands. Prince and peasant intermingle on 
terms of equality, and unite in the celebration. 
0 . 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
USEFUL AND INTERESTING PLANTS. 
Importance of a Comma. —In the priory of 
Ramessa there dwelt a prior who was very lib¬ 
eral, and who caused the^e verses to be written 
over bis door : 
“ Be open evermore, O thou my door, 
To none be shut, to honest or to poor.” 
But after his death, there succeeded him anoth¬ 
er, whose name was Raynard, as greedy and 
covetous as the other was bountiful and liberal, 
who kept tbe same verses there still, changing 
nothing therein but one point, which made 
them run after this manner : 
« Be open evermore, O thou my door, 
To none, be shut to honest or to poor.” 
Afterward, being driven from thence for his ex¬ 
treme niggardliness, it grew into a proverb, 
that for one point Raynard lost his priory. 
Schools of Maine. —For the year ending 
April 1st, 1854, the whole number of scholars, 
between the ages of four and twenty-one years, 
■was 238,248 ; amount of money raised for the 
support of schools, $333,019,76, being $51,871,76 
more than required by law ; amount expended 
for school purposes, $491,060,29; estimated 
value of school bouses, $870,005. 
Education in New Jersey. —The Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Schools in New Jersey re¬ 
ports that the number of children iu the State, 
between the ages of five and eighteen years, is 
173,014, of whom 144,923 have attended school 
the past year, being an increase of 9,883 over 
1854. The amount of money raised and appro¬ 
priated to school purposes, including the State 
appropriation of $30,000, was $475,168,64, be¬ 
ing an increase over 1854 of $86,595,78. The 
school commissioners recommend the establish¬ 
ment of free schools.— Mass. Teacher. 
A right education is not merely the reading 
of many books, but the ability of making 
knowledge useful to ourselves and others. It is 
not simply to acquire influence over our fellow 
creatures,but to make tbat influence subservient 
to moral excellence and piety. 
There is a kind of physiognomy in the titles 
of books no less than in the faces of men, by 
which a skillful observer will as well know 
what to exp'mt from the one as the other.— 
Butler. 
Antiquities. —To confine our studies to mere 
antiquities, is like reading by candle-light, with 
our shutters closed, after the sun has risen. 
The vegetable kingdom furnishes ffian his 
most useful commodities, and pleasing forms. 
Food, drink, condiments, medicines, and cloth¬ 
ing, are largely made up from vegetable pro¬ 
ducts, while numerous appliances of civilized j 
life, and means ot enjoyment are also derived 
from the same source. These, however, under¬ 
go great changes from their first appearance in 
the lorm of plants to their transformation into 
the economic condition. In the speedy and 
extensive conversion of vegetable fibre into 
textile fabrics, what a world of ingenious me¬ 
chanical contrivances are called into play,—liow 
vast tbe capital invested and labor consumed. 
Whole communities are engaged in the traffic 
resulting from the use of the cotton plant, not 
only in its first series of changes into cloth, 
but subsequently in its second course into pa¬ 
per. The preparal ion and manufacture of flax 
in all its various branches and details gives life 
and prosperity to a section of one of the most 
degraded countries of modern times, this single 
manufacture serving to rescue that section from 
the general desolation and poverty which ex¬ 
tends to the other provinces. Extending our 
observations into other quarters of the globe 
from tbe tropics to the pole, we find vegetables 
the main reliance of the rude and barbarous 
tribes, as well as the more civilized. In polar- 
regions vegetable life descends to a point where 
it can find no further support, but this space is 
not extensive and is sparsely inhabited. 
To compensate for the absence of the higher 
and more fully developed forms of vegetation, 
the arctic regions have their peculiar species of 
Fungi and Lichens, which continue to spring up 
under circumstances unsuited to other plants. 
The red and greeD Snow Plants, so often no¬ 
ticed by Arctic travelers, are by some authors 
declared to be Animalcules, while others de¬ 
scribe them under the genus Protococcus, and 
assign them a place in the vegetable kingdom. 
