I 
[From the Singing School Department of tho “United Staten Collection, 
by A. N. Johnson 
Words by LONGFELLOW 
For Moorn'a Rural New-Yorker. 
THE FREE SCHOOL SYSTEM RIGHT 
0 U - nion, 
man -1 
paper, in which ttio writer asas, »y uai aic 
common schools ?”—and then goes on to say 
that “ those who lay claim to an average degree 
of Intelligence need not be told that free schools 
were adopted as a measure of polity, not of 
ri//Jit .” From tills position I dissent. I believe 
the law was a matter of right, and so considered 
and intended by the people who petitioned and 
voted for it. That law, making our common 
schools free to all, was repealed by a Legislature 
without the sanction of the people. After ad 
milting that a large majority of the people are 
undoubtedly iu favor of free schools, the writer 
goes on to say that “no law or principle of 
justice can bo adduced to show that one man 
should pay for the education of the ehildcn of 
another,” thereby ignoring the principle that 
the majority should rule. This doctrine the 
writer seems to suppose can admit, of no modi¬ 
fication, and to attempt, it, would class any one 
who should do so among “ those who cannot lay 
claim to au average degree of intelligence.” 
This principle seems to me to be too narrow, if 
not selfish, to be adopted in a country where a 
government should be sustained by a universally 
educated people, instead of by the bayonets of a 
standing army. This principle seems to assume 
that, governments arc instituted for the benefit 
and protection of one set of men, without any 
reciprocity on their part. It is no matter to 
them how the world wags, or by what agency 
safety and protection are secured, provided they 
pay nothing for such protection of themselves 
and their property. 
Now, so far as I have read and been able to 
learn, it is admitted as an absolute necessity 
that all citizens must surrender a part of then- 
natural rights to the government for the protec¬ 
tion of all, and that alt must minister of their 
means to the support of that government. It, is 
also admitted that all countries must have gov¬ 
ernments for protection, and that government, 
must be supported from the means of Us citizens, 
And, to prevent a resort to standing armies for 
protection against on ignorant people, the first, 
step is to provide ways and means to educate 
the entire people and make that education free 
to all. It is certain that wealth is necessary to 
education. Therefore it must, bo certain that all 
partial or discriminating systems to raise and 
apply the means must fail to reach all the 
It. was an old hut true 
workmen wrought thy ribs of steal 
of the wave, and not the roc 
Who made each mast,and sail, and rope, What an-vils rung, what 
Tis but the flapping of a sail, And not a rent made 
2. We know what master laid thy keel, \\ ha 
3. Fear not each sudden sound and shock, Tis 
4. In spite of rock and tempest roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast tho sea, Our hearts and hopes arc 
thy fate, Is hanging breathless on thy fate 
fu - ture years, Is hang - ing breathless on 
what a forge, and what a heat, Were shaped the anchors 
but the flapping of a sail, And not a rent mad 
hammers beat, In 
by the gale, ’Tis 
all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes,our ways, our 
has nothing harsh iu it, and in the fall of the 
year, when myriads of ills tribe congregate in 
the ivy, or in thick bushes, their chirps form a 
loud Chorus, which can lie heard at a considera¬ 
ble distance, uud is rather pleasing in its effect 
than otherwise. The quantity of grain, or seed 
of any kind, consumed by sparrows, is very 
small, and is far more than compensated for by 
the amount of vermin which they destroy. —N. 
Y. Weekly Jirvicw, 
the poor soldiers while they are exposing them¬ 
selves to prisons and death, if there is no 
principle of justice to educate them V Is it, not 
then certain that tho wealth of the country 
should educate all its children V If this be faith¬ 
fully done, our present and happy country, with 
its government and liberal institutions, through 
the instrumentality of universal knowledge, 
will, wo trust, be perpetuated as long as “tho 
earth bears a plant or the sea rolls a wave." 
May the time soon come when knowledge shall 
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and 
then the happy time will have arrived “ when 
the nations shall wage war no more.” 3. 
Attica, N. V 
Written for Moore’s Rural Ncw-Yorkor. 
OUR EXAMPLE. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS. 
Example has a deep and lasting influence 
upon tho lives of all. It is a living lesson 
always before us, whicli is constantly influ¬ 
encing us for good or evil. Every action is a 
word, for actions speak us well us words, and 
often have a stronger Import. Every thought, 
word, act, and even look of ours, is helping to 
build up tho characters of those around us into 
monuments of everlasting beauty or deformity. 
And thus upon our action iu this world there 
rests no slight responsibility. 
