AUGUST 21 
MOORE’S RURAL AEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
COMMON SCHOOLS-DEFECTIVE EDUCATION. 
Wiien our pilgrim fathers planted their feet 
upon the shores of this once wilderness, the first 
thing they sought was the blessing of God, and 
their main object was to secure the blessings of 
worshiping Him according to the dictates of their 
own consciences. For this did they endure the 
trials and perils of an uncertain and dangerous sea- 
voyage; and among the first buildings erected were 
the Church and the School-house. Education and 
religion have ever gone arm in arm—knowledge 
and virtue are ever the companions of each other, 
and vice, ignorance, irreligionand irreverence are 
generally the companions of the unlearned and 
illiterate. Our forefathers had groaned under the 
curse of educating the few, and leaving the masses 
to grope in utter ignorance, consequently it was 
their aim to make ample provision for the educa¬ 
tion of every one of the sons and daughters of 
America. Noble aim! God inspired design! And 
they could not better do this than by founding the 
Common School system. Under its ample provi¬ 
sions and liberal privileges, every child might 
receive a good English education. But how have 
we, their sons and daughters, carried out their 
designs and plans? how have we preserved invio¬ 
late the Common School? You say our schools 
have greatly improved—think before you answer 
too hastily. Look at the thorough discipline— 
the attention then given to the most important 
branches of a good education— Orthography, 
Spelling, Reading, Writing, English Grammar, and 
Arithmetic—and compare it with the instruction 
imparted in our schools to day. Our teachers at 
the present, with all their boasted knowledge of 
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, are practically deficient 
in imparting a thorough English education. And 
all this has originated with the lack of interest 
taken in our Common Schools. It is impossible 
to have good, thorough teachers, and flourishing 
schools, without due pains and exertion. The 
altering of this law and that law—from Town 
Superintendents to School Commissioners, and 
vice versa —will never make our schools what they 
should be. Dispense with these offices entirely— 
as they are worse than useless, and take the money 
and educate the teachers thoroughly. Employ 
none but what have taken a graduating course 
and received a diploma, and then visit your schools 
yourselves—show a due interest in them and the 
cause of education will again resume its former 
life, and our Common Schools once more send 
forth pupils prepared to enter upon the great stage 
of human activity and usefulness. o. j. 
New Berlin, N. Y., 1858. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
FIRESIDE EDUCATION. 
Fireside education is too much neglected by 
this generation. Grand schemes of education 
occupy the public mind, and men engage in busi¬ 
ness and lose sight of the interests of their 
children. Children should be taught at home, and 
if that teaching is neglected, no after attention 
will be so successful. It is the young mind which 
is to receive impressions that are to determine the 
whole future of the child. Those who have under¬ 
taken the task, know the difficulty of curing an 
evil which is early implanted in the mind. The 
mind of a child is as a genial soil —the early 
planted seeds take deep root, and if left to grow, 
produce their fruit. Many parents neglect their 
children, and leave their training and education 
to others, and are amazed to find as they grow up, 
that they are beyond their control The charge is 
a sacred one, and may not be neglected without 
guilt. The seeds of truth do not take root and 
grow amid the miasma of vice. The mind of 
the child should be guarded with the utmost care; 
should receive that early restraint and advice that 
can be best imparted at the fireside, and the child 
will then yield and receive the impression. 
A beautiful palace may awaken feelings of ad¬ 
miration in the mind of the traveler, but if he 
enters its halls and finds that vice rules in triumph 
there, his admiration is changed to disgust, and 
he leaves it without any desire to return. Thus 
we turn away from a man, however learned and 
accomplished he may be, if vice instead of virtue 
govern his actions. The strength of a nation is in 
the virtue of its inhabitants, and when that nation 
becomes corrupt it takes the downward course. 
The same truth applies to individuals as well as 
nations. Look at the caBtles and palaces of the 
old world, of many it may be said, the marble and 
granite remain, but the virtue of the people has 
departed, and no one envies their inheritance. 
Let it be early impressed upon the minds of the 
young, that it is the practice of virtue that will 
make the gifts of education valuable, and will ele¬ 
vate them, and that vice, however gilded, will 
eventually destroy, and then there will be a founda¬ 
tion laid upon which a structure may be reared 
that will be solid as well as beautiful. 
Syracuse, N. Y., 1858. Fitch. 
DEFECTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS. 
The First Quarterly Report of Hon. John. D. 
