AUGUST 7. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
257 
Written for Moore's Knra] New-Yorker. 
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. 
Torn correspondent, “ Empire State,” in a'late 
number of the Rural, devoted a couple of para¬ 
graphs to a consideration of the discarded system 
of Town Superintendents, (the correctness of a 
part of which we will, at present, neither admit 
nor discuss,) and said:—“I only pause to pity the 
brains that advocate its re-adoption.” He then 
proceeds:—“The present school law is a splendid 
reform in many respects. It [hasj increased the 
school money, diminished the officers, and mostly 
pays them out of the income of the United States 
Deposit Fund.” 
I have heard of “truth in a nut-shell”—if this'is 
not error in a nutshell, I misapprehend the mean¬ 
ing of terms. Indeed I do not know how a greater 
amount of error, in the guise of truth, could well 
be compressed within the same limits. “ The pres¬ 
ent school law is a splendid reform.” Now, if your 
correspondent means our whole system of school 
laws, we have nothing to say in reply; but if, as is 
fair to presume, he means the law which substi¬ 
tutes School Commissioners for Town Superinten¬ 
dents, we take issue with him, although the saving 
clause “in many respects” will allow of artful 
dodging, even within these limits. Three reforms 
are pointed out. These we will consider,"and not 
trouble ourselves to hunt up any more. 
“It has increased the school money.” We in¬ 
quire, how? By one of the most simple processes 
known, a process by which any one may increase 
his means for any given purpose—simply by taking 
from that which would otherwise be appropriated 
to some other purpose. More may be appropriated 
to dress, by taking from that which might other¬ 
wise be expended for food, and vice versa. A man 
may have more money in his pocket by taking it 
from his drawer; and Paul may “ increase ” his 
money by taking from Peter. It is done by taking 
money from the pockets of the people, in the form 
of taxes, using it to “ increase the school money,” 
and returning it to them in this form. We do not 
apprehend that money is increased by this “ splen¬ 
did reform,” but only that more is appropriated to 
schools, and consequently less to something else; 
and the means for this increased appropriation is 
kept up, only by an increased and ever-recurring 
tax. 
“ Diminished the officers.” True, and at the 
same time increased their duties in almost precisely 
the same ratio, and more than doubled the com 
pensation for the service. Almost every duty of 
the Town Superintendent, except the disbursement 
of the school money, has been assigned to the 
Commissioners. Hence the less officers, the more 
duties devolve upon each. From the best data 
within our reach, (and we think them sufficiently 
accurate, and reliable, for our present purpose,) we 
find that the expenses of school supervision in our 
towns have been inereased, about two hundred per 
cent, and in our county, about one hundred per 
cent By this reform “fewer mouths” have “bet¬ 
ter cheer.” 
The magnitude of the pecuniary inducement to 
“ get the office” of Town Superintendent, [see “ Em¬ 
pire’s” second paragraph] as compared with the 
inducement to obtain that of School Commission¬ 
er, with a salary of $500 a year and expenses paid, 
we will not attempt to describe. The magnitudes 
of the stars were never carried to any such numbers. 
There is scarcely an objection to the system of 
Town Superintendents, which does not rest with 
equal weight, against the system of School Com¬ 
missioners; as is very well shown by your corres¬ 
pondent, in his fourth paragraph. As great a ratio 
of unfit persons, will be likely to be elected School 
Commissioners as Town Superintendents—for As¬ 
sembly Districts will be no more likely to elect 
their best men than towns—and we claim a greater. 
The chief inducement to accept the office of Town 
Superintendent, is an interest in the cause of com¬ 
mon schools; while one, who has little or no inter¬ 
est in schools, might be induced by the salary, to 
accept the office of School Commissioner. And 
when an unfit person has once obtained the office, 
the evil is not only magnified, in exact ratio with 
his increased duties, but is increased in duration. 
