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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY ANI) FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
137 
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Written for the Rural New-Yorker. 
EDUCATING THE FARMER. 
If it is true that the improvement and 
profits in agriculture are in proportion to the 
measure of intelligence which guides its labors, 
then this improvement can in no way receive 
such efficient aid as by instructing the you th, 
who are hereafter to manage its concerns, as 
well in the science as in the practice of tlieir 
business. That parent does an injustice to his 
child which he can never repair, for which no 
inheritance can compensate, who refuses to 
give him full education because he is not in¬ 
tended for a learned profession. Whatever he 
may intend he cannot know to what his son 
will come ; and if there should he no change 
in this respect, will an education be lost upon 
him because he is not a lawyer, a doctor, a di¬ 
vine? Nothing can be more untrue or perni¬ 
cious than this opinion. 
It is impossible to imagine a citizen of this 
country to be in any situation in which the 
discipline and acquirements of an education 
will not have their value. They will give him 
consideration and usefulness which will be seen 
and felt in his daily intercourse of business or 
pleasure. They will give him weight and worth 
as a member of society, and a never failing 
source of honorable, virtuous and lasting en¬ 
joyment under all circumstances and in every 
station of life. They will preserve him from 
the delusions of dangerous errors, and the se¬ 
ductions of degrading and destructive vices. 
But we would entreat the farmers to educate 
their sons for their own professions. All the 
idle and studious professions are crowded to 
overflowing. Go through our cities and resist, 
if you can, the rising sigh over human folly, 
when you see the streets lined with idle, 
beggarly lawyers, doctors and merchants, and 
unpaid and half paid clerks seeking for places. 
I beg that farmers will reflect a moment on the 
the situations of our thousand of disappointed 
young men, whose parents’ folly has thrown 
them upon the world unqualified for any of 
those pursuits which will insure them a com¬ 
petency. 
At the present day it is in the power of al¬ 
most every farmer to bestow such a degree of 
education upon his sons as will qualify them 
to conduct the business of agriculture upon 
scientific pi inciples, and to properly discharge 
the various duties of citizens of this republic, 
and greatly to the dishonor of a father of a 
family it must be, when his sons go out from 
under the parental roof to take upon them¬ 
selves the responsibilities of life, ignorant of 
the necessary and important qualifications.— 
After you are gone off the stage of life, your 
sons are to come forward and transact the con¬ 
cerns of the public. They are to compose in 
part the Legislature of the land in which you 
now live and act, and to go through the same 
or a more important routine of the public ser¬ 
vice than you have done. But this will be 
impossible, unless they have received such a 
degree of scholastic education at least as is 
commonly bestowed, and which is, in great 
wisdom and generosity, afforded to every one 
in this land of light and knowledge. 
Circumstanced as they are, I can conceive 
of no apology for those farmers in this State 
who neglect to have their children instructed 
in all the more common and necessary branch¬ 
es of knowledge, as the means afforded for 
their ends are now as common and free as the 
air we breathe, and in my opinion the farmer 
who neglects to improve the minds of his sons 
and daughters gives melancholy proof that he 
himself is unfitted to realize the blessings 
which Heaven has liberally showered upon 
the land. 
Therefore, if you would regard your own 
happiness,—the future usefulness of your sons, 
and would guard them against the snares of 
vice, give them a good education at least— 
educate them for the profession of agr iculture, 
an occupation at once sublime and useful, 
which ennobles man, gives peace to his mind 
and calmness to his passions. The farmer ab¬ 
sorbed in the holy contemplation of mute but 
eloquent nature, or engrossed in the avoca¬ 
tions that gives sustenance and comfort to his 
fellow beings, is equally blessed in the fruit of 
his labors or the fragrance of his meditations. 
Maple Grove, Marshall, N. Y. 
SCHOOLS IN BUFFALO. 
