HIGH NOTIONS, A IAIN. 
"Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOLS. 
Eds. Rural :—I have read with much pleasure 
and interest, the “Young Ituralist” column, and 
think it is an essential part of your most excellent 
paper, which we hail with much pleasure every 
week. Now, my name is not very often seen in 
publio print, but I have made bold this time for 
the following reasons. 
In the Rural of June 4th, I saw an article writ¬ 
ten by “Chips,” headed “High Notions,” which 
suited my fancy exactly. I felt that I could in¬ 
dorse every word of it. Judge of my surprise 
then, on opening the Rural of July 30th, to find 
an artiole over the signature of “ W. S.” of Niagara 
Co., wholly setting aside, or taking back said ar¬ 
ticle, and asserting that “ he was evidently labor¬ 
ing under intense excitement” when he wrote 
it, calling it “an ‘old fogy’ influence” which 
he was trying to spread, &c. Now, if it will not 
arouse any one’s dander to hear one’s chosen oc¬ 
cupation,—one so pleasant and delightful, too,—so 
greatly depreciated as “ W. S.” would have it, then 
we do not know what would. 
Where do you find the most true enjoyment—• 
true happiness ? Is it with those who follow a 
Commercial life? Is it with those who follow the 
Plow, and obey that mandate, “earn thy bread by 
the sweat of thy brow.” Do you see any real 
happiness depicted on the countenance of those 
pale-faced, young men, that are seen behind the 
counter of every city store ? On the contrary, you 
hear them complain of sickness in some of its 
forms. Poor fellows! We pity them from the 
bottom of our hearts. Evidently W. S. did not 
read “ C. P. O.’s” article in the Rural of July 2d, 
or perhaps he is disposed to try the new “ drive- 
wheel” again. We would tell “ W. S.” it will not 
go. It is not made of the right material. It has 
been tried enough to satisfy candid and thoughtful 
persons. The “ drive wheel ” of Honest Society, 
must be made of Agricultural pursuits. We would 
not be understood to say that every body must be 
Farmers. No ! no! that would never do. It has 
often been truthfully said that “one trade is de¬ 
pendent on another.” It takes all of them to make 
up a world — one could not do without the other, 
but if the “ drive wheel ” keeps constantly dimin¬ 
ishing, and the other parts increasing, then the 
motion stops. We are for every person making a 
free choice of occupation, as well as “ W. S.,” but 
let all occupations be held up in the same light — 
then we can see to make a choice. Our “ drive 
wheel ” has been weakened and constantly dimin¬ 
ished by so doing, and what has been the result? 
Alas! the answer is known too well. But of late, 
we are happy to assert, much has been done to re¬ 
place the old “ drive wheel,” so that things may 
go on with their wonted regularity; and it is be¬ 
ing replaced. A few more revolutions and the old 
“ drive wheel” will be in full operation again. 
There are some disagreeables appertaining to 
farming as well as to anything else, but we think 
they are fewer. Go upon a well-regulated farm 
with all the improvements of the day, in tools and 
other appurtenances, and there are few unpleas¬ 
ant features. Farming has been let run to too 
low a figure; but, for a few years back, through 
the instrumentality of first-rate agricultural pa¬ 
pers, together with the go-aheadativeness of the 
people, it has been revived, and is still reviving. 
Farming is a very pleasant, healthful, and useful 
occupation, and it can be made more so, and will 
be. The time is speedily coming when the farmer 
will hold his proper place in community. A great 
many of our most influential men are directing 
their attention to farming. Frank D. 
Akron, Erie Co., N. Y., 1859. 
Ir would seem that enough had been said and 
written upon the subject of Common School Edu¬ 
cation to now let the matter remain in silence, but 
when we consider that the little children compos¬ 
ing our schools, are soon to enter the great field 
of action, as the thinkers and workers upon whom 
will rest the destiny of our country, we think that 
too much cannot be spoken to arouse teachers and 
patrons to a sense of their duty. 
The child’s mind is a canvas upon which the 
principles and character of those with whom he has 
daily intercourse soon becomes impressed. A 
word may change his whole afterlife—may awaken 
the energy and the power to rank first among the 
honored of our land, to achieve works of true 
greatness, or may crush that spirit, and the child 
become the “ vilest of the vile,” an inhabitant of a 
prison cell. Yet how manyparents there are who 
never enter the school-room to look after the inter¬ 
ests of their children ? The lowest applicant is 
usually employed, without any regard to reputation 
as a teacher, and the work is begun and ended 
without further notice. 
