340 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
I 
(B&ututional Drjiartmcnt 
BY L. WET HER ELL. 
IS THE TEACHER ENGAGED FUR WiNIIRi 
The winter schools of this Commonwealth 
will begin, most of them, within a few weeks. 
In view of this fact the inquiry very naturally 
suggests itself to all who feel interested in 
having good schools. Have you engaged 
your teacher or teachers for the winter 
term ? The good teachers are generally 
secured early—not unfrequently a year be¬ 
fore tho time to bo actually employed, or 
nearly so. If a young man who was a suc¬ 
cessful teacher in any given district last 
winter, can be employed again this winter, 
it is far better to engage him, than to hire a 
stranger. So of a young woman, or one 
who is an experienced and successful in¬ 
structress. A teacher of either sex, who 
has been tried and found skiltul and faith¬ 
ful in the chosen vocation, is always to bo 
preferred—though such cannot always bo 
obtained. 
The agent who acts for the district in 
providing a teacher, or teachers according 
to the wants thereof, has undertaken to per¬ 
form a highly responsible work—a work 
that shall tell on all the future generations 
of all such as come under the instruction 
and moral influence of the teacher or teach¬ 
ers employed for tho coming term. Every 
teacher must leave his mark upon the men¬ 
tal character of the children entrusted to 
his charge, as teacher — and not only upon 
the children, but also upon the adult popu¬ 
lation living in the district, so far as his 
acquaintance extends. This influence should 
always be on the side of virtue and intelli¬ 
gence. 
Bowditcii, the celebrated mathematician, 
was also a navigator. And he scarcely ever 
failed of awakening a deep interest among 
the ship crew in every voyage that he made, 
to learn something of the science and art 
of navigation. Ho not only aroused the 
dormant mind, but inspired it as it were, to 
know—and when the desire to know is once 
earnestly awakened to action, such a mind 
will soon begin to acquire knowledge; and 
a little when rightly gained, strengthens the 
desire for more, and still for more. A little 
knowledge is only a dangerous thing, when, 
through sloth, one is led to believe that he 
has attained ; and that there is therefore, no 
more for him to do, but to enter immedi¬ 
ately into rest—when in reality he does not 
know enough to know how little he really 
does possess. 
If every school agent whose duty it is to 
provide teachers for tho coming winter is 
successful, and employs only workmen that 
need not bo ashamed of results produced 
upon the minds and characters of those 
children and youth coming under their 
direct instruction, an incalculable amount 
of good will bo done,—while on the other 
hand, if tho instructors are not what 
they should bo. then the evil will also be in¬ 
calculable. There is hardly any other se¬ 
cular office whose duties and responsibilities 
are more important than those resting upon 
the school agent who has undertaken to 
provide a suitable person or persons to in¬ 
struct tho children and youth within the 
circuit of his official duties. 
One of the chief motives that will govern 
in hiring teachers, (judging from tho past,) 
is to see how cheap (?) or rather for how- 
low a price the services for a given timo. 
can be procured—rather than earnestly to 
seek teachers of the first quality, and to 
obtain them—no matter what tho price is, 
demanded for the services of such, for it is 
an axiom, that any quantity of good school, 
however small, is absolutely better, and more 
to be desired, really, than the greatest quan¬ 
tity of that whoso quality is bad in conse¬ 
quence of having employed unskillful, un¬ 
faithful persons, because tho price demanded 
for services was low. Remember that low 
priced articles are not always, nor ever ne¬ 
cessarily cheap—that there is a wide differ¬ 
ence between a cheap and a low priced 
commodity. 
We would say then to all whoso duty it is 
to hire teachers, employ the very beat that 
you can obtain , for they are the cheapost at. 
no matter what price—while, on the other 
hand, if you havo employed a man or wo¬ 
man to instruct your children, who turns 
out to be unskilful in the aforesaid vocation, 
boar in mind, that you have an incalculable 
costly teacher, no matter if ho instructs for 
a shilling a month, and boards himself. 
Any person of good understanding desir¬ 
ing to employ a mechanic, seeks for a good 
one—as a general rule. How much more 
important is it, that talent, learning, and 
skill bo combined in tho person whom you 
employ to form and givo tho right direction 
to tho minds of your children. 
