cal toys, such as running mice, and conjuring tricks, 
also come from Nuremberg. The old city is pre¬ 
eminent in all kinds of toy diablerie. Hero science 
puts on the conjurer’s jacket, and we have u mani¬ 
festation of the Germanesqiie spirit of which their 
Albert Durer was the embodiment. The more solid 
articles which attract boyhood, such as boxes of 
bricks, buildings, .to., of plain wood, come from 
Grunhainscher, in Saxony.—Once a Week. 
It is the duty of the teacher not enly to educate, 
to draw out what is in the mind of the pupil, to 
bring iuto exercise his faculties, to develop, uncover, 
unfold his powers, which lie folded up like the wings 
of a bird for future use, but he must also teach, 
instruct, impart of his own substance, communicate 
from his own store, according to the power which he 
has, the light within him. The true teacher has his 
own mind and soul so itlumninated. bo lull of light, 
that it shines into every mind and soul that comes 
within its sphere of radiation, and lightens it tip so 
that its owner and all others looking on can see 
what is in it. Perhaps teachers differ in no respect, 
more than in this power of radiation. Borne teachers 
who have a good deal of illumination, always thrust 
a screen, consisting of a not work of technical words, 
between themselves and their pupils, and only the few 
straggling rays that pass through the chinks and 
meshes of this screen ever reach the minds of the 
During the publication of our last 
volume, the movements of Ralph Park- 
ham, rs “the last survivor of the Battle 
of Bnuker Hill,” were duly chronicled, 
various matters having called forth the 
old hero from the hermit life he was lead¬ 
ing. His death, on the 2(ith day of 
December last, again brought him before 
the public, and various portraits and biog¬ 
raphies have been put in circulation. For 
the engravings here presented to Rural 
readers, we are indebted to the American 
Phrenological Journal, and those Who have 
compared tlie representatives with the 
original pronounce them life-like. 
The subject of our sketch was horn on 
the. 7th of July, 1766, in the .State of New 
Hampshire, and was early inured to all 
the hardships accompanying farm life in V-Ou . | 
the forest. In 1 77o ho enlisted in the ''|||p||jii5 
Revolutionary Army, ami served until 5§||p||S 
after the capture Of Buruotne, in 1777. 
In a letter addressed to Ex-Gov, Banks, of 
Massachusetts, Sept. 25th, I860, in response ^ 
to an invitation to visit Boston, Mr. Farn- 
u am said: 
“It seems strange that out of all who 
were at Bunker Hill, T alone should he 
liviug. It appears to me, though so long ago, as if it < 
were but. yesterday. 1 can remember the particulars i 
of tho march after 1 ’listed — bow the people cheered, 
and when near Andover, Colonel Abbott came out 
and said, “Well done, my lads,” and sent out cider 
and grog in pails. Wo got to Cambridge the day 
before the battle. 0! it was a terrible affair to me, ! 
for it was the first time 1 over engaged in lighting. I : 
served with the army through three campaigns, and i 
was present and on guard when Buihioyne surren¬ 
dered. 1 don’t think that I deserve any special 
praise for the part 1 took in the Revolution. I felt 
and acted only as others. * * * * I have many 
things to comfort me as T journey along through 
life,— innumerable are tho mercies 1 am surrounded 
with. AS to temporal matters,— kind, loving chil¬ 
dren, faithful friends. As to spiritual—tho Holy 
Scriptures, and the various institutions of religion,— 
all of which are designed for our improvement here, 
that better world 
[Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker ] 
THE USES OF LANGUAGE 
In the instruction of youth, a due regard to the use 
of language'and a proper estimate of its value are of 
essential importance. Language is used to represent 
ideas. The language is not the idea,— simply its 
representative. As a representave of ideas, language 
serves a two-fold purpose,— the direct communication 
of ideas from mind to mind, and the preservation and 
transmission of ideas from age to age. 
