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AUGUST 9. 
I-X 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
257 
t fbutalmu 
Written for Moore’8 Rural New-Yorker. 
WHAT SHALL I WHITE ABOUT?’ 
In schools where the custom prevails of re¬ 
quiring the pupils, or such of them as are of 
sufficient age, to produce, at stated intervals, 
literary exercises to be submitted for criticism, 
the vexation, on the learner’s part, of determin¬ 
ing what subjects he is best qualified to treat, 
and the frequent appeals to his instructor or 
some other supposed competent person for ad¬ 
vice concerning it, sometimes lead the teacher 
to adopt the plan of giving out such themes as 
in his opinion are best adapted to the various 
abilities of his scholars. 
But whether the writer chooses his subject 
unaided or by the suggestion of another, he is 
very likely to undertake something requiring 
for its discussion much more thought, and that 
of a different kind from what school-boys and 
girls are accustomed to bestow. For while the 
common routine of school does little else than 
exercise the receptive faculty, this occasional 
effort at composition makes a demand on the 
creative power. From a habit of studying 
only to understand what others have said, the 
pupil is suddenly called to originate something 
himself. Add to the fact that the mental ac¬ 
tion necessary to answer this demand, is of a 
wholly different nature from that called out by 
ordinary school discipline, and both in itself 
and from lack of training, far more difficult to 
command, add to this the disadvantage of at¬ 
tempting to offer some original ideas on a moral 
or abstract theme, such as are frequently select¬ 
ed, and are the dryest and most unpromising 
for beginners, and it is no wonder that discour¬ 
agement and failure are the almost invariable 
result. And it in no wise tends to increase the 
confidence of the young writer, that he has 
failed in an effort to discourse of what he feels 
most familiar with. The fact that we can often 
say least of what most interests us, probably 
never occurs to him, and he very naturally con¬ 
cludes that if he can say nothing acceptable of 
Home, Education, Time, Perseverance, Intem¬ 
perance, Slavery, and such like topics, favorites 
with beginners, because certain ideas and asso¬ 
ciations connected with them are prominent in 
their minds, he cannot succeed with anything 
else. 
Perhaps the thing most essential to be con¬ 
sidered in giving counsel to young writers in 
relation to this puzzling question, is, that youth 
is the season of observation rather than reflection, 
and that the attempt to cultivate at the same 
time habits of writing and of philosophizing is 
too great a tax on one unpracticed in either, 
unless he possess extraordinary abilities. To 
aggravate the awkwardness inseparable from a 
first trial at talking on paper, by the difficulty 
of studying to think of something very wise 
and original to say, is, many times, to paralyze 
energies that if set to work on materials ready 
furnished, might finally be coaxed into consid¬ 
erable efficiency. But, while proposing that 
the young writer’s efforts be directed in good 
part to objects rather than sentiments, I would 
not be understood to recommend that they be 
confined to relations of what he has seen ; good 
descriptive talent is very rare, and accounts of 
walks and rides, particularly if imaginary ones, 
and word-paintings of landscapes, however fine 
the landscapes may be, are almost sure to be 
tame and uninteresting when done by unskill¬ 
ed pens, and never fail to be wearisome if often 
repeated. There is, however, a large class of 
subjects that may be treated, with the double 
advantage of gaining practice in literary ex¬ 
pression and forming a habit of collecting use¬ 
ful information. 
For example, the scholar may be required to 
give the number and location of the different 
churches in his own town, with the names of 
their respective pastors, the number and loca¬ 
tion of the school-houses, with the name of the 
teacher belonging to each—a statement of the 
various kinds of mechanical and manufacturing 
business carried on in the town or village in 
which he lives will be another exercise—also 
an enumeration of the different town, county, 
State and natioual officers, their duties, and the 
periods for which they are elected—then the 
various agricultural products of his neighbor¬ 
hood and of other sections of the country, or of 
other countries, and the processes by which 
they are raised—the domestic animals and 
their uses—the public works, canals and rail¬ 
ways, with the date of their construction, and 
whatever other particulars of them he can col¬ 
lect,—these and scores of other things that will 
suggest themselves to the teacher’s mind, will 
be found profitable themes for the young writer. 