As wo look back over tho pages of history, wo 
see how men have in all ages of t he world been 
Some have left 
TREATMENT OF PARALYSIS AND 
APOPLEXY. 
children of the people, 
saying in tho days of Noah Wkhsteh’s first 
spelling book, that there were but two ways or 
means of supporting government. One, the 
spelling book—the other, the bayonet. The 
one will educate the people to support a free 
government by means of the intelligence of the 
people; tho other to grind them dowu in 
ignorance for the freedom of the few. 
If such men as those first referred to arc dis¬ 
posed, by not contributing their share of the 
means they possess to tho cause of (lie spelling 
book, and from Buell causes the streams of 
lcuowledge shall bo suffered to clog up, their 
country, with themselves or their posterity, 
must suffer the terrible consequences. In such 
an event the people will drift back into the same 
ignorance as of tho dark ages, when darkness 
will again cover tho land and gross darkness the 
people. Then, again, superstltutlon, bigotry 
and tyranny will cover the land as the waters 
cover the sea. Then it will require the strong 
arm of power, aided by the bayonet, to protect 
the people, if uot their wealth, from the horrors 
of war, plunder and murder, and from the whole 
category of crime. Then those patriots and 
wise calculators will be compelled to pay for 
the education and support of armies, instead of 
” Then no principle of 
The treatment of paralysis and apoplexy by 
tlie application of ice to the spine has yielded 
some very remarkable results, which uro detailed 
iu tho Medicul Times and Gazette. In one ease 
tho patient, a gentleman, had been slezcd with 
paralysis on the 2d of December, became rapidly 
worse, and when Dr. Chapman first saw him, on 
the 4th of December, he was in a profound stu¬ 
por, could not be roused, and tho right arm gave 
no signs of sensibility, the head was hot, the 
eyes dosed and the face drawn. Tho hot water 
bag was first applied to the upper spine to reduce 
tho temperature of tie head, and afterwards the 
ice to the “ dorsal and lumber region.” On the 
fifth of December signs of consciousness re¬ 
turned, and the face became more symmetrical; 
on the 6th he could converse by monosyllables; 
on the 15th he could road the Times and dress 
and undress himself; and on tho 30th of Janu¬ 
ary the patient thought himself quite well. The 
other case of apoplexy (irl its worst, form) was 
still more remarkable. The patient, a full-bod¬ 
ied woman, hud a stroke on the 18th of March 
and was so near to death that the local surgeon 
said she was dying, and ou the 14tli of March 
sent a woman to “ lay her out.” She had re¬ 
mained in this state absolutely unconscious for 
forty-eight hours before Dr. Chapman saw her, 
and the ice treatment was begun. Her recov¬ 
ery has been slow, but the account of the ease 
iu the last Medical Times and Gazette reports 
steady Improvement, recovered consciousness 
and appetite, and all the other signs of conva¬ 
lescence. The method seems to bo now admit¬ 
ted by very high authorities as one of great 
power in many nervous disorders. 
remembered by their examples, 
a record bright with noble deeds and actious, 
which awaken our admiration and cause within 
us a desire to be nobler ami truer—while others 
have left us a record black with evil deeds, which 
awaken our pity for them, not only for the evil 
example which they luive left, to posterity, but 
also when we think what they might, have been 
had they been upright and honest. And as 
their example has lived after them, so will ours, 
though perhaps in a more limited manner. 
Although our example may not bo handed 
down to posterity from the historic page, yet it 
may exercise a great influence upon those 
around us. For if we avoid evil habits and 
endeavor to do right in all things, many others 
will be induced to act accordingly. Those who 
are younger In years are looking up to us for an 
example; uud whether that example bo good or 
evil, Is for ns to determine. If we were to think 
oftener of tho example which we are placing 
before our fellow men, it would uot only save 
them much trouble, hut also ourselves. 
Tompkins Co.,N. Y., I860.. L. J. T. 
EUROPEAN SPARROWS, 
our city trees — and what dweller in the city 
ought not to be?—will be gratified to know that 
the common Europeon sparrow is now natural¬ 
ized iu the environs of New York, a matter of 
considerable importance, because tho bird iu 
question is, by far, the most efficient vermicide 
with which we are acquainted. 
Iu the upper part of the city, especially about 
the neighborhood of Central Park, these birds 
have already become very numerous,—the stock 
from which they are descended having been sent 
out to the Commissioner of the Park, we believe, 
some two or three years ago. Their loud chirp 
must have already become familiar in that vicin¬ 
ity to people living In houses upon which ivy 
clusters —ivy being the cover in which these 
birds especially delight. They may also be ob¬ 
served haunting the roofs and eaves of the 
houses, In quiet streets, among the cornices of 
which they find many nooks in which to shelter 
themselves and build their nests. They have 
not, as yet, so far as our observation goes, 
made their appearance In any of our down¬ 
town parks; but the sparrow is essentially a 
city bird, and there is no doubt that, before long, 
he will become a familiar citizen, hopping about 
our gutters, and house-tops, after the manner of 
his family connections in Europe. 