There may be said to be two general classes of 
ideas corresponding to this two-fold purpose, the 
one class consisting of those ideas which are the 
natural result of experience and the common inter¬ 
course of life; the other, of those developed by labori¬ 
ous thought and careful investigation. Those of the 
first class, from their intimate relation to practiajt 
life and easiness of apprehension, are readily acquire!! 
without conscious purpose or effort, in the ordinary 
intercourse of life. The language representing them, 
and through which they are chiefly acquired, is 
accorded its proper-value as the subordinate means, 
the ideas conveyed by it being correctly regarded as 
the important end. 
LETTER TO FARMER BOYS-NO. VI. 
Dkar Brothers:— When the robins come chirping 
around your windows, arid you hear the gentle music 
of the streams that the frost-king has unbound, and 
you see the flood of golden sunshine poured all 
around you, can yon but help exclaim, “ 1 am glad I 
am alive!” And are you not glad you are farmers,— 
to live in the midst of this grand unfolding Of buds 
and flowers, of fresh green life everywhere, and feel 
your life unfolding to all these inspirations that come 
up around you? Metliiuks you can but rejoice that 
yours is so goodly an heritage. 
How rich ye are! heirs of this vast domain of 
Nature's dome. The murmur of the streams and the 
When it fails of this end — in 
other words, when the language is not understood, it 
is at once set aside as valueless. That is to say, in 
practical life, we estimate language at its real worth, 
attaching importance to it only so far as it accom¬ 
plishes its purpose as a medium of thought. 
The ideas of the second class are based upon facts 
and fundamental principles which have been develop¬ 
ed only after a long continued and close application of 
the mind to the investigation of particular subjects. 
These ideas have been properly classified and em¬ 
bodied. or, so to speak, involved, in language. This 
language is recorded in books, and thus serves the 
special purpose of preserving and transmitting the 
ideas involved in it. The ideas thus classified and 
logically arranged, constitute what is properly termed 
knowledge, and the acquirement of them is popularly 
termed “getting an education.” 
To evolve these ideas from the language in which 
they have been involved, is a special work, requiring 
earnest and protracted effort. The mind mu3t be 
properly strengthened by constant and close applica¬ 
tion, in order to grasp and comprehend the ideas 
which are contained in each successive step in the 
development of a given subject. The want of requi¬ 
site attention to tins point in the instruction of youth, 
while certain requirements in the preparation of les¬ 
sons are, at the same time, enjoined upon them, leads 
naturally, if not necessarily, to a misapprehension on 
their part of the real end to be accomplished by them. 
Place in the hands of a class of pupils an ordinary 
text book on any branch of study, in which the ideas, 
—entirely new to them,— are concisely expressed 
and scientifically arranged, and require them to pre¬ 
pare a certain portion for recitation, without a word 
Of explanation as to tho kind of preparation to be 
made, unless it be the usual direction to “learn the 
lesson,” and the resnlt will he. almost of necessity, 
that the language will be duly acquired, while the 
ideas expressed by it will remain almost wholly 
unknown to them. Where such a course Is pursued,— 
and it is by no means uncommon,— it will be found 
that while the pupils have aoquired a greater or loss 
number of the facte connected with the study pursued, 
(and even these more frequently from the teacher 
than the book, ) the fundamental principles of the sub¬ 
ject are but little understood. It is true, there will 
be occasionally an inquiring mind that will search 
out the principles on wbich tlie facts are founded, but 
the great majority will conceive their work done and 
the end accomplished, when the language of the book 
has been correctly recited. 
By pursuing the method of instruction here alluded 
to, in which books hold so prominent a place, it is 
greatly to be feared that not a little of the time and 
labor of both teacher and pupils is absolutely lost by 
attaching undue importance to the language used, 
simply as such. It is of tho first importance, there¬ 
of spectacles which were used by his mother, and are 
at least one hundred and sixty years old. 
In October, 1860, Mr. F. visited Boston, and was 
received with marked attention. The Prince of 
Wales and suite were at that time in the “Modern 
Athens,” and the representative of royalty sent a 
special invitation to the old gentleman. It. was 
accepted, anil the interview was one of the most 
agreeable incidents in the visit of the Prince. 