Of course the greater part of the information 
necessary to treat them must be supplied either 
by reading, or by inquiry of older persons, and 
perhaps no more effectual encouragement could 
be given to the cultivation of a taste for solid 
reading, than this practice of requiring a state¬ 
ment of facts on some interesting subject, and 
puttiug into the scholar’s hands the means of 
making it. It would, at least, put an end to a 
great deal ot the feeble, stupid moralizing that 
beginners in literary composition are guilty of, 
and that is scarcely less afflicting to teachers to 
read, than agonizing to scholars to produce. 
South Livonia, N. Y., 1856. A. 
SCHOOL EXAMINEES. 
Among the various component parts consti¬ 
tuting the great educatorial machine of our 
State, there are none more important in them¬ 
selves, or having stronger claims upon educa¬ 
tors, than that of school examiners. Yet im¬ 
portant as this office is, fraught as it is with the 
best interest of Common Schools, it seems to be 
almost entirely neglected in the efforts made to 
perfect the system, and to impart regularity and 
efficiency to its movements. 
It would seem that the office is looked upon 
as an accidental appendage to the system, rath¬ 
er than one of its prime parts, without which, 
its movements must be irregular and defective. 
Its importance has entirely escaped the notice 
of our law makers, or feeling its importance, 
they have been recreant to their duty in the 
premises. For while they have with commend¬ 
able zeal provided, that teachers shall not be 
employed as such, until they have been examin¬ 
ed according to law, they have failed to make 
any provision, that the examiners themselves 
should be well qualified for their important 
functions; and while the humblest officer charg¬ 
ed with the handling and disbuising of the 
school funds, is sworn to the faithful discharge 
of his trusts, the school examiner has no such 
solemn obligation binding him to a faithful and 
impartial performance of his duty; and if among 
the whole list there is one officer whose mis¬ 
takes of delinquency can produce damage and 
ruin to the system, that officer is the school ex¬ 
aminer. For while the school trustee may, if 
neglectful or dishonest, squander for one year 
the funds of a single district, the ignorant or 
recreant examiner may, by licensing incompe¬ 
tent teachers, squander all the funds of the 
whole county, besides producing an amount of 
intellectual and moral mischief far beyond the 
powers of any human calculus to estimate.— 
Indiana School Journal. 
EDUCATION" ON CHAEACTEE. 
Most of those traits which make what we 
call character in a man, are the results of edu¬ 
cation as developed not only by the process of 
school instruction, but by whatever passes be¬ 
fore the eye, whatever sounds upon the ear, ex¬ 
cites the imagination, warms the heart, or moves 
the various passions within us; and the more 
frequently the mind falls under the same set of 
influences, the greater the probability that the 
character will take a stamp conformable to such 
influences. Hence we perceive, although with 
some exceptions, a marked similarity in indi¬ 
viduals of the same parentage. But there are 
traits inherent in the human constitution, and 
widely differing from each other, as strongly 
marked as the instincts of animals, which lead 
one species to seek the air, and another the wa¬ 
ter, without any teaching whatever. 
The man of nervous temperament will ex¬ 
hibit conduct conformable to it; the phlegmatic, 
to it. The acquisitive tendency produces the 
avaricious man ; the taciturn, the silent man. 
Although the operations of these original ele¬ 
ments in our species can, perhaps, never be en¬ 
tirely reversed, they may, under the faithful 
training, be so qualified as to make them sub 
serve the cause of duty and humanity ; for we 
are never to admit that the great Creator made 
anything but for the promotion of the ultimate 
well-being of his Creator.— Gideon F. Thayer. 
LOOK OUT, YOUNG MAN l 
Young man ! a misstep may destroy life. One 
sin may ruin your character. Did you ever re¬ 
flect on the consequence of a single indulgence 
in vice ? The best men have fallen through the 
suggestion of another. How careful you should 
be while in the freshness of your days, le3t a 
blight fall on you forever. If invited to places 
of resort where it is difficult to decide, take the 
safe course—stay away aud save your reputa¬ 
tion. This is a jewel of inestimable value, too 
precious to put in jeopardy. No man ever re¬ 
grets that he kept aloof from temptation, and to 
the close of life he expresses joy that he was 
saved from the path of shame by giving a deci¬ 
ded negative when the voice of pleasure beck¬ 
oned him on. Be decided, and you are safe 
Yield, aud you may be lost. Watch with dili¬ 
gence, and guard every avenue through which 
sin may reach you. In no other way will you 
be sure to overcome the evils of the world. 
