Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
TEACHING. 
6ic hath a witching power, A power he - yond control : Its 
dence w'ild, at midnight hour, Steals softly o’er the soul 
Peak reader, did you ever teach school ? If 
not, let. me tell you (unless you are au Editor,) that 
you know little about trouble, and still less about 
human nature. J ust imagine yourself surrounded 
by a crowd of “young ideas” four years old and 
upwards, which you are expected to initiate, ad¬ 
vance, and graduate in the art of “ shoot”-ing, and 
then determine how many various compounds, per¬ 
mutations, combinations, and arrangements, may 
result from the heterogeneous mass, and you will 
have in advance, some idea of experience which 
awaits you. If you do not, before the close of the 
first session, gather material for a volume of ser¬ 
mons, a treatise on family government, a quarto of 
adventures, (i. e., if you board around,) a book of 
poetry and a comic almanac the fault will be your 
own. You will be pretty sure, also, to acquire a 
good portion of orthodoxy in the line of doctrine. 
I never kiicw a teacher who was not a firm believer 
in “ total depravity,” and but few who did not con¬ 
sider Solomon unquestionable authority on the use 
of the rod. 
Theoretically', the teacher’s is a high and holy 
calling—practically, it is an awfully responsible 
one, burdened with the interests of eternity; yet, 
afier all, when we come down to the every-day mi¬ 
nutiae, there is so much of nature in its primitive 
simplicity, so much to excite the risibilities, that I 
sometimes wonder whether comic almanac-makers 
are not retired school-teachers. From the young¬ 
ster in pinafores to the young lady past her teens 
(1 beg her pardon) it is comical all the way up.— 
The little fellow who reads “ p-o-t, kettle,” has 
just as clear an idea of what he is doing as the 
young lady who tells you, on the authority (!) of 
the master of criticism that “ the natural signs of 
passion are voluntary,” and both compare favor¬ 
ably with a third, whom I once heard render a 
passage from Byron's “Darkness,” in this wise: 
“ Tlio palaces of crowned kings, the huts, 
The habiiations of all things which dwell — 
Were burnt for bacon ! * 
It was enough to upset the gravity of a Puritan, 
and yet where is the school-room in which such 
blunders never occur? 
As for patience, Jon himself would have needed 
a fresh supply, had he turned teacher. In the 
school-room, as elsewhere, it is not the dashing of 
the great wave, but the continual dropping which 
wears the stone. Great troubles do not often oc¬ 
cur; it is the little trials, the petty cares, the con¬ 
stant watchfulness that try one’s temper. It re¬ 
quires all one’s self-control not to give way, some¬ 
times, to impatience, yet wo to him who does give 
way !—his empire is at an end. 
The teacher must not expect too much. Perse¬ 
verance will accomplish wonders, but it will not 
always bring success, and he must be prepared for 
an occasional failure. There are some scholars 
that wont learn. They are too lazy to study, too 
stupid to think, too easy to be ambitious, and if, 
perchance, they are forced out of the common 
branches into any of the higher studies, their igno¬ 
rance cannot be concealed. They never know b 
from d. Like the Shibboleth of the Ephraimites, 
these letters are sure to betray them. 
Notwithstanding these petty trials, the teacher 
receives, in the success of those who will learn, an 
ample reward for his labor and his care. They 
whose character he has formed, whose intellectual 
symmetry he has fashioned, will remember him 
with grateful affection, and future generations 
“shall rise up to call him blessed.” 
Stanardsville, Va., 1859. Brrtiia Mortimer. 
morn - in; 
crys - tal drops of April shower, Bring each a 
3. Yes! all chat Nature claims her own The ocean, earth, and 
sure’s golden bowl is bright: The laurel wreath seems fair; And youth - ful hearts would fain be 
The twinkling star, the moonlit sky, the stilly breath of night, 
Each leaves a sigh in 
passing by, A 
The sun that throws his halo o’er This Eden of the 
brave 
The wild waves of the 
The rock-bound coast they lave 
ocean’s 
yawning grave, Seems eager for ils prey 
The famed of earth, the 
ocean, 
Bloom but to 
Earth hath no joy unmixed with pain; Pure friendship is unknown; There’s dis - cord in its 
purest strain : Peace blooms in heaven 
The Lifh of General II. IIavblook, K. C. B. By J. 
T. Headley, author of “ Napoleon and Ilis Mar¬ 
shals,” “ Washington and His Generals,” “Sacred 
Mountains,” etc. Illustrated. New York: Charles 
Scribner. 
