MOOSE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
177 
C|e HElniatffL 
SCHOOL TAX OF ROCHESTER. 
The Charter of this city provides for the 
raising of money by tax for the following pur¬ 
poses, viz. : 1st. To purchase, lease, or im¬ 
prove sit03 for sehool houses ; 2d. To build, 
purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, alter and re¬ 
pair school houses, their out-houses and appur¬ 
tenances ; 3d. To purchase, improve, exchange 
and repair school apparatus, books, furniture, 
&c .; 4th. To pay all necessary contingent ex¬ 
penses and wages of teachers, due after the 
application of the monej-s which may, by law, 
have been apportioned by the State for school 
purposes, the year next preceding that on which 
these estimates are made. 
Heretofore the amount raised for the first 
named purpose, was limited by law to $ 7,000 ; 
but the charter was so amended at the last 
session of the Legislature as to admit of the 
raising of $ 10 , 000 . 
The Finance Committee of the Board of 
Education report their estimate of the amount 
necessary to be raised the ensuing year for 
school purposes, at $40,497. Of this $ 10,000 
is for purchasing sites and building school 
houses, $3,000 for repairs and rent, and $27,- 
497 for teachers’ wages. The report was ac¬ 
cepted, and that amount certified to the Com 
raon Council according to law. This is not 
far from a dollar apiece for each man, woman 
aud child in the city, but of course it is not 
raised per capita. The doctrine is now well 
settled in most, if not all the northern cities, 
and in many of the northern States, that the 
property must educate the people. The pub¬ 
lic good must take precedence of private in¬ 
terest, aud nothing is so necessary for the 
safety of the State as the general diffusion of 
knowledge. 
COLLEGE COMMENCEMENTS. 
Tiie Commencement exercises of the Uni¬ 
versity of Rochester take place on the 11th of 
July. The Oration before the Literary Socie¬ 
ties will be pronounced by John W. Fowler, 
Esq., President of the State and National 
Law School, Poughkeepsie : the Poem by Wm. 
P. Palmer, Esq., of New York. The Sermon 
before the Judson Society, by the Rev. Dr. 
Hague, of Albany, and the Sermon before the 
Board of Ministerial Education by the Rev. 
Howard Malcolm, President of the Lewis- 
burgh Uuiversity, Penn. 
The Greek Oration, Commencement Day, 
will be delivered by Wm. C. Pratt ; the Latin 
by Wm. T. Fagar, and the German by Wm. 
C. Learned. 
At William’s College the anniversary will 
be held on the 5th of August. The Adelphic 
Union Society is to be addressed by the Rev. 
Henry Ward Beecher, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; 
the Oration before the Alumni will be deliv¬ 
ered by Joseph White, Esq., of Lowell, and 
the Poem by E. W. Canning, Esq., of Stock- 
bridge. Prof. Park, of Andover, will address 
the Mills Theological Society. 
Charles Morse, ofSpriugfield, of the Grad¬ 
uating Class, gives the Valedictory Oration. 
The Commencement exercises of Dartmouth 
College will take place on the 24th, 25th, 
and 26th of July next. The Orators before 
the Societies are Professor Park, Hon. S. P. 
Chase and Wendell Phillips. The Poet is 
Park Benjamin. The Academic exercises 
will be on the 2Gth. The number graduating 
is 51. 
FEMALE SCHOOLS. 
0 
The following criticism, taken from an Eng¬ 
lish paper, on female schools in that country, 
is not, altogether inapplicable to many similar 
institutions in America ; and it would lie well 
for those who have daughters to educate, to 
ascertain whether or not the school which they 
select falls under the description : 
“ Expensive, mindless, unpractical and use¬ 
less, our schools turn out accomplished ma¬ 
chines, whose minds are, like Chinese feet, 
cramped out of all symmetry, power and nat¬ 
ural use. A little music, which is merely 
manual dexterity ; a little drawing, which is 
only distorted imitation of distorted copies— 
for neither art is ever taught in the breadth 
and significance belonging to it; a little his- . 
tory, which is but a parrot’s roll call; some 
geography, which means a dotted outline on a j 
sheet of paper, but which includes ueither the 
natural history, nor the ethnology, nor yet the 
industry, of foreign countries; needlework, 
which leads to any thing but usefulness; mod 
ern languages, which, when ‘ finished,’ reveal 
neither the literature nor the people, and are 
equally unserviceable for reading and lor con¬ 
versation—these, as all the world knows, make 
up the lLt of English school girl’s accomplish¬ 
ments ; and few parents dream of a more use¬ 
ful or more intellectual education of them.” 