Constant Attendance. — If parents would 
consider that each recitation in school forms a 
full complete link in that great chain extending 
from the Primary to the High School, and that 
“from such a chain, whatever link you strike 
tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike,’ 
they would assuredly put forth some little ex 
ertion to have their children more punctually 
and regularly at school. Without exception 
our best scholars are the most punctual and 
regular in their attendance, advance the most 
rapidly, and they and their parents are the best 
pleased with our schools, while those irregular 
in their attendance are dissatisfied aud fault 
finding, and their parents with them. They 
injure the teacher, aud increase his labor four 
fold.— Selected. 
“He that has found a way,” says Locke, “to 
keep a child’s spirit easy, active, and free, and 
yet, at the same time, to restrain him from the 
things he has a mind to do, and to draw him to 
tldngs that are uneasy to him —he, 1 say, who 
knows how to reconcile these seeming contra¬ 
dictions, has, in my opinion, got the true secret 
of education.” 
Education. —The census of education in Eng 
land, gives 15,518 public day schoels and 1,443, 
982 scholars. Of these schools 12,708, and ot 
these scholars 1,188,786, are connected with 
some religious body or other, either by way of 
endowment or voluntary subscriptions; and 
out of these schools and scholars so connected 
10,555 schools and 939,474 scholars are connect¬ 
ed with the established church ; the rest being 
distributed among other denominations in pro¬ 
portions not very dissimilar from the number of 
worshipers attributed to each of them. 
ijful fliu. 
“BILLS ON ENGLAND AT PAE.’ : 
BY I’ROF. DEWEV. 
So stated the papers of New York some days 
since. But why have not such bills been at 
par in previous times ? The answer is readily 
given. As our imports from England have 
generally exceeded our exports thither, our 
merchants have had more money to pay than to 
eceive from the merchants of England. In 
such case there will be competition to obtain 
bills on England, and some premium will be 
paid for them. This may amount to one, two, 
or more per cent., according to the demand.— 
But in the last fiscal quarter ending March 31st, 
1856, the exports from our country exceeded 
the imports by more than seven millions of 
dollars. This fact would reduce the exchange 
to par, or if continued, would ere long reduce 
the bills below par. 
But, while the above caption was published, 
it was said that the bills were at par, as the 
premium was oidy nine per cent. This depends 
on a consideration wholly different from that 
above, and must have distinct examination. 
When Congress established the mint of the 
United States by the law of 1792, and desig¬ 
nated the value as well as the names of our 
coins, it assumed the “Spanish milled dollar” 
then current, as the standard of silver coin, on 
account of its purity, to which our silver coin 
was to be conformed. That Spanish dollar con¬ 
tained 416 grains of standard silver, composed 
of 371% grains of pure silver, and 44% grains 
of pure copper; and the law required that the 
standard silver should be composed of 1,485 
grains of silver and 179 grains of copper. Of 
this alloy, the dollar was to weigh 416 grains. 
This would make the alloy in the standard sil¬ 
ver nearly one-ninth of the weight, or ten nine¬ 
ty-thirds more nearly. 
The same law fixed the value of gold to silver 
as fifteen to one ; and the alloy in the gold coin 
to be to the gold as one to eleven, or the standard 
gold to be eleven ounces of gold and one ounce 
of alloy, and the alloy to be of silver and cop¬ 
per, so that the silver should not exceed one- 
half. The eagle was to weigh 270 grains, of 
which 22% grains were alloy. 