This is another “ splendid reform,” by which we 
get, according to “Empire’s” own showing, about 
as good supervision as we had before, and at only 
double the coBt; and are enabled to steal the money 
to “ pay them out of the United States Deposit 
Fund.” How “splendid!” How easily they are 
paid? Why not give them $1,000 each when it 
costs so little to do so? Bat let us see. How does 
this work? Under the former law, at least ninety- 
five per cent of the proceeds of this fund, were 
divided among all the school districts in the State, 
according to the number of children in each, to be 
devoted exclusively to the payment of teachers’ 
wages. By this law about 150 School Commis¬ 
sioners (I have not the precise number,) are created 
at a salary of $500 each, and $75,000 of the pro¬ 
ceeds of this fund, appropriated to pay them.— 
How beautifully this has “increased the school 
money!” 
But how is this thing managed? How is this 
money replaced? Or, is it replaced at all? Why, 
more than ten times this amount is annually raised 
by tax on all the property in the State—that most 
wonderful of all ways of “increasing money”— 
and added to the remainder of this fund, and the 
whole is then divided according to law. To be 
Bure, the whole, except the $75,000 abstracted.— 
How is that replaced, if at all? Well, the fact is, 
it is not replaced at alL The Commissioners must 
have their pay, and this $75,000 is appropriated, by 
aw, to pay them. But you do not expect the pub¬ 
lic money to pay all the teachers’ wages? You, of 
course, make out a rate-bill for any balance which 
the public money is insufficient to pay, charging 
every patron of your school according to the num¬ 
ber of day’s attendance of his children? Certainly 
we do—certainly. And we begin to understand 
how this money is replaced. Yes; $75,000 of the 
proceeds of the United States Deposit Fund is 
annually abstracted to pay the Commissioners, and, 
to make up this amount, the district collector calls 
upon every patron of our schools throughout the 
State, to contribute, according to the number of 
days he has sent to school, and the balance of 
teachers’ wages unpaid by the public money in his 
WORKING BOYS. 
SCENE AT THE SOURCE OF THE HUDSON. 
We present a fine view taken on the upper waters 
of the Hudson river. The scenery in the northern 
portion of the State, where this noble river takes 
its rise, is wild and picturesque, and presents an 
inviting field for the tourist and sportsman, as well 
as for all who love the grand and beautiful in 
natural scenery. The Hudson proper rises by two 
branches in Adirondack mountains. The eastern 
branch from the north passes through Schroon 
lake, and is sometimes called Schroon branch; and 
the western has a circuitous course from the north¬ 
west, and is considered as the main branch, or 
Hudson. About forty miles from the source of 
each, they unite in Warren county. After a course 
of fifteen miles south, the Hudson receives the 
Sacandaga, on the line between Montgomery and 
Saratoga counties. The Sacandaga rises in Hamil¬ 
ton county, and first runs south-east and then north¬ 
west and west, to its junction below Jessup’s falls. 
The Hudson then runs to the east of south fifteen 
miles to Hadley falls; it then turns to the north¬ 
east twenty miles to Glen’s falls. Its direction is 
then nearly south to its entrance into New York 
Bay. Forty miles below Glen’s falls, it receives 
from the west the Mohawk, its greatest tributary. 
From the junction of the Mohawk to its mouth, is 
about 170 miles. The whole length of the IIudsoD, 
from its source to its entrance into New York Bay, 
is a little over 300 miles. So straight is this river 
between Albany and New York, that the distance 
is less by water than by land. The tide flows to a 
little above Albany. It is navigable for the largest 
ships 118 miles, to Hudson, and for sloops and 
large steamboats 145 miles above New York, to 
Albany. Small sloops also proceed to Troy, and 
through the dam and lock to Waterford, about 
eight miles farther. Through a considerable part 
of its course the banks are elevated, and in Bomo 
parts high, rocky, and precipitous; particularly in 
its passage through the Highlands, fifty-three miles 
above the city of New York, and the scenery on its 
banks is highly picturesque. 
district, and all we have to do is to put our hand 
into our pocket, take out our share of it and hand 
it over to him. Well, this is a superlatively “ splen¬ 
did reform ” by which $75,000 of the school money 
can be abstracted, and every cent of it replaced, 
out of the pockets of the patrons of the schools, tax¬ 
ing, by rate-bill, every day's attendance at school 
throughout the State, (except in those districts 
where they are careful to expend no more than the 
public money,) according to the amount of teach¬ 
ers’ wages in each district, unpaid by the public 
money, and not one in ten of those who pay it, ever 
suspect what it is for. Surely, “ the present school 
law is a splendid reform .” Lewis County. 