Returning to his home he sent a letter to the 
Boston Committee of Reception, expressing his grati¬ 
tude for kindness received, detailing the occurrences 
of his homeward journey, answering queries, etc., 
etc., from which we extract as follows - 
and to prepare us to dwell in 
above.” 
In 1780 Mr. Farnham went to Maine, where lie 
resided nntil bis death. The Phrenological Journal 
states that lie took possession of one hundred acres 
of land in the then wilderness, an apparently inter¬ 
minable forest surrounding him for miles. Here lie 
built himself a log hut, and commenced tho arduous 
taBk of felling the trees and preparing the virgin soil 
for cultivation. For four years he resided alone; but, 
growing weary of solitude, he, at the end of this 
period, brought a wife to share his fortunes. She 
bore him seven children, of whom five are still 
living. 
In 1780 the old gentleman joined the Free-Will 
Baptist Church, of which he remained a constant 
(Ion, for having placed His gifts in your hands. 
Allow me, in closing this letter, to relate an inci¬ 
dent to yon, which occurred a day or two ago, 
and as the papers say, “ all efforts to unravel the 
mystery have, as yet, proved unavailing.” As I was 
about to ascend the steps of the University, a lad of 
perhaps fifteen or sixteen summers came toward me, 
and banding me a neatly enveloped package, walked 
immediately away. Upon examining it, I observed 
that the address was a printed one, and evidently cut 
from my last letter to you. On opening It, what was 
niy joy and surprise to find two large hearts, made 
of the most splendiferous maple sugar I ever saw. I 
think the donor must have boon a farmer boy, for 
he had a (hie, open countenance, rosy cheeks, and 
didn’t look stunted, —that is, lie looked as though he 
had always plenty of fresh air to breathe, to color 
his cheeks, give sparkle to bis eye, and elasticity to 
his step. And ho looked as though there was room 
enough in him for a big heart. Tho (wo hearts I 
shall preserve us precious souvenirs, and may Ins 
heart always remain as puro as those, and may he 
live an hundred and fifty years to eat just such maple 
sugar as ho gave me. 1 should bo most happy to 
have the privilege of thaukiug him personally, but 
having never seen him only then, he will please 
accept this poor attempt at gratitude, in lieu of it. 
Alfred University, April, 1861. Minnik Mint WOOD. 
I voted for Gen. Washington for President, and 
have voted at every Presidential election since, and 
The conqnerer moves on in a march. He stalks 
onward with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of 
war” — banners flying, shouts rending the air, guns 
thundering, and martial music pealing to drown 
tNa shrieks nf the wounded and the lamentations for 
the slain. 
Not thus the schoolmaster in his peaceful vocation. 
He meditates and prepares in secret the plans which 
are to bless mankind; he slowly gathers around him 
those who are to further their execution; he quietly 
though firmly advances in his humble path, laboring 
steadily, but calmly, till be has opened to the light 
all tho recesses of ignorance, aud torn up by the 
roots the weeds of vice. It is a progress not to be 
compared with anything like a march; but it leads 
to far more brilliant triumph, and to laurels more 
shable than the destroyer of his species, the 
lrnperi 
scourge of the world, ever won. 
Such men —men deserving the glorious title of 
teachers of matikind — I have found laboring con¬ 
scientiously, though perhaps obscurely, in their 
blessed vocation wherever 1 have goue. I have 
found them, and shared their fellowship, among the 
daring, the ambitious, the ardent, the indomitably ac¬ 
tive French; I have seen them among the persevering, 
resolute, industrious Swiss; 1 liuve found them 
among the laborious, the warm-hearted, the enthu¬ 
siastic Germans; I have found them among the high- 
minded but enslaved Italians; and in our country, 
God be thanked, their numbers everywhere abound, 
and are every day increasing. Their calling Is high 
and holy; their fame is the property of nations; their 
renown will fill the earth in after ages, in proportion 
as it souuds not for off in their own times. Each 
one of these great teachers of the world, possessing 
his soul in peace, performs his appointed course 
— awaits in patience the fulfillment of the promises — 
resting from bis labors, bequeaths his memory to the 
generation whom his works have blessed—and 
sleeps under the humble, but not inglorious epitaph, 
commemorating “one in whom mankind lost a 
friend, and no man got rid of an enemy.”—Lord 
Brougham, 
A Chinese Schoolmaster.— What a delightful 
thing it must be to be a “schoolmaster abroad.” 