As the Spanish dollar was reckoned at 54 
pence sterling, and the pound sterling at 240 
pence, one dollar would then be nine-fortieths 
of a pound sterling, or a pound sterling would 
be four and forty-four hundredths dollars, as it 
was established by law in 1798, and again in 
1799 to be$ 1,44. So it was long valued and writ¬ 
ten. But a change became necessary, in which 
our gold coin was depreciated, or contained 
more alloy, and its weight also slightly altered 
The necessity of the change was the fact that 
our gold coin was purer than that of England 
or France, so that it was exported and converted 
into bullion in Europe. The fact was that gold 
was to silver above fifteen to one. In 1834 the 
eagle was reduced to 258 grains of our standard 
gold, and the gold, coined before July of that 
year, was to be valued at 98.8 cents for twenty- 
four grains. But more change was necessary, 
and was effected in 1837. 
By act of Congress in 1837, the standard of 
our gold and silver coins was fixed at 900 parts 
of pure metal and 100 parts of alloy in 1,000 
parts, the alloy to be the same as in the law of 
1792, that is, the alloy of silver to be pure cop¬ 
per, and of gold to be silver and copper. On 
this standard of gold and silver, the eagle was 
to weigh 258 grains, and the dollar 412% grs.; 
the cent too was reduced from 264 grains, in 
1792, to 208 grains in 1793, and to 168 grains In 
1837, on account of the varying value of copper. 
The result of these changes was to make the 
pound sterling to be worth more of our money, 
even forty cents more, or $4,84, at which it was 
fixed by the act of Congress in 1842. 
Now forty cents make nine per cent, of the 
old value of a pound, $4,44. On reducing 
pounds sterling to dollars at the rate of $4,44, 
there must be added nine per cent, to obtain 
the value in our current money. This is ab¬ 
surdly called a premium of nine per cent., to 
make the exchange at par. This absurdity of 
expression in the commercial world has often 
been exposed and condemned, but is still con¬ 
tinued by mercantile men. 
It is evident that the standard of our silver 
coin was increased by the act of 1837, but the 
value of the dollar was proportionably lessened 
by diminishing its weight from 416 to 412% 
grains, so that the real value of the dollar re¬ 
mained unchanged. 
It is plain, then, why the exchange on Eng¬ 
land is said to be at par, when nine per cent, is 
added to the old value of a pound sterling. Let 
the value of the dollar be so increased that 
$4 44 shall be actually equal to a pound ster¬ 
ling or to the English sovereign, which repre¬ 
sents the pound, or the pound sterling be reck¬ 
oned at $4,84, and then the nine per cent, 
would disappear at par. It is obvious, too, that 
ten or thirteen per cent, now is acutally only 
one or four per cent, premium. c. d. 
Yitilratli fternp. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
OUR AGGIE’S GRAVE! 
Cocculus Indicus can scarcely be classed 
among the- narcotics in which we voluntarily 
indulge, and yet it is one which our humbler 
beer-driDkers involuntarily consume to a very 
considerable extent. It is the fruit or berry of 
the Anamirta cocculus, a beautiful climbing- 
plant, which is a native of the Malabar coast 
and of the Indian Archipelago. It is some¬ 
times called the Levant nut, or the Bacca oricn- 
talis. It is chiefly used for adulterating cheap 
beer, and it is really wonderful in how many 
ways this singular substance is fitted to aid the 
dishonest brewer in saving both malt and hops. 
If the bruised seeds are digested in water, 
they yield an extract which, when added to 
beer, produces the following effects : 
First. It imparts t-o it an intensely bitter 
taste, and can thus be substituted cheaply for 
about one-third of the usual quantity of hops, 
without materially affecting the flavor of the 
beer. 
Second. It gives a fullness and richness in the 
mouth, and a darkness of color, to weak and 
inferior liquors. In these respects, a pound of 
Goccidus Indians is said to be equivalent to four 
bushels of malt. Or to a thin brewing of beer, 
a pound of this drug will give an apparent 
substance equal to what would be produced by 
several bushels of malt. 
Third. It produces upon those who drink it 
some of the symptoms of alcoholic intoxication, 
and thus adds to the apparent strength and in¬ 
ebriating quality of the liquor. Like hops, it 
also prevents second fermentation in bottled 
beer, and enables it to keep in warm climates. 
The effects which this substance produces are 
said, by those who have drunk beer druggeii 
with it, to be more upon “ the voluntary muscles 
than upon the intellectual powers.” Others 
say, however, that its effect is chiefly on the 
brain, so that its mode of action probably varies 
in some degree with the constitution of the in¬ 
dividual who takes it. 