Jane, 1858. 
BAD GRAMMAR. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
“TELL OF GOOD.” 
Ip there is anything in the world that is painful 
and disgusting, it is to hear a lady (!) in honiton 
and diamonds, transgressing the rules of Murray 
and Brown, with every third sentence she utters. 
There is no excuse either for such women—it is 
the duty of every lady, in thi3 nineteenth century, 
to be able to speak, spell and write correctly, and 
if our social edicts were more stringent on these 
points, and less so in the matters of dress, we 
should have many more refined, cultivated wo¬ 
men than society is at present blessed with. Not 
that we want our women metamorphosed into ' 
“blues,” or that it is necessary they should be 
versed in the dead languages, and discourse very 
learnedly on geology, or trigonometry; and wo¬ 
man looks quite as attractive kneading biscuit at 
her kitchen table as she does in a chemical labora¬ 
tory. Tact and good common sense are quite as 
valuable in the practical needs of life as a “finish¬ 
ed education,” and a true loving heart will make 
a better wife and mother than a highly stimulated 
brain. 
But an ignorant, vulgar woman is a disgrace to 
herself, particularly when she affects to be a lady, 
and pass for what she is not, which i3 usually at¬ 
tained most effectually through dress-makers and 
milliners. 
We must be pardoned for offering a word of 
sincere advice to those pretty, graceful women 
one meets everywhere, and admire — until they 
open their mouth to speak. Devote a little less 
time to your flounces and French flowers, and do 
buy a grammar, and study it.— Arthur's Home Mag¬ 
azine. 
Schools in New York City.— Superintendent 
Randall has recently made a careful examination 
of the public schools under his jurisdiction, and 
reported the result to the board, at a meeting held 
June lGth. It appears from his investigations, that 
the grade of scholarship and advancement is con¬ 
siderably higher in the female public schools than 
the male, in all branches, including mathematics, 
except history. It must be accounted, however, 
that the girls’ schools are attended by pupils whose 
age and opportunities are in the aggregate more 
favorable to such results as these. Nevertheless, 
not the least of the testimony borne by this report, 
is in favor of cultivated females as teachers in our 
primary and grammar schools. Mr. Randall closes 
his report with the following statistics:—“The ag¬ 
gregate number of pupils reported as on register, 
in the several grammar schools, visited and exam¬ 
ined during the year, at the time of such examina¬ 
tion respectively, amounts to 24,510, of whom 13,- 
017 were in the male, and 11,493 in the female de¬ 
partments. Of the former, 3,287, and of the latter, 
2,547 are of a primary grade, according to the 
standard prescribed by the board; and 716 of the 
former and 919 of the latter, have attained to or 
exceeded the highest grade thus prescribed, and 
are well prepared for promotion into the Free 
Academy for boys, or a high school for girls.” 
Thf.ige hallowed mission! blest of God! 
O’ereoming doubt and fear, 
To point the weary, fainting heart, 
Where brighter scenes appear; 
To turn from sin and death below; 
From all that binds the soul to woe, 
And though we drink the bitter cup, 
With joyful faith to still “ look up.” 
To whisper hope where hope has fled— 
For hope should never die; 
And work for truth—though oft betrayed— 
Truth reigns beyond the sky. 
To come where hate the heart has chilled, 
Where duty’s earnest throbs are stilled; 
And there—for so the Master strove— 
Do battle with the arms of love. 
Should earth judge harshly—Heaven is near 
To those who see by Faith, 
And they who trust Him shall not fear, 
The Heavenly Father saith. 
And the reward—thy brother’s love, 
All other earthly gifts above; 
And that to “the beloved” given— 
The peace, the glorious peace of Heaven. 