The income of a Chinese schoolmaster depends on 
the number of 1ub pupils, but they must not exceed 
2 ( 1 , because it is held that he could not attend to a 
greater number with the necessary care. Every boy 
is bound to give his teacher annually the following 
articles:—Rice, 50 lbs.; for extra provision, 300 cash; 
lamp oil, 1 catty (Ij lbs;) lard, 1 catty; salt, I catty; 
tea, 1 catty; aud, besides, a sum of from $1.50 to $4, 
according to the boy’s age and ability. The lessons 
are continued throughout the whole year, with only 
one month’B holidays at the new year, when the 
engagement of the teacher always terminates, and a 
new contract must be made. 
BE CAREFUL ABOUT LITTLE THINGS. 
A young man once went to tho city of Paris to 
seek a situation. Ho had letters of recommendation 
to a largo banking establishment. Ho called on the 
gentlemen who was at tho head of it, lull of hope 
and confidence that ho should find employment. 
The gentleman heard what ho had to say, looked 
over his letters hastily, aud then handed them back 
t.o him saying, “ We have nothing lor yon to do, sir. 
Tho young man felt his heart sink within him. Ho 
was ready to burst into tears. But there was no help 
for it, so he made his bow and retired. Ah he was pass¬ 
ing in front of the building, there was a pin lying on 
tlm pavement. Ho stopped, stooped down, picked it 
up. and then stuck it carefully away under the bosom 
of his cout. The gentleman with whom he had just 
been speaking was standing at the window, and saw 
what took place. Tn an instant the thought occurred 
to him that the young man who had such habits of 
carefulness as to stop, in such a moment of disap¬ 
pointment, and pick up a pin, would make a useful 
business man. lie sent immediately and called him 
back. He gave him a humble situation in his estab¬ 
lishment. From that ho rose by degrees till he 
became the principal partner in the concern, and 
eventually a man of immense wealth, and the chief 
banker in Paris. Bo much for good, careful habits. 
tempts us to saunter into its checkered shade, we are 
saluted by the numerous din of insects, the twitter of 
birds, the scrambling of squirrels, the startled rush 
of unseen beasts, all telling how populous is this 
seeming solitude. If we pause before a tree or shrub, 
or plant, our cursory and half abstracted glance 
detects a colony of various inhabitants. VVe pluck a 
flower, und in its bosom we see many a charming in¬ 
sect busy In its appointed labor. Wo pick up afallen 
leaf, and if nothing is visible on it, there is probably 
the trace Of an insect larva; hidden in its tissue, and 
awaiting their development. The drop of dew upon 
this leaf will probably contain its animals, under the 
microscope. The same microscope reveals that the 
other method,—the Synthetic; the first method pro¬ 
ceeding from the idea to the language, and the 
second, from the lauguage to the idea. In the one 
case, the instruction is derived chiefly from books, 
and may be termed written instruction, in distinction 
from that in the other case, which is received directly 
from the teacher, and is generally known as oral 
instruction. The Synthetic method,—based on induc¬ 
tive reasoning,—begins with elementary facts and 
principles, and leads the pupil along, step by step, till 
he arrives at a knowledge of the more abstruse tacts 
and principles of science. This method of teaching 
a subject follows the- natural order of its development, 
and hence is by far the more successful method to be 
pursued with all pupils, at least until they have 
acquired habits of thought and study. The Analytic 
method begins where the Synthetic ends, analyzing 
the facts and principles deduced from scientific inves¬ 
tigation, and embodied in scientific language. This 
method is the one now pursued by most teachers, 
probably on account ol the rigid adherence to text 
books, most of which are much better adapted to this 
method than to the other. Thongh pursued success¬ 
fully with advanced pupils, this inethord'of instruction 
requires of the teacher the most careful attention and 
unceasing effort when pursued with pupils less 
advanced, lest their time and labor be wasted, (in 
some respects, worse than wasted,) in acquiring a 
mere superficial knowledge,— language without ideas, 
facts without principles,— of the studies pursued. 