In large doses it is poisonous to all animals, 
and a well-known use of it is for the stupefying 
of fish. Although, therefore, its special effects 
upon the human constitution have not been ac¬ 
curately ascertained by the scientific physiolo¬ 
gists, the frequent use of Cocculus indicus, even 
in small doses, can scarcely fail soonfer or later 
to injure the health. 
This poisonous quality is derived chiefly from 
a white crystalline intensely bitter substance 
called picrotoxin, which exists in the inner por¬ 
tion of the ^berry. The way in which this 
poisonous ingredient acts upon the system is 
still involved in considerable obscurity ; but 
there cannot be a doubt as to the moral crimi 
nality of introducing substances of so danger 
ous a kind into a beverage which is so much 
used. 
CLIMATE NOT THE CAUSE OP COLOR. 
Onck we had a little child. 
Loving, beautiful, and mild ; 
But when sweet June flowers were blowing, 
And its fairy sunlight glowing 
In the streamlet gently flowing, 
Then they made our Aggie’s grave. 
Darkness now is gathering round, 
Shadows falling on the ground, 
Evening bells are slowly pealing, 
Softly comes their music, stealing 
To the church-yard, where I’m kneeling, 
By our little Aggie’s grave. 
Oh 1 we loved her all too well I 
And the anguish none can tell, 
When we laid our darling, sleeping— 
Where the willow tree is weeping, 
And the waterfall is leaping— 
In the cold and silent grave. “ Eulalik." 
COUNT THEM. 
Count what ? Why count the mercies which 
have been quietly falling in your path through 
every period of your history. Down they come 
every morning and every evening, as angel mes¬ 
sengers from the Father of lights, to tell of your 
best friend in heaven. Have you lived these 
years, wasting mercies, treading them beneath 
your feet, and consuming them every day, and 
never yet realized from whence they came ?— 
If you have, heaven pity you. 
;^You have murmured under affliction ; but who 
has heard you rejoice over blessings ? Do you 
ask what are the mercies ? Ask the sunbeam, 
the rain-drop, the star or queen of night. What 
is life but mercy 7 What is health, strength, 
friendship, social life, the Gospel of Christ, di¬ 
vine worship ? Had they the power of speech, 
each would say, “ I am a mercy.” Perhaps you 
never regarded them as such. If not you have 
been a dull student of nature or revelation. 
What is the propriety of stopping to play 
with a thorn bush when you may just as well 
pluck sweet flowers, and eat pleasant fruits ? 
But we have seen enough of men to know 
that they have a morbid appetite for thorns.— 
If they have lost a friend they will murmur at 
the loss, if God has given them a score of new 
ones. And somehow, everything assumes a 
value when it is gone, which man would not 
acknowledge when he had it in his possession, 
unless, indeed, some one wished to purchase it. 
Happy is he who looks at the bright side of 
life, of providence, and of revelation. Who 
avoids thorns, and thickets, and sloughs, until 
his Christian growth is such that if he cannot 
improve them, he may pass among them with¬ 
out injury. .Count mercies before you complain 
of afflictions.— Religious Telescope. 
The Size ok Books. —When the sheet of pa 
per of which a book is made is folded in two 
leaves, the book is called a folio ; when folded 
into four leaves, it is called a quarto ; when 
folded into eight leaves, it is called an octavo ; 
when folded into twelve leaves, a duodecimo, or 
l2mo.; when folded into sixteen,a 16mo.; when 
folded into eighteen leaves, 18 mo., etc. The 
number of folds in each sheet is ascertained by 
the letters or figures at the bottom of the pages 
there being as many leaves between each as 
there are folds in the sheet—the figure at. the 
bottom telling the number of sheets in a book 
as those at the top do the number of pages. 
GEMS OF THOUGHT. 
It is a common opinion that climate alone is 
capable of producing all the diversities of 
complexion so remarkable in the human race. 