By the agency of a neat volume containing nearly 
four hundred pages, wo are placed in possession of a 
full and extended biography of the eminent Christian 
soldier, Henry Havelock. The author, in his endeavor 
to account for the peculiarity of the fact that the biog¬ 
raphy of so distinguished a British general should be 
first attempted by au American, remarks “ that Have¬ 
lock was ono of those rare characters that belong to 
the race, and are not the exclusive property of any na¬ 
tion. The mere fact that when tho news of his death 
reached this country, tho flags of tho shipping in the 
port of New York were hung at half-mast-a mark of 
respect never before shown at the death of any chief¬ 
tain or potentate of the Old World -shows how deeply 
the sympathies of the American people were enlisted 
in his career.” Mr. Headley undertook the present 
work only at the urgent request of a friend of Have¬ 
lock’s family, and of the missionaries with whom 
Havelock was on the most intimate terms, aDd on the 
assurance that those relatives of the deceased soldier 
who had contemplated issuing a memoir would bo un¬ 
able to accomplish the object for several years. Of Mr. 
Headley’s style it is unnecessary to speak, suffice it 
to say that every opportunity has been afforded him to 
procure the materiel for a work of vivid interest, and 
the manner in which he has improved these facilities, 
has in nowise tarnished his fame in the field of letters. 
For sale by Adams & Dabney. 
Written fir Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
ANECDOTES OF GEESE.—NO. EE. 
FEEDING CALVES. 
Messrs. Eds.: —I will give you something I am 
sure will help some of your Young Ruralists in 
the vexing business of feeding calves. Where 
there are a number together, every boy who has 
tried to feed with pails knows what danger there 
is of losing milk, toes, and patience. Having a 
dozen to feed one year we made stanchions for them 
on the side of the lot facing the bouse. 
We took a basswood stick about thirty feet long 
and faced it on one side. Then dug out troughs as 
large as wanted, 2)* feet apart. Then, by setting 
a post at each end and in the middle, we stretched 
strips two by six the whole length, the bottom 
one being on a level with the trough and the upper 
one two feet higher, nailed on the top of the posts. 
The strips should be bored previously for the 
stanchion rounds opposite each trough. By mak¬ 
ing one of the rounds fast and boarding up be¬ 
tween, the thing was made. 
After this it was mere fun to feed calves. We 
had just to pour into each trough the required 
mess, and by simply raising the loose round the 
fellows are let in and fastened in a moment. This 
was made on the farm of Hon. Guo. Gkddes, in 
Fairmount, N. Y. It did well. 
If you think the patent right worfh a copy or so 
of the Rural, we can use them among our neigh¬ 
bors who have none. B. G. Munson. 
Fowlerville, Livingston Co., Mich., 1859. 
My first story was rather lengthy, and I promise 
this time to be more brief. For years, and I 
may say always since I commenced to think for 
myself, have I been a lover of wild geese, and to 
tell the truth, I believe my interest was first en¬ 
listed upon hearing that “ the cackling of geese 
once saved Imperial Rome!” That it was the 
cackling of wild geese I do not say, but this little 
incident made such an impression upon my boyish 
fancy, that since then I have taken every possible 
occasion to inform myself and get posted up in 
this particular branch of natural history. 
The first pair of wild geeso I possessed, and 
which I valued as only an amateur knows how, 
met with an early and unfortunate death. They 
were very wild when I obtained them, and I took 
the utmost pains to make them acquainted with my 
presence and whistle, and imagine my pleasure 
when, after much trouble, I quieted their fears, so 
that they would feed out of my hand, and always ap¬ 
proached me as if for protection, when any stran¬ 
ger or strange thing made its appearance. But 
after all this affection on their part I never dared 
to allow them to go past the seasons, (spring and 
fall,) without having their wings clipped, which, if 
suffered to grow out, they would take advantage of 
and fly away. 
They were only a year old when I got them, and 
when the third year came about I was looking with 
intense interest and speculation upon the proba¬ 
bility of their breeding—imagine my disappoint¬ 
ment and vexation one fine spring morning, upon 
hearing the report of fire-arms at the pond, I 
hastened on with my clothes and quickly as possi¬ 
ble got down there—only to find my poor pets un¬ 
ceremoniously being dragged by their necks out of 
the water by the vandal who had shot them. What 
I said it matters not, as I am a person of a very 
quiet temperament; but why, you ask, did he kill 
them on private grounds ? I will tell you. He 
was a new-comer in our neighborhood; some kind 
of a mechanic in a large furniture establishment, 
who, returning home just at night, espied the geese 
in the pond, said to himself, “ if you will only wait 
patiently until morning I will load my gun and 
kill you.” Sure enough they were there in the 
morning and with a good round charge in his fowl¬ 
ing piece, he fired away at them almost under his 
j nose, and as the sequel is already told, killed them 
both. The fellow was just from California, or some 
place where wild geese frequented, and had been 
in the habit of shooting them; but after the mild 
address I gave him, I doubt not he was more care¬ 
ful where he sent his lead. 