Useful (Dlifl. 
“THE WEST END. ” 
Most persons think that the reason why the 
west-end of London is more fashionable than 
theeast, is nothing more than the topographical 
configuration of the capital. But the Acade¬ 
my of Sciences at Paris, in its last sitting, 
pronounced this opinion to be a delusion. Jn 
the first place, it is not only at London, but at 
Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Turin, St. Petersburg, 
and almost every other capital of Europe—at 
Liege, Caen, Montpelier, Toulouse, and seve¬ 
ral other large towns—wherever, in fact, there 
are not great local obstacles—the tendency of 
the wealthier inhabitants to group themselves 
to the west is almost as strongly marked as in 
the “great metropolis.” In the second place, 
at Pompeii and other ancient towns the same 
thing may be noticed ; and in the third place, 
where the local figuration of the town neces¬ 
sitates an increase in a different direction, the 
moment the obstacle ceases, houses spread to¬ 
wards the west. This last fact may, it is sta¬ 
ted, be particularly observed at Rome, and, to 
a certain extent, at Edinburgh. 
When, then, all cities and towns have their 
best districts in the west, it is pretty clear that 
the cause of it must be some general law en¬ 
tirely distinct from local situation. What is 
that law? “ It arises from the atmospheric 
pressure,” answers the Academy of Sciences. 
“ WheD,” it continues, “ the barometric col¬ 
umn rises, smoke and pernicious emanations 
rapidly evaporate in space. In the contrary 
case we see that smoke and pernicious vapors 
remain in apartments and on the surface of the 
soil. Now, every one knows that of all winds, 
that which causes the greatest ascension of the 
barometric column is that of the east, and that 
which lowers it most is the west. When 
the latter blows, it has the inconvenience of 
carrying with it to the eastern parts of the 
town all the deleterious gases which it meets 
in its passage over the western parts. It re¬ 
sults from that that the inhabitants of the east¬ 
ern parts of a town have to support not only 
their own smoke and miasma, but those of the 
western part of the town, brought to them by 
the west winds. 
When, on the contrary, the east wind blows, 
it purifies the air by causing to ascend the per¬ 
nicious emanations which it cannot drive to 
the west. Consequently, the inhabitants of 
the west receive pure air from whatever part 
of the horizon it may arrive; and it may be 
added that, as the west winds are those which 
most frequently prevail, they are the first to 
receive the air pure and as it arrives from the 
country.” After thus explaining why the 
western parts are the best, the Academy makes 
these recommendations :—1. That persons who 
have the liberty of choice, aud especially those 
of delicate health, should reside in the western 
parts of towns. 2. That all establishments 
from which emanate pernicious vapors and 
gases should be placed to the east. 3. That in 
building a house in a town, and even in the 
country, the kitchens and other dependencies 
from which pernicious emanations may arise, 
should be placed to the cast. The members 
of the Academy who have announced the pre¬ 
ceding discovery, and made the preceding re¬ 
commendations, are Messrs. Pelouze, Pouillet, 
Boussingault, and Eiie de Beaumont—all of 
them of Europeau reputation as savants. 
A HUGE PILE OF SERPENTS. 