“ Haven’t time to attend to such matters,” says 
one—“business will not admit,” remarks another. 
Certainly you “ haven’t time,” yet of what enlarge¬ 
ments will not your “ business ” admit, and all 
receive due attention. Perhaps you never thought 
how a few hours spent in the school-room now and 
then, would encourage pupils and interest teachers 
in their work. The same round of duties, day 
after day, becomes irksome—the child longs for 
some change, and the thought that some one is 
interested in their welfare, and desires to see them 
progressing, will give to each a new relish for 
study and a new determination to improve. 
Some say “our school is small, hardly worth 
teaching, much more visiting." If you possessed 
of Criticism, and the class in Algebra and Trigo¬ 
nometry, would have done credit to similar classes 
in any of our best Colleges. The young ladies not 
only answered promptly, but explained many of 
the leading and most difficult parts of these sciences 
in the most lucid and satisfactory manner. They 
gave clear evidence of diligent application, and 
that thoroughness which can only be acquired by 
persevering effort, and faithful, earnest, and la¬ 
borious teaching. Another excellence manifest at 
this examination, of which the Committee would 
speak particularly, was the care given to teaching 
penmanship and composition. More neat, or im¬ 
proved writing-books, it has never been our privi¬ 
lege to examine. The Graduating Class deported 
themselves most becomingly. Their compositions 
were .of a higher order of sentiment — well written 
and well read ;• worthy of the highest commenda¬ 
tion.’? 
One of the prominent and most pleasing char¬ 
acteristics of Western and Central New York con¬ 
sists in its finely located and well sustained 
Academies and Seminaries — almost every town 
of note having at least one institution of merit and 
reputation. The edifices occupied by these insti¬ 
tutions are mostly substantial and beautiful struc¬ 
tures, and many of them admirable in location 
and surroundings. This is particularly true of 
several heretofore presented in the Rural — such 
as the Elmira Female College, Auburn Theological 
Seminary, Brockport Collegiate Institute, Tracy 
Female Institute, and others. And we take pleas¬ 
ure in giving a view, and brief notice of another 
excellent institution—that of Phipps Union Fe¬ 
male Seminary, above represented. 
This Seminary has long ranked among the first 
of its class in this section of the Union, having 
been incorporated by the Regents of the University 
Of New York in 1840. Th? last Annual Catalogue 
(for the year ending June 23d, 1859,) shows that 
the institution is well patronized and in a very 
prosperous condition. The annual Examination 
of pupils (June 21st, 22d and 23d,) is said to have 
been highly creditable. We make the following 
extract from the Report of the Examining Com¬ 
mittee : 
“Seldom, if ever, has there been witnessed more 
perfect order, and clearer evidence of thorough 
scholarship, than were exhibited during this exam¬ 
ination. While all evinced good training and 
commendable proficiency in their respective de¬ 
partments, it is but just to mention some classes 
that excelled. The large class in Cornell’s High 
School Geography, showed a thoroughness and 
practical readiness highly pleasing to all. The 
examination of the classes in Botany, Wayland’s 
Moral Science, Butler’s Analogy, Karnes’ Elements 
STATE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATIONS. 
ABOUT INSECTS. 
The New York State Teachers’ Association held 
its Fourteenth Annual Session at Poughkeepsie, 
on the 2d, 3d, and 4th inst. The following person^ 
were chosen officers for the ensuing year: 
President — James N. McElligott, LL. D., New^ 
York. Vice-Presidents —Jas. Johonnot, Syracusyy 
W. N. Read, Newburg; Asa Baker, Johnstown; 
Edwin A. Charlton, Lockport. Recording Secre¬ 
taries —James Atwater, Lockport; G. N. Harris, 
Syracuse. Treasurer —Wm. H. Hughes, Albany. 
Board of Editors for the Eew York Teacher .— 
J. W. Bulkley, Brooklyn; E. A. Sheldon,Oswego; 
A. Z. Barrows, Buffalo; W. W. Raymond, Skane- 
ateles; D. H. Crittenden, New York; Emily A. 
Rice, Schenectady; Helen M. Philleo, Boonville; 
E. W. Keyes, Albany; A. B. Wiggin, Owego; Ed¬ 
ward Webster, Rochester; J. W. Barker, Niagara 
Falls. 