So minute and doubtful are these objects, that 
these differences of opinion frequently arise 
Even in this low section, useful plants are by 
no means rare. Among Fungi, or Mushrooms, 
we have several edible species very important 
in some countries as articles of food ; of these 
the common Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) 
is perhaps best known, and after it the Morel 
and Truffle. The Mushroom is raised in im¬ 
mense quantities on the Continent of Europe 
by artificial means, and especially near Paris 
and London, where it forms an important item 
to the market gardener. In our own country 
ed, from which, w T it,h a little care and attention, 
valuable returns have been secured. The ex¬ 
tremely poisonous properties of this tribe of 
plants deter many from using even those tbat 
are edible, yet instances have occurred where 
disastrous results followed the use of those spe¬ 
cies which have, under other circumstances, 
proved not only harmless but wholesome food. 
The common Mushroom is also a native of this 
country as well as Europe, and is frequently 
found in old pastures and sold in market. Cau¬ 
tion is necessary, however, in using such, tho’ 
the true species is not difficult to recognize.— 
The method of raising them in beds belongs to 
another department of the paper. Dickens, in 
“ Household Words," has graphically de¬ 
scribed tbe Mushroom cellars of Paris, which 
extend to a great distance underground, and 
produce supplies for the fastidious palates of 
the Parisians. 
In Russia where many species of this tribe 
abound, they are much used as food; by tbe use of 
salt and vinegar the deleterious property of even 
the most poisonous may be removed, and this 
course is there adopted. A very remarkable 
species is employed by the Kamchatdales to 
produce a feeling akin to intoxication ; it is 
called Amanita muscaria. The accounts pub¬ 
lished respecting its use would seem almost 
fabulous were they not received on good au¬ 
thority. So debased do the people become who 
use it, that they resort to means for the sup¬ 
ply of the intoxicating liquid that are disgust¬ 
ing to civilized life. 
Thus it is that the simplest forms of vegeta¬ 
ble creation aid in sustaining man ; they should 
not be lost sight of in our admiration of tbe 
more showy specimens of plants and trees, 
some of which may claim future notice.—s. 
A NEW USE OF THE MAGNET. 
It has been said that “truth lies at the bot¬ 
tom of tbe well.” How it can be “fished up” 
we are not told. Probably not with the mag¬ 
net. But with its aid some things can be 
brought up even from the bottom of the well, as 
proved recently by my own experience. In 
looking into a tank containing ten feet of water, 
an iron key, three inches long, and weighing 
nearly an ounce, slid from my pocket to the 
bottom. How to get it without emptying the 
tank was a poser. It finally occurred to me 
that it might be done with a horse-shoe magnet. 
I accordingly fastened one to the end of a line, 
and after patiently fishing.for half an hour—not 
longer than I have sometimes done in a trout 
hole wdthout even an encouraging nibble — I 
succeeded in attaching the key to the magnet 
and in bringing it safe to my hand. The knowl¬ 
edge of the result of this experiment may afford 
Heaven ! who will tell us where and what it 
is ? Why shall we be happier there than here? 
Why is there such music in the name, that the 
face of the Christian is lighted up with untold 
joy/as it hangs upon his lips, or breaks upon his 
ear ? Whisper it to him when dying—when 
the world, with all its pomp and pageantry, 
have passed forever from his vision, and eterni¬ 
ty !—eternity with all its dread realities — lies 
close before him, and see what a glory over¬ 
spreads his features, and how joyfully those dull 
eyes look out from their hollow homes, like stars 
gleaming through the night; and he answers 
with the last breath he gives toeaitli, “Heaven! 
yes, I see it—I am coming !” 
Breathe it to the young convert while his 
heart is full of Jesus’ love, and you might think 
the pure, sweet airs from off the eternal plain, 
were fanning him, or that the enchanted music 
of the celestial choir had entered in, and was 
rolling majestically through the hitherto silent 
aisles, and the vaulted roof of that temple just 
swept and garnished, and consecrated to the 
worship, of God. 