By the report of the Superintendent of 
schools in Buffalo, recently issued, it appears 
that there were raised in that city for school 
purposes, during the past year, the sum of 
seventy thousand dollars, and that an addi¬ 
tional sum of twelve thousand was received 
from the State, making an aggregate of eighty 
two thousand dollars. 
There are thirty districts in the city, and 
one hundred and sixty-nine teachers. Eigh¬ 
teen thousand four hundred and ten pupils 
attend the schools. The total salaries of 
teachers is $59,757, of which amount the prin¬ 
cipal of the Central or High school receives 
$1,100 ; the masters of the second depart¬ 
ments $900, and the teachers (female) in the 
intermediate and primary departments $324. 
Pennmanship in all the schools is under the 
supervision of a single teacher, at a salary of 
$1,000, and music under another at $900.— 
These teachers visit the schools and give les ■ 
sons successively. 
A Teachers’ Institute is held every forenoon 
on Saturday, with marked advantage to the 
teachers and schools. The Superintendent 
says :—“The discipline of the schools is main¬ 
tained admirably. Obedience and a love of 
the right are obtained, without frequent 
resort to physical force, and very few com¬ 
plaints are brought by teachers or parents 
against the pupils, for malicious injury to 
school property.” 
READING AND WRITING. 
Those accomplishments are the most excel¬ 
lent and most worthy of cultivation which con¬ 
tribute most largely to the happiness of others. 
I place that of reading well before every one 
of the arts which usually are so designated ; 
and certainly, had I the fairy’s power to bestow 
on those I loved the gift which should most 
endear them to others—not of course including 
good principle, good sense and good temper— 
1 would give them the power of delighting 
their own family circle by reading and talking 
well. The former art especially is cultivated 
far too little for the health as well as the hap¬ 
piness of young women; so much is it neglect¬ 
ed, that probably twenty can sing pleasingly 
for every one that can read agreeably. Yet 
we cannot doubt that a voice for singing is 
comparatively rare, and that almost any one 
who chooses to do so, can read so as to give 
pleasure. Perhaps there are two reasons for 
the general neglect of this charming accom¬ 
plishment. In the first place, we are far too 
apt to cultivate most carefully that which is 
to please in society, and to neglect those arts 
which can contribute to domestic happiness ; 
we sing for our acquaintances, to excite the ad¬ 
miration, or, it may be, the envy of people who 
see us but seldom, and would not greatly care 
if they never saw us again. But in being able 
to read well a good poem or play, or even the 
debates in parliament, we are only likely to 
give pleasure to an invalid father or brother, 
or perhaps a group of younger brothers and 
sisters. But to increase the happiness of but 
one of our home circle, ought to be a source 
of far more happiness to us than the applause 
of any stranger whatever. To while away the 
dreary hours of pain and sickness—to charm a 
group of young listeners into forgetfulness of 
the rain or snow that is preventing them from 
enjoying their usual sports—these are objects 
we can so easily attain, and from w T hich we 
shall derive such real happiness, that they are 
well worth a little effort.— Mrs. Pultan. 
THE TWO METHODS OF STUDY. 
There are two methods of study ; the one is 
the studying an author, and the other may be 
called studying a subject. In the former case 
the student proposes to make himself master 
of the whole contents of a book ; he diligently 
peruses it, and becomes familiar with the style, 
language, and the sentiments Of the writer.— 
By the other method, he follows up any par¬ 
ticular branch of knowledge through all the 
books in which it may be found, searches in 
them for every passage that is to his purpose 
and collects everywhere the scattered particles 
of information. Of these two methods of seek¬ 
ing knowledge, the first is much to be prefer - 
ed. By diligently fixing the mind upon one 
book at a time, the intellectual faculties in the 
three branches of apprehension, attention and 
memory, are exercised, disciplined and improv¬ 
ed. Whereas by other practice, when a sub¬ 
ject is pursued by this help of indexes though 
a multitude of authors, and writers are con¬ 
sulted only as books of reference, a superficial, 
discursive habit of study grows upon the mind, 
and the student will be so far from improving 
the three facilities above mentioned, that he is 
in danger of impairing them. And no man of 
letters can safely trust himself with this plan 
of study, till he shall have first diligently 
wrought into his mind firm habits of accurate 
attention, by long practice of the other.— 
Athccneum. 