Education is the proper employment, not 
only of our early years, but of our whole 
■lives. 
CONVENTION OF CLASSICAL TEACHERS. 
Pursuant to a call issued by several clas¬ 
sical teachers in Western New York, a con¬ 
vention was held in the hall of Canandaigua 
Academy, on Friday and Saturday, October 
8th and 9th. About a dozen academies 
were represented by their Principals, and 
several other classical teachers were pres¬ 
ent. Letters were read from Dr. Hale, of 
Hobart Freo College, Geneva, and from 
Professor Raymond, of Rochester Universi¬ 
ty. An organization was effected, and com¬ 
mittees were appointed to report at the 
next meeting on the subject matter of sev¬ 
eral resolutions which were presented. Tho 
exercises were conducted with spirit and 
characterized by good order and decorum. 
The next meeting is to bo held in Roches¬ 
ter, Thursday and Friday, 30th and 31st of 
December. 
Some idea may be formed concerning the 
nature and objects of this Convention from 
the following synopsis of topics presented 
in tho circular: — 1, The state of public 
opinion in regard to higher education. 2, 
Relative proportion of students completing 
a thorough course of study. 3, Number 
now preparing for such a course. 4, What 
encouragements aro needed, and what are 
the most effective motives, to induce young 
men to enter upon and prosecute it. G. Rel¬ 
ative claims of text-books, and best meth¬ 
ods of instruction in various departments 
of study. 7, Comparative advantages of 
the old college course, and various modifi¬ 
cations of it recently recommended. 
N. W. B. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
Mirror of thf. Soul, or Spiritual Things Dis¬ 
cerned. By a Lady. With an introduction bv 
the Rev. D. Holmes, A. M., author of “ Pure 
Gold,” “ Wesley Offering,” A c. Rochester : 
Wanzer, Beardsley Co. 1852. 
The contents of this volume aro a record 
of personal experience, and will bo read by 
many with pleasure and profit. A father 
after purchasing this work of the publisher 
and reading it, returned and obtained copies 
enough to give his children severally a vol¬ 
ume. The style and the typographical 
dress, will both be found pleasing. 
Bibliotheca Sacra and American Bi¬ 
blical Repository. —The October number 
of this able Review has been received. We 
giveitscontents:—Article 1. Autobiography 
of Dr. Karl Gottlieb Bretsciineideu: 2. 
Elements of Culture in the earliest ages; 3, 
Protestant Christianity adapted to be the 
Religion of the World; 4. Islamism; 5, The 
Character of Infants; 6. The alleged disa¬ 
greement between Paul and James; 7, Life 
and Services of Professor B. B. Edwards ; 
8. Sketch of Justin Martyr; 9. Notices of 
New Publications; 10. Select Theological 
and Literary Intelligence. This number 
completes the ninth volume. Every minis¬ 
ter should havo this work upon his table. 
Terms, $3.00 per year; L. Wetiierell agent 
for Rochester. Published by Warren F. 
Draper, Andover, Mass. 
VALUE OF GOOD BCOES. 
I deny not, but that it is of tho greatest 
concernment to have a vigilent eye how 
books demeane themselves as well as men ; 
and therefore to confine, imprison, and do 
sharpest justice on them as malefactors ; for 
books are not absolutely dead things, but 
doe contain a potencie of life in them to 
be as active as that soulo was whoso pro- 
gency they are; nay, they do preserve as 
in a violl the purest cflicacie and extraction 
of that living intellect that bred them. I 
know that they are as lively and vigorously 
productive as those fabulous dragon’s teeth"; 
and being sown up and down, may chance 
to spring up armed men. And yet on the 
other hand, unlesse warinesse be used, as 
good almost kill a man as kill a good book; 
who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, 
God’s image; but bee who destroys a good 
book kills reason itself, kills the imago of 
God, as it wore in tho eye. Many a man 
lives a burden to tho earth; but"a good 
booko is the pretious lifeblood of a master 
spirit, imbalm’d and treasured up on pur¬ 
pose to live beynd life. 'Tis true, no age 
can restore a life wheiof perhaps there is 
no great losses ; and revolutions of ages doe 
not oft recover tho loss of a rejected truth 
for want of which whole nations faro the 
worse. — We should be wary, therefore, 
what persecution we raise against tho living 
labors of public men, how we spill that sea¬ 
son’d life of man preserved and stored up 
in books : since wo see a kinde of homicide 
may bo thus committed, sometimes a inar- 
tyrdome, and if it extend to the whole im¬ 
pression, a kinde of massacre, wlioreof the 
execution ends not in the slaying of an ele¬ 
mental life, but strikes at that ethereal! and 
fifth essence, the breath of reason itselfe, 
and slaies an immortality rather than a life. 