Heaven ! Some have told ns of a spot some¬ 
where in the unknown regions of space, where 
calm, bright skies look down eternally upon a 
scene of matchless beauty and loveliness; where 
soft and gentle winds freighted with the fragrance 
of innumerable flowers, and bearing upon their 
unseen wings the sweet songs of birds and tbe 
music of tbe rustling foliage, are ever passing 
along, undisturbed by chilling frost or unbar - 
mo lious sound—where field and forest, hill and 
valley, are ever smiling in the perpetual green 
of the early spring-time ; where clear streams 
murmur on through the green meadows and 
sparkle in the sunlight, where the circling years 
bring no nigbt, no chilling winter, but the 
splendors of noontide glory, and the soft, sweet 
airs of a perpetual summer. All this, and much 
more, have we been told of heaven ; and yet it 
gave us not so beautiful, so glorious, so heavenly 
an idea of heaven, as when in our boyhood, we 
stood and gazed entranced at the mild, yet 
splendid beauty of tbe evening star, as it looked 
from its blue home at us, and wondered if it 
could be hea\en. No fancy picture can ever 
give us such a view of that blessed home of 
God’s people, as now and then breaks in through 
tbe windows of the soul, flooding every avenue 
with glory, and shutting out for a time every 
earthly object. Such a view of heaven we be¬ 
lieve the Christian sometimes gets, when all 
that he can say of it is*-“ lo ! here is Heaven!” 
Heaven ! we know not where it will be ; 
whether upon this earth, renovated and renew¬ 
ed, or whether upon some of the glittering 
worlds that hang far off on the confines of eter¬ 
nity ; but this we believe—we know (and is it 
not enough to know?) that God, our Father | 
will be there, and Jesus, our Savior, who died 
for and bought us, will be there, and we shall 
see hi m/nee to face, and we shall know as we are 
known. 
There in the city of our God will be found no 
temple; for tbe Loud God Almighty and the 
Lamb are the temple of it; and there will he no 
need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine iu 
it; for the glory of God shall lighten it; and 
there shall be no night there. There shall be 
no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neith¬ 
er shall there be any more pain ; and God will 
wipe away all tears from off all faces. 
Heaven ! when we speak it—when we write 
it—when it echoes through our hearts, we joy 
and rejoice in the blessed hope of a reunion 
with those we loved, gone to their reward, and 
the welcome we shall give those w r ho follow us. 
O ! what a reunion will that be ! Eternity 
alone will reveal how much joy God has reserved 
for those that love Him. Ye who mourn the 
loss of some dear and cherished idol of your 
hearts, remember this and dry your tears. If 
God is your Father and J esus your Elder Brother, 
surely it shall be your happy lot on some 
bright summer morning, to clasp those loved 
ones to your bosom, to be separated no more 
forever ! Yes! no more forever! 
As God is infinite, the pleasures which He 
has in reserve for His children are infinite.— 
Eye hath 7iot seen no* car heard, neither have en¬ 
tered into the heart of man, the things which God 
has laid up for those that love Him. s. a. e. 
Rochester, March, 1856. 
a useful hint to others in a like dilemma.— Cor. 
we have seen many Mushroom beds construct- Hartford Courant. 
Tue World to the Soul. —The world is as 
the sold. It mirrors back its features to the 
eye, and echoes back its sounds to the ear. The 
beautiful and the harmonious—the hideous and 
the dissonant are in us. The bright soul, like 
the luminary of day, chases darkness from its 
path, bathes distant objects in its own radiance, 
and makes all within its sphere bloom into 
beauty at its presence, and reflect its light.— 
“ Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness 
for the upright in heart.” 
The soul is always busy, and if it be not ex¬ 
ercised about serious affairs, will spend its ac¬ 
tivity upon trifles. 
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