THE FREE SCHOOL LAW, 
THE PAPER DIME 
Ws believed when our State Legislature enacted 
a law making common schools free, that it would be 
productive of most excellent results. We considered 
education to be really the birthright of every child, 
and that it should not be withbolden simply because 
the child's parents had not the wherewithal to pay 
for instruction. Yet we feared, somewhat, that 
popular prejudice would operate against the reform, 
and that a long time might elapse before its benefits 
would be fully seen and generally acknowledged. 
Mauy good people have such a love for the old, 
beaten paths that ;they can scarcely be prevailed 
upon to enter a new one, though it leads to broader 
out-looks and richer rewards. 
Indications that the new system is winning favor, 
then, we are glad to note. We see in them a prom¬ 
ise of better things in store for generations unblest 
with riches,—whereby life shall be lifted up to a 
higher level. In his late Annual Message Governor 
Fentont said: 
“ I am iuformed by the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, that the law of last winter, which abol¬ 
ished rate bills and charges, though it has been In 
operation only since the first of October last, is pro¬ 
ducing a very happy increase of the aggregate num¬ 
ber of pupils at the schools and greater regularity 
in their attendance. Lt is believed that the addi¬ 
tional tax imposed by that law will equal the amount 
of money, which has heretofore been raised by rate- 
bills. It has the effect, as will be seen, to decrease 
local or school district taxation, by so much as it 
increases the general State tax. It simply transfers 
the burden from the few to the many; and from 
those with limited means, bnt possibly with large 
families, to the aggregate property of the common¬ 
wealth. An examination of the assessed valuation 
of taxable property in the several school districts of 
the.State, will show that even for the'support of in¬ 
ferior schools the percentage of taxation in certain 
districts often largely exceeds thaf.in neighboring 
districts in which there are superior schools, and 
the same or a greater number of childreu of school 
age. Conceding that the education of the people 
is a matter of common concern to which each one 
should contribute according to his pecuniary ability, 
the justice of reducing this local district taxation by 
the general State tax for the support of schools is 
apparent. Even should the support of free schools 
require an increase of this tax, I should^still eoucur 
in the opinion that in promoting the great interests 
of moral and intellectual cultivation, there can be 
no prodigalities in the application of the public 
treasure." 
BY ALTA GRANT. 
It was collection day, and Will had forgotten his 
contribution. There was the good Superintendent, 
with the hat in his hand, coming straight to their 
class, and he hadn’t a penny in his pocket. 
Here, take this," said Tom Rider, thrusting into 
his hand what seemed to be a silver dime; for this 
little incident took place when silver dimes were not 
so scarce as they are now. 
Will was very grateful-so grateful that he did not 
see the knowing look In Tom Rider’s eyes. 
It a real clever of Tom," he said to himself, as 
he dropped the supposed money into the hat. “ I'll 
take a dime to school, to-morrow, and return it. 
At a fall term of a village academy one hundred 
and fifty pupils had met to spend three months 
together. On a back seat, apart from the others, 
sat a plain-featured, poor-attired, shrinking girl of 
fourteen. She was a stranger, and no one seemed 
to notice her except to make some disparaging 
remark. Her classmates seldom apoke to her, and 
never offered to assist her in her lessons. She was 
studious; hut it was evident that her educational 
advantages had been very limited. A shade of sad¬ 
ness rested on her countenance, and sometimes her 
eyes would fill with tears as she witnessed the warm 
greetings of the school girls. She worked for her 
board, and consequently had no time for rest or 
recreation. 
After the school had progressed a few weeks, a 
female prayer-meeting of the pupils was appointed. 
A very few met, but there was backwardness in com¬ 
mencing the exercises. Softly the door of the apart¬ 
ment opened, and poor neglected Mary entered and 
seated herself in a comer. The meeting was opened 
by a dull, formal prayer, and then all were invited to 
occupy the time. There was silence for several 
minutes; then, with an almost noiseless movement, 
Mary knult. At first her voice was tremulous; then 
she seemed to enter the presence-chamber of her 
Saviour, and with humility and childlike faith she 
pleaded for daily grace, and for a preparation for 
future usefulness, and with almost agonizing earn¬ 
estness she prayed for the conversion of those with 
whom she daily assembled. Every eye In the room 
was filled with tears, and many penitential prayers 
followed hers. A fresh interest in the subject of 
religion was awakened, and a revival followed, and 
many of the students were converted, several of 
whom afterwards became Ministers of the Gospel. 