THAT IS A BOY I CAN TRUST. 
“ I once visited,” says a gentleman, “ a large 
public school. At recess a little fellow came 
up and spoke to the master ; and as he turned 
to go down the platform, the master said, 
‘ That is a boy I can trust. He never failed 
me. I followed him with my eye, and .looked 
at him when he took his seat after recess.— 
He had a fine, open, manly face. I thought a 
good deal about the master’s remark. What 
a character had that little boy earned ? He 
had already got what would be worth to him 
more than a fortune. It would be a passport 
to the best office in the city, and what is bet¬ 
ter, to the confidence of the whole community. 
I wonder if the boys know how soon they are 
rated by elder people. Every boy in the 
neighborhood is known, and opinions forn ed 
of him, he has a character either favorable or 
unfavorable. A boy of whom the master can 
say, ‘ I can trust him; he never failed me,’ 
will never want employment. The fidelity, 
promptness and industry which he has shown 
at school are prized everywhere. He who is 
faithless in little shall be faithless in much.” 
Good for Nebraska.— The Nebraska Leg¬ 
islature, which adjourned on the 16th ultimo, 
enacted a general system of laws chiefly bor 
rowed from Iowa; provided for an efficient 
organization of counties ; passed a good school 
law providing for free schools for all; passed 
a stringent prohibitory liquor law ; chartered 
three Universities; incorporated a medical 
society, and provided for taking a new census 
the ensuing fall, by the Marshal, from which 
a new appointment of representatives is to be 
made by the Governor. 
Henry Ward Beecher says:— “I never 
knew an early rising, hard working, prudent 
man, careful of his earnings, and strictly hon¬ 
est, who complained of bad luck. A good 
character, good habits and good industry are 
impregnable to all the assaults of ill-luck that 
fools ever dreamed of.” 
Decision of Character.— The fact is, that 
in order to do anything in this world worth 
doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank, 
and thinking of cold and the danger, but jump 
in and scramble through as well as we can.— 
Sydney Smith. 
UJusings. 
For Moore's Rnral New-Yorker. 
WHERE I’D CHOOSE TO DIE. 
Oft-timks I think of some bright spot, 
Where I would have my home ; 
And pleasing pictures, fancy paints 
Of joys in years to come ; 
But now the future has no char dm : 
The past brings bnt a sigh, 
My thoughts are not of where I’d live, 
But where I’d chooso to die. 
THE SIAMESE TWINS. 
Tub above cut.*represents thejjSiamese Twins, 
as they appeared two years ago, when making 
the tour of our principal cities. Their case is 
one of the most remarkable freaks of nature 
ever seen exhibited in the human race. Al¬ 
most exact counterparts of each other, it is 
difficult to distinguish any marked differences 
in form or feature, even when standing in close 
proximity, as they are of course compelled to 
do. They are united, as every one knows 
whether he has seen them or not, by a strong 
flexible cartilaginous ligament, which has its 
origin a little one side of the lower part of the 
breast. The ligament is visible, in the man¬ 
ner seen in the figure, when they are on ex¬ 
hibition, in order to gratify the curiosity of 
visitors. The nature of the connection is such, 
and its flexibility so great, as to allow of con¬ 
siderable latitude of movement; and persons 
unacquainted, would be led to believe it must 
occasionally be attended with pain. Such, 
however, is not the fact. 