The Association resolved to hold its next Annual 
Meeting at Syracuse, July 31st, 1860. 
The Wisconsin Association held its Sixth Annual 
Session, at Madison, last week. There were some 
three hundred teachers present. The session was 
continued four days, and the exercises were highly 
interesting. The following officers were elected 
for the..ensuing year: 
President— J. B. Pradt, of Sheboygan. Vice- 
Presidents —M. P. Kinney, Racine; George Gale, 
Trempeleau; J. J. McIntyre, Berlin. Secretary— 
James H. Magoffin, Waukesha. Treasurer— E. S. 
Green, of La Crosse. Councillors —A. J. Craig, 
Palmyra; J. L. Pickard, Platteville; E. C. John¬ 
son, Fond du Lac; E. P. Larkin,Milwaukee; T. J. 
Connaughty, Kenosha. 
The next session of the Association will be held 
at Milwaukee, in July, 1860. 
Insects are largely endowed with the faculty of 
sight; for their eyes, though unable to turn, are 
infinitely multiplied, and compensate by quantity 
for their want of motion. To give an idea of the 
numbers some orders possess, I may mention that 
to or.^v-pecies of butterfly, by no means among the 
largest, is allotted nearly $5,000 eyes. These are 
distributed over every part of the body, and thus, 
whatever may be the position of the animal, no 
danger can approach uDperceived, as a sentinel 
keeps watch in every quarter. 
The passions of love and fear, and sometimes 
higher emotions, are exhibited very signally in 
some orders of insects, and are even expressed in 
sounds, which, while not without significance to 
the human ear, are doubtless full of meaning to 
themselves. The fact may be demonstrated by 
giving chase to a common blue-bottle, which will 
immediately raise its note in a surprising manner, 
the tone being one of unmistakable alarm. In 
tropical countries I have noticed the same pecu¬ 
liarity, with but little variation, in mosquitoes; 
and the adroitness with which these little janissa¬ 
ries avoid capture indicates an organization still 
more subtle. 
Few are unacquainted with the alertness or fero¬ 
city of spiders, exhibited so constantly within the 
sphere of familiar observation. Let a fly be thrown 
on a spider’s web and a strange spectacle will fol¬ 
low. The terror and despair of the fly at the first 
approach of his inexorable enemy, his energetic 
efforts to escape from the tyrant’s clutches, and 
his last touching death-struggle, with the exulta¬ 
tion, rage and malignant cruelty of the spider, are 
a vivid mimicry of the mightier paroxysms of man, 
which few will be able to contemplate with apathy 
indifference. 
I need not dwell here on the affection of insects 
for their progeny, as that is a passion which, by 
the wise providence of the Almighty, prevails, with 
few differences of degree, throughout the whole 
range of nature. But it would be an omission not 
to say that they experience more than usual diffi¬ 
culty in providing for the necessities and require¬ 
ments of their young, yet pursue this object, under 
every disadvantage, with unwearying forecast, 
tenderness and perseverance.— Fullom. 
MAKING A .NEEDLE. 
I wonder if any little girl, who may read this, 
ever thought how many people are all the time at 
work in making the things which she every day 
uses. What can be more common, and, you may 
think, more simple than a needle? Yet, if you do 
not know it, I can tell you that it takes a great 
many persons to make a needle, and a great deal 
of time, too. 
Let us take a peep into the needle manufactory. 
In going over the premises, we must pass hither 
and thither, and walk into the next street and 
back again, and take a drive to a mill, in order to 
see the whole process. We find one chamber of 
the shop is hung around with coils of bright wire 
of all thicknesses, from the stout kinds used for 
codfish hooks, to that of the finest cambric needles. 
In a room below, bits of wire, the length of two 
needles, are cut by a vast pair of shears fixed in 
the wall. A bundle has been cut off; the bits need 
straightening, for they just came off from the 
coils. 
The bundle is thrown into a red-hot furnace, 
and then taken out and rolled backward and for¬ 
ward on a table till the wires are straight. This 
process is called “rubbing straight.” We now 
see a mill for grinding needles. We go down into 
the basement and find a needle pointer seated on 
his bench. He takes up two dozen or so of the 
wires and rolls them between his thumb and fin¬ 
gers with their ends on the grindstone, first one 
end and then the other. We have now the wires 
straight, and pointed at both ends. Next is a 
machine which flattens and gutters the heads of 
ten thousand needles an hour. Observe the little 
gutters at the head of your needle. Next comes 
the punching of the eye, and the boy who does it 
punches eight thousand an hour, and he does it so 
fast your eye3 can hardly keep pace with him.— 
The splitting follows, which is running a fine wire 
through a dozen, perhaps, of these twin needles. 