Philbbick, Superintendent of the Public Schools 
of Massachusetts, has recently been published, and 
Mr. P. has given large space therein to the dis¬ 
cussion of the Primary School System, a feature of 
our educational training that is too generally over¬ 
looked. Three great defects, prevalent in almost 
all schools of thiB class, are thus described: 
The most important of these defects is the want 
of that kind of teaching which really educates; which 
imparts a knowledge of things, as well as of the 
forms and sounds of words, and which duly de¬ 
velops the various faculties of the mind,— training 
the pupil to right habits of thought, of feeling, and 
of action. This kind of teaching is not at all rare 
in our Grammar Schools, especially in the Hpper 
classes; but it is a remarkable fact that it is, so far 
as I am capable of judging, but very little prac¬ 
tised in our Primary Schools. In place of it, we 
have what is called “ the rote system.” The mem¬ 
ory is almost the only faculty regarded, and only 
one element ef that, viz., the memory of words, 
while the memory of the understanding is seldom 
called into exercise. 
In my visits it was very uncommon to hear, in 
any of these schools, a single question or remark 
by the teacher which had any reference to the un¬ 
derstanding of the children. In many cases the 
reading was but little more than the mechanical 
pronunciation of an unknown tongue. There is a 
text-book in daily use in all these schools, entitled 
“Spelling and Thinking Combined;” ] but, in a 
the exercises in this book, I never saw the slight¬ 
est evidence of any attempt at the combination in¬ 
dicated in the title. 
Another general defect is the want of profitable 
employment for the children, especially in the lowest 
classes. Go into any of these schools, at any time 
of day, and in nine cases out of ten, if not in forty- 
nine out of fifty, three-fourths of the pupils will be 
found without profitable employment Thus the 
time of these children is wasted, for precious 
months and years in succession. But this great 
waste of time is not the only evil arising from this 
defect Many bad habits are formed. The strength 
of the teacher, which should be expended in teach¬ 
ing, is necessarily taxed to a great extent by the 
incessant vigilance and care requisite to keep these 
idlers out of mischief, and to secure some reasona¬ 
ble degree of stillness. 
The third and last defect which I shall mention 
is the want of a vigorous and efficient system of moral 
culture. I need not speak of the importance of 
this element in every system of instruction for tho 
young. No one will deny or doubt that it should 
be regarded as the very corner-stone. I would not 
be understood to say that there is not at present 
any good, healthful moral influence exerted in our 
Primary Schools; but I feel bound to say that the 
amount of moral culture and moral training bears 
no sort of proportion to what it ought to be. 
For these defects, Mr. Philbrick sets forth the 
following as, in his judgment, the best remedies: 
1. A classification of all these schools. The 
superority of the classified schools is very evident. 
The theory is sound. No doubt there are objec¬ 
tions to it, as there are to every possible arrange¬ 
ment; but they are believed to be outweighed by 
the advantages gained. 
2. Let every school be supplied with a stationa¬ 
ry chair, a single desk, and one of Holbrook’s 
slates, for each pupil. The slate should constitute 
a part of the school apparatus, never to be taken 
from the school-room. The desk should be con¬ 
structed with a suitable aperture for the safe de¬ 
posit of the slate. This is a necessary means for 
securing the right instruction and training of the 
pupils. These facilities will favor a proper physi¬ 
cal development 
3. Let a manual be prepared, under the direction 
of this Board, which shall set forth the objects to 
be aimed at, the principles to be observed, and the 
methods to be used in all the Primary Schools. 
4. Provide the requisite facilities and encourage¬ 
ments for the teachers to perfect themselves in the 
difficult art of teaching and governing a Primary 
School. This is by far the most important of the 
measures recommended; for, without it, the others, 
as can be imagined, will avail comparatively little. 
I regard it as a fixed fact, as certain as anything 
that can be known, that all our Primary Schools 
can be brought up to the requisite standard of ex¬ 
cellence only by insisting upon it as a thing indis¬ 
pensable, that every teacher, either before or after 
entering the service, shall be properly trained and 
instructed in the art of keeping a Primary School. 
The teacher makes the school; it is the training 
that makes the teacher. 
MORAL TONE OF A SCHOOL. 
The value of a school, after all, does not depend 
on the branches of learning that are studied in it— 
no, nor upon the amount of religious instruction 
given in it— so much as upon the life that is lived 
in it. Unhappily for many of those who write and 
speak about education, this is a truth of which the 
whole force can be comprehended by none but 
those who are spending days and years of their 
lives within the four walls of a schooL 
Once in a report addressed to your Lordships, I 
endeavored to explain to them what I meant when 
I spoke to them of the moral tone of the schools. 