Hastings, N. Y., 1858. Roselia. 
PRAYER A SIGN OF LIFE. 
The True Teacher. — The true teacher and 
earnest teacher will not be confined to mere book 
lessons. He will lead his pupils to learn from 
every proper source, and teach them to find 
“ Bofcks in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good it everything;” 
ever endeavoring to direct them “ through Nature 
up to Nature’s God.” 
Prayer, says John Fox, the martyrologist, is the 
breath of the new creature, and the sign of a spir¬ 
itual life. Christians, let your prayers be secret, 
sincere, fervent, and constant. 
“The way to heaven,” said a good man, “is 
through the closet, and they that have been emi¬ 
nent in piety have been excellent in prayer. Holy 
David would not let a morning pass without pray¬ 
er; yea, three times a day he was at this blessed 
duty. It was his element and constant emploj 7 - 
ment Your prayer must be fervent if it be ef¬ 
fectual. Prayer without fervency, is a bullet with¬ 
out powder, or as a bird without wings, that cannot 
mount up into the air. Holy fire must be put to 
thy daily sacrifice. God answers by fire. He that 
looks upon the heart, regards the manner of your 
prayers. Cold, slight mumbling over a few peti¬ 
tions, either out of custom, or to stop the voice of 
conscience, will not avail. Christians, the time 
that you spend with God in secret, is the sweetest 
time and best improved. Therefore, if thou lovest 
thy life, be in love with prayer.” 
Dear reader, can Jesus say of you “ Behold he 
prayeth.” Are you earnest in prayer? or are you 
cold, formal, and freezing? Stir up yourself every 
hour of the day to take hold of God, and wrestle 
Jacob-like for a blessing, until you as a prince have 
power with God and prevail. But be “ praying in 
the Holy Ghost” and in faith, and let not your earn¬ 
estness be the mere excitement of the flesh. “ Then 
shall ye seek me and find me,” says the Lord, 
“when ye shall search after me with all your 
heart .”—British Messenger. 
Life. —Life is no speculative adventure with 
those who feel its value and duties. It has a 
deeper purpose, and its path becomes distinct and 
easy in proportion as it is earnestly and faithfully 
pursued. The rudest or the most refined pursuit, 
if adapted to the wants and capacities of the 
pursuer, has a truth, a beauty, and a satisfaction. 
All ships on the ocean are not steamers or packets, 
but all freight bearers, fitted to their tasks; and 
the smallest shallop nobly fulfils its mission, while 
it pushes on towards its destined port, nor shifts 
its course because ships career to other points of 
the compass. Let man ride himself on the ocean 
of Time. Let him learn whether he is by nature 
a shallop or a ship, a coaster or an ocean steamer; 
and then, freighting himself according to his ca¬ 
pacity and the market he should seek, fling his sail 
to the breeze, riding with wind and tide, if they go 
his course, but beating resolutely against them if 
they cross his path. Have a well-chosen and de¬ 
fined purpose and pursue it faithfully, trusting in 
God, and all will be done welL 
Influence of a Holy Life. —There is an energy 
of moral suasion in a good man's life, passing 
the highest efforts of the orator’s genius. The 
seen but silent beauty of holiness speaks more 
eloquently of God and duty than the tongues of 
men and angels. Let parents remember this. The 
best inheritance a parent can bequeath to a child 
is a virtuous example, a legacy of hallowed re¬ 
membrances and associations. The beauty of 
holiness beaming through the life of a loved 
relative or friend, is more effectual to strengthen 
such as do stand in virtue’s ways, and raise up 
those that are bowed down, than precept, command, 
entreaty or warning. Christianity itself, I believe, 
owes by far the greater part of its moral power, 
not to the precepts or parables of Christ, but to 
His own character. The beauty of that holiness 
which is enshrined in the four brief biographies of 
the Man of Nazareth, has done more, and will do 
more, to regenerate the world and bring in ever¬ 
lasting righteousness, than all the other agencies 
put together. It has done more to spread His 
religion in the world than all that has ever been 
preached or written on the evidences of Chris¬ 
tianity.— Chalmers. 