This matter of the Siamese twins is nothing 
new, but it is none the less interesting on that 
account. They first made the tour of the 
country about twenty years ago, at which 
time they created quite a sensation. Since 
then they have been partially lost sight of by 
the public, having retired until within a recent 
period, from exhibition, married, and settled 
upon a farm in North Carolina. Their wives 
are sisters, and each of the twins is the father 
of several children. They are now past the 
meridian of life, and their hair is grey, altho’ 
they are in good health. Two children, a boy 
and a girl, one belonging to each, accom¬ 
panied them during their recent trip to the 
Northern States. The parents show plainly 
in every feature the marks of the Mongolian 
race, hut the children, with the exception of 
dark complexions, are to all appearance Euro¬ 
pean. They would pass anywhere as children 
of white parents, horn in a warmer clime. 
There has been a good deal of money made 
both by the twins and others, out of this sing¬ 
ular Lusus Naturae; but one thing is certain, 
there is no humbug in the matter, and every 
one who has had an opportunity of seeing and 
conversing with them, feels that the quarter of 
a dollar he has paid for the privilege, is money 
well expended. They are courteous, affable, 
and gentlemen in every respect. 
Beneath Italia’s bright blue sky 
Would soft, fresh zephyrs come 
To gently kiss ray dying brow, 
And waft my spirit home ; 
Yet even there, ’raid loveliest scenes, 
No gentle spirit nigh— 
So far from all my heart holds dear— 
I would not choose to die. 
In some familiar, cherished spot, 
With the friends of early years, 
To sooth the pangs o’ my dying hours, 
And shed their sorrowing tears ; 
Where life’s young dreams were happiest— 
Where ne’er was heard one sigh— 
In that old home —on my mother’s breast— 
Me thinks I’d love to die. 
Nanda, April, 1855. “ Nettif.’ 
AFFLICTION—WHAT IT TEACHES. 
THE DESERT OF SAHARA. 
The Sahara is by no means the monoto¬ 
nous sea of sand which we commonly figure 
to ourselves. Its surface is varied by many 
natural features, but none of sufficient magni 
tude to constitute distinct districts. “ The 
desert is habitable, fiaji, or uninhabitable, 
kheta; bushy, haitia, or wooded, ghaba ; stony, 
serir, or covered with enormous rocks, t varr. 
If it forms an elevated plateau, > it is called 
djebel, in opposition to the maritime plain, sa- 
hel.” But everywhere it has the same cli¬ 
mate, the same absence of rain, the same fierce 
vicissitndes of heat and cold, the same fearful 
simoon, or khamsin, rendering life scarcely 
supportable iu spring, until the violet etesians 
from the Mediterranean drive it back in sum¬ 
mer and autumn, refreshing the desert with 
their cold, but powerless to bring with them 
their moisture, which remains precipitated on 
the summits of the Atlas. 
The population is, of course, grouped in the 
“ oases,” around the scanty springs of water 
which here and there come to the surface.— 
What reservoirs supply these slender and yet 
never-failing sources, iu a region where, on a 
surface nearly as large as Europe, no moist¬ 
ure whatever falls iu ordinary seasons ? The 
question is a curious one. Richardson is the 
only traveler (so far as we remember) who re¬ 
fers it to the extraordinary deluge of rain 
which falls in particular spots, at intervals 
often of nine or ten seasons. He mentions one 
case where such a phenomenon followed fifty 
rainless years, and which he conceives was 
sufficient to store the subterranean receptacles 
for the wants of another similar period. 
The toils and dangers of Sahara traveling, 
and the strange phenomena of the desert, are 
familiar to us from many well-known narra¬ 
tives. A French author affects greatly to de¬ 
preciate them, and to attribute much of the 
popular notions on this subject to the imagin¬ 
ation of travelers .—Ed in. Review. 
Conier. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 14 letters. 
My 1, 4, 5, 8 are in great demand. 
My 11, 4, 10 Is one of the months. 
My 3, 13, 11 is a poisonous liquid. 
My 1, 2, 14, 8, 9 is a domestic animal. 
My 10, 7, 13 is a pronoun. 
My 6 and 12 are vowels. 
My whole is the name of one of the Ex- 
Governors of New York. 
Answer next week. 