Baron Humboldt says :—“ In the savan¬ 
nahs of Izacubo, Guina, I saw the most won¬ 
derful and terrible spectacle that can be seen; 
and although it be not uncommon to the na¬ 
tives, no traveler has ever mentioned it. We 
were ten men on horseback, two of whom took 
the lead, in order to sound the passages, while 
I preferred to skirt the great forests. One of 
the men who formed the vanguard returned at 
full gallop and called to me. ‘ Here, sir, come 
aud see serpents in a pile.’ lie pointed to 
something elevated in the middle of the savan- 
nuh or swamp, which appeared like a bundle 
of arms. One of my company said, this is 
certainly one of the assemblies of serpents 
which heap themselves on each other after a 
violent tempest. I have heard of these, but 
never saw any ; let us proceed cautiously, aud 
not go too near them. When we were within 
twenty paces of it, the terror of our horses 
prevented our approaching nearer, to which 
none of us inclined. On a sudden the pyramid 
mass became agitated ; a horrid hissing issued 
from it, thousands of serpents rolled spirally 
on each other, and shot forth out of the circle 
their envenomed darts and fiery eyes to us.— 
I owm L was the first to draw back, but when 
I saw this formidable phalanx remain at its 
post, aud appear to be more disposed to de¬ 
fend itself than to attack us, I rode around in 
order to view its order of battle, which laced 
the enemy on every side. I then thought what 
could be the design of this assemblage; and 
I concluded that this species of serpent dread¬ 
ed some colosean enemy, which might be the 
great serpent or cayman, and they re-unite 
tbemselves after seeing the enemy, so as to re¬ 
sist the enemy in a mass. 
Legal Decision. —Judge Cowles, of New 
York city, decides that a school teacher’s 
watch cannot be levied upon for debt, as com¬ 
ing under the law of 1852, which exempts cer¬ 
tain articles from execution, as necessary house¬ 
hold furniture, working tools, &c. The Judge 
considers a teacher’s watch as much a work¬ 
ing tool, as a mechanic’s hammer. For the 
honor of the craft, however, we hope no teach¬ 
er will have occasion to skulk behind thestut- j 
uteiu order to avoid the payment of an honest I 
debt. “ Owe no man anything,” should be ! 
the teacher's motto. 
Population of the World’s Dead.— The 
average of humau birth per second, since the 
birth of Christ to this time, is about 815, 
which gives 32,000,000,000 ; and after deduct¬ 
ing the present supposed population of the 
world, (960 000,000.) leaves the number of 
thirty-one thousand and forty millions that 
have gone down to the grave — giving death 
and the grave the victory over the living to 
the number of thirty thousand and eight mil¬ 
lions. Of this the number in the grave had 
died—by war, about nine thousand millions ; 
by famine and pestilence, seven thousand nine 
hundred and thirty millions ; by martyrdom, 
five hundred millions ; by intoxicating drinks, 
five hundred and eighty millions ; natural or 
otherwise, thirteen thousand millions. 
Difficulties dissolve before a cheerful 
spirit, like snow-drifts before the sun. 
A STREET IN CAIRO. 
Cairo is a remarkable city, and still re¬ 
tains, amid the general innovation of modern 
times in all other places, the purest and most 
unadulterated style of orientalism. Lofty 
minarets and swelling domes meet the eye, 
and the cry of the Muezzin, “ To prayer—to 
prayer !’’ still sounds in the cars of the faith¬ 
ful, with all the startling distinctness of the 
palmiest days of Moslem po wer. The city, 
like all others of Mohammedan extraction, 
presents alternate scenes of gorgeousness and 
poverty. Wide streets and costly palaces 
contrast with miserable huts and narrow, im¬ 
passable lanes ; broad terraces ornamented 
with trees and fountains, with passages so 
contracted that two camels cannot go abreast, 
and the light of the sun is almost excluded by 
projecting windows and overhanging balconies. 
Cairo has been the scene of many deeds of 
heroism, as well as crime. It has seen an 
empire wax and wane, and the existence of 
its people has more than once been threatened 
with extinction. Dynasties have risen and 
passed away ; the State has bowed beneath a 
| foreign yoke, and received its rulers from 
; foreign despots, themselves less despotic than 
: their viceroys. 