Six years have passed since the Report was writ¬ 
ten, and I can not say that I find it easier now than 
I did then, to define exactly wherein this most sub¬ 
tle quality of the school resides. But this I know, 
that the longer one lives in a school, or rather the 
more one’s life is spent in passing through a great 
variety of schools, the more sensitive one be¬ 
comes to this their most important characteristic. 
Spend an hour or two in one school, and you 
feel all the while as a man feels who is confronted 
for some time by a bad countenance. Go into 
another and all is right and healthy again, and even 
before you inquire what branches of education are 
there taught, you are convinced that it can not but 
be well for children to spend their days in so bright 
and wholesome an atmosphere. Whatever be the 
value or direction of the intellectual teaching, 
there is heart, and love, and healthy moral influ¬ 
ence at work, and therein lies the real education 
on which the after-man or after-woman depends. 
It is surely this that Milton had in view when he 
said that the end of education was “to repair the 
ruins of our first parents, by regaining to know 
God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, 
to imitate him, to be like him.”— Rev. J. P. Noi-ris, 
H. M Inspector of Schools. 
I was Once Young.— It is an excellent thing 
for all who are engaged in giving instruction to 
young people, frequently to call to mind what they 
were themselves when young. This practice is one 
which is most likely to impart patience and for¬ 
bearance, and to correct unreasonable expectations. 
At one period of my life, when instructing two or 
three young people to write, I found them, as I 
thought, unusually stupid. I happened about this 
time to look over the contents of an old copy-book 
written by me when I was a boy. The thick up¬ 
strokes, the crooked down-strokes, the awkward 
joinings of the letters, and the blots in the book, 
made me completely ashamed of myself; and I 
could at the moment have hurled the book into the 
fire. The worse, however, I thought of myself the 
better I thought of my backward scholars. I was 
cured of my unreasonable expectations, and be¬ 
came in future, doubly patient and forbearing. In 
teaching youth, remember that you once were 
young, and in reproving their youthful errors en¬ 
deavor to call to mind your own.— Selected. 
REV. E. H. CHAPIN. 
The Rev. E. H. Chapin, whose portrait we give, 
is a very eloquent minister of the Universalist De¬ 
nomination, but more generally known, perhaps, 
as one of the most interesting and popular lecturers 
in the country. He invariably lectures to crowded 
houses, and always to the satisfaction of his large 
audiences, and to the profit of those institutions 
who engage his services. Mr. Chapin was born 
in Union Village, Washington county, New York, 
in 1814. His rudimental and academic education 
having been completed, he entered upon the study 
of the law, but, in a short time, believing that the 
ministerial sphere was more suited to his tastes 
and better adapted to the labors of a reformer, he 
adopted the clerical profession. After a due 
course of study, he accepted an invitation from 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
CxEOLOGICAL TOUR. 
H. A. WAKD IN EGYPT AND AEABIA PETR2EA. 
In company with his friend, Mr. Wadsworth, 
Mr. Ward made a geological tour through a part 
of Egypt and Arabia Petrsea, in 1855. His atten¬ 
tion had been directed to the Bell Mountain, as he 
should pass, along the western arm of the Red Sea, 
over the peninsula of Mount Sinai, which was an 
interesting object of examination. Being near 
Tor, on the east Bide of this arm of the Red Sea, 
which is placed on maps about LaL 28° 12' N. and 
Long. 33'° 06' E., towards the middle of May, the 
Bedouin guides told him that Gebel Nakous, or 
Bell Mountain, lay some two leagues northward. 
The curiosity of this mountain or hill, was said to 
be “the musical sounds which proceed from it.”— 
Tradition said that a monastery had been buried 
in the sands, and that its bell was often heard to 
give its sounds to the air. The object of our trav¬ 
elers was to ascertain the fact, and to give, if pos¬ 
sible, the solution. The following is an abstract of 
Mr. Ward’s paper on the subject, read before the 
Geological Society of France, and published by 
the Society: 
GEBEL NAKOUS OR BELL MOUNTAIN. 