Death. —Directly after the “Marriage ” head in 
newspapers, comes the “Obituary.” Typical of 
the wedding of happiness and griefs in this life. 
The shouts.and song, and glee of merry ones to¬ 
day will be broken by wails of sorrow to-morrow, 
for the sod will be piled on the breasts of some we 
thought not so near the grave. We read who are 
married, and wish them joy; a line below is the 
record of death, and we say mournfully, peace to 
their ashes! Sorrow treads on the heels of joy; 
songs are hushed by tho foot-fall of death; laughs 
are broken rudely—voices, no matter how musical, 
are stilled in a moment. 
In a late number of the Rural I noticed an 
article under the title, “ Working Girls,” and was 
impressed with the thought that a word of encour¬ 
agement to those boys who gain a livelihood in 
the same way, might not be entirely unacceptable. 
We will not say to any youth of this class, have 
an object in view always, for we believe that every 
one of fair ability and honest ambition does strive 
to achieve to himself a higher place in the scale 
of excellence, but many fail to reach the point at 
which they aim. They place their mark high, and 
then wish to reach it too soon. Their patience 
becomes exhausted; difficulties present them¬ 
selves, and finally they cease their exertions, and 
the prize is lost. 
While but few place their goal too high, many 
put it much too low,—and it is generally the case 
that worldly wealth is their purpose, while not a 
higher and nobler thought is indulged. This is 
wrong. But why is this state of things so general 
among the multitude? 
There are two causes. The first is, wealth is as 
popular as education, and much more easily ac¬ 
quired. Secondly, we are too apt to doubt our 
own powers. We frequently hear persons wish 
themselves as good speakers as such an one, with 
all his other acquirements; but they never once 
look at the obstacles which he had to overcome 
before he became what he is. 
We would not teach that every youth should de¬ 
termine to write his name in history by the side of 
a Demosthenes, but would Bhow that men are re¬ 
warded, not according to what they may do, but 
what they actually perform. Then, my young 
friend, whoever you may be, take courage; never 
give up to difficulties, though they may be great, 
and you will succeed. Work with a stout heart, 
but betimes cultivate your intellectual powers. 
Do your duty—truly, faithfully, kindly—and you 
cannot fail to gain respect; an honorable place in 
society; and, greater than all, an approving con¬ 
science. c. a. n. 
Hermitage, N. Y., 1858. 
CITY EMPLOYMENT. 
The Sons of Preachers. —There has been, for 
years past, a great deal of talk about the bad 
children of preachers. The Episcopal Recorder, 
in an article on the subject, takes the biog¬ 
raphies of a large number of ministers, and says: 
—“ Of the sons of one hundred ministers, over 
one hundred and ten became ministers. Of the 
remainder, by far the larger proportion rose to 
eminence as honorable and successful men in busi¬ 
ness, or in the learned professions. Is there any 
body of one hundred men, taken at random from 
any other pursuit of life, of whom the same can 
be said?” 
We agree with the editor oi the Nashville Ga¬ 
zette, when he says, “ A man that has a soul worth 
a sixpence, must have enemies. It is utterly im¬ 
possible for the best man to please the whole 
world, and the sooner this is understood, and a 
position taken in view of the fact, the better. Do 
right, though you have enemies. You cannot 
escape them by doing wrong; and it is little gain 
to barter away your honor and integrity, and divest 
yourself of moral courage to gain what? Nothing. 
Better abide by the {ruth—frown down all opposi¬ 
tion, and rejoice in the feeling which must inspire 
a free and independent man.” 
The sweetest music is not the peal of marriage 
bells, nor tender descants in moonlight woods, nor 
trumpet notes of victory—it is the soul’s welcome 
to Heaven. God grant that when we die there may 
not come booming to our ear the doleful sound, 
“ Depart!” but may we hear, stealing upon the air, 
the mellow chime of all the celestial bells, saying, 
“Come, oome. ye blessed, enter ye into the joy of 
your Lord! ~H. W. Beecher. 