House of Refuge. Rochester, 1861, E. M. C. 
HINTS TO FARMERS’ GIRLS 
Friend Rural:—I now make my first debut as a 
writer. I do not intend to treat very largely on this 
subject, but merely to call forth the attentions of 
abler writers. In looking over a late Rural, I 
noticed another of sister Minnie’s “ Hints to Farm¬ 
ers’ Boys." I agree with her, that we are in need of 
reform, (myself as well as others,) and I think reform 
is needed by the girls as well as boys. There has 
been a number of articles In the Rural to boys, but 
very few to the girls. Most every une is acquainted 
with the fact, that the girls spend a great share of 
gossiping and embroidery, that 
useful studies; such studies a« 
Under this caption a deeply interesting and in¬ 
structive article makes its appearance in the Comhill 
Magaztne. Iiow mysterious the world we live in! 
How it teems with life! What lessons it teaches of 
creative skill and providential superintendence! But 
read the article: 
Life everywhere! The air is crowded with birds— 
THE BRAIN, 
On i, of the i ’ Hest roads to the head is through the 
. .. You , y 1 ! h the brain in a minute with 
iihu’oform, for o iple. The power of this drug is 
u . . ju: nder its influence, a man may 
; )i.r, 1 iin *' ithout any sensation whatever; 
even wher. h: re< overs from the artificial trance, 
mayBtill have neither pain nor uneasiness. Why? 
H,ive you ever • > a person after a fit of epilepsy? 
After a tit f tli nd people have no remembrance 
of anything* :r u 'em during the fit. During the 
,--pj ( ,ti, paroxysm, the brain is all but completely 
u pid. Tin- same ag happens after the anesthetic 
ideen of ' hi 'form. In neither case can ft man re- 
u. niber wh t lm never felt. But mark what may 
hap *en >tt< ■ ition performed on a patient 
form. The same man who felt no pain 
in the stump either during or after the operation, may 
WHERE ALL THE TOYS COME FROM 
song and a thrilling anxiety,—the anxiety of love. 
The air is swarming with insects,—those little ani¬ 
mated miracles. The waters are peopled with 
innumerable forms,—from the animalcule, so small 
that one hundred and fifty millions of them would 
not weigh a grain, to the whale, so large that it seems 
an island as it sleeps upon the waves. The bed of 
the sea is alive with polypes, carps, Btar-lishes, and 
with shell-animalcules. The ragged face of the rock 
is Bcarred by the silent boring ot sott creatures, and 
blackened with countless muscles, barnacles, and 
limpets. 
Life everywhere! On the earth, in the earth, 
crawling, creeping, burrowing, boring, leaping, run¬ 
ning. If the sequestered coolness of the wood 
Tub vast majority are made at (irunliainscuer, in tneir leisure umv m 
Saxony. The glass comes from Bohemia. The hot- might be spent in 
ties and cups are so fragile, that the poor workman would be useful in at 
has to labor in a confined and vitiated atmosphere, take charge of tho b 
which cuts him off at 35 years of age. All articles of idle, mischievous 
that contain any metal are the produce or Nuremburg ing np. The mother 
aud the surrounding district. This old city has the children, and it t 
always been one of the chief centers of Gorman metal- the boys would be be 
work. Tho workers in gold and silver of the place Fayette, N. Y., 1861. 
have long been famous, and their iron-work unique. 
This specialty has now descended to toys. Here all A lie always need 
toy printing-presses, with their types, are manufac- the hand would cut 
tured; magic lanterns; magnetic toys, such as ducks home upon another, 
and fish, that are attracted by the magnet; mechani- those whose blade i 
Some men are like pyramids, which are very broad 
where they touch the ground, but grow narrower as 
they reach the sky. 