— .Milton. 
A Thought. —The irritating grain of sand, 
which by accident or incaution has got with¬ 
in the sfiell of the oyster, incites the living 
inmate to secrete from its own resources the 
means of coating the intrusive substance, 
and thus germinates the pearl. And is it 
not, or may it not be even so with troubles 
and afflictions in our case ? We, too, mav 
turn oven sickness and sorrow into pearls 
of great prico. 
iT'iir (Bssntjist. 
Written for the Rural New-Yorker. 
TIIE ABORIGINES. 
The timo is fast approaching when the 
red men of the west will have passed away 
from earth. It is a melancholy reflection 
that these noble sons of tho forest are 
obliged to yield to tho power of the white 
man. A mero speck are they now in com¬ 
parison to what they were when the 44 May- 
Flower” landed on the shores of New Eng¬ 
land. They have submitted as tamely as 
possible, when obliged to give up their hunt¬ 
ing grounds to those who had no legal right 
to them. But, as I have said, the time is 
fast approaching when tho last of a noble 
race will be extinct. Tho march of civiliza¬ 
tion is upon their trail,—and yield they 
must to a superior force. But who can 
avoid dropping the tear of sympathy when 
reading the history of their wrongs ?—for 
no one who has a feeling of humanity in 
his bosom, can say they havo not been 
wronged. Scattered here and there were 
their wigwams, save perhaps on the very 
spot where now tho white man has erected 
his noble mansion. 
Judging from their past history, another 
century cannot elapse ere they will have 
passed away—nono will be left to tell their 
sad fato. When the fact is brought home 
to the mind that tho Aborigines have been 
wronged—and that, too, by those who ought 
to have been their friends.— I cannot but 
feel a deep and tender sympathy for this 
downward race. When 1 reflect upon the 
sad realities of their fate—upon their in¬ 
evitable extinction—my heart is pained and 
chilled. I feel to exclaim, Where has fled 
the spirit of Roger Williams, of William 
Penn, and others who were willing to enter 
into treaties of peace, and live together in 
41 unity and brotherly love ? Echo answers, 
—Where ? 
In vain have these unfortunate sons 
pleaded for a tract in the far West, they 
could call their own,—and where they might 
stand in no fear of being driven from their 
homes by tho pale faces. Tho nation has 
turned a deaf ear to tho story of their 
wrongs, and granted to them no bounds of 
1 mitation. How different might have been 
the stato of things in this country had the 
emigrants come among the untutored In¬ 
dians in the spirit of love and good feeling, 
and spoken to them as this “grave peace¬ 
maker” did; how much less blood would 
have been spilled during the early settle¬ 
ments of these colonies. Whoever has read 
the history of Penn’s treaty with tho In¬ 
dians (and what school-boy has not?) can¬ 
not fail to havo observed, that at the very 
first, these “merciless savages” (as thoy are 
called.) looked upon tho founder of Penn¬ 
sylvania as their benefactor and friend; 
and such he truly was. In the short, simple, 
yet solemn address to the Indians, on his 
first appearance among them, Wm. Penn 
spoke as follows :—“ We meet on the com¬ 
mon pathway of good faith and good will; 
no advantage shall be taken on either side, 
but all shall be openness and love. I will 
not call you children, for parents sometimes 
chide their children too severely; nor broth¬ 
ers only, for brothers differ. The friend¬ 
ship between us I will not compare to a 
chain, for that the rains might rust, or the 
falling tree might break. Wo are the same 
as if one man’s body were divided into two 
parts; we are all one flesh and blood.” 