I am one of those who think that if a man act 
up to the light that he has, having the candor to 
accept more when it is presented, he will never be 
left in darkness. The man who acts up fully to 
the light that he has, will not be saved in virtue of 
that light, but will not be left without further light 
in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ 
Jesus.— Cummin g. 
We are daily asked, says the editor of the Young 
Men’s Magazine, to help young men to obtain em¬ 
ployment in the city, and tho applicants often mani¬ 
fest no little disappointment at delay in procuring 
lucrative situations. They appear to quite forget 
that thousands of their own age and equal quali¬ 
fications are constantly walking our streets in fruit¬ 
less search even for the humblest engagements.— 
When but few employees are required, the most 
experienced and competent inevitably receive the 
preference. Ilenco, at the present time, we find it 
impossible to offer any encouragement to appli¬ 
cants unacquainted with city trade and customs— 
and, indeed, for such there are now but occasional 
openings. 
Tho unemployed should remain in the rural dis¬ 
tricts, where they generally run little risk of starva¬ 
tion, and are safe from the snares and temptations 
of city life. Our views are well expressed in the 
annexed sensible article from the New York Jour¬ 
nal of Commerce, which we commend it to the 
attention of all young men seeking employment: 
“ We have received a large number of applica¬ 
tions in person or by letter, in behalf of young men 
who desire clerkships in the city. To avoid dis¬ 
appointment we may as well say that there are al¬ 
ready many hundreds (if not thousands) of young 
men now unemployed, for whom there is no desir¬ 
able opening. We wish that we could turn the at¬ 
tention of the young men of our country, who are 
now seeking light employment, to the ‘only open¬ 
ing’ where their services are needed, and will bo 
sure of a reward. We refer to agricultural em¬ 
ployments, for which Young America has such an 
evident distaste. There is no real independence 
in the world: but that station which approaches 
nearest to it, and attains, perhaps, to all that is de¬ 
sirable of it, is found in rural life among the tillers 
of the soil. In the old world, where land is inalien¬ 
able, or the fee so high that only wealth can com¬ 
pass it, there is much grinding toil and but little 
encouragement for the poor in this pursuit. But 
in this happy land any young man who chooses 
may be the owner of a fine farm, the product of 
which, with fair industry, will support him com¬ 
fortably, by one or two years of steady application. 
If there is no farming prospects for you in the 
old States, turn your face to the setting sun, and 
work your way to a spot where the virgin soil in¬ 
vites the adventurous pioneer. Better a little back¬ 
ache, a brown cheek and hardened hands, with a 
clear conscience, than the fairest outside that ever 
graced Broadway, which but covers a stained, 
wrinkled and hardened souL In our judgment, no 
young man need go West, even to such a field of 
labor. There is scarcely a town in New York, New 
Jersey, or in all New England, in which the dili¬ 
gent labor of the hands, accompanied with patience, 
prudence, and wholesome self-denial, will not win 
sweet food, a pleasant fireside, and an honest inde¬ 
pendence. If the pale, sickly, tempted youth who 
toil on a starving pittance in the warehouses and 
shops of the city could see, at a glance, the con¬ 
trast between the puny things too many of them 
are, and breadth of soul as well as body which they 
might obtain in the open field, they surely would 
escape as for their lives, and cast no lingering look 
behind them, as they fled to the wholesome tasks 
of the country.” 
The Lord makes one grace the pledge and the 
pioneer of another.— Dr. Camming. 
Juvenile Horticultural Society. — A Juve¬ 
nile Horticultural Society has been established in 
Berlin, Canada West. The object of the Society is 
to create and encourage a taste for horticulture 
among the youth of the place. Mr. A. Young, a 
lover of fruits and flowers and all rural improve¬ 
ment, was instrumental in getting up this Society, 
and will superintend its operations. Here is a 
glorious example for Yankee boys. We hope to 
have an opportunity to record the formation and 
success of many such Societies in the “ States.”— 
Nothing would do more to improve the minds, 
manners and morals of our young people. 
Industry and perseverance are of more value to 
th e young than genius or inherited wealth. 
i 
Esasm 