How fast we learn in the day of sorrow !— 
It is as if affliction awoke our powers, and 
lent them new quickness of perception. We 
advance more in the knowledge of Scripture 
in a single day, than in years before ; we learn 
“ 30ngs in night,” though such music was un¬ 
known before. A deeper experience has taken 
us down into the depths of Scripture, and 
shown us its hidden wonders. Luther used to 
say, “Were it not for tribulation, I should 
not understand Scripture.” And every sor¬ 
rowing saint responds to this, as having felt 
it; as did David, when he said, “ Blessed is the 
man whom thou chasteneth, and teachest out 
of Thy Law; it is good for me that I have 
been afflicted, that 1 might learn Thy stat¬ 
utes.” What teaching, what training of the 
mind goes upon a sick bed, or under the 
pressure of grief! And, O, what great and 
wondrous things will even some little trial 
whisper in the ear of a soul that is “ learning 
of the Father! ” 
In some cases this profit is almost unfelt, at 
least duriug the continuance of the process.— 
We think we are learning nothing. Sorrow 
overwhelms us. Disaster stuns. We become 
confused, nervous, agitated, or perhaps, insen¬ 
sible. We seem to derive no benefit. Yet, 
ere long, we begin to feel the blessed results. 
Maturity of judgment, patience in listening 
to the voice of God, a keener appetite for his 
word, a quicker discernment of it3 meaning; 
these are soon realized as the gracious results 
of chastisement. The mind has undergone a 
most thorough discipline, and has, moreover, 
made wondrous progress in the knowledge of 
Divine truth, through the teaching of the 
Holy Ghost.— Bonar. 
A CHRISTIAN’S CREDENTIALS. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-YoT&er. 
ALGEBRAICAL PROBLEM 
I The mast of a ship consists of two parts.— 
One-fourtli of the upper part added to one-sev¬ 
enth of the lower part, is equal to 13 feet; 
and five times the upper part, diminished by 
three times the lower part, is equal to 14 feet. 
What is the length of each part, and what is 
the height of the whole mast ? a. o. p. 
Answer next week. 
LITTLE TOMMY. 
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT THF. PRESIDENTS. 
The Boston Transcript presents to its read¬ 
ers the following compilation of curious coin¬ 
cidences in the names and lives of the first seven 
Presidents of the United States—Washington, 
John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, 
John Quincey Adams and Jackson : 
“ Four of the seven were from Virginia. 
Two of the same name were from Massachusetts, 
and the seventh was from Tennessee. All but 
one were sixty-six years old on leaving office, 
having served two terms ; and one of them, 
who served but one term, would have been 
sixty-six years of age at the end of another. 
Three of the seven died on the 4th of July, and 
two of them on the same day and year. Two 
of them were on the sub-committee of three 
that drafted the Declaration of Independence, 
and these two died on the same day and year, 
and on the anniversary of the Declaration of 
Independence, and just half a century from the 
day of declaration. The names of three of the 
seven end in son, yet neither of these transmit¬ 
ted his name to a son. Iu respect to the name 
of all, it may be said in conclusion, the initials 
of two of the seven were the same—and of two 
others that they were the same—and the initials 
of still two others were the same. The remain¬ 
ing one who stands alone in this particular, 
stands alone also in the love and admiration 
of his countrymen and the civilized world— 
Washington. Of the first five only one had a 
son, and that son was also President.” 
Does not this simple story remind the reader 
of some other little Tommy who has sanctified 
a trifle by the magic of his touch and left it to 
be cherished as a priceless thing ? It is from 
the Charleston News: 
Whilst passing rapidly up King street, we 
saw a little boy sitting on a curb-stone. He 
was apparently about 5 or 6 years old, and his 
well-combed hair, clean hands and face, bright 
though well-patched apron, and whole appear¬ 
ance indicated that he was the child of a lov¬ 
ing, though indigent mother. As we looked 
at him closely, we were struck with the heart¬ 
broken expression of his countenance, and the 
mark of recent tears on his cheek. 
