MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
(BiRmitiomil Jejmrtnirat. 
BY L. WETHER ELL. 
NORMAL SCHOOLS - AGAIN. 
Editors Rural :— La your truly valuable 
paper of the 4th inst.,I was gratified to find 
an article entitled “ Normal Shools,” con¬ 
taining some masterly strictures upon a 
communication from the Albany Atlas, re¬ 
lating to the same subject. For the noble 
stand you have taken in behalf of these 
Seminaries for the improvement of teachers, 
as well as for the correct and enlightened 
views you have expressed in reference to 
their internal organization and management, j 
you deserve, as 1 am sure you will receive, j 
the heartfelt thanks of all the true friends 
of such institutions. That Normal Schools 
should not be converted into mere “Acade¬ 
mies” for imparting a knowledge of the 
higher mathematics, or even those branches 
which strictly belong to the common school 
course, is obvious to every person who has 
learned the alphabet of that comprehensive 
science—that science of all other sciences— 
the education of the human faculties. That 
in this country, they have thus in a measure 
been perverted to improper uses, all who 
are familiar with their past history, and who 
are competent to judge of their true aims, 
do equally well know. Hence, I again say 
gentlemen, that the friends of education 
owe a debt of gratitude to you, for having 
exposed the defects of the Normal system 
in this country, and thus, for having opened 
the way for their remedy. A contest upon 
this very subject is now going on in Massa¬ 
chusetts, and there is good ground for the 
belief that the Normal Schools of this coun¬ 
try will yet be brought back to their “Nor¬ 
mal” position in our educational system. 
But my business was with our friend of 
the Atlas; and will you permit me, as a 
humble seeker after the truth : as a sincere 
friend of education; as an active laborer in 
behalf of those primary institutions, upon 
tho success and real efficiency of which, 
more than upon any and all other causes, 
the welfare, the safety, and the happiness, 
of a republican people must rest, to ask that 
friend a few simple, frank, straight forward 
questions ? 
1. If “insufficient intellectual qualifica¬ 
tions constitute the great defect of our 
teachers,” why docs it so often happen that 
the best scholars utterly fail as teachers ?— 
Why is “especial attention to a teachers’ 
class” in Academies necessary ? 
2. Education aims to develop the mental 
and moral faculties, to bring out all those 
elements which combine to form the perfect 
character, to make the intelligent, virtuous, 
useful citizen, the honest man—“ the noblest 
work of God.” To accomplish this, is the 
true aim of the “art of teaching,” which can 
“all bo taught in half an hour!” It is due 
to humanity that the secret should be told. 
Will tho Atlas divulge it for the information 
of the world, in general, and the poor ped- 
agogue in particular ? 
3. Knowledge—literary attainment—con¬ 
stitutes the tools of the educator. Of what 
avail are good tools, if the possessor is not 
well skilled in the best modes of using them ? 
In the ordinary and subordinate occupations 
of life this question Avould be full of mean¬ 
ing. Has it none when referring to the all 
important subject of education—that great 
interest which is the foundation of all 
others ? 
4. The Avisest and best men of our age, 
who have made education their study, whose 
best energies have been devoted to devising 
the most effectual means for its ad vancement, 
bear their united and unequivocal testimony 
to the necessity of seminaries, for the special 
training of teachers in tho “ science of edu¬ 
cation, and the art of. instructing the young.” 
Is it possible they should bo so deceived, 
when the wholo “art of teaching can be 
taught in half an hour ?” 
5. Finally—will the Atlas editor tako the 
trouble to read the last throe or four pages 
of the reports of Col. Samuel Young, as 
Superintendent of Common Schools for the 
years 1843, ’44 and ’45, and give his view's 
as to the soundness of tho positions there 
assumed, by a gentleman whose orthodoxy, 
even upon the subject of education, we pre¬ 
sume that journal will not question? 
VlNDEX. 
EXECUTIVE AND CABINET OFFICERS. 
It appears from a table in Disturnell’s 
Register, for 1852, that, from 1785 to 1850, 
the Presidents, Vice Presidents and Cabinet 
officers have been selected from the several 
States :—Maine, 1, New Hampshire, 2, Mas¬ 
sachusetts, 21, Connecticut, 3, Vermont, 1, 
New York, 19, New Jersey, 2, Pennsylvania, 
15, Delaware, 4, Maryland, 10, Virginia, 23, 
North Carolina, 3, South Carolina, 7, Geor¬ 
gia, 6, Louisiana, 3, Ohio, *7, Kentucky, 9, 
Tennessee, 7, Missiissppi, 1, and Michigan,1. 