We immediately changed our course for the pur¬ 
pose of examining this wonderful mountain. The 
path was over a long belt of sand, having the sea on 
one Bide and on the other a high cliff of tertiary 
sandstone. The cliff, generally perpendicular, had, 
in some places, extensive gorges produced by the ac¬ 
tion of the elements in disintegrating the rock into 
sand. One of these exhibited a terrace of brilliant 
yellow sand, stretching, with an inclination of 40 
or 50 degrees, and a mean breadth of 15 metres (50 
feet,) almost to the summit of the mountain. The 
walls of rock, rising abruptly on each side of the 
terrace, sheltered it from the wind, while their sum¬ 
mits, by gradual disintegration, constantly aug¬ 
mented the mass of sand below. 
We ascended this terrace slowly, and for some 
time not a sound was heard. Suddenly a faint mu¬ 
sical sound was audible, rising and falling with 
regular alternations, the same in tone, but very va¬ 
riable in volume, sometimes low, tremulous and 
even mournful like the wind, then increasing to 
the melodious notes of a flute. Suddenly it chang¬ 
ed, as if produced by powerfal vibrations, similar 
to those of an organ, and of such power as seemed 
to cause the whole hill to tremble. The fact was 
certain. 
To trace these mysterious sounds to any particu¬ 
lar source was impossible. They seemed some¬ 
times to proceed from the air above us, sometimes 
from the mountain, and sometimes from the space 
around. At times the Bounds or their echo reached 
even to our guides at the foot of the mountain, 
though chiefly confined to the terrace itself. 
The solution of the phenomenon is the result of 
careful examination. We noticed that the sounds 
were uniformly accompanied by some movement 
of the sand. The first faint and uncertain sound, 
already described, was apparently made by the re¬ 
turn of the sand to fill the depression left by the 
foot in walking; as the disturbance of the sand in¬ 
creased, the noise was proportionally increased, by 
degrees rising to a clear hissing sound, and finally 
when a large mass of sand was put in motion, pro¬ 
ducing a sound which I can compare only to the 
most powerful notes of a full-toned organ. The 
sound was much less strong, in that part of the 
terrace situated within the shadow of the rocky 
walls. 
This disintegrated sand, as it falls, is pure, dry 
and crystalline; the angles of each grain are fresh 
the Universalist Society, in Richmond, Virginia, 
and was ordained as their pastor in 1838. In 1810, 
he removed to Charlestown, Mass., afterwards to 
Boston, and finally, in 1846, to New York, where he 
now resides. 
Mr. Chapin is a man of the most generous impul¬ 
ses, and labors zealously forthe alleviationof human 
woe. His sermons, it is said, are rarely doctrinal, 
but in them he directs the powers of his great 
mind against wrong in all its forms, and drags 
from it all its guises. He always assumed a bold 
stand in favor of the temperance and other reforms, 
and to use the language of another, “ wherever the 
cry of wrong and oppression was heard, there, also, 
was heard his voice ia tones of tender sympathy 
and indignant rebuke.” 
and perfect. It is to the friction of these myriads 
of crystalline grains of silex, deprived as they are 
of all moisture by the rays of a nearly tropical sun, 
that I attribute the music above described. Simi¬ 
lar conditions and circumstances will doubtless be 
attended with the same result. 
Different from the sounds produced by the quartz 
statue of Memnon in ages long past, and from those 
noticed by M, Humboldt as emanating from gran¬ 
itic rocks on the banks of the Oronoco, the phe¬ 
nomenon of Gebel Nakous seems to be of a peculiar 
kind, and as such I have the honor to submit it to 
the notice of the Society. h. a. w. 
LOG OF THE TELEGRAPH EXPEDITION. 
The following statistical matter relative to the 
laying of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, is from the 
log of Cyrus W. Field, Esq., and the details pre¬ 
sented, will prove of much interest to all Rural 
readers. Mr. F. states that the Niagara arrived at 
her rendezvous on the 23d ult, the Valorous on the 
25th, Gorgon 27th, and Agamemnon 28th. The 
splice made at 1 P. M., 23th. At 7.45 P. M., signals 
from the Agamemnon ceased. The electricians re¬ 
ported want of continuity in the cable, but insula¬ 
tion perfect Kept on paying out, and at 11.30 
again commenced receiving perfect signals from 
the Agamemnon. 
30th.—Distance run, 80 miles. Payed out only 
131. Depth of water 1,550 to 1,975 fathoms. 
31st—Distance run 137. Payed out 150. Depth 
1,G50 to 2,000 fathoms. 
1st Aug.—Distance 145 miles. Payed out 164.— 
Depth 1,950 to 2,400 fathoms. 