Egypt, of which Cairo is the capital, was 
for a long time a province of the Porte ; but 
| its dependence at the present day is merely 
! nominal, Meuemet Ali having to all intents 
and purposes vindicated the independence of 
his people. 
The above cut represents a principal street 
in Cairo, flanked on the right by the heavy 
towers and buttresses of a fortress, and on the 
left by the light and graceful architecture of 
a mosque. A lofty palm-tree rises above the 
roof, and the opeo ground in front is occupied 
by groups of pedestrians and cavaliers. The 
scene is essentially oriental, and in all its 
features is unmistakably Mohammedan. 
WHAT IS RESPECTABLE SOCIETY ? 
We heard a man, otherwise intelligent 
enough, lately sneer at another, “ because,” 
said he, “ one never meets him in respectable 
society.” The speaker did not mean, however, 
that the person he affected to look down upon 
was immoral, but merely that his circle of iu- 
timates was not composed of the fashionable 
or the rich. 
This notion of what constitutes respectable 
society, is quite a favorite one with that class 
of individuals, whom Thackeray has so signifi¬ 
cantly called “ snobs.” Empty pretence is 
always making its ow r n characteristics a stand¬ 
ard, by which it strives to measure the re¬ 
spectability of persons at large. In a commu¬ 
nity of mere money-getters, wealth is the test 
of respectability. Among the proud, narrow¬ 
minded, effete nobility ot the Faubourg St. 
Germain, respectability depends on being de¬ 
scended from ancestors who have married their 
cousins for so many centuries, that neither 
muscle nor brains are left any longer to degen¬ 
erate descendants. With the dandy officers 
who constitute a considerable portion of the 
American Navy, respectability consists in 
having sponged on *• Uncle Sam,” in wearing 
gilt buttons and in bilking tailors. Every 
conceited fool thinks himself in like way the 
only man really weighty, the only person who 
is respectable. 
But true respec*ability depends ou no such 
adventitious circumstances. To be respecta¬ 
ble is to be worthy of respect; and he most 
deserves re pect who has most virtue. The 
humblest man, who bravely does his duty, is 
more worthy of respect, is more truly respec¬ 
table, than the covetous millionaire among his 
money-bags, or the arrogant monarch on his 
throne. The fine lady, who back-bites her 
neighbor, is less worthy of respect than an 
honest wash-woman. The profligate noble, 
though he may wear a dozen orders at his but¬ 
ton-hole, is often not really as respectable as 
the shoe-black who cleans his boots. That 
which is called “the world” exalts the one 
and despises the other, but it does not make 
them respectable, according to the real mean¬ 
ing of that word. Their respectability 13 but 
a hollow sham, as they themselves frequently 
feel; and those who w'orship them bow down 
to a Fetish, a thing of feathers aud tiusel. The 
selfish, idle drone, who wastes life in his own 
gratification, and dissipates the fortune of his 
progeny, is not, and cannot be, respectable ; 
bat the hard-working, denying father, who 
wears out his life to bring up his children, is, 
even though he be but a day laborer. Noth¬ 
ing can make Dives fit to lie on Abraham's 
bosom, while .Lazarus is welcomed there, even 
with the sores the dogs have licked. 
This false view of life, which would measure 
respectability by a conventional standard, is 
totally at variance with our republican insti¬ 
tutions. It creates an “imperium in imperio ,” 
for while the laws declare all citizens equal, it 
erects a social standard which endeavors to 
ignore that great truth. The coarse, brutish, 
knavish, profligate, criminal—in short, all who 
fall short of their duty to themselves and their 
fellow men—are those who are “ not respecta¬ 
ble ;” and this, wffiether they are rich or poor. 
While those who live honestly, and strive to 
do what good they can, constitute what is 
really the respectable class, irrespective of the 
fact whether they eat with silver forks or steel 
ones .—Philadelphia Ledger. 
I am composed of 12 letters. 
Mj 2, 1, 2 is a female of a religious sect. 
My 7, 1, 2 is a luminary. 
My 4, 9, 12, 10, 5 is a sense. 
My 10, 1, 2 is a metal. 