Thus it appears that 19 States have shared 
these honors. 
Of these officers, the Eastern States have 
furrnished 28, the Middle 40, the Southern » 
43, and the Western 24. The Presidents/ 
have been chosen from the following States/ 
from Massachusetts, 2, New York, 2, Vir¬ 
ginia, 5, Louisiana, 1, Ohio, 1, and Tennes¬ 
see, 2. 
It will be an interesting and profitable 
exercise for the young students in History 
and Geography, to learn the names of the 
Presidents, so as to repeat them in the or¬ 
der of election, the time they w'ere in office, 
and the States from which they wore cho¬ 
sen. This we deem one of the best meth¬ 
ods of teaching civil and political History. 
i Labor to fix in the mind the great outlines 
j of Geography and History. When this is 
I well done, the reader of history has a nu¬ 
cleus, to which knowledge adheres. 
DICTIONARIES. 
Wkisstkr’s Dictionary.— In a majority of the 
towns in Massachusetts, according to the Boston 
Atlas, Webster’s Quarto Dictionary, unabridged, 
is placed in the schools, and is used as a book of 
reference for definitions, and especially in the lan¬ 
guage of President Hitchcock, “for defining sci¬ 
entific terms ”—but it is not used “as the stand¬ 
ard work of orthography and pronunciation ” as 
Gov. Wood, of Ohio, lias stated. In most, if not 
all the Schools in which this one copy of Web¬ 
ster is used as a word of reference, it is believed 
that hundreds of copies of Worcester’s pronounc¬ 
ing and explanatory Dictionary are used by teach¬ 
ers and pupils, “ as the standard for orthography 
and pronunciation .”—Buffalo Com. Aelv. 
| The statement of the Boston Atlas above 
; alluded to, elicited the following reply from 
i the publishers of Webster’s Dictionary : 
Editors of the Atlas : Gentlemen —Your 
paper of the 11th inst., contains some stric¬ 
tures upon remarks made by Gov. Wood, of 
Ohio, in his late annual Message to the Leg¬ 
islature of that State, commendatory of 
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, and you 
remark that his “statement is incorrect.”— 
We are not responsible for what Gov. W. 
may have thought proper to state, or re¬ 
commend in his message; yet, with your 
j permission, we should be glad to give,brief- 
| ly, the facts in reference to Massachusetts, 
i which will show, we think, that in regard to 
’ our own State, the remark of His Excellency 
I is substantially correct. 
During the session of 1850, tho Commit- 
[ tee on Education in the Massachusetts Sen- 
i ate, unsolicited, unprompted, and the meas- 
| ure unsuggested by us, proposed introducing 
an order for supplying, at the expense of 
the State, a copy of Webster’s Unabridged 
Dictionary to each school district. In the 
debate upon this order, Mr. Wilkins, one of 
the publishers of Worcester’s Dictionary, 
then a member of the Senate, participated 
actively in the discussion, and favored a mo¬ 
tion to substitute Worcester for Webster.— 
This was voted down. Mr. Wilkins then 
moved that both Webster and Worcester bo 
given. This was also negatived. It was 
then proposed that Webster or Worcester 
be supplied, and the Districts be left to elect 
for themselves. No wish existing, it is pre¬ 
sumed, on the part of the movers of the 
measure, to coerce the Districts in a matter 
of this sort, this was assented to, and the or¬ 
der passed as you have quoted. The Dis¬ 
tricts thus left to their own unbiassed choice, 
of the 3,700 in the State, up to the 1st of 
August last, 3,035 of them have taken Web¬ 
ster, and 105 Worcester. We suppose the 
remainder may have been in the same pro¬ 
portion. tyYou remark that “ the reason for 
this is obvious. The books were furnished 
from tho school fund, and the School Com¬ 
mittee had liberty to choose between Web¬ 
ster at four dollars, and Worcester at two.” 
Now, if the districts, in receiving a gratuity 
from the State, had been taking a merchant¬ 
able article to dispose of again, then this 
would have influenced their choice. But as 
it was a pure benefaction, the districts pay¬ 
ing nothing for either, and taking either 
work for a purely educational purpose, we 
submit that the only motive with them must 
have been to select that which they regard¬ 
ed as the most valuable Lexicon—to adopt, 
in the language of Gov. Wood, a “standard 
work of orthography and pronunciation.”— 
It is true, therefore, that “ in Massachusetts 
every school is furnished with a dictionary,” 
and the districts, in tho proportion of 30 to 
1, have taken Webster as their “standard 
work.” 