A very few facts may suffice to show that such 
cannot be the case. Thus the negroes of Van 
Diemen’s Land, who are among the blackest 
people on earth, live iu a climate as cold as that 
of Iceland, while the Indo-Chinese nations, 
who live in tropical Asia, are of a brown and 
olive complexion. It is remarked by Hum¬ 
boldt that the American tribes of the Equinox - 
ial Region have no darker skin than the moun¬ 
taineers of the Temperate Zone. So also the 
Puelches of the Magellanic Plains, beyond the 
fifty-fifth degree of South latitude, are abso¬ 
lutely darker than Abipoues, Tobas, and other 
tribes, who are many degrees nearer the equa¬ 
tor. Again, the Charruas, who live south of 
the Rio de la Plata, are almost black, whilst 
the Guaycas, under the line, are among the 
fairest of the American tribes. Finally, not to 
multiply examples, those nations of the Cau¬ 
casian race which have become inhabitants of 
the Torrid Zone in both hemispheres, although 
their descendants have been for centuries, and 
in Africa for many centuries, exposed to the 
most active infl lences of climate, have never, 
in a solitary instance, exhibited the transform¬ 
ation from a Caucasian to a negro complexion. 
— Types of Mankind. 
There is nothing on earth so beautiful as the 
household on which Chiistian love forever 
smiles and where religion walks, a counsellor 
and a friend. No cloud can darken it, for its 
twin stars are centred in the soul. No storms 
can make it tremble, for it has a heavenly an¬ 
chor. The home circle surrounded by such in¬ 
fluences, has an antepast of the joys of a hea¬ 
venly home. 
He is but half prepared for the journey of 
life who takes not with him that friend who will 
forsake him in no emergency, who will divide 
his sorrows, increase his joys, lift the veil from 
his heart, and throw sunshine around the dark¬ 
est scenes. 
If you love others, they will love you. If 
you speak kindly to them they will speak 
hindly to you. Love is re-paid with love and 
hatred with hatred. Would you hear a sweet 
and pleasant echo, speak sweetly and pleasantly 
yourself. 
Professions. —If persons pretend to high at¬ 
tainments in religion, but do not appear to have 
arrived at certain lower attainments, it is an ev¬ 
idence that their profession is of no value. For 
example, if they profess to be greatly affected 
by the obvious violations of the commands of 
God in their practice ; or if they profess to ven¬ 
ture their souls upon Christ, trusting the faith¬ 
fulness of God in his promises, for their eternal 
welfare ; but at the same, time have not confi¬ 
dence enough to trust Him with a small part of 
their property, devoted to pious and charitable 
purposes; under these circumstances their pro¬ 
fessions are manifestly of no value.— Edwards. 
Says a scientific writer To obtain some 
idea of the immensity of the Creator’s works 
let us look a momeut through Lord Rosse’s tels, 
escope, and we’ll discover a star in the infinite 
depths of space, whose light is 3,500,000 years 
in traveling to our earth, moving at the veloci¬ 
ty of twelve millions of miles in the minute. 
And behold, God was there. 
Let the chain of second causes be ever so 
long, the first link is always in God’s hand.— 
Livingston. 
The Word Within. — Let it be your care to 
hide the Word in your hearts, and get the teach¬ 
ings of the Spirit; that, whatever changes of 
Providence be upon the world, you may have 
the light and comfort of the Scriptures to direct 
and cheer your souls. Sanctification is the 
writing of God’s law in your hearts ; and what 
is written there is secure and safe. The word 
within you is more secure, sweet and effectual, 
than the word without you. Jerome saith of 
Nepotianus, that by long and assiduous medi¬ 
tation of the Scriptures, his breast has at last 
become the library of Christ. Oh, that the 
breast of every Christian were so too 1— Quarles. 
A black cloud makes the traveler mend his 
pace, and mind his home ; whereas a fair day 
and a pleasant way waste his time, and that 
stealeth away his affections in the prospect of 
the country. However others may think of it, 
yet I take it as a mercy, that now and then some 
clouds come between me and my sun, and many 
times some troubles do conceal my comforts ; 
for I perceive, if I should find too much friend¬ 
ship in my inn, in my pilgrimage, I should 
soon forget my father’s house, and my heritage. 
— Lucas. 
.. . . . . - . . . . . . . . ... . .... . ... .. . ...' 