Mary, by working later at night, secured the privi¬ 
lege of constantly meeting at the praying circle; and 
th at circle felt that in piety she was far in advance of 
those who were mentally her superiors. 
She was a poor homeless orphan, and a desire to 
do something for her Saviour induced her to make 
every possible effort to obtain an education. By 
untiring industry and rigid economy she was enabled 
to lit herself for a teacher, and became an earnest 
and acceptable instructor in common schools. She 
never became a missionary herself; but some of 
those who were converted in the revival that fol¬ 
lowed that prayer have long been efficient laborers 
on missionary soil. What a sparkling crown will be 
hers„when the Saviour shall make up his jewels !— 
Christian Banner. 
The Spanish Cortes are considering a very com¬ 
prehensive system of education proposed by the 
Miuister for Public Instruction, the object of which 
is to provide primary education for the whole peo¬ 
ple. its principal provisions are that every village 
having a population of at least non must have a 
schoolmaster, to be paid out of the municipal funds, 
and school materials are to be provided to a sum 
equivalent to a fourth of the teacher’s salary. In 
hamlets having a smaller population than 500, the 
cure will be charged with the primary instruction of 
the children, which is to be obligatory all over 
Spain. The State will grant a yearly sum of $200,000 
(each equal to five francs,) in aid of towns and vil¬ 
lages uuuble themselves to provide the necessary 
funds. The government will favor the establish¬ 
ment of houses of religious education; and the 
books to be placed in the hands of the children 
must be approved by the Bishops- Parentb who are 
poor will not have to pay for their children’s instruc¬ 
tion. Every Spaniard fulfilling certain conditions of 
aptitude will be allowed to open a school, but if his 
conduct or doctrines give rise to compJaint the Al¬ 
calde will have power to close the establishment. 
Ten years ago we gave Rural readers an admira¬ 
ble portrait of Charles Dickens. We take pleasure 
now iu presenting another semblance of the popular 
author of “Martin Chuzzlewit,” “Little Dorrit," 
“David Coppertield," etc. Those having Volume 
IX of the Rural can compare the man as he was 
with the man as he is. It will be seen that he has 
grown old somewhat. Years of brain-work '.such as 
few have performed,—earnest and incessant, — have 
drawn lines of care upon the smooth cheek, and have 
threaded the black, curling locks with silver. He 
has got into the fifties, and —to borrow a thought 
from Ik. Marvel —the fifties have got into him. 
Ripe and rich they have made his literary life. Suc¬ 
cess such as comes to .only the world’s favored few 
has crowned his half eeutury (nnd odd) of years. 
Whether his life has been successful in the broad¬ 
est, deepest and truest sense, we leave for those 
better able to judge than are we, to declare. 
Mr. Dickens came to America twenty-five years 
ago, with a reputation built upon “Pickwick,” 
“Oliver Twist," “ Nicholas Niekleby” and “Boz.” 
He came, then, to see. He saw, and went away 
He comes now—is it unkind to say? 1 —to be seen 
His public readings are attended by immense crowds, 
made up mainly of those having a curiosity to be¬ 
hold the distinguished author. The readings are 
variously spoken of. At the first—two mouths 
ago —they were extravagantly praised by nearly 
every one. Of late, opinions seem to be very di¬ 
verse concerning them. The first flush of excited 
pleasure at seeing the man, is, we suspect, gone by, 
and a critical observation of the reader takes its 
place. IT is manner is said to be simple and unpre¬ 
tending; his voice a little husky, aud by no means 
strong aud full; his accent decidedly Britannic; 
and his tone altogether monotonous. IIis powers 
of impersonation are generally pronounced remark¬ 
able. The readings he gives are described by Geo. 
Wm. Curtis as “ a kind of dramatic monologue, 
wholly original and unique, and of prodigious 
effect." And Mr. Curtis adds:—“They arc an¬ 
other illustration of his extraordinary aud exuber¬ 
ant, genius.His acting is so good that the spec¬ 
tator is ready t.o wish he had never done anything 
else; while the sparkling geniality of his nature is 
a well-spring of delight to his social companions," 
Other critics do uot speak as favorably of him. 