In Boston, where Worcester is published, 
the schools had already taken that work; 
other towns, as Westfield, &c., had supplied 
themselves with Webster; so that the pro¬ 
portion, probably, was not varied by this 
circumstance. We are authorized to say, 
that in some instances, of the largest towns, 
where Worcester has already been taken, 
yet had that not been the case, and the ques¬ 
tion been between that and Webster, under 
the offer of the State, they would unhesita¬ 
tingly have taken the latter as their choice. 
In addition to tho supply furnished by tho 
State, the city of Worcester has recently 
purchased ten copies of Webster’s Unabridg¬ 
ed, at its own expense, for as many Primary 
Schools. A gentleman, (Hon. N. P. Banks, 
the present Speaker of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives,) who visited the schools of the 
State last summer and autumn, co-operating 
with the Board of Education, says,—“No 
measure of our Legislature was more popu¬ 
lar or useful. In many towns, the Diction¬ 
ary (Webster’s) was the only authoritative 
judge and umpire in literary matters,” &c. 
In tho State of New York, where a simi¬ 
lar measure was adopted, no other Diction¬ 
ary than Webster’s was contemplated or 
proposed. 
We have no desire to disparage Mr. Wor¬ 
cester's excellent Dictionary. In Professor 
Porter’s argument before the Educational 
Committee, ho says : “Nor would tho pub¬ 
lishers have requested me to appear beforo 
you nor any one beside, had not Webster’s 
^artraits nni) SSiograpftttB. Mo. 5. 
g|k 
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. 
The above portrait of William Words¬ 
worth, the great English poet of Man and 
Nature, is a faithful copy of one of the 
best likenesses of him that has ever been 
published. It is the very face we should 
fancy to belong to the author of tho Excur¬ 
sion—calm, serene and grand with intellec¬ 
tual and imaginative beauty. Wordsavortii 
has no doubt been moro talked about than 
read, but yet he has a large class of read¬ 
ers and admirers in this country. Prof. 
Reed of Philadelphia has recently published 
a Memoir of his Life, the best yet Avritten. 
Tho poet lived to tho advanced ago o 
eighty years, dying on the 23d of April, 
1850, the day of the death of Siiakspeare 
and Cervantes. It will be a memorable 
day in the calendar of genius. At the time 
of his death he ivas tho greatest living au¬ 
thor of the English language. His literary 
career has been a noble one—calm, stead¬ 
fast, consistent; strong in the individual 
life, strong in his personal associations, 
strong in his influences upon the world. 
Dictionary been gratuitously attacked, and 
its merits depreciated.” We have never 
thought it necessary, in order that the Avork 
published by us should bo properly appre¬ 
ciated, that the works of other writers in the 
same field should be sought to be degraded 
in the public estimation. In the general 
recommendation of Worcester, published by 
you, most intelligent men, avo doubt not, 
could essentially concur. It is proper to 
say, hoAvever, that it is not there spoken of 
as superior to every other ; that tho distin¬ 
guished gentlemen by whom it is signed at- 
tatched their names to it, we believe, prior 
to the appearance of the revised edition of 
Webster; and that some of those gentlemen, 
at least, have since expressed the opinion, 
over their own signature, that Webster’s is 
“ THE MOST COMPLETE, ACCURATE AND RELI¬ 
ABLE Dictionary of the language.” 
Hon. Daniel Webster, Avho is not accus¬ 
tomed to forming or expressing a judgment 
at random, in affixing his signature to the 
same opinion, accompanies it with a private 
letter, saying: “ I attach my name to your 
paper with very great pleasure.” President 
Hitchcock, whose name appears appended 
to tho notice of Worcester, in your article, 
says, also :—“ I have been in the habit of 
using Dr. Webster’s Dictionary for several 
years past, in preference to all others, be¬ 
cause it far excels them all, so far as I know, 
in giving and defining scientific terms. In 
its appropriate place, in your advertising 
columns, will be found our advertisement, 
giving expressions of opinion, with regard to 
Webster's Dictionary, from the leading State 
Superintendents of Schools, and prominent 
educational men all over the Union. 
The Imperial Dictionary, recently pub¬ 
lished in London, and probably the leading 
Avork of this character in Great Britain, 
adopts, on its title page, Webster as its ba¬ 
sis, copies it almost verbatim, and in its pre¬ 
face adds: “The propriety of this will be 
obvious, when ive reflect that it is acknowl¬ 
edged, both in this country and America, to 
be the most copious and most excellent present 
in circulation.” 
The London Times, “The Thunderer,” 
never strongly American in its sympathies, 
ivas forced to say, it is “ the best and most 
useful Dictionary of tho English language 
ever published.” The London Morning 
Chronicle says, “Dr. Webster’s great work 
is the best Dictionary of tho English lan¬ 
guage.” 