My 4, 1, 2 is a weight. 
My 6, 9, 6, 5 is a fruit. 
My 6, 1, 2 is a color. 
My 1, 2, 3, 10 is an integral part. 
My 7, 5, 6, 9, 4, 5 is tranquil. 
My 4, 1, 6, 11 is a current. 
My 2, 5, 8 is a snare. 
My 7, 9, 10, 3, 2 is a species of silk. 
My 7, 9, 10, 9, 2 is the Prince of Darkness. 
My 7, 9, 4, 3, 9, 10, 11 is to glut. 
My whole is a great country. 
New York, April, 1853. J. P. JI. 
It is u eless to recommend to people a 
course which they have not judgment enough 
to pursue. 
How ignoble most men’s lives would appear 
to themselves, if described as the lives of 
others I 
Writton for Moore’s Rnral New-Yerker 
CHILDREN'S SAYINGS. 
A friend of oars has a bright-eyed, cherry¬ 
lipped little daughter, whose queer ways and 
odd remarks are the special delight and aomi- 
ration of the whole household. BeiDg asked, 
on one occasion, where her little brother was 
who had died a short time before, she answer¬ 
ed very soberly, “ He’s flew away to Heaven.” 
“What is he doing there?” “ Oh, he’s fid¬ 
dling.” With her the fiddle, which she had 
seen, was preferred before the “ golden harp,” 
which she had not seen. 
On auother occasion, having been rebuked 
for playing on Sunday, she sat silently mus¬ 
ing for a long time, then, looking up, she ask¬ 
ed very earnestly, “ Ma, is it Sunday up 
stairs?” “Yes, my child.” “Is it Sunday 
down cellar ?” “ It is.” “ Is it Sunday in 
the back yard ?” “ Yes.” “ Is it Sunday 
everywhere ?” “ Yes, everywhere.” “ Well, 
Suuday must be smart; I wish he’d go away.” 
How many little juveniles, who are accustom¬ 
ed to being “ cribbed, cabined and confined” 
on that holy day, can sympathize with the lit¬ 
tle sufferer. j. c. h. 
We must add to the above a paragraph from 
a private letter just received from a friend in 
the country. It contains a true child’s idea, 
and our correspondent will forgive us if we 
let our readers share in what we eDjoy so 
much—only too unfrequently.— b. 
“ W illie aud I went to the woods this pleas¬ 
ant morning, and I wish I had time to tell 
you all about it. The ground in some places 
was literally covered with violets, and Willie 
was troubled to find a place to step, so that 
he should not put his foot ou one of the bright 
little things. He seems to have a passion for 
small flowers. Weeds by the road side, with 
flowers uo larger than a pin’s head, he will 
often stop and admire a long time. As we 
were picking some violets, he heard a bird 
sing, aud a ue v thought seemed to strike him. 
Said he, ‘ Ma, wouldn’t it be funny if a little 
bird would siug Vi-o-Iet, Vi-o-let?’ I 
thought it would be funny, sure enough.” 
Answer to Mathematical Problem in No. 
! 281 :— li inc/ua. 
ACQUAINT THYSELF WITH GOD. 
u Acquaint now Thyself 
21 . 22 . 
Hth Him, an-1 be at P*aee k ”—Job 
Acquaint thyself with God, 
If thou wouldst read aright, 
The book of nature, ever spread 
Before thee, day and night; 
If thou would’st fully learn 
The wonders there displayed, 
Enshrine its Author in thy heart, 
And love what He hath made. 
So shall the warbling grove, 
The surge with mountain swell, 
The Bannian on the Indian sands. 
The Lily in it3 dell— 
Yea, every winged reed 
That quickeneth ’neath the sod, 
Teach heavenly wisdom, if thy soul 
Acquaint thyself with God. 
There are who gather wealth 
From many a storied page, 
That tendeth but to wrinkling care, 
Nor warms the frost of age, 
Yet thou, with lowly mind. 
Intent on sacred lore 
Acquaint thyself with God, and be 
At peace for evermore. 