After this experience, nothing daunted, I pro¬ 
cured another pair, who, in due course of time, 
commenced breeding—nor have I since been with¬ 
out their happy koah. But to give an anecdote as 
the heading indicates. As the past fall approached, 
all of my geese showed more or less sign of unea¬ 
siness and disposition to take a journey south, 
which was prevented by tlieir being pinioned.— 
One particular pair (and handsome birds they were, 
THE TEACHER IN THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 
If we enter successively a number of school¬ 
rooms, we shall probably discover a contrast 
something like this :—In one we shall see a presid¬ 
ing presence, which it will puzzle us at first sight 
to analyze or to explain. Looking at the master’s 
movements—I use the masculine term only for 
convenience—the first quality that strikes us is 
the absence of all eflort. Everything seems to be 
done with an ease which gives an impression of 
spontaneous and natural energy; for, after all, it 
is energy. The repose is totally unlike indolence. 
The ease of manner has no shuffling and no loung¬ 
ing in it. There is all the vitality and vigor of in¬ 
ward determination. The dignity is at the farthest 
possible remove from indifference or carelessness. 
It is told of Hercules, god of real force, that 
“ whether he stood, or walked, or sat, or whatever 
thing he did, he conquered.” This teacher 
The North British Beview for May will have ardent 
friends when its merits are thrown forward In com¬ 
parison with the other publications of the quarter. 
The review of the first volume of Masson’s Milton and 
Ilia Times, gives us all that is known of the poet’s life, 
when viewed in connection with the political, ecclesias¬ 
tical, and literary history of his day. We are also 
furnished with a biographical sketch of the late Doug¬ 
las Jerrold; Select Memoirs of Tort Royal; Sketch of 
the History and Development of Socinianism ; Lectures 
on Metaphysic and Logic; Miss Proctor’s Legends and 
Lyrics; The British Press ; Public Life of Lord Brough¬ 
am, and a well-written paper on Ornithic Anatomy- 
Leonard Scott & Co., New York. Sold by Dewey. 
AN OUT-DOOR CELLAR. 
Messrs. Eds.: —I noticed a letter from one of 
your correspondents requesting information how 
to build an out-door cellar where he could not dig. 
My father made one last fall and I will describe it 
for his benefit as well as for the rest of your read¬ 
ers. We first laid up the frame of logs and built 
a sloping wall around it, out about three feet at the 
bottom and sloping to within eighteen inches at 
the top. Filled in with dirt between the logs and 
the wall, filling the cracks with straw to keep the 
dirt from running in. 
Then we laid a log across for the middle of the 
roof to rest on and laid sticks across it. Then put 
on two feet of straw and covered thick with dirt.— 
With double doors this made us a good warm cel¬ 
lar.—E. W. Munson, Fowlerville, Livingston Co., 
Mich., May, 1859. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
SOMETHING FOR GEOLOGISTS. 
Books Received. 
accom¬ 
plishes his ends with singular precision. He speaks 
less than is common, and with less pretension 
when he does speak, yet his idea is conveyed and 
caught, and his will is promptly done. When he 
addresses an individual or a class, attention comes, 
and not as if it was extorted by fear, nor even paid 
by conscience as a duty, but cordially. Nobody 
seems to be looking particularly, yet he is felt to 
be there, through the whole place. He does not 
seem to be attempting anything elaborately with 
anybody, yet the business is done, and done re¬ 
markably well. The three-fold office of school¬ 
keeping, even according to the popular standard, 
is achieved without friction and without failure.— 
Authority is secured, intellectual activity is stimu¬ 
lated, knowledge is got with a hearty zeal. 
Oyer against this style of teacher we find another. 
He is the incarnation of painful and laborious 
striving. He is a conscious perturbation; a prin¬ 
cipled paroxysm; an embodied flutter; a mortal 
stir; an honest human liurley-hurley. In his present 
intention he is just as sincere as the other. Indeed, 
he tries so hard, that by one of the common per¬ 
versions of human nature, his pupils appear to 
have made up their miuds to see to it that lie shall 
try harder yet, and not succeed after all. So he 
talks much, and the multiplication of words only 
hinders the multiplication of integers and fractions, 
enfeebles his government and beclouds the rccita- 
tion. His expostulations roll over the boys’ con¬ 
sciences like obliquely shot bullets over the ice; 
and his gestures illustrate nothing hut personal 
impotency and despair. — American Journal of 
Education. 