Why should the Indians distrust Penn and 
his followers ? Unlike other emigrants, 
they had nothing in their appearance that 
denoted war. No arms or glittering swords 
were seen flashing in tho sunlight, but love 
and good will played on their countenances. 
Had the predecessors and successors of 
Penn adopted a similar course, wars and 
bloodshed would have been prevented,—and 
the aborigines and emigrants might have 
lived and grown up together in peace and 
friendship. In the words of the historian. 
“Not a drop of Quaker blood was ever shed 
in quarrels with the original possessers of 
the soil.” 
44 Cruel and revengeful” as tho Indians 
have been styled by those who seem disposed 
to countenance the acts of tho early settlers. 
—I deem the application unjust, from tho 
fact that the whites were the first agressors. 
How long the aborigines had held an undis¬ 
puted right to the lands we now occupy, is 
not known, but as early as the first discov¬ 
eries of Columbus they wero here,—and if 
timo and occupancy had aught to do in re 
gard to their title to possession, they cer¬ 
tainly held a claim on this then western 
wilderness; and how their claims were 
treated, history will best explain. 
In conclusion, I feel to exclaim in the 
words of tho poet, 
“ A noble race—but they are gone, 
With their old forests wide and deep. 
And we have built our homes upon 
Where their generations sleep." 
8ml:hfield, R. I., 9th mo., 1852. A. T. 
•Smiling for tjjr filing. 
HELP YOURSELF. 
This, says the l r ankee Blade, is the true 
secret of success, the master-key that un¬ 
locks all difficulties, in the various paths of 
life. Aide-toi , ct le del t'aidera, as the 
French have it—help yourself, and Heaven 
will help you. The greatest affliction that 
can befall a young man is, to bo the recipi¬ 
ent of charity—to lean, for any length of 
time, upon others for support. He who be¬ 
gins with crutches, will end with crutches. 
It is not in the sheltered garden, but on the 
rugged Alpine cliffs, where the storm beats 
most violently, that the hardiest plants aro 
reared. It is not by the use of corks, blad¬ 
ders, and life-preservers, that you can best 
learn to swim, but by plunging courageous¬ 
ly into the wave, and buffeting it, like Csesar 
and Cassius, 44 with lusty sinews.” The mo¬ 
nied charity of individuals to individuals is 
one of the greatest curses that afflict society. 
It is the Upas tree, that paralyzes and re¬ 
duces to the last gasp the moral energy of 
every man who inhales its poisonous atmos¬ 
phere. Under the appearance of aiding, it 
weakens its victims, and keeps them in per¬ 
petual slavery and degradation. Cold, con¬ 
sequential, and patronizing, it freezes the 
recipient into humiliation, and there leaves 
him, as firmly wedged as Sir John Frank¬ 
lin amid the thick-ribbed ice of tho Arctic 
Ocean. 
Money bestowed this way is nine times out 
of ten more truly wasted than if thrown into 
the sea. It is labor bestowed upon a worth¬ 
less soil, incapable of yielding anything but 
a crop of weeds, or feeble plants which nev¬ 
er reach maturity. God never intended 
that strong, independent human beings 
should be reared by clinging to others, like 
the ivy of the oak, for support. The diffi¬ 
culties. hardships, and trials of life—the ob¬ 
stacles that one encounters in the road to 
fortune—are positive blessings. They knit 
his muscles more firmly, and teach him 
self-reliance; just as by wrestling with an 
athlete, who is superior to us, we increase 
our strength, and learn the secret of his 
skill. Read tho history of tho rich and 
poor in all ages and countries, and if you 
do not find that tho 44 lucky dogs,” as they 
are called, begun life at the foot of the lad¬ 
der. without a finger’s 44 lift ” from anybody, 
while the 44 unfortunates,” who flit along the 
paths of life more like scarecrows than hu¬ 
man beings, attribute the first declension in 
their fortunes to having been bolstered and 
propped up by others—wo will resign all 
pretensions to philosophy. All experience 
shows that this boasted benevolence tends 
to extinguish the faint sparks of energy in 
those who partake of it. till, having fallen 
into the despair and indolence inseparable 
from a cultivated sense of inferiority, they 
look upon themselves as beyond ihe pale of 
hope, and at last lose even the wish for in¬ 
dependence. 