Mr. Dickens is not a Londouer by birth. He was 
born at Portsmouth on the 7th of February, 1812, 
and wheu he was a boy of three or four years old his 
father, who held an office in the Navy Pay Depart¬ 
ment, became a reporter for the Loudon newspa¬ 
pers. He Intended Charles for an attorney, and he 
passed some time in an office, where he evidently 
kept his eyes and ears open. But he read literature 
rather than law, and following the leading of his 
taste and preference he, too, became a newspaper 
critic and reporter. He wrote for the True Sun and 
Morning Chronicle, and it was in the latter paper 
that he published the series of “Sketches” of low 
London life, by Bo.-.. This whimsical signature he 
had adopted from the nickname of a petted younger 
brother, whom Charles called Moses in honor of 
the Vicar of Wakefield, “which," he says, “being 
facetiously pronounced through the noso became 
Boses, and being shortened, became Boz." With 
the beginning of the year 1846 he became editor'of 
the Daily News, the liberal journal which was then 
started, aud in this his “ Pictures from Italy” were 
published. But he did not remain long in the daily 
editorial harness, although since 1850 bo has been 
the conductor of a weekly periodical, iirct House¬ 
hold Words, and now All the Year Round. The 
editorship of these magazines, with the writing of 
his novels, and all the other work which must In¬ 
evitably fall upon a man so conspicuous, shows that 
he is a most faithful laborer. 
Culture, in its most general signification, is the 
modification or development of some given mate¬ 
rial ; and the culture of man is therefore a develop¬ 
ment of his original faculties, both bodily and men¬ 
tal, iu which the man himself is to co-operate with 
nature, so as to become his own educator. But the 
bodily and mental faculties must be cultivated in 
intimate connection in order to a symmetrical or 
harmonious culture, lt would be an exceedingly 
defective education, which might even he called 
mis-cducation, to cultivate the head, or the heart, 
or the taste alone. Yet we find mauy persons thus 
ill-trained, and Indeed we find in almost all educated 
persons a preponderance in one of these directions. 
It is, therefore, a chief purpose of education aud the 
desigu of all educational institutions,—which, for 
that reason, have been not improperly called insti¬ 
tutions of culture—so to train man, from his youth 
up, that he shall be symmetrically developed, and 
thus be competent to conduct his own development 
after attaining his majority.— Krug, 
New Guinea people place on their heads the leaves 
of trees, as emblems of peace and friendship. 
Ptileio Islanders seize the foot of the person they 
desire to salute, and rub their faces with it. 
Persians salute by inclining the neck over each 
others necks; aud then inclining check to cheek, 
with the extravagant greeting—“ Is thy exalted high 
condition good? May thy shadow never be less.” 
P/tcs bow to the ground with extreme deference 
to friends they meet, with the significant inquiry— 
“Art thou gay?” 
Homans iu ancient times exclaimed, “ Be healthy,” 
or, “Be strong,” wheu it was customary to take up 
childreu by the ears and kiss them. The Pope 
makes no reverence to mortal, except the Emperor 
of Austria, by whom he is kissed. 
Bussian ludies permit uot only their hands, but 
their foreheads to be kissed by friends. The men sa¬ 
lute by inquiring, “ Howdo you live on?” “ Be well.” 
/Siamese prostrate themselves before superiors, 
when a servant examines whether ho has been eat- 
iug anything offensive; if so, he is kicked out; if 
not, he is picked up. 
iSpanish grandees wear their hats in the presence 
of their Sovereign, to show that they are not so 
much subject to him as the rest of the nation. 
When the royal carriage passes it is the rale to throw 
open the cloak to show that the person is unarmed. 
Smdes are by no nieaus demonstrative in their 
courtesies; on meeting, they simply inquire, “How 
eau you ?” 
Turks cross their hands, place them on their 
breasts and bow, exclaiming, “ Be under the care of 
God”—“Forget mo not iu thy prayers” — “Thy 
visits are as rare as tine days”—an ancient greeting, 
and by no means applicable to their present country. 
Washoe. —People here no longer say, “How d’ye 
do ?” when they meet. It’s “ How’s your suit pro¬ 
gressing?” and the reply, “Pretty well, thankee— 
how’s yOur’s?” A man without a lawsuit is looked 
upon as a vagrant in the Stale of N evada. 
An astonished tourist writes to the Frontier Index, 
from the curious district surrounding the Yellow¬ 
stone lake of Montana:—“ Near the outskirts of this 
woudrous locality there is a lake on the top of the 
mouutftin, the ice and snow covering its surface 
some twenty feet deep. Two main forks of the 
Yellowstone, one leading opposite Wind and Green 
rivers, and the other opposite Henry’s Fork of 
Snake river, iu the same vicinity that the "Madison 
and Gallatiu rise, empty into the big lake, which 
has for its outlet the " . ellowstoue river, and just 
below the lake the whole river falls over the face of 
the mountain thousands of feet, the spray rising 
several hundred. A pebble was timed by a watch 
in dropping from an overhanging crag of one per¬ 
pendicular fall, and is said to have required eleven 
and a half seconds to strike the surface of the river 
below. That bouts Niagara Falls ‘all hollow.’ The 
river at these greatest falls is represented to be half 
as large as the Missouri at Omaha, and us clear as 
crystal. The great lake, like all others in the moun¬ 
tains, is thick with salmon trout, of from five to 
forty pounds weight, aud where the milky, boiling 
mineral waters from the geysers intermingle with 
the pure, clear water from the running streams, these 
elegant fish can be ‘forked up' by the boat load.” 
NATIONAL SALUTATIONS 
Arabs are very ceremonious. If persons of dis¬ 
tinction meet, they embrace, kiss each other’s 
cheeks, and then kiss their own hands. Women 
aud children kiss the beards of their husbands and 
fathers. Their greetings are marked by a strong 
religious character, such as:—“God grant thee his 
favors.” “If God will, thy family enjoy good 
health.” “ Peace be with you," etc. 
Bohemians kiss the garments of the persons whom 
they wish to honor. 
Burmese apply their noses and cheeks closely to a 
person’s face, and then exclaim: — “Give me a 
smell;" attributable to their great nse of perfume. 
Ceylonese meeting superiors, prostrate themselves, 
repeating the name and dignity of the individual. 
Chinese arc more particular in their personal civil¬ 
ities, even calculating the number of their rever¬ 
ences. t)f equals they inquire :—“ Have you eaten 
your rice?”—“Is your stomach in order?"—and, 
“ Thanks to your abundant felicity.” 
Egyptians kiss the back of a superior's hand, aud, 
as an extra civility, the palm also. Their fevered 
couutry is strikingly portrayed by asking:—“How 
goes the perspiration?"—“Is it well with thee?”— 
aud, “ God preserve thee.” 
, English. —An old salutation in polite society was 
—“Save you, sir;” an evident abbreviation of “ God 
save you, sir!” 
French. — Comment vous apporlcz vous ? which liter¬ 
ally signifies “ How do you carry yourself?” 
Germans.— In some parts of their country they 
invariably kiss the hands of all the ladies of their 
acquaintance whom they meet. 
Greeks. —The salutation among the ancients was 
“Rejoice!” Among the moderns, “What doest 
thou?” 
Hollanders, with their proverbial love of good 
liviug, salute their friends by asking, “Have you 
had a good dinner ?” 
Ilalims, on meeting, kiss the hands of ladies to 
whom they are related, with the strange inquiry, 
“ How does she stand ?” 
Japanese remove their sandals when they meet a 
superior, exclaiming, “Hurt me not!" 
Laplanders , when they meet on the ice, press their 
noses firmly together* Why? 
Mohammedans .—“ Peace be with youto which 
the reply ig— 11 On you be peace;” to which is added, 
“Aud the mercy and blessings of God.” 
Mows of Morocco, ride at full speed toward a 
stranger, suddenly stop, and then fire a pistol over 
his head. 
Flora was an only child, and as she was obedient 
at home, she was so at school. She wanted to know 
all the rules of school, that she might not break any 
of them. 
One day her teacher said that when a question 
was asked any one of the class who could give an 
answer might raise her right hand. Flora was tell¬ 
ing her mother about tills, wheu an older girl said, 
“ Sometimes the girls in our classes raise their hands 
when they cannot answer the question. The teacher 
thinks they can, and gives them credit for a perfect 
lesson.” 
At home and in the Sabbath School Flora had 
learned always to speak the truth. Tire little girl 
stood for a moment looking very grave, then she 
spoke out bravely: — “1 would not do that, be¬ 
cause I thiuk it would bo acting a He." 
Flora was right. To do such a thing would be 
acting a lie, and the dear little girl loved truth and 
would not act a lie. God, our Heavenly Father, 
loves the truth, but he hates a lie.— Child's Paper. 