An American Dictionary of the English Lan¬ 
guage; Containing the whole Vocabulary of the 
First Edition in two volumes Quarto ; the entire Cor¬ 
rection and Improvements of the Second Edition in 
two volumes Royal Octavo: To which is pretlxed an 
Introductory Dissertation on the Origin, History, and 
Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and 
Europe, with an Explanation of tho Principles on 
which Languages are Formed. By Noaii Webster, 
LL. D. Revised and Enlarged by Chauncey a. 
Goodrioii, Professor in Yale College. With Pro¬ 
nouncing Vocabularies of Scripture, Classical, and 
Geographical Names. To which are now added 
On the bank of Buffalo Run, a small creek near 
the southern boundary of Greene Co., Va., is one 
of the most remarkable curiosities which I have 
even seen — a rock marked with human foot-prints. 
The surface of the rock, which is several feet square, 
slopes gradually towards the stream, and the tracks 
extend to the water’s edge. In appearance the 
foot-prints are those of a child of three or four 
years. The first tracks are not deep; the next are 
irregular, as if the child had tottered and crossed 
its feet to preserve its balance. Below, the ball of 
the foot and toes have left a deeper impression, as 
if the little thing had attempted, by bracing its feet 
in the soft clay, to stop in its downward course. 
Then the tracks are a little lengthened at the heel, 
as if the foot had slipped — each one, as it pro¬ 
ceeded farther, presenting a longer slide, until the 
doom of the little one was sealed by the last foot¬ 
step which slips off into the water. 
There are many conjectures as to the origin of 
these tracks. Some maintain that they are the true 
impressions of a child’s feet, made while the rock 
was in a clayey state; others suppose them to be 
the work of the Indians, carved there in commem¬ 
oration of some unfortunate little one, that had 
walked down the rock into the water. There is 
material for a poem in either conjecture. 
Stanardsville, Va., May, 1859. Bkrtiia Mortimer. 
mil, and Spanish Phrases, etc. [In one volume, 
Crown Quarto, pp. 1,700 ] Springtleld, Mass.: Geo. 
and Charles Merriain. Sold in Rochester by E. Har¬ 
row & Bro. 
New Star Papers; or, Views and Experiences of Re¬ 
ligious Subjects. By Henry Ward Beecher. [i2mo. 
B p. 403.] New York: Derby and Jackson. Sold by 
ewey and Darrow & Bro. 
Plain and Pleasant Talk about Fruits, Flowers 
and Farming. By Henry Ward Beecher. [12mo. 
pp. 420.] New York: Derby & Jackson and A. O. 
Moore & Co. Rochester— Dewey. 
Seaoliff; or, the Mystery of tho Westervelts. By J. 
W. De Forest, author of “Oriental Acquaintance,” 
“European Acquaintance,” etc. [12mo.—pp. 400.] 
Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. Sold by Dewey. 
Memoirs of tiie Empress Catharine II. Written by 
Herself. With a Preface by A. Herzen. Translated 
from tho French. [10mo.—pp. 809.] New York: D. 
Appleton & Co. Rochester— Adams A Dabney. 
Thoughts on Educational Topics and Institutions. 
By Geo. S. Boutwell. [12mo.—pp. 805.] Boston: 
Phillips, Sampson & Co. Rochester— Dewey. 
Quiet vs. Fuss.—It is amusing to notice how, in 
some parts of the world, noise and pretension pass 
for power and merit. In reading the life of Watt, 
the inventor, recently published, we find in his 
correspondence a paragraph which both illustrates 
this popular infirmity of judgment, and exhibits 
the pleasant humor of the machinest. Writing to 
his partner, respecting one of the first steam en¬ 
gines put in operation in Cornwall, Watt says:—• 
’• The velocity, violence, magnitude, and horrible 
noise of the engine give universal satisfaction to 
all beholders, whether believers or not. I have 
once or twice trimmed the engine to end its stroke 
noise ; but Mr.-cannot 
gently, and make less 
sleep unless it seems quite furious, so I have left it 
to the engine man. And, by-the-by, the noise 
serves to convey great ideas of power to the igno¬ 
rant, who seem" to be no more taken with moaest 
merit in an engine than in a man.” 