2d.—Distance 154 miles. Payed out 177. Depth 
1,600 to 2,300 fathoms. The Niagara getting light 
and rolling much, it was not considered safe to 
carry sail to steady ship, for in case of accident it 
might be necessary to stop the ship as soon as pos¬ 
sible. At 3.38 in the morning imperfect insulation 
detected in sending and receiving signals. All 
right at 8.40. Fault in Ward Room or in about GO 
miles from lower end, which was cut out, and taken 
out of circuit. 
3d.—Distance 147 miles. Payed out 161. Depth 
740 to 1,820 fathoms. 11.15 A. M., received signals 
from Agamemnon. She had payed out 780 miles. 
Nine P. M., received more signals that the Aga¬ 
memnon was in 200 fathoms of water. At 10 
P. M., Niagara in same depth. 
4th.—Distance 164 miles. Payed out 154. Depth 
100 to 200 fathoms. Made land entrance at Trinity 
Bay 8 A. M. Entered bay at 12.30. 
5th—1.45 A. M., anchored. Distance G4 miles. 
Paid out 66. Total paid out 1,01G miles. Distance 
882. 2 A. M., landed and informed telegraphers 
that the fleet had arrived. At 2.45 received signals 
from the Agamemnon. She paid out 1,010 miles. 
5.10 A. M., cable landed, and at G was carried to the 
telegraph house, where a strong current wa3 re¬ 
ceived from the other side of the Atlantic. Cap¬ 
tain Hudson read prayers and made remarks. At 
1 P. M., the Gorgon fired a royal salute of 21 guns. 
6th.—Received strong electric signals from Va¬ 
lencia all day. 
Note. —Landed here in the woods until the 
instruments are ready and perfectly adjusted.— 
Communications cannot pass between the conti¬ 
nents, but electric currents pass freely. It may be 
some days. 
No doubt Providence has willed that man should 
be the head of the human race, even as woman is 
its heart; that he should be its strength, as she is 
its solace; that he should be its wisdom, as she is 
its grace; that he should be its mind, its impetus, 
and its courage, and she its sentiment, its charm, 
and its consolation. 
It is a very true remark, that praise of the dead 
is often intended as censure of the living. 
“YOUNG RURALIST” CORRESPONDENTS. 
Tiie remarks of a Clerk, published in a late 
number of the Rural, have awakened a general in¬ 
terest among the youth, and furnished us with a 
batch of letters of all sizes, shapes, and colors, 
from farmers’ boys, clerks, and youthful aspirants 
for professional honors. One, as will be seen by 
the following feels a little like giving the Clerks 
the “cold shoulder.” 
Eds. Rural:—" Clerk” has a note in a late issue, 
inciting his fellow brothers in toil (!) to send some 
effusions to the Young Ruralists’ corner. In the 
first place we will infer that “Clerk” has never 
studied out that quaint heading to this column._ 
In plain English it reads:—The Young Ruralist. 
Now, does “ Clerk” want to monopolize this cor¬ 
ner to the exclusive use of his craft. I would in¬ 
form him that this column was set apart for the 
benefit of young country folks, and for them alone. 
If deemed expedient, probably Mr. Moore will 
give the clerks space in another column, but they 
have neither “ stirred up” or “ waked up,” so we 
will conclude that their wants are not clamorous. 
I give “ Clerk” credit for openly coming out, and 
scaring up the hen roost. He being the person 
who has proposed this suggestion, it is proper and 
right that he should take the lead in writing an ar¬ 
ticle. His last piece is not a piece in every sense 
of the word. 1 should be very happy if “Clerk” 
will write a literary production for the next issue 
as the foremost in the carnage.— Young Ruralist, 
Monroe Co., N. V, 1858. 
The Clerks, as will be seen by the following, are 
responding to tho call. By a little care and effort 
they can add much to the interest of this depart¬ 
ment, but they will allow us to suggest there are 
other themes worthy of their liens than praising 
the Rural, or their occupation, honorable as it is. 
Eds. Rural:— I saw an invitation in the Rural 
of the 31st ult, for the Clerks to stir up, and write 
a little for the “ Young Ruralist.” I believe that 
there are as many Clerks that read the Rural and 
take a deep interest in its welfare as farmers’ boys. 
And I don’t see why the Clerks can’t have a por¬ 
tion of the Rural. I know that I have tried to 
give it a circulation in this section. I have got up 
one or two clubs, and take as much interest, and 
welcome its coming, as much as any one can. I 
have clerked about two years, and have read every 
number of tho Rural in that time, with lively in¬ 
terest. It arrives at this office every Monday, as 
regular as Monday arrives. For the past two years 
it has scarcely missed once of coming at the regu¬ 
lar time. In fact should it be delayed a day or 
two, I should almost get the blues. But perhaps I 
am taking up too much room. I say with the Mon¬ 
roe Co. Clerk,—Clerks wake up from your lethargy, 
and contribute your “ mites.”—F. R. L,, Lodi, 1858. 