Owing to the familiar and confiding churacter 
of the Bparrow, he has been made a subject of 
close and easy observation by many persona in¬ 
terested in studying the habits of birds. Spar¬ 
rows will build their nests, l'or instance, in the 
iYy close under a window sill, so that their do¬ 
mestic manners and inner life are revealed to 
the careful watcher. It is thus that the great 
use of this bird as a destroyer of noxious ver¬ 
min has been calculated to an arithmetical 
figure. 
According to the closest observers, and taking 
au average of the statements made by thorn,— 
which do not vary much, bye-the-hye, —spar¬ 
rows feed their young thirty-six times in every 
daylight hour, which, calculating at the rate of 
fourteen hours a day, in the long days of spring 
and summer, makes 3,500 times per week. One 
writer states that each nest of sparrows will 
consume 3,600 caterpillars in a week, while others 
At these rates, what 
J3T* Answer in two weeks, 
For Moore's Rural New-Yorker, 
HISTORICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 31 letters. 
My 20,10,12, 27,12 was an Empress of Constantino¬ 
ple, alike famous for her talents, her beauty and 
her crimes. 
My 11,0,13, 7,!), 18,1), 18 was a French Count, cele¬ 
brated for his fidelity to Bonaparte. 
My 8, 0, 32, 20, 23, 17 was a very anclont Greek Poet. 
My 2!), 30, 31, 81, 4 was one of the commanders in 
Italy, under Hannibal. 
My 24, 20, 31, 8, 4,11,80, 83, 23, 33,34,14,81,32, 32 was 
a distinguished Mathematician and Natural Phi¬ 
losopher. 
My 1, 4, 8, 31, 11, 4, 20, 17, 4, 24, B, 30, 28, 80, 17, 30, 28 
is known as the introducer of an improved system 
of road-making, which boars his name. 
My 14, a, 0, 24, 21, 30, 33, 15, 9, 22, 9, 30, 11, U. 9, 21 
was the murderer of Henry IV of Franco. 
My 5, 2,19, 21, 30, 18, 19, 17, 33, U, 9,3, 20, 22, 20,16,3, 
16 was a celebrated French political economist. 
My whole was a German officer in the Russian 
service, noted for the marvelous stories he has told 
of his adventures in several campaigns against the 
Turks. J. E. Hill. 
Woodaflcld, Ohio. 
Answer in two weeks. 
“other men's children 
justice can bo adduced to show that one man 
shall not pay for the education aud support of 
other men’s children in the armies of the nation. 
My belief io, it is a public duty and cheaper to 
support the children of our country in free 
schools, than In State prisons and standing 
armies. The true principle U that the wealth of 
the country should educate the children of the 
country—each citizen to contribute according 
to the amount of means he possesses, or has to 
protect. For the more the mau has tho more 
should he pay for its protection. 
There is another view which we may take of 
this subject. The older citizens of our country 
during its prosperity have most of them be¬ 
come wealthy. Their means are “ hoarded up;” 
they have no ways or means of using them; but 
they cling to them and no doubt will till they 
pass the silent river. They insist that they have 
educated their own children, (many of them but 
poorly,) aud that “ there is no law or principle 
of justice that can compel them to educate the 
children of other men." They forget that 
during their long lives, their persons and prop¬ 
erty have been protected througli the means of 
education. The policy of these men, no doubt 
honest in their views, would shut dowu the 
gates of knowledge, aud leave every child to 
educate himself or remain in ignorance. But if 
war comes, through ignorance or otherwise, you 
will see this class of patriots sneaking about the 
country to get other men’s children to go and 
fight their country’s battles for the protection 
of themselves and their wealth. Aud should 
the war he successful these same patriots care 
very little whether the war-worn soldier returns 
from the bloody field or uot; perhaps a little 
rather not, os some principle of justice may 
give the poor soldier a pension. Some of this 
class of meu would rather have non-taxablc 
bonds than to be paying pensions. 
It is the case in all countries that the poorer 
classes are called upon to fight their country’s 
battles for the protection of all. Then, without 
free schools, who will educate the children of 
ANOTHER LESSON OF THE DIAMOND, 
Tub most valuable diamond is the purest. 
Turn It every way, and it reflects the light of 
heaven. 
Aud such is moral purity. It is transparent. 
