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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
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THE ILL-NATURED TEACHER. 
“I hate to go to school, above all things!” 
said a bright youug boy; “Old Grimes, who 
teaches our school, is such a snarling and cross 
old dog!” 
“Do you love to study?” was our response. 
“Yes, I would like it, if the teacher would 
assist me out of tight spots in my arithmetic 
with any zeal or kindness; but he always scolds 
more than he explains, when applied to for as¬ 
sistance. He forgets that what is easy for him 
after having gone over and over it for years, 
is hard for a beginner: I can solve a problem 
a second time, after understanding it, but I 
cannot first go over the ground alone. If we 
only had a pleasant teacher, we would behave 
far better than now; for we often do things on 
purpose to annoy him.” 
Is it not a fact, that a pleasant teacher has 
a far easier task in school, than his antipodes? 
What the boy asserted in regard to his own 
school, is true everywhere; the ill-natured 
teacher is both hated and feared, aiid his pupils 
take special pains to render his situation un¬ 
comfortable as possible, on the ground of re¬ 
prisal and compensation. Old father Adam is 
too prevalent among all his posterity, to pass 
an injury or annoyance unavenged; and conse¬ 
quently, the ill-nature and tyranny of the teach¬ 
er, and the hatred and stubbornness of the pu¬ 
pils go hand in hand. 
The former has many things to try his pa¬ 
tience, and it really seems that the very nature 
of his employment tends to render him irritable 
and unhappy. It certainly ultimately unfits 
him for any other employment, and even for 
teaching itself, after a long series of years. It 
is notorious, that, as a general rule, a district 
school teacher gives less and less satisfaction 
each successive year in any one location. A 
wise teacher watches the signs, and evades the 
gathering storm by a timely retreat 
Many, and perhaps most of our ill-natured 
and unhappy teachers, are made so in a great 
measure, by extraneous circumstances. They 
hate their employment, as they hate the foul 
fiend, but have been driven into it for a liveli¬ 
hood, because no other offers itself to them.— 
They are generally well educated men, some 
of whom have undertaken other pursuits and 
failed; lawyers who have too much conscience, 
or too little biTiss, or too slow movement of in¬ 
tellect; clergymen whose health, or voices, or 
theology is not sufficient; doctors whose bills 
and boluses killed instead of cured; literati, 
whose writings served as opiates to the reader, 
and a losing venture to the bookseller; disap- 
poin Ad men in a thousand other employments 
where intelect is one of t^e first requisites to suc¬ 
cess, fall back on teaching, which, perchance, 
they were engaged in previously, and at the 
time they were studying for the purpose of oc¬ 
cupying another sphere. 
Let every teacher especially remember, that he 
must make up his mind to be interested in his 
employment, and love it, too, so far as a man 
can love labor; and, above all, he must watch 
over his temper and keep his passions under 
a double guard, or he will certainly fall be¬ 
neath the ban which our young friend declares 
exists in the case of Old Grimes. 
[Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker.] 
“SELF-IMPROVEMENT OF FARMERS.” 
To S. G., Esq .—Dear Sir: Having been 
a reader of the Rural New-Yorker for some 
time past and seeing articles from your pen on 
the subject of Self-Improvement of Farmers, 
please excuse me if I seem to trespass awhile 
on your time, and ask you to answer a few in¬ 
terrogatories. Most essays on the education of 
farmers amount to just nothing, for the reason 
that there is nothing practical in them. A 
random, round-about dissertation on the gene¬ 
ral advantages of education, is not sufficient; 
something more is needful—some practical di¬ 
rection that can be carried out when the 
young farmer leaves school and comes home to 
settle down in business, that will not interfere 
with, or cause neglect of such business. 
But to the point What should a young 
farmer, with a fair theoretical education, with 
several weekly and as many monthly papers at 
his hand, do, to get ahead, instead of forgetting 
what he has learned? Could one who spends 
most of his evenings at home, either reading, 
writing, or visiting,—who intends that not an 
hour shall pass unimproved,—do better than 
to keep on in that course? or should he write 
more, and on what subjects? I know of some 
of my school-mates, who have entered upon 
other pursuits, now standing far ahead of any 
who follow farming, although at school they 
stood behind. It may be a natural consequence 
of things: but should not farmers take a high¬ 
er aim, and not allow themselves to remain, or 
relapse into a half-barbarous state like some? 
Do you not think, if farmers would spend a 
few weeks in each year, out of sight of then- 
own homes, among the people of the world, 
that the rust for the remainder of the year 
would not eat so deep into their souls? and 
would not such a journey give them new tho’ts 
and ideas, far above the time and money's 
worth? Is there any way whereby a habit of 
easy, off-hand talking can be acquired—a habit 
but few of my acquaintance and in. my situa¬ 
tion possess? .Society in most country places 
is not well calculated to cultivate the conversa¬ 
tional powers, however agreeable it may be to 
hear one speak out his thoughts correctly, as 
he thinks. Now, I wish to adopt some prac¬ 
tical plan which I can cany out, when in the 
field, or wherever I may be, so that at the end 
‘ of the year I may feci that I have garnered 
something in my head as well as in my barn. 
Yours, respectfully, i. u s. 
Cardiff, April, 1864. 
To I. L. S.,— Dear Sir: Although a stran¬ 
ger, the interrogatories you address to me, 
leave no doubt of your sincerity and candor; 
and though unable to admire your choice of 
a counselor, yet I do not feel disposed to refuse 
to give that, which to keep is worthless, and 
to refuse might be thought criminal. 
Those random, round-about dissertations on 
education which you complain of, if a fault, 
belong to a fashion in newspaper writing, sup¬ 
ported by public taste, which will accept of 
scarcely more than points from which to draw 
conclusions,—and those must be finely formed, 
smoothly turned, and harmoniously arranged. 
In my opinion, no class of men in this country 
have more leisure, or better opportunity to ac¬ 
quire what I- deem a thorough education, than 
farmers; and no better directions could I give 
in a newspaper article of a right course to pur¬ 
sue, than is given in No. 28, YoL 4, of the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker. 
All depends on what one aims to attain— 
what is the height of his ambition. If it is to 
become useful, he will strive to learn and prac¬ 
tice what will benefit others as well as himself; 
if wealth be his aim, he will study his private 
interest-table, and neglect the rule of fair pro¬ 
portion, without thought of neglecting business 
more important 
It is natural for a man’s thoughts to run most 
on what most interests him—and nature al¬ 
ways guides to the best results; so study na¬ 
ture, or natural philosophy. And though ex¬ 
perience is said to be the most reliable guide 
to knowledge, yet it is always found to accord 
with natural results, and too expensive for gen¬ 
eral use. The true intent of education is to 
dispense measurably with its aid; and those 
truly learned are able to profit by the experi¬ 
ence and wisdom of others. 
A fault in our educational system lies in 
teaching theory and practice separately; re¬ 
quiring the youthful portion of life to learn 
theory, and the remainder to learn practice; so 
that at the end man has just learned how to 
live aright. Self-education is the best, only 
because it is most practical; and practice is 
the primary principle of knowledge. Theory 
is an auxiliary, and but a fraction, without a 
knowledge of a practical application to the af¬ 
fairs of life. Dr. Franklin’s philosophical the¬ 
ories faithfully applied to any aim in life, could 
hardly fail of success; and without some prac¬ 
tical aim, life is a hap-hazard affair, with chance 
or accident at the helm, and many chances of 
ending the voyage with or below the common 
level of humanity, to one of rising above in 
the scale of being. 
I esteem writing thoughts the best mode of 
improving ideas and correcting sentiments; but 
a written correspondence, with that desire, in 
search of truth would rarely prove useful; but 
on the other hand, worse than useless, if mere¬ 
ly adopted to support and defend opinions with 
cunning sophistry and fine argument, regard¬ 
less of truth. 
The forensic ability, like all else in human 
nature, is susceptible of improvement by culti¬ 
vation. History proves it in Demosthenes, 
and in him it proves also to be a quality more 
ornamental than valuable. It may ornament 
varied, extended, superficial information; but 
to become useful, it requires profound knowl¬ 
edge, strong judgment and sound sense. One 
may possess all these, and yet find it difficult to 
attain eminence as an orator, especially if lead¬ 
ing a rural life, and much more difficult to ac¬ 
quire in any station in life, without a natural 
gift of easy, off-hand talking, than the ability 
to write thoughts beautifully; besides, not near 
as useful, however pleasing it may appear. 
In conclusion, allow me to express my best 
wishes and hopes for your success in all your 
laudable efforts; and that you may bo able to 
garner up wisdom with your oilier stores, and 
never have occasion to look back with regret 
at time squandered unprofitable 
Yours, &<x, s. o. 
Mjarwllua, N 7, April, 1864. 
Education in Virginia. —The Richmond 
Whig argues the necessity for adopting a more 
efficient system of education in that State. It 
says: 
Every decade exhibits a rapid and fearful 
increase of this mass of ignorance^ In 1840 
tho number of the unlettered in Virginia 
amounted to 60,000. In 1850, it exceeded 
80,000. At this rate, it will not require rnauy 
centuries to extinguish all knowledge of letters 
in the State.” 
UtlMltg. 
THE SONG SPARROW. 
This little bird is among our earliest spring 
visitants, and its species is widely diffused 
throughout the United States. Many of these 
birds remaiu through the winter in close shel¬ 
tered meadows and swamps, although, like 
most other of our songsters, the larger portion 
migrate to a warmer clime on the approach of 
cold weather. The body of the Song Spar¬ 
row is about six and a half inches long, and the 
plumage of a chestnut color, streaked and 
mottled on the breast with white. It is a 
familiar acquaintance of every rural school¬ 
boy, who, very often in his rambles “ cross lots,’’ 
and it may be truances, frightens the female 
from her ground-built nest under a hummock 
Cfo featnsi. 
0 
MODERN CIVILIZATION. 
Modern civilization presents an aspect quite 
distinct aud diilbrent from its ancient proto¬ 
type. An intense and ceaseless activity in the 
direction of the physical sciences, is its great 
exponent; and the astounding developments 
that crowd themselves upon our attention in 
quick succession, give us no time to recover 
from one surprise before auollier wonderful 
discovery is presented to our view. All the 
great themes of intellectual pursuit which oc¬ 
cupied the attention of the Ancient schools of 
philosophy, are either entirely laid aside, or only 
used as subsidiary to the same great cuds, viz. 
the control and management of the physical 
agencies by human hands. 
Mathematics is now a means and not an end. 
It is mastered by the student, for the purpose 
of making it a handmaiden to the science of 
Engineering, Architecture, or the Mechanic 
Arts. Logic is turned aside from its old and 
trodden path of synthetical reasoning to the 
new and better track of analytical research.— 
Results are taken up and traced back to their 
true causes, instead of causes being seized upon 
speculatively and the results deduced. 
“ Nature abhors a vacuum,” says the ancien 
philosopher, “to a certain height—but no 
higher.” The modern student, not satisfied 
with this explanation, ascertains by numberless 
experiments the true causes of the phenomenon. 
A Plato could philosophize and talk—a Di¬ 
ogenes could roll his tub and sneer—a Virgil 
could poetize and pay fulsome compliments to 
a tyrant, by tracing his ancestry to the gods; 
but none of them could invent a steam engine, 
a self-acting mule, or a locomotive. None of 
them could draw the lightning from.the clouds, 
or send it on a journey of a thousand miles 
with a message of wisdom or an errand of 
mercy. Demoniac agencies and princes of the 
powers of earth and air, are at thi3 day repu¬ 
diated, and the potency of the elements ac¬ 
credited to its true cause, their own inherent 
characteristics breathed into them by the 
Creator. 
The tendencies of the age partake perhaps 
too much “ of the earth, earthly.” Utilitarian¬ 
ism is the order of the day, and the production 
and multiplication of the creature comforts ab¬ 
sorb by far the largest portion of human ac¬ 
tivity. Men of these days choose rather to 
ride in a rail-car, at the rate of forty miles an 
hour, than to travel on foot They would much 
rather that an engine with no nerves for pain, 
or muscles for weariness, should do the sawing 
and grinding, and planing, while they sit by 
and watch the operation. They would much 
rather a steam press should do the work of ten 
thousand hands than to do one-ten-thousandth 
part of it themselves. They will study long 
and intensely to develop a physical agent to 
labor for them, and then observe its potent 
operations with the delight of a creator. They 
tear off’the covoring of an occult principle with 
a ruthless hand, and then turn its previously 
hidden Ibrobbings to the amelioration of the 
condition of poor humanity. 
The fear is, under present auspices, that men 
will become too closely wedded to the physical 
sciences, and neglect the moral. The intellect-' 
ual is perhaps in no danger of decadence, while 
the present activity manifests itself; but high 
intellectual attainments do not necessarily ex¬ 
ist in connection with religious or even moral 
sentiments. Thoy are not antagonistic, it is true; 
in the meadow, or an old root in the pasture. 
It is not a shy or unsocial bird, and suffers the 
near approach of juvenile humanity, before ta¬ 
king the wing; and too often, with sorrow be 
it spoken, pays the forfeit with its poor little 
iuoffensive life, from a fatally aimed stone, or 
the contents of some rusty old firelock. If 
anything will justify the beating of a boy by his 
companions, it is the cruel and wanton act of 
killing an inoffensive bird, or destroying its 
nest 
The Sparrow family embraces with us three 
distinct varieties, viz., the Song Sparrow, as 
above stated, the Chipping Sparrow, and the 
Field Sparrow. 
they are very often, but far from always, co¬ 
workers. It is a fact over which the religious 
world is even now lamenting, that there is a 
great dearth of religious teachers. The theo¬ 
logical school is less patronized than any other, 
and many even of those who do enter, turn 
aside before their course is finished to engage 
in some secular pursuit Some of them be¬ 
come lawyers, (a bad exchange in far too many 
cases;) many of them civil engineers, designers, 
architects, editors. Others again, merchants, 
speculators, gold diggers in California, any 
thing in fact, but what they set out to be, and 
are really well qualified to become, namely, 
clergymen. 
The development of the physical sciences is 
a noble and a glorious enterprise, arid deserves 
the great encouragement it receives; but it 
ought not to become all-absorbing. Its fruits 
are nutritious, but not exclusively life-sustain¬ 
ing. Paper manufacture, the printing press, 
the steam engine, the power-loom, the rail-car, 
the daguerreotype, the magnetic telegraph, and 
a thousand other like inventions, are the char¬ 
acteristics of modern civilization. Man’s pro¬ 
gress is onward; but he is ascending a material, 
not a spiritual elevation, and he drags up with 
him a greivous burden of mortal cares. 
A VOICE FROM THE GALLOWS. 
Young Jewell, recently executed in Potts- 
burg, wrote to a friend of his as follows; 
1 trust what little I have to say to you will 
not be deemed wrong nor out of place ; it may 
be a benefit to you in years to come, and you 
may profit by it, which I hope you will. Only 
look back to the morning of the 5th of July, 
1852, and picture to yourself the happy man I 
was on that glorious, but unhappy day to me. 
I left my little family under the promise to be 
back again iu the course of au hour, to ac¬ 
company them on a railroad excursion; from 
there I got into the company of some young 
friends, took a social drink together, from that 
to another, and yet another; 1 then forgot my 
promise to those I held most near and dear to 
me. And it is this blighting curse, and against 
its use 1 wish to draw your attention. You 
are younger than I am, and I know you will 
bear with me in warning you from ever, ever 
touching it I know you are not in the habit 
of it; but you are kind, open, generous and free 
hearted, and it is for this that makes me write 
to you on this occasion; and you will admit 
that no one knows your generous disposition 
better than I do. 
I will say no more in regard to this, but my 
last word to you is, never, never drink liquor, 
aud you will be a happy man. Leave off run¬ 
ning with fire engines; they are the means of 
bringing many a good young man to shame 
and disgrace. Let your evenings be spent in 
the society of your wife and child, and my 
word for it, you will be the happiest of the 
happy. 
Size of our Great Lakes. —The latest 
measurements of our fresh water seas are these: 
The greatest length of Lake l Superior is 335 
miles; its greatest breadth is 160; mean depth 
988 feet; elevation 627 feet: area 32,000 square 
miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Michigan is 360 
miles; its greatest breadth 108 miles; mean 
depth 900 feet; elevation 587 feet; area 20,000 
square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Huron is 200 
miles; its greatest breadth is 160 miles; mean 
1 depth 900 feet; elevation 574 feet; area 20,000 
square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Erie is 250 
miles; its greatest breadth is 80 miles; its mean 
depth is 84 feet; elevation 555 feet; area 6,000 
square miles. 
The greatest length of Lake Ontario is 180 
miles; greatest breadth 66 miles; its mean 
depth is 500 feet; elevation 262 feet; area 6,000 
square miles. 
The total length of all five, is 1,585 miles, 
covering an area altogether of upward of 90,- 
000 square milea : 
THE SABBATH. 
BY EDWARD LYTTON IU7LWER. 
Fresh glides the brook and blows the gale. 
Yet yonder sits the quiet mill; 
The whirling wheel, the rushing sail, 
IIow motionless and still. 
Six days of toil, poor child of Cain, 
Thy strength (he slave of want may be; 
The seventh thy limbs escape the chain— 
A God hath made thee free. 
All! tender was the law that gave 
This holy respite lo the breast; 
To breathe the gale, to watch the wave, 
And know tho wheel -may rest I 
But where the waves the gentlest glide. 