A woman, with a little anvil before her, files 
between the heads, and separates them. They 
are now complete needles, but rough and rusty, 
and, what is worse, they easily bend. A poor 
needle, you will say. But the hardening comes 
next. They are heated in a furnace, and when 
red-hot are thrown into a pan of cold water. Next 
they must be tempered, and this is done by rolling 
them backward and forward on a hot metallic 
plate. The polishing still remains to be done.— 
On a very coarse cloth needles are spread to the 
number of forty or fifty thousand. Emery dust is 
strewed over them, oil is sprinkled, and soft soap 
is dashed in spoonfuls over the cloth; the cloth is 
then rolled up with several others of the same 
kind, thrown into a wash-pot, to roll to and fro 
for twelve hours or more. They come out dirty 
enough, but after a rinsing in clean hot water, 
and a tossing in sawdust, they look as bright as 
can be, and are ready to be sorted and put up for 
sale. But the sorting and doing up in papers, 
you can imagine, is quite a work by itself. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 
It is with a great degree of pleasure that I read 
the articles appearing in the Rural, (by the way, 
your paper is a regular and very welcome visitor 
at many a happy home in this section of the coun¬ 
try,) under the caption “Educational.” I am 
much interested with other portions, and having 
taken some pains to extend its circulation, I am 
glad to hear it spoken of, as I often do, as the pa¬ 
per that does more for the Farmer than any other. 
But particularly am I interested with your sugges¬ 
tions to teachers, from which alone I have gained 
more than enough to pay for my year’s subscription. 
The education of the young has of late occupied 
the minds of the people more than in former days. 
Many improvements have been made in the system 
of Common School teaching, and many advantages 
are now enjoyed of which we knew nothing a few 
years since. But although much has been done, 
much remains to be accomplished. Many of our 
people have a great deal yet to learn, both with re¬ 
gal'd to choosing teachers, and treating them 
properly after they are employed. Or, if these 
lessons are already learned, they need to be bro’t 
into practical use. 
In this age of dollars and cents, when gold and 
silver gain respect and influence for a man who 
deserves neither, and when bank notes are a pass¬ 
port to office, many seem to lose sight of the prop¬ 
er qualications for a teacher, and, too often, of two 
applicants for a school, the one who obtains em¬ 
ployment gets it, not because he is the better qual¬ 
ified of the two, but because he will teach for a 
tew dollars less than any one else. I hope that the 
time will soon come when the truth will be learned 
•— cheap teachers are poor bargains at least, in the 
majority of instances. True, there are cases where 
very competent teachers can afford to labor for a 
low salary; but what we would urge, is, this 
should not be the reason why they are employed. 
1’rom experience and observation lam speaking, 
and would notice further, that I have known teachers 
destitute of right moral principles — to say noth¬ 
ing more — gain employment where those of good 
moral character were refused. This is not as it 
should be. Parents do not riuhtlv estimate the 
Messrs. Eds.: —I wish to say a word for my 
friends, the Dogs, in answer to Mr. Pearson, in 
the Rural of July 16th. I cannot see the noble 
creature so cruelly maligned and not speak a word 
in his defence. Instead of waging an indiscrim¬ 
inate war of extermination against him, let us edu¬ 
cate him. No animal, except man, has faculties so 
susceptible of cultivation; and in the place of useless 
untrained curs which make night hideous, we shall 
have faithful and valuable servants. I extract a 
few items from an able article on dogs, in the 
last New American Cyclopedia, as comprising what 
I wish to say much better than I could say it: 
“ It would be useless here to introduce anecdotes 
proving the sagacity, faithfulness, affection, grati¬ 
tude, courage, velocity and other useful qualities 
of the dog; these have been known from remote 
antiquity and are recognized in the earliest sys¬ 
tems of Pagan theology and astronomy. 