Written for Moore’a Rural New-Yorker. 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
“ Keep yourselves in the love of God” is 
an injunction probably never more warranted 
in the history of the Christian Church than 
at the present day. The greatest danger to 
which we as Christians are exposed, is that of 
declining in our love to God. Some of us 
know, by bitter experience,that the world not 
only gives us no assistance in walking the 
“ narrow path,” but actually proves a power¬ 
ful hindrance. Love to God is not born of 
earth. Every Christian can well remember a 
time wliea there wa3 no beauty nor loveliness 
in the character of Christ that he should de¬ 
sire it, and, though redemption had sounded 
iu his ears again and again, it had failed to 
awaken his love or excite his gratitude. 
A plant, transferred to an unfriendly soil, 
and to a climate less congenial than that of 
heaven,—love to God —needs to be guarded 
with the utmost vigilance, lest the roots of 
bitterness spring up iu our hearts and choke 
it. We are not only surrounded by objects 
calculated to draw out our warmest affections, 
setting themselves up as rivals to God, but 
the very tendency of our nature is to depart 
from Him. The truth—though a humiliating 
one—i3, that we love sin without an effort, 
aud ere we are aware of it, are “ rolling it 
as a sweet morsel under our tongues.” The 
physical is often leading the moral nature into 
forbidden paths, by seeking to make it believe 
that those objects alone are worthy our love 
and worship which we can see and feel.— 
Hence the necessity for a continued warfare 
against the influence without, lest our love to 
God gradually decliue until it ceases to exer¬ 
cise any power over our lives. 
In the early stages of Christian experience, 
love is warm and ardent. When for the first 
time the grace of God enters the recreated 
soul, and life and immortality are brought to 
light, God becomes all in all—the soul and 
centre of the believer’s world, and Jesus the 
^chiefest among ten thousand and the one ul- 
together lovely.” The very depths of the soul 
are stirred up, and grateful thanks spring from 
the lips—“ I love the Lord because he hath 
heard my voice and my supplication—because 
he hath inclined his ear unto me — therefore 
I will call upon him as long as I live.” “ Bless 
the Lord, O my soul! aud forget not all his 
benefits!” At this time, we cannot think it 
possible that we shall ever forget or love Him 
less who has done so much for us ; but when 
years have passed over us with their accumu- 
la'ed cares and temptations—when our dear¬ 
est earthly hopes lie trampled iu the dust— 
happy indeed shall we be if they have left no 
blight upon oar hearts, nor lessened our love 
for God. 
Experience has doubtless taught some of us 
that, in declining from our “ first love,” we 
are not immediately sensible of it. Our 
friends often observe the change sooner than 
we, and should they neglect to admonish us of 
our wanderings, we are oblivious to the fact 
until we find ourselves cherishing some known 
sin—taking pleasure in what God has forbid¬ 
den. or in entering into some of the most 
spiritual exercises of religion with assumed 
zeal aDd formaliry. It is not wonderful that 
Joshua, when for the last time he addressed 
the assembled people of Israel, should most 
solemnly enjoiu upon them to “ take good heed 
therefore unto themselves that they love the 
Lord their God.” Though it is the philoso¬ 
phy of some that our “ first love” will of ne¬ 
cessity lose some of its fervor; yet such aa 
inference is not deducible either from the Bible 
or the experience of true Christians. If we 
“ follow ou to kuow the Lord,” as the beauty 
and perfection of His character become better 
known to us, we shall fiud our hearts more 
and still more firmly attached to Him, until 
“ neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin¬ 
cipalities. nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
other creature, shall be able to separate ns 
from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus.” 
Let us then cherish this love, lying as it 
does at the very foundation of not only our 
happiness here but of that hereafter. Let ob- 
stac es only draw us near to the Great Head 
of the Church, and we shall welcome every¬ 
thing which shall increase our affection for 
Him aud draw us so completely within the fold 
of the Good Shepherd that we shall never 
more desire to wander. 8. a. el 
Rooha»ter, Maj, 1855. 
..... 