Like Nathaniel, it knows no guile. It allows no 
straining thought or act to cloud the sun of 
righteousness. Place the pure person in any 
position, and he rcilects his Father's smile. He 
sees God, for his eye is single. There is the 
game brilliancy in all time of his tribulation; in 
all time of his prosperity; in the hour of death, 
aud in the day judgment. The purity of the 
diamond is in the brilliancy of Its ray. Is it ou 
one side opaque? There is some flaw which 
must be carefully removed; and thus, when any 
soul labors under continued doubts aud depres¬ 
sions, there la some dark spot whiek requires 
the closest investigation. The pure in heart 
Bkall see God. If, then, we do not see Him, the 
cause is obvious. Ruise tho prayer, “Search 
me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and 
know my thoughts, and see if there be any 
wicked way in me, and lead me iu the way ever¬ 
lasting.” 
A New Theory for PROLONGING Life.—D r. 
Julius Voudem FUkbavcilkur died very recently 
in Prussia, at the advanced ago of one hundred 
aud nine years. He km left behind him asclen- 
tifle treatise upon the art of prolonging life, the 
main feature of which appears to be that, in 
order to exist in harmony with tho electric cur¬ 
rents of the earth, we Bbould always sleep with 
our heads toward the north pole. A great de¬ 
mand for compasses will result from this sug¬ 
gestion, and, indeed a society has already been 
organized to test the truth of the doctor’s sug¬ 
gestions, and wc doubt not at least twenty 
thousand Prussians are every night horizontally 
located according to this new prescription. The 
doctor cannot bo accused of mercenary motives 
in making his discovery public, and his own ad¬ 
vanced ago gives a basis for those inclined to 
place faith in his theory, for It is certainly a very 
harmless oue, provided that the length of days 
is in reality a boon worth striving after. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
AN ANAGRAM. 
Oo warorfd, ressp owanrd, 
O vile ton nl iavn; 
Ehetr’s somdiw dan onhro 
Dna logyr ot naig. 
Ilet apth si freoeb oay, 
Ouy’ev noly ot sbooce; 
Oyu inw fl rou y tlvcae— 
Fi thlufola oyu sooel. 
Elba, N. Y. 
Answer in two weeks. 
For Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
ARITHMETICAL PROBLEM. 
A and B bought a farm of 00 acres for ft200, of 
which sum A paid $700 and B paid $500. They then 
sold one-third of the whole farm to C for $400, of 
which, sum A received $250, and B received $150. 
IiOW much of the farm did A then own ? 
Batavia, N. Y. n. w. 
{5T* Answer in two weeks. 
give yet higher figures. 
fine havoc twenty thousand sparrows would An iugenlou9 utile machine has been put on 
make with the disgusting “ measuring worms ” BOme of tho Parismn hacks. It indicates to the 
by which our city trees are annually converted u „ cr who engages it, at once the time he 
into very vexatious nuisances! ia ridin *, Ul0 flU tance be has made, and the price 
The sparrow is not an ornamental bird. His be has to pay according to the official regula- 
plumagc is ot a sober brown, relieved by silver- tlons. The little machine is called “ comjrtoir 
gray, and the male-bird has some black murks rnechanique and the police intend to put them 
about his head. In London, and in the manu- ou a p the hacks of the city. 
facturiug towns ol' England, this bird takes a --- 
dark, sooty hue, owing to the smoky atmos- The late Mr. Cobden is to have a monument, 
phere in which he lives ; but when the sparrow in tho shape of a marble bust, to liis memory, in 
come to be a New Yorker, he will bo a much tho gallery of Versailles, by order of Napoleon, 
spruccr bird than his cousin over on the other Mrs. C’obden will present a marble bust of her 
side, there being comparatively little smoke in deceased husband to the French Emperor, as a 
American cities. He has no song, but his chirp private memento. 
If it were possible to separate tlio globe at its 
center, in the same way as an orange or a ckec6c 
is frequently divided, and to stand at the base of 
tho division, the chasm would represent a height 
1,456 times higher than the Himalayas, or if Great 
Britain were reared on end from the Solent to 
Cape Wroth, it would reach but about onc- 
♦welfth of the distance. 
ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS, &c., IN No. 843 
Answer to Miscellaneous Enigma:—Sarah E. Hunt, 
Winfield, N. Y. 
Answer to Charade:—Incur. 
Answer to Anagram: 
Beautiful snow I 
Drifting down from the sky above 
To the Bleeping earth below, 
Folding her warm In a clasp of love, 
Beautiful, beautiful snow. 
Economy is a great virtue in Japan, to en¬ 
courage which a strip of fish skin is sent with 
every letter from au official, whatsoever tho sub¬ 
ject, to remind the receiver that their ancestors 
were once poor fishermen, and that therefore 
none of their descendants should be ashamed of 
dustry and economy. 
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