With such and numberless other expres¬ 
sions of opinion of a similar character, from 
both sides of the Atlantic, we think there is 
some foundation for Gov. Wood’s remark, 
that “it is admitted to bo the most valuable 
work of the kind extant by the learned men, 
both here and in Europe.” Not that every 
gentleman entertaining such an opinion 
Avould feel bound to assent to every peculi¬ 
arity of this or any other Avork; or that every 
peculiarity of this or any other Avork; or 
that every State or School district, adopting 
it, on the ivhole, as its “ standard,” neces¬ 
sarily precludes all reference to every other, 
or prescribes a mode of spelling or pronounc- 
“ As a classic poet,” says the Literary 
World, “ in that high rank of genius shared 
by so few, the constructor of imperishable 
Odes, Wordsavortii stands Avith Milton, 
Dryden, and Gray. In conscientious force 
of diction, vitality of language, learned il¬ 
lustration, Attic grace, and dignity, he is 
alone Avith tho author of Lycidas and the 
Christian Hymn. In thorough fusion and 
all that is required of creative power, how 
transcendent is his Laodamia ! The reciter 
Avould have been crowned with laurel at an 
Olympic festival. The poem seems carved 
with the chisel on the purest marble. And 
the Odo to Duty, not stoical but Christian, 
and the Lines at Tinturn Abbey, written 
fifty-tivo years since, a link in the unity of 
feeling of all his life, and tho Intimations 
of Immortality, and a hundred pagos of the 
Excursion, and those fragments of lofty 
Odes, the Sonnets, and the informing, elo- 
vating, lyrical spirit of all his writings— 
they have the unerring indications of the 
highest literary genius.” 
ing our vernacular by law. On many points 
treated of in lexicography, the vieAvs of learn¬ 
ed men, it is ivell known, are diametrically 
opposed. Of course, it is impossible for any 
one lexicographer to harmonize all such dis¬ 
cordant views. But we respectfully submit, 
that, Dr. Webster having with the labor of 
thirty years, produced a Lexicon of the lan¬ 
guage, confessed, even in England, to be su¬ 
perior to any similar work yet produced in 
the mother country;—so acknowledged in 
other lands where the English language is 
spoken;—and so conceded very generally at 
home, it is not exactly, patriotic, if we have 
any pride in a national literature, on ac¬ 
count of minor differences of opinion, to dis¬ 
parage his labors, as has sometimes been 
done, or seek to blacken his ivell earned 
fame. 
Pardon us for trespassing upon your 
courtesy by so long a communication on 
such a subject. We are quite aware that 
the columns of a newspaper are not the ap¬ 
propriate place in Avhich to adjust nice ques¬ 
tions of philology, nor are avo guilty of the 
assumption of supposing ourselves compe¬ 
tent to discuss them. To any Avho may be 
curious in such matters, we shall bo happy 
to send Prof. Porter’s Argument, to which 
avc have adverted. G. & C. Merriam, 
Publishers of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. 
Springfield, Mass., Feb. 14, 1852. 
ROADS AND . SCH0CI-MAS1ERS. 
Mr. Senator Sumner, recently, in his 
place, thus spoke of these forerunners of 
civilization: 
“Where roads are not, civilization cannot 
be; and civilization advances as roads are ex¬ 
tended. By these religion and knowledge 
are diffused ; intercourse of all kinds is pro¬ 
moted ; the producer, tho manufacturer, and 
the consumer are all brought nearer togeth¬ 
er; commerce is quickened; markets are 
opened; property, wherever touched by 
these lines is changed, as by a magic rod, 
into new values; and the great current of 
travel, like that stream of classic fable, or 
one of tho rivers of our oivn Chlifornia, hur¬ 
ries in a channel of golden sand. 
The roads, togother Avith tho laws, of an¬ 
cient Romo, are iioav better remembered than 
her victories. The Flaminian and Appian 
ways—once trod by returning proconsuls 
and tributary kings—still remain as benefi¬ 
cent representatives of her departed gran¬ 
deur. Under God the road and the school¬ 
master are tho chief agents of human im¬ 
provement. Tho education begun by the 
school-master is expanded, liberalized, and 
completed, by intercourse Avith the world; 
and this intercourse finds, new opportunities 
and inducements in every road that is built.” 
Monarchy. — The five points of mon¬ 
archy are a hereditary monarch, a nobility, 
a standing army, an established church and 
a strong police. 
He that blows tho coals in quarrels he has 
nothing to do with, has no right to complain 
if a spark fly in his face. 
inbbntlj Utaftitigu. 