INFORM THE EYE 
The following paragraph may suggest the impor¬ 
tance of instructing through the eye as well as the 
ear: — Prof. Faraday sought to reach the mind of 
every hearer through more senses than one. He 
never tokl his listeners of an experiment; he always 
6howed it to them, however simple and well known 
it might be. “ If,” said Faraday once to a young 
lecturer, “I said to my audience, ‘This stone will 
fall to the ground if I open my hand,’ I should not 
be content with saying the words; I should open 
my hand aud let it fall. Take nothing for granted 
as known. Inform the eye at the same time that 
you address the ear.” This was the great secret of 
Faraday’s success. Every one left the theater of 
the institution in Albermarle street satisfied that he 
had really acquired some useful knowledge, and 
that he had gained it pleasantly and without toil 
or labor. 
AMERICAN MANNERS 
This we may all confess—the elaborate style of 
behavior is almost entirely gone. It had a grace of 
its own, it had a fitness, or it would not have ex¬ 
isted. It had an unfitness, or It would not have 
died. We have now a school of manners di :it 
from that which had its origin in courts. It 1 u 
punctilious ceremonial; it makes rules for equals 
rather than for superiors and inferiors; it makes 
rules for men who work rather than for people who 
are occupied iu idleness. But it no more encour¬ 
ages selfishness, or aukindness, or meanness, or 
contempt for the weak or gross materialism than 
lid that other school of manners which was illns- 
rated by the framers of the Fugitive Slave law, the 
osts and hostesses of Fanny Ellslor, the business 
uei) for whom the phrase “almighty dollar” was 
evented, the gentlemen whom Josiah Quincy had 
o tight hard before the noble amusement of the 
heater could be introduced into Boston. In punc- 
i iliousness our fathers beat us—beat us so badly that 
we have reason to be not only proud, but very 
proud. But we should be glad to see a reasonable 
nineteenth century definition of tlie geutleman, 
which would put Abraham Lincoln’s constituents, 
as gentlemen, below Mr. Franklin Pierce’s. — 
Galaxy. 
Dictionaries in School Libraries.—A few years 
since the State of Wisconsin, by legislative enact¬ 
ment, and at the expense of the State, placed a copy 
of Webster’8 Unabridged Dictionary in each of its 
public schools. Nearly or quite every season since 
an additional supply has been voted, to furnish new 
schools which have come forward during the year. 
The publishers of this very valuable work have just 
forwarded 225 copies as the annual supply for 1868. 
These young States of the West are fully abreast, 
if not in advance of, the older Commonwealths of the 
East in educational matters. 
Always Tell the Truth. —The groundwork of 
all manly character is veracity, or the habit of truth¬ 
fulness. That virtue lies at the foundation of every¬ 
thing said. How common it is to hear jmrents 
say:—“ I have faith in my child so l<?ng as it speaks 
the truth, lie may have faults, but I know he will 
not deceive. I build on that confidence.” They are 
right. It is just and lawful grouud to build upou. 
So long as the truth remaius in a child, there is 
something to depend on; but when truth is gone all 
is lost, unless the child is speedily won back again 
to veracity. Children! did you ever tell a lie ? If 
so, you are iu imminent danger. Return at once, 
little reader, and enter the strong hold of truth, and 
from it may you never depart. 
Siberian Mammoths. —It is said that the tusk^ 
of at least one hundred mammoths, or about fort) 
thousand pounds of ivory, are bartered for ever,' 
year in New Siberia. Notwithstanding the larg> 
amounts carried away, the supply does ne»t seem tr 
diminish. These remains are scattered along the 
valleys anil near the mouths of great rivers; and in 
a number of instances the mammoth entire has been 
discovered, with its skin protected by a double cov¬ 
ering of hair and wool, and its flesh in such a state 
Of preservation as to afford food for dogs aud wild 
beasts. Whatever the cause of the Siberian mam¬ 
moths’ death, it is certain they were suddenly en¬ 
veloped in ice, which has not been disturbed since 
they were first entombed. 
J, Study as much as you please, work your brains to 
^ their utmost capacity, but see that you do not rob 
’ them of the rest deprived from sleep, and which is 
) so indispensable for healthy and long-continued in- 
! tellectual labor. If you neglect this warning, be sure 
A the time will come when you cannot sleep, aud then 
\ you will he in danger of losing your reason. 
Happiness is a perfume that one can not shed over 
i nother without a few drops falling on one’s self. 