So, yielding to an impulse which always 
leads us to sympathize with the joys or sorrows 
of the little ones, we stopped, and putting a 
hand upon his head, asked what was the mat¬ 
ter ? He replied by holding up his open hand, 
in which we beheld the fragments of a broken 
tin toy—a figure of a cow. 
“Oh! is that all—well, never mind it.— 
Step into the nearest toy-shop and buy anoth¬ 
er”—and we dropped a fourpenee into his hand 
—“ that will buy one, will it not?” 
“Oh, yes,” replied he, bursting into a 
paroxysm of grief, “but this was little Tom¬ 
my’s, and he’s dead!” 
We gave him the last piece of silver we pos¬ 
sessed, but had it been gold, we doubt if he 
would have noticed it more than he did the 
silver. The wealth of the world could not 
have supplied the vacancy that the breaking 
of that toy had left in his little unsophistica¬ 
ted heart. 
Answer to Charade in No. 276 : 
Fairest is the morning dawn, 
Fair will be its morrow ; 
Interfere not fatal U, 
Making mourning sorrow. 
U enchantress—roseate tints— 
Can you never spare them ? 
Bidding bridal flowers be weeds, 
Weeping widows wear them. 
U depart—how sweet a dew 
Paints the dawn’s adorning ; 
Saddening weeds are bridal flowers, 
Mourning is bright morning. 
Answer to Enigma in No. 276—. Know-Noth¬ 
ing Society. 
What are they ? Not the blossoms of a fair 
profession, but the ripe and mellow fruit of 
godlike actions. Cornelius’ prayers and alms 
came up as a memorial before God — not 
his prayers alone, nor his alms alone, but his 
prayers and his aims. Beautiful conjunction. 
Piety towards God, and an active charity to¬ 
wards all mankind; the twin personifications 
of vital, saving piety. Salvation is of grace, 
not of merit, not of words, lest any man should 
boast. But faith, without works, is dead. It 
is like an index, without a book ; like hands 
without a clock; like sails, without a ship; 
like a tree, with nothing but dry and withered 
branches. Professed disciple of Christ, to 
prove thy discipleship genuine, thou must sur¬ 
round thyself with widows, whom thou hast 
comforted—with orphans, whom thou hast 
succored—with the ignorant, whom thou hast 
instructed—with the wandering, whom thou 
ha3t reclaimed—with the hungry, w'hom thou 
hast fed—with the naked, whom thou hast 
clothed—with the sick, whom thou hast visit¬ 
ed. These are thy trophies! 
Life’s Changes.— Mutation is stamped on 
all things beneath the circuit of the sun. We 
have to-day our children sporting around us, 
in the enjoyment of health; to-morrow they 
are sick—perhaps dead, and laid in the grave. 
To-day we love those about us, whom we con¬ 
sider our friends ; but to-morrow, they are our 
bitter enemies. One while, our prospects are 
bright—the horizon of our pecuniary affairs is 
clear, no murky clouds hang over the future; 
but before we are aware, our prospects are 
gloomy—our clear horizon is cloudy, and a 
murky cloud hangs over all the future. 
Erasmus on War.— If there is in the affairs 
of mortal men any one thing which it is prop¬ 
er uniformly to explode, and incumbent on 
every man by lawful means to avoid, to depre¬ 
ciate, to oppose, that one thing is, doubtless, 
war. There is nothing more unnaturally wick¬ 
ed, more productive of misery, more extensively 
destructive, more obstinate in mischief, and 
more unworthy of man, as formed by nature, 
much more of man professing Christianity. 
Blessings which we have slighted when in 
our possession, are more highly prized when 
there is danger of our being deprived of them ; 
and our hearts are more keenly touched by the 
anticipations of loss than by the fullness of 
enjoyment. 
Integrity is the first moral virtue, benevo¬ 
lence the second, and prudence the third; 
without the first, the two latter cannot exist, 
and without the two former would be often 
useless. 
It betokens as great a soul to be capable of 
curing a fault, as to be incapable of commit¬ 
ting it. 