Messrs. Eds. :—I am a lover of your most excel¬ 
lent paper, and would cheerfully recommend it to 
every family in the United States. It is the best 
Agricultural paper published in the Union. I al¬ 
ways hail it with delight wherever I am, for it 
comes into our families like a friend, bringing 
glad tidings from far and near. I am a Clerk in a 
dry goods store, and also assistant post-master, 
where I have the privilege of perusing the columns 
of the Rural, as soon as it arrives in our place. I 
love to read the productions of young writers, and 
would encourage them to press on. There is no 
knowing how high a position you may obtain by 
perseverance and untiring zeal. One word to 
Clerks. We have had a call from a “brother 
clerk” to stir up, and try our luck once in writing 
for the Rural. I for one will cast in my mite.— 
P. P. H., Erie Co., N. Y., 1868. 
Still, we have another who is not content with 
being either a clerk or a young farmer. He as¬ 
pires to be a professional man—a lawyer. Well, 
we don’t know as there is any particular objection 
to that, although lawyers are already pretty thick, 
and there are probably many more of them than 
are useful Still, we think mere highly of a good 
lawyer than a bad farmer. 
Mr. Editor:— I have long thought of trying my 
skill by writing a piece to occupy a place in the 
“Young Ruralists” corner. My mind does not ex¬ 
actly coincide with the greater mass of the young 
people who write for the corner, viz., Farmer Boy’s. 
I see you open the column to clerk’s and appren¬ 
tice boys, &c. I do not fancy either. I think a 
farmer’s life is incompatable with comfort It is 
said by experienced individuals that farming is 
more conducive to health than any other employ¬ 
ment I do not dispute that, but I would sacrifice 
a portion of my health for comfort; but I think 
that other employments may be pursued as con¬ 
ducive to health as farming. Clerk’s and appren¬ 
tice boys are somewhat better situated than far¬ 
mer boys, as far as manual labor is concerned.— 
But they are deficient in freedom. Although I am 
a farmer’s boy and have always lived on a farm, 
yet I have a natural repugnance to anything that 
pertains to farming. [Our correspondent is some¬ 
thing like the man who declared he was not lazy, 
but constitutionally tired. —Eds.] 
A professional life for me, and in selecting a 
profession from the long list, I can hardly come to 
any definite conclusion. But at the present time I 
am rather disposed to favor the lawyer’s life. Per¬ 
haps on mature reflection I may alter my mind in 
regard to that. I can hardly tell whether that pro¬ 
fession would coincide with my ability or not.— 
However, I think I have at least one qualification 
for that,—that is, stretching the truth. I can stretch 
it to an enormous length already, and doubt not 
that by a little practice I may be enabled to break 
it [The profession is overdone with this kind of 
talent already. In fact, the thing has been run in¬ 
to the ground. If that is the only qualification for 
a lawyer, we would suggest the propriety of devot¬ 
ing your talents to politics. — Eds.] 
Now, young gentlemen, you who intend to enlist 
under the banner of Att'y, display your talent 
which has lain dormant so long. Do not let the 
farmer boys throw everything else back in the 
shade, and if our friend Moore will be so kind as 
to give us a place in his columns, we will combat 
our more formidable antagonists with such a dis¬ 
charge of talent as they cannot easily withstand.— 
Harry Harris, Hume, N. Y., 1858. 
The Mind of Childhood. —Is not the mind of 
childhood the tenderest, holiest thing this side of 
Heaven? 1s it not to be approached with gentle¬ 
ness, with love — yes, with a heart-worship of the 
great God from whom, in almost angel innocence, 
it has proceeded? A creature undefiled by the 
taint of the world, unvexed by its injustice, un¬ 
wearied by its hollow pleasures. A being fresh 
from the source of light, with something of its 
universal lustre in it? If childhood be this, how 
holy the duty to see that, in its onward growth, it 
shall be no other! To stand as a watcher at the 
temple, lest any unclean thing should enter it. 
During the hours of regret we recall the image 
of departed joys, and in>eeping over tender re¬ 
membrances, tears, softly shed, embalm the wounds 
of grief. 
The man who doe3 most, has the least’time to 
talk about what he does. 