CURIOUS EXPERIMENTS. 
A late number of the Christian Enquirer 
published in the city of New York, contains 
details of some very singular experiments. 
The statement of the editor is clear, and he 
seems to be entirely satisfied in regard to 
the existence of the facts detailed. Tho 
matter is worthy of attention: 
44 A friend told us. the othor day, of a 
very curious experiment, which led us to try 
others equally curious with tho same suc¬ 
cess. His experiment was this: take a gold 
ring, and suspend it by a thread about half 
a yard long; then hold it by tho thumb and 
finger of the right hand over tho palm of 
the left hand, so that tho ring may swing 
freely as a pendulum; it will oscillate to 
and fro in tho direction of the arm with in¬ 
creasing force. Then let another person 
form a connection between the thumb and 
forefinger of the operator’s left hand by his 
own thumb and finger; the motion of the 
ring will change from a straight lino to a 
circle at once, and on tho withdrawal of the 
connection it will return to a straight line; 
and on touching the operator’s left shoulder 
with tho hand, the motion will cease and tho 
ring be at rost. 
We tried the experiment successfully, and 
found that it would succeed equally with a 
key instead of a ring, or with any body of 
proper size similarly suspended, whether of 
metal or wood, or glass. Wo found, also, 
that if suspended over the knees, the pen¬ 
dulum would swing from knee to knee, and 
immediately begin to revolve as soon as the 
foet were brought together. Suspended 
over the heart, the pendulum revolved of 
itself in a circle of considerable diameter; 
and over tho forehead it revolved in an op¬ 
posite direction from its courso when held 
on the back of tho head. These experi¬ 
ments vary somewhat with different per¬ 
sons ; yet. with greater or less force, they 
seem to follow the law in nearly all cases. 
What does it mean ? The forco is not elec¬ 
trical. for it acts as well through noncon¬ 
ducting as through conducting bodies, and 
a silk instead of a cotton thread makes no 
difference in the result. It is not mere im¬ 
agination. for there is too much uniformity 
in the result to favor that supposition. In 
some casus tho revolution is in an orbit a 
foot in diameter if not more.” 
Business Rules for Young Men, by P. 
T. Barnum. —1 . Select the kind of business 
that suits your natural inclinations and 
temperament. 2. Lot your pledged word 
over bo sacred. 3. Whatever you do, do 
with all your might. 4. Sobriety: use no 
description of intoxicating liquors. 5. Let 
hope predominate, but he not too visionary. 
6. Do not scatter your powers. 7. Engage 
proper employees. 8. Advertise your busi¬ 
ness. Do not hide your light under a bush¬ 
el. 9. Avoid extravagances, and always 
five considerably within vour income, if you 
cando so without absolute starvation. 10. 
Do not depend upon others. 
|ubbtit[j iUmbings. 
For the Rural New-Yorker. 
THE SABBATH. 
“ Thine earthly Sabbath, Lord, we love.” 
Sweet day of rest! The return of tho 
Sabbath brings to tho soul an appropriate 
heaven, and invites to a happier, a holier 
rost. 44 God rested on the seventh day from 
all his works which he had made"—so man 
may rest from the cares and anxieties of the 
world, and enter into sweet and holy com¬ 
munion with his God. Happy privilege to 
lay aside the burthens and tho labors of a 
sin-cursed world, and approach unto God ! 
Our temporal and eternal interests de¬ 
mand such a rest. Tho cares, the labors, 
the prosperities of life would soon destroy 
our physical constitution, and the soul in 
perpetual servitude would cease to act.— 
Tho Sabbath — the great fountain of the 
soul’s energies—tho well-spring of our mor¬ 
tal existence, supplies us with strength and 
vigor from week to week ; and in this we be¬ 
hold and admire the sovereignty and wis¬ 
dom of tho Godhead. In six da\s God 
completed his work of creation ;—thus wo 
are taught to labor six days, and “ do all our 
work, completing a period; and enjoy a 
season of rest. Beautiful thought ! Our 
work completed—the world dismissed, and 
we at rest. Each week a little lifetime— 
each Sabbath a futurity—a little heaven. 