THE MOTHER’S GIFT. 
Remember love who gave thee this 
When other days shall come ; 
AVhen she w’ho had thy earliest kiss, 
Sleeps in her narrow' home. 
Remember ’twas a mother gave 
The gift to one she’d die to save. 
That mother sought a pledge of love, 
The holiest for her son ; 
And from the gifts of God above, 
She chose a goodly one. 
She chose for her beloved boy, 
The source of light and life and joy. 
, And bade him keep the gift that when 
The parting hour should come. 
They might have hope to meet again, 
In an eternal home. 
She said his faith in that would be 
Sweet inocense to her memory. 
And should the scoffer in his pride, 
Laugh that fond faith to scorn, 
And bid him cast the pledge aside, 
That he from youth had borne, 
She bade him pause and ask his breast, 
If he, or she, had loved him best ? 
A parent’s blessing to her son 
Goes with this holy thing; 
The love that would retain the one 
Must to the other cling. 
Remember ! 'tis no idle toy, 
A Mother’s Gift—Remember, Boy ! 
[Kennedy. 
CONTENTMENT. 
BY JOSHUA AVILBER. 
That remarkable man, the Apostle Paul, 
—remarkable alike for his learning and 
piety, as well as for his extended usefulness 
in the Christian Church—in a familiar let¬ 
ter to his brethren at Phillippi, makes this 
noteAvorthy declaration:—“/ have learned, 
in whatsoever state I am, to be content.” The 
condition of the Apostle Avhen he penned 
this sentence was any thing but pleasant:— 
a prisoner at Rome, awaiting only the pleas¬ 
ure of the Emperor to be put on trial for 
his life, with strong reasons too, for appre¬ 
hending that judgment would be given 
against him, old age coming on, and poverty 
pressing him doAvn with an iron hand,—it 
might reasonably have been pardoned if 
even he had complained of his hard lot.— 
But not a Avord of repining is to be found in 
the whole epistle; it breathes throughout 
the same spirit of cheerfulness and resigna¬ 
tion. 
What considerations enabled tho tried 
Apostlo to maintain such calmness and 
serenity in the midst of circumstances so 
painful and exciting? Doubtless tbe great 
truth that God, his Heavenly Father, order¬ 
ed all the events of his life, for his highest 
good, Avas the solid foundation of his peace. 
With such a protector, nothing could hap¬ 
pen amiss.—nothing, however dark and af¬ 
flictive it might for the present appear, that 
Avould not in the end be manifestly for his 
welfare. It was not by the practice of the 
stoicism of the Greeks, or tho fatalism of 
the Hindoos, but by the sublime and eleva¬ 
ting doctrines of the Christian faith, that 
he had learned this lesson, so simple and 
rational Avhen considered abstractly, and 
yet so hard to be acquired and of such vast 
importance, in its effects, to himself and 
others. 
We have but to put in practice tho divine 
philosophy ef Paul in order to enjoy the 
like degree of contentment. We have but to 
survey the means of happiness within our 
reach, or to contrast our condition with that 
of others less favored, to feel ashamed of our 
ingratitude, and to cease at once from our 
fretfulness. Above all, if we reflect that wo 
have forfeited all claim to the kind regard of 
our Creator, by our repeated transgressions 
of his Avise and just requirements, and that 
He notwithstanding causes His sun to shine 
upon us, and sends His rain to Avater the 
earth for the supply of our daily wants, we 
shall be constrained to wonder at His good¬ 
ness and mercy, rather than to find fault 
Avith the allotments of His providence. 
By being contented, it is not meant that 
we should sink down in slothful ness, making 
no exertion to free ourselves from the evils 
Avhich oppress us; but that avo should light¬ 
ly esteem the annoyances and vexations in¬ 
separable from our earthly existence, which 
no power can ward off, or foresight prevent; 
striving to extract from the varied circum¬ 
stances of our situation every particle of 
happiness they can afford, even as the in¬ 
dustrious bee draws sweet honey from nox¬ 
ious flowers: and especially laboring to ob¬ 
tain a good hope that a brighter, happier 
home awaits us in the skies. A firm per¬ 
suasion that this life is a scene of trial and 
preparation for abetter, will act like a charm 
to induce contentment, and. instead of caus¬ 
ing ono to bo peevish and fretful, will diffuso. 
a calm cheerfulness over every day’s ex¬ 
perience, that can be derived from no other 
Humility is a virtue all preach, none 
E ractice, and vet every body is content to 
ear. The master thinks it a good doctrine 
for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and 
tho clergy for the laity.— John Selden. 