What image charms to lift thine eyes ? 
The spire reflected on the tide 
Invites thee to the skies. 
To teach the soul its nobler worth, 
This rest from mortal toil is given ; 
Go, snatch the brief reprieve from earth. 
And pass a guest to heaven. 
They tell thee, in their dreaming school. 
Of power from old dominion hurled; 
When rich and poor, with juster rule, 
Shall share the altered world. 
Alas! since time itself began, 
That fable hath but fooled the hour ; 
F.acli age that ripens power and man, 
But subjects man to power. 
Yet every day in seven at least, 
One bright republic shall bn known ; 
Man s world awhile hath surely- ceased, 
When God proclaims his own 1 
Six days may rank divide the poor, 
O Dives, from thy banquet hall I 
The seventh the Father opes tho door, 
And holds his feast for all 1 
THE FLEETNESS OF TIME. 
O could we but realize the true value of time, 
how careful would we be to improve it aright! 
God has placed us here to prepare for a high¬ 
er state of existence.. Our time of preparation 
is short, and what we do must be done quickly. 
We stand amazed and wonder-stricken as we 
see drop into the grave, the young just coming 
on to the stage of action. Let us be careful 
then, how we ourselves improve the time, al¬ 
lotted to us here. We may not live anolher 
week. No one is exempt from death’s dread 
summons. I knew a young boy, the idol of his 
parents, and loved by the whole community; 
the seal of intellect was enstamped upon his 
brow, and his eye beamed with generous fire. 
But alas! disease fastened itself upon his vitals, 
and he speedily passed away! 
We may soon be called in turn to follow 
him to the eternal world, and there we shall 
have to render a strict and impartial account 
before God,s just tribunal. With the many 
privileges we now enjoy, we cannot sin with 
impunity. Let us live in such a manner that 
when we shall be called to try an exchange of 
worlds, it will be with pleasure and not with 
grief. B . 
RELIGIONS OF TURKEY AND RUSSIA. 
The A r orth British Review thus compares 
the religions of Turkey and Russia: 
It is not true, in the sense in which it is or¬ 
dinarily alleged, that the Russians are our fcl- 
ioui-Christians, and that the Turks are “ Unbe¬ 
lievers.” Both, according to our creed, are 
“mis- b.elievers” We very much question 
whether, if the matter were truly understood, 
we should not find that English Protestants, 
and Hootch Protestants still more, have at least 
as much sympathy of faith and feeling with the 
Mahometan monotheist as with the benighted 
votaries ol the Russian Church. The Turks 
pray to God only—“the God of Abraham, of 
Isaac, and Jacob;” the Russians pray to a host 
ot saints who are an abomination iu our eyea 
The foundation and first point of all three 
communions— the Mahometan, the Oriental 
Christian, aud our own—are identical. We 
all believe in one God, and in Moses, David, 
and Jesus Christ, as his inspired prophets; the 
last we, in common with the Greek, regard as 
our Divine Saviour. Both Russian and Turk 
go further: the latter add Mahomet—the for¬ 
mer add St. Nicholas, St. Catharine, and an 
interminable calendar of canonized priests and 
worthies. It is sad and unsatisfactory to be 
called upon thus to cast the balance between 
two false and faulty theologies; but we will ap¬ 
peal to any earnest Protestant who has lived 
in Turkey, whether he did not feel as much 
prompt and natural religious sympathy with 
the follower of Mahomet, whose simple faith 
is comprised in two formulas—prayer to God 
and charity to man; who never*fails night or 
morning, at business or at meals, when the 
Muezzin sounds the hour for his devotions: 
who never passes a mendicant without bestow¬ 
ing aims upon him “for the love of God,” 
however poor he may be himself—as with the 
so-called Christian of the Oriental Church, 
whose whole religion is a mass of fasts aud su¬ 
perstitious ceremonies, who is enslaved by a 
priest almost as ignorant as himself, who 
knows little of his Saviour, and even less of his 
God” 
The Furnace of Affliction.— Afflictions 
make some people better, and others worse, as 
the fire reduces some tilings to a plastic state, 
capable of being moulded to any form of use¬ 
fulness and beauty; while the same mighty 
agent applied to* other things utterly niins 
them. Sickness is an affliction that almost al¬ 
ways softens the heart, at least for a lime.— 
Pliny’s observation was correct:—“1 have al¬ 
ways noticed that we are better men when wo 
are sick, than when we are in health.” 
Adversity is the true touchstone of morit. 