“ In France and several other countries, especi¬ 
ally Holland, dogs are frequently employed as 
draught animals, and in Kamstchatka and Green¬ 
land, almost exclusively for the same purpose.— 
From the above remarks it must be evident that 
the dogs are the most complete and useful conquest 
ever made by man; all their faculties have been 
rendered subservient to him, for his pleasure and 
profit, for his safety against his own kind and other 
animals.” 
What a crowd of anecdotes, illustrative of the 
sagacity and courage of the canine species, does 
the name of St. Bernard suggest! His noble deeds 
of rescuing snow-bewildered travelers in the Alps 
should atone for all defects in the manners of his 
humbler brethren. In conclusion, I would advise 
Mr. Pearson to read the article from which I 
quote, and then buy himself the best-looking pup¬ 
py he can find in St. Lawrence county. x. 
Cazenovia, N. Y., August, 1S59. 
Keys in Mathematics. —The attention of teacher 
and parents should be called to the use of “Keys” 
by pupils in Arithmetic and Algebra, in some of 
our schools. The title page says they are designed 
for the teachers only; but the booksellers in some 
towns inform us that the demand for them nearly 
equals the sale of the corresponding text-books. 
Whatever may be said of the convenience or neces¬ 
sities of teachers, there can be no defense of their 
use by pupils. They prevent thoroughness and 
self-reliance, defeat the primary purpose of educa¬ 
tion, and directly foster indolence, superficiality, 
and conceit. The pupil who has "simply copied a 
solution, comes to the recitation with the compla¬ 
cent assumption that he understands the problem, 
when it can be truly comprehended only by being 
worked out. “ We get along so fast with them ” 
is the poor plea which seems to satisfy those who 
do not consider that mental discipline is gained 
more effectually by doing a few things well, than 
by any such accelerated efforts to go over a wide 
field. A child is the creature of habit, and if de¬ 
pendence upon such aids be permitted, the habit 
will soon be fixed, and rolf-reliance be sacrificed. 
—Massachusetts Teacher. 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
The national religions of China are three, name¬ 
ly, the system of Confucius, that of Taou, and that 
of Buddha. Besides these, there are about a mil¬ 
lion of Christians and quite a number of Mahome- 
dans. The religion of Confucius addresses itself 
to the moral nature. The idea of virtue and vice 
is inculcated, and the duty of compliance with the 
precepts of law. But it ignores, or but faintly re¬ 
cognizes the higer sanctions of rewards and pun¬ 
ishments in a future life. 
Taouism is materialistic. Its ideas of the soul 
are physical and chemical. It regards the stars 
as divine, and it defies hermits and physicians, 
magicians and alchemists. 
Buddhism differs from both. It is commonly 
said to be a form of materialism, and yet it is emi¬ 
nently subtle, metaphysical and imaginative. It 
denies the existence of matter, repudiates the evi¬ 
dence of the senses, and renders its homage and 
worship only to abstract ideas of fictitious imper¬ 
sonations. 
These religions are so many attempts to meet 
tlm wants of the human mind, and they supple¬ 
ment each other, so that one does not absolutely 
supersede the others. The very fact that this va¬ 
riety of faith can be professed and tolerated by 
the Chinese people, in this characteristic quiet¬ 
ness and forbearance, is an indication of a tolerant 
and religious disposition of mind. 
Greatness.— A great, a good, and a right mind 
is a kind of divinity lodged in flesh, and may be 
the blessing of a slave as well as a prince; it came 
from heaven, and to heaven it must return; and it 
is a kind of heavenly felicity, which a pure and 
virtuous mind enjoys in some degree, even upon 
earth.— Seneca. 
Design op Education. —The real design of edu¬ 
cation is to give children resources that will endure 
as long as life endures; habits that time will ameli¬ 
orate, not destroy; occupations that will render 
sickness tolerable, solitude pleasant, age venerable, 
life more dignified and useful, and death less ter¬ 
rible .—Sidney Smith. 
Genuine Goodness is no stagnant pool, but flow¬ 
ing and melodious like a mountain stream. Even 
innocence is sometimes insipid, but virtue, which 
is innocence, is tried and tempered like steel in the 
fire of experience—virtue, which is purity of heart, 
made positive and put ia action, commands the 
love and reverence of the world. 
“There are some members of a community,” 
said the sagacious and witty Thomas Bradbury, 
“that are like a crumb in the throat; if they go 
the right way they afford but little nourishment, 
but if they go the wrong way, they give a great 
deal of trouble.” 