We look forward to the Sabbath with fond 
anticipation of holy joys. The sons of toil 
enjoy a respite—the parent returns from 
his labors to bless his household with his 
presence—and our havenly Father meets us 
in the sanctuary, and in the closet, to pro¬ 
nounce upon us a father’s blessing. 
We love the Sabbath. We love tho sweet j 
meditations it inspires : 
“ Day of all the week the best, 
Emblem ol eternal rest.” 
As the submarine laborer comes up from 
the ocean depths to refresh himself in tho 
beautiful sunlight of this lower world, so 
wo come up from the world to our Sabbath- 
rest and refresh our spirits in the glorious 
light of tho “sun of righteousness.” 
Then chide us not; for wo hail with joy 
the return of this day of days, as 
*•-we lif ■ our trusting eyes. 
From the hills our fathers trod, 
To the quiet of (lie skies, 
To the Sabbath of our Gout” 
Romulus Cen re, N. Y., Out., 1852. S. F. 
RESPECT FOR THE AGED. 
There is something venerable in age. In 
all nations the highest respect has been paid 
to it. The hoary head, sttys Solomon, is a 
crown of glory, if it bo found in the way of 
righteousness. The patriarchs were a kind 
of Lares among the tribes of their descend¬ 
ants. Among the Egyptians the young 
were obliged to rise up m the presence of 
tho old, and on every occasion resign them 
the honorable seat. Tho Spartans borrow¬ 
ed this law from them, and rigidly enforced 
it among their youth. They never thought 
of its "breaking tho spirit” of their rising 
warriors to require this submission. Job 
sots it down as a deplorable degeneracy 
among his people, that they who were 
younger than be. held him in derision. It 
stands imperishably recorded as one of 
Heaven’s high commands, that honor is to 
be given to father and mother. This is to 
tho command *• with promise,” a promised 
blessing to those who obey but an implied 
curse, yea, a cutting off from the land to 
those who disregard it.. It has been suppo¬ 
sed that our republican institutions are not 
favorable to the growth of this spirit. 
There is tho more need, then that it bo 
assiduously cultivated The mind even in 
infancy should be doeply imbued with it.— 
And “ venerate the aged,” should be, with 
our whole people one of tho fixed maxima 
of life, no one allowing himself any depar¬ 
ture from it. 
A Christian Burial Place —We will not 
call it. with the Egyptians, a place of 4 Eter¬ 
nal Habitations,” because the Christian’s 
only everlasting tabernacles are those “not 
built with hands eternal in the heavens.”— 
Tho prophetic faith even of tho half-in¬ 
structed Hebrews, catching a beam of truth 
from the latter revelation they waited for, 
named their burial places 44 liomos of the 
Living.” I like tho name chosen by tho 
Moravian bretheren, 44 Fields of Peace,” fit 
designation for the final halting ground of 
their quiet, affectionato lives:—and that of 
tho German’s 44 God’s Harvest Field.” Our 
own word “ Cemetery,” is Christian ; for it 
moans 1 terally a sleeping place,—and is so 
justified by that touching announcement 
from Jesus. “ Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” 
— Huntington. 
Preciousness of Time.— Coming hastily 
into a chamber, I had almost thrown down 
a crystal hour-glass; fear, lest I had, made 
mo grieve as if I had broken it; hut alas ! 
how much precious timo have I cast away 
without any regret! The hour-glass was 
hut crystal, each hour a pearl; that but like 
to be broken, this lost outright; that but 
casually, this done wilfully. A bettor hour 
glass might bo bought; but timo lost once, 
lost over. Tims we grieve more for toys 
than for treasure Lord, give me an hour¬ 
glass, not to bo by me, but in me. 44 Teach 
me to number my days.” An hour-glass to 
turn me. 44 that I may apply rrry heart to 
wisdom.”— Fuller s Good Thoughts. 
Guilt, though it may attain temporal 
splendor, can never confer real happiness. 